Ruby
Ruby is the red variety of the mineral Corundum.
The name “Ruby” derives from the medieval latin “rubens” or “rubinus” meaning “red” or “the red”.
A peculiarity of the Ruby is the special effect caused by the inclusion of so-called rutile needles. A few rutile needles parallel aligned to the crystal axis give the stone a silky shine, many to the crystal axis aligned rutile needles cause the ‘cats eyes effect’ or ‘chatoyancy’.
Parallel aligned to the a-axes they cause the so-called star effect. A further effect is the aligned intergrowth of several ruby crystals giving the pattern of a spoked wheel.
Ruby images
