Clash of Reds: Ruby Or Garnet?

Image Source

This story is made by yours truly!

One day a princess strolling along the riverbanks for a fresh air and having a break for herself from responsibilities. While she was walking, she suddenly saw a red small rock at the bottom of the river. Due to her curiosity she dips right into it and was mesmerized, so she picks up the stone.

Image Source
Suddenly, she remembered back from their castle inside her jewelry box was another red stone, so she decided to keep it for her collection.

After her strolling she decided to go back to her castle. She then hurried to her room for the jewelry box. As she opened the box, she saw the other red precious stone that was given by her parents as family heirloom.

Image Source
Then she noticed that there’s the difference in their colors and got confused if it’s still the same from the rock she found a while ago. So she called for the famous lapidary in their town for the advised about the two stones.
The lapidary arrived and quickly examined the two stones, he then classifies the heirloom stone as the ruby and the recently picked is the garnet. The princess asked how does he recognized the differences of the two gems. The man told the princess their differences and how to classify them:

Color. The princess noticed it as she held the two stones by her hand. A Ruby typically has the light red to medium red hue, whereas the Garnet color is darker red. In garnet’s case the color is often pale red and has the orange hint or other earthy tones.

Light. Another way to classify the differences of the two is their refracted lights. As you look it closely, a genuine ruby absorbs the green and yellow spectrum color and reflects the various shades of red and blue. However, garnet reflects the small bands of yellow and green spectrum.

Double Rainbows. When you checked the reflected rainbow, ruby usually appears two sets of rainbow one over the other and casually has a blurry image. Garnet however reflects differently which appears one set of rainbow and clearer than the ruby’s.

Durability. This is the most important factor of classifying of gemstones, Diamond is considered as “the toughest substance on the planet”. Ruby ranked 9 on Moh’s Scale in terms of its hardness while the garnet ranks 6.5-7.5 scale.

The princess was satisfied by the lapidary’s answer and thanked him. He was sent to his home with a gift from the princess that is for the lapidary’s own to keep. In the end, the princess still keeps the garnet and added it to her collection. Now, she will never be fooled by the two gem stones and she was surprised the worth of the heirloom that was given to her. She promised to keep and pass it to another generation.

Note: It is very important to consult from the jewelry expert when buying a certain kind of jewelry, if you’re still unsure from the tips provided.

Moh’s Scale – is named after from the German mineralogist, Friedrich Mohs: It is used to scale the hardness of a mineral based on their ability by scratching one another.

Thanks for the reads… I’m expecting your upvotes, hehehe. Kidding! But I would gladly accept it if you do. For more updates, please don’t hesitate to follow me for more trivias! God bless us all and good day!

Love,
Unicorn-Girl

References:

https://www.leaf.tv/articles/how-to-tell-garnet-from-ruby/
https://www.leibish.com/ruby-vs-garnet-article-1305
https://www.truefacet.com/guide/spot-difference-rubies-garnets/