Jewelry
Ruby Gemstones in Jewelry
Rubies of good quality serve well in jewelry designs where the
gem is the center of attention. A good ruby with excellent
brilliance will draw the eye. Rubies seem best suited as dominant
gems with or without support from other gems. It takes a
very talented designer to mix different colored gems in one piece.
Don't waste your hard earned money on a "washed out" ruby with no brilliance. Remember, brilliance is not the body color, but color highlights of the ruby's true hue (color).
Rather than buying a weak natural gemstone, you may be better off buying a good synthetic ruby.
Rubies in Jewelry
Rubies work well as solitaries in ear studs. Match the colors
to a pendant set in gold or a ring set in gold.
Quality rubies show good colors even in more subtle light.
Good settings protect your investment.
Yellow gold settings complement (red / green) the color of ruby
better than silver, white gold or platinum. A gold setting will
make a red gem actually look better. The more "green" in the
gold, the better the effect.
Buy 18 K or 20 K if you can afford it, since the color complement is better.
But if you do have a yen for platinum .. or you have an allergy
that requires white gold, you will need a ruby with better color
saturation, i.e., it needs to be a deeper and redder red. Otherwise
the stone and setting combinations seem to be ineffective.
Diamonds make excellent companion / enhancement stones to ruby. But if you can't afford diamonds, white (clear) sapphire will work. So will synthetic cubic zirconia.