Natural Ruby Shaded 2.5-3mm Faceted Rondelle

Red corundum cut small, shaded bead to bead.

Held to a window, a ruby strand reads as a run of small red lamps. Some beads go deep, nearly brown. Others sit closer to raspberry. The color is uneven from one bead to the next, and that shading is much of the character. Faceted rondelles at 2.5mm catch light in short flashes rather than long ones, and teardrops hang point down with the color pooling at the wide end. People reach for them when they want real red corundum at a working price.

Early cultures set ruby beside the red of blood in the veins and believed the stone held the power of life itself. Many cultures have long called it a king's gem. The folklore clusters on power and protection. Wealth comes into it as well. Owning one was said to benefit the holder's estates and to help wealth gather. Red has long stood for the strongest feelings, love and anger alike, and tradition ties ruby to passion above all else. These are old beliefs, carried along with the stone rather than proven by it. Ruby is the July birthstone. It is also the gem given for the fifteenth and fortieth wedding anniversaries.

Beliefs about stones are tradition, not advice. Read the full story.