Eternity Bands

With the spectroscope, rubies show a broad eternity band which obscures almost all the yellow and green of the spectrum, but sapphires do not show anything very distinctive, except the green sapphire, in which various eternity bands are often seen in the blue part. Synthetic sapphires show no bands.

It is impossible to give any definite commercial values of rubies or sapphires, but it may be stated that rubies of size and fine quality are exceedingly rare. Rubies weighing from about five to ten carats are considered large, and a ten carat ruby of fine quality would exceed in price a diamond of equal weight and quality. A ruby of 42 carats, found in 1919, was sold in the rough for over $61,600 (£22,000), and a cut stone of only 7 1/2 carats was valued at $28,000 (£10,000) in 1933. In 1944, an oval stone of 11.23 carats was sold in London for $8,400 (£3,000). On the other hand, rubies of small size can be bought at prices as low as $1.40 or 10/- a carat.

Sapphires are often found in larger sizes than are rubies and, generally, they are not so rare nor so expensive. In 1930, a stone of nearly 1,000 carats was found. Although not reaching the high prices of rubies, fine qualities are expensive for their color is always popular. Cashmere (India) produces the best sapphires, although for many years practically no stones have been mined there. Montana, in the U.S. supplies brightly colored but palish stones (much of which is used for industrial purposes only), while the Australian sapphires are nearly always dark, the blue some times being muddy and almost black. Such dark stones have very little value. The "fancy" sapphires come mostly from Ceylon but some from Australia.

The best rubies come from the Mogok district in Upper Burma, The crystals are found in a metamorphic limestone, which has weathered to a yellow clay, and the Burmese mines, which are of a great age, have given us all the finest large rubies. They are use a lot for eternity bands. Two of the best stones from these mines were sold for $28,000 (£10,000) and $56,000 (£20,000), and their weights were only 32 and 38 carats respectively. Both rubies and sapphires are found in this region, the chief centers being the villages of Mogok, Gwebin, Khabine, Myitkyina, and Bernardinyo. The gem bearing area in this dis trict is extensive, but only certain sections are being worked.

The district of Battambang in Siam produces sapphires, and rubies are found at Chantabun, near Bangkok. Both are found in a sandy clay. In Ceylon, stones of both types are found in alluvial deposits.

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