0.44 Ct. Ruby from Burma (Myanmar)

This transparent pear shape ruby weighs 0.44 carat, and measures 5.23 by 4.11 by 2.52 millimeters, and originates from Burma, a provenance that has long been associated with the most sought after coloration in corundum. The stone exhibits a pinkish red hue with intense saturation, and the clarity is graded as very slightly included when evaluated at eye level, a characteristic that preserves strong light transmission while offering minor natural fingerprinting that is visible only to a trained eye under magnification. The cutter has employed a mixed brilliant design, combining a brilliant style crown with a modified pavilion, yielding a balance between scintillation and controlled light leakage, and the overall finish is of excellent polish. The enhancement is heat treatment, a stable and well established practice in ruby preparation that refines color and clarity without compromising structural integrity, and this treatment is disclosed here in full by The Natural Ruby Company.

From a faceting and optical engineering perspective, the mixed brilliant cut of this pear form emphasizes precise facet junctions and proportional geometry to maximize return of incident light. The crown facets are organized to deliver concentrated scintillation, while the pavilion facets have been tuned to refract light back through the table for sustained brilliance in both daylight and artificial illumination. The proportionate depth of the stone produces an approximate depth percentage of fifty four percent when calculated against the average of length and width, a value that moderates light leakage for a pear outline and preserves a lively face up appearance. The table area is calibrated to hold a stable window of bright reflections, and the girdle thickness is consistent enough to permit secure setting without inducing excessive stress. The excellent polish contributes to crisp facet reflections, and the facet facets maintain clean mirror planes that elevate both contrast and flash, important attributes for an intense colored ruby.

Color mechanics in this specimen are noteworthy, the primary tone is distinctly pinkish red with a medium to medium deep tone, and the saturation is classified as intense, which produces vivid color even under mixed lighting. The Burmese origin correlates with chromium dominated chromophores, which often produce strong absorption bands in the red region and can also generate notable fluorescence under ultraviolet rich light sources, enhancing perceived saturation. The very slightly included clarity grade allows internal features to exist without materially interrupting the stone strong light performance, because the inclusions are small and well oriented relative to the facet layout. This combination of high saturation and good transparency results in a gemstone that reads as bright and lively in the face up position, with color zoning minimal and the overall hue distribution uniform across the crown. The heat treatment applied is consistent with best practice in the trade, improving color saturation and reducing occlusive silk without altering the fundamental corundum crystal structure.

When comparing reflective qualities to other gemstones in its category, it is instructive to consider refractive index and dispersion, and how these optical constants interact with cut. Corundum, the mineral species that includes ruby, has a refractive index that typically ranges around 1.76 to 1.77, and a relatively low dispersion near 0.018, producing a distinct style of brilliance characterized by strong contrast and vivid color rather than excessive spectral fire. Within the red gemstone category, naturally occurring spinel displays a slightly lower refractive index and consequently a softer return of light and less marked contrast when similarly faceted, which often results in a more subdued brilliance though with pleasing purity of tone. Red garnets can display higher dispersion, yielding more spectral fire, but this is frequently accompanied by deeper tone and less transparency than a fine Burmese ruby, which limits their perceived lifelike sparkle in small sizes. Rubies from other localities such as Mozambique or Thailand often present different combinations of tone and body color, with Mozambican stones sometimes showing stronger red saturation but different inclusion types, and Thai rubies often darken under certain lighting, which can reduce apparent brilliance compared to this Burmese example. The mixed brilliant cut on this pear shaped stone optimizes the characteristic corundum trade off between color and brilliance, leveraging the refractive properties of ruby to produce a lively, saturated face up appearance that, in many settings, will outperform similarly sized spinel and garnet in terms of perceived liveliness and depth of color.

This 0.44 carat Burmese ruby is a technically refined gemstone that combines precise cutting, excellent polish, intense color, and responsible disclosure of heat treatment, providing a dependable balance of optical performance and collector value. For custom jewellery applications the proportions and stable girdle make it straightforward to secure in prong or bezel settings, and the pear outline lends itself to pendants, accent stones, or fine halo mounts where the mixed brilliant cut will interact dynamically with surrounding accent diamonds. At The Natural Ruby Company we ensure that each stone is evaluated for facet symmetry, polish, and optical return, and we can provide additional imagery and measurement data upon request to assist in design decisions. For buyers who prioritize technical excellence and provenance, this Burmese pear ruby delivers a compact package of intense color, controlled inclusions, and faceting designed to maximize the distinctive reflective signature of fine corundum.