Ruby - a symbol stone
Ruby is a symbolic stone. It is associated with love and longevity.
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Ruby is a very hard stone. If you run it across glass, it will leave a deep scratch.
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Ruby is not uniform. It contains chromium, which makes the crystal structure fragile. In production, the stone is saved by fixing the cracks with a special compound.
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You can find many antique jewelry with ruby. But earlier people had little information and mistakenly called garnet and spinel ruby. Therefore, it is necessary to check what kind of stones are really in the jewelry.
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In 1837, Marc Houdin created an artificial ruby, which became quite popular.
Under the influence of ultraviolet and infrared rays, chromium atoms in ruby are excited and cause luminescence. You can check this by holding the stone under a UV lamp and IR radiation.
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One of the largest natural stones in the world is a ruby. Its weight is 167 carats. The stone is called the Edwards Ruby and it is in the British Museum.