Ruby has had a special place in our company for over 40 years of our history.

In the late 1970’s I was traveling frequently to Kenya and Tanzania. Though I was not looking for rubies, it didn't take long before I was introduced to good quality ruby rough of Burma-like color from the John Saul mine in Kenya.

I cut these rubies to produce colors that, today would have been graded as Pigeon Blood.

Later came the flow of rubies and sapphires from the Umba river, which really colored our company’s lapidary and inventory of gems.

Then in the late 1980‘s, I was fortunate to have rubies from Madagascar, and later on, came the amazing sources of rubies from Mozambique.

Crazy as it sounds, in those days, I practically never searched for rubies from the traditional Burma (Myanmar), Sri Lanka or Thai sources.

Ruby is a rare and valuable red variety of the corundum family. All other colors of this family are sapphires led by the blue color.

Ruby is the birthstone of the month of July representing the fifteenth and fortieth wedding anniversaries as well as the stone of love, as a symbol of success, devotion, integrity, and passion.

In the Middle Ages, people of the East would insert a ruby into a cut in the skin above an artery, believing that the gemstone would infuse great courage, wisdom and success into their blood.

NO!!! We did NOT insert it into our skins!

However, thinking of it now, in our company Ruby certainly fulfilled its legend and lore.