Corundum var. Ruby

Unknown Owner

The Mysore District in Karnataka, southern India, has been known for Rubies (Corundum var. Ruby) for many centuries, even before the days of the British East India Company. Usually, specimens are matrixless single flattened hexagonal crystals, making this miniature matrix-hosted specimen quite unusual. Within it, three main cherry-pink Ruby crystals protrude from the grey-white mottled rock. The two smaller crystals (1 and 0.5 cm) are classic hexagonal prisms, but the larger (1.7 cm) crystal is much more complex and blocky. The Ruby crystals are not gemmy - they rarely are from Mysore - but display nice triangular growth features on surface faces. Under longwave UV light the crystals display the classic deep red fluorescence that Ruby is noted for.