All Hail the Ruby

So you're a July baby. Lucky you! While other people got stuck with boring old diamonds or whatever March's birthstone is, you got rubies. 

I went down a rabbit hole researching this post, and wow, ancient people were wild about rubies. My favorite? The Burmese thought they'd make you invincible in battle, so they shoved them under their skin. Under. Their. Skin. Can you imagine explaining that to your health insurance?

Ancient Hindus were convinced rubies contained eternal fire that could boil water. Which, okay, that might be a stretch, but I respect the confidence. Romans just cut to the chase and declared them the king of all gems, probably while dramatically gesturing with wine goblets. 

Here's what nobody tells you: rubies are just sapphires in their hot girl era. Same mineral family, but rubies got the chromium that makes them perfect. Chromium gives them that red color, and the more chromium, the deeper the red. I hear you thinking, "what about pink sapphires, then?" They're just wanna-be rubies, not enough chromium to make the cut.

So that's my ruby deep dive. Worth the research, honestly.