Sapphire vs Ruby: Difference and Comparison

Most people know that sapphire and ruby are two different gemstones, and they differentiate the two by their colours.

Sapphire is blue, and ruby is red, but there are several other distinctions based on which one can make out the differences.

Key Takeaways

1. Sapphires and rubies are both varieties of the mineral corundum, but sapphires are blue, and rubies are red.
2. Rubies are considered rarer and more valuable than sapphires due to their vibrant red color.
3. Sapphires are associated with loyalty and trust, while rubies symbolize passion and love.

Sapphire vs Ruby

The difference between sapphire and ruby is that sapphire can come in several colours, but essentially it is blue, but ruby is solely red. This justifies the name ruby, which means red, and on the other hand, sapphire means blue. Sapphire has a royal aura around it, but ruby is not behind, too, as it is known as the King or queen of the gemstones.

Sapphire is a strong gem that is precious, and blue sapphire is a sign of royalty. Sapphire can be of several colours. This stone gets used not only in jewellery but in making laser and watch faces.

Pinkish-orange sapphire is the most valuable sapphire stone.

Ruby is a precious stone and known as the King of the gems. The colour of ruby is red, and its hardness is high on the Mohs scale, which means it is very durable and robust.

In jewellery making, ruby has occupied a special place for its fascinating colour.

Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	Sapphire	Ruby
Symbol	This word came from “sapphires” which is Latin.	Ruby is known as the King of gemstones.
Etymology	Ruby came from the Latin word “Rubeus”.	September month I got sapphire as its birthstone.
Colour	Sapphire can come in several colours.	The colour of the rubies is red.
Scarcity	The availability of sapphire is better than ruby.	Ruby is rarer than sapphire.
Birthstone	July got Ruby as its birthstone.	July got ruby as its birthstone.

What is Sapphire?

Sapphire means blue. But sapphire comes in more than one colour. The blue-coloured sapphires have been named blue sapphires, and other colours are known as fancy-coloured sapphires. Sapphire gets formulated by corundum.

The aluminium oxide found in corundum is pure and contains iron, titanium, and chromium. These minerals are responsible for the sapphire’s blue, yellow, pink, purple or green colour.

Sapphires are also available in grey, black and brown, and the grey ones can turn white or even colourless when heated.

Corundum that forms pinkish-orange gems are called padparadscha, and this is the most expensive sapphire. It costs more than the best quality blue sapphire.

Artificially sapphires can be made too, and these synthetic stones cost much less than the originals.

Sapphires are found in many places, including India, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Thailand, Myanmar, Australia, Kenya, Afghanistan, and Montana of the U.S.A.

Not only in jewellery but also in laser, it gets used. The wafers of sapphires are utilised in the making of watch faces. They are also helpful in making Xenon Arc Lamps and windows of high-pressure chambers for spectroscopy.

What is Ruby?

Ruby is categorised as a precious stone. It is formed by a mineral named corundum. This stone is red and gains its colour from the chromium in the problem.

Sometimes rubies become dark, having a purple tone. These are not as valuable as blood-red coloured rubies.

Heat gets used on the ruby to improve its colour. This heating is capable of changing rubies eternally. Ruby is a durable stone that gets used mainly in jewellery making. However, the first laser was formulated with the use of artificial ruby.

The price of the gemstones gets fixed based on their rarity, size, colour, cut and, most importantly, clarity. Rubies in large sizes are very hard to find and can even cost more than diamonds. Rubies over two carats are too rare to get hold of.

The mining of the rubies is done in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Africa, Thailand, and in Montana and South Carolina of the U.S.A. Synthetic rubies are made perfectly, but they cost much less than the original imperfect rubies.

Natural, original gemstones can not exist without imperfections, but stones with fewer imperfections will have higher prices.

Main Differences Between Sapphire and Ruby

1. Sapphire signifies royalty, luxury, and sometimes romance, while Ruby is known as the King of all gemstones.
2. The word sapphire came from “sapphires”, which is Latin, and the word ruby got its root from the Latin word “Rubeus”.
3. Sapphire means blue, whereas ruby means red.
4. Sapphire has several varieties of colours, but ruby comes in red.
5. Sapphire is available more than ruby, and ruby is a rarer gemstone.
6. Every month has a birthstone assigned to it. In this case, September has sapphire as its birthstone and ruby, on the other hand, is the birthstone of July.

References

1. https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/eurjmin/article-abstract/23/4/683/69566
2. https://ceramics.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1151-2916.1959.tb12969.x

Last Updated : 30 June, 2023