July provides a sophisticated choice of premium birthstones. Ruby is the primary July birthstone with others, including Carnelian, Turquoise, Sardonyx, Sapphire, and Onyx. July being the month of independence and holding so much significance to Americans, is the perfect month to wear or carry around a birthstone. Below are in-depth details of these July birthstones and their symbolism to those born in July.
Ruby
Ruby is the modern July birthstone in the US and Britain. It is also the traditional July birthstone in the US, ancient Polish, Russian, Tibetan, and old Hindu calendar.
Rubies In History
Rubies have been revered since ancient times. They are highly precious in Asian countries, and traders traded rubies along China’s North Silk Road as early as 200BC.
Burma (Myanmar) is also a primary source of rubies from as early as 600 AD. Ruby gems from Burma are still some of the most valuable gems in the market.
It wasn’t until 1800 that ruby was recognized as a variety of corundum. Before that, garnet, tourmaline, and red spinel were believed to be ruby. The Black Ruby, one of England’s precious crown jewels, was considered to be among the biggest cut rubies until determined to be a spinel.
The ruby’s red fluorescence power helped in designing the first functioning laser in 1960. Both synthetic and natural rubies are still being used to make lasers and medical instruments.
It is one of the most historically significant colored stones since they are mentioned four times in the Bible. Ancient Hindus believed that individuals who offered fine rubies to Krishna were reborn as emperors.
Ruby Meaning
The stone is a red variety of the mineral corundum, colored by the chromium element.
The name “ruby” originates from Rubeus, the Latin word for red. It also means “king of precious stones,” a translation of ratnaraj from ancient Sanskrit.
Ruby is a symbol of passion, prosperity, and protection.
Ruby Colors
Rubies come mostly in red color. The red ruby color can be categorized into hue, saturation, and tone.
The hue determines how red the stone is. The tone specifies how dark or light the stone is. On the other hand, saturation is determined by whether the stone has a strong, vivid, or intense coloring.
Pigeon blood red is considered the perfect colored ruby that comes from Burma.
Different rubies have fluorescence, a phenomenon that causes the gems to glow in ultraviolet light. Others even seem to glow in the sunlight.
Health Benefits of Ruby
Their red color links them to the flow of blood through the body and related functions.
Emotional Healing Properties
Rubies allow you to share loving energy despite past hurts. The stones help you get rid of negative energy and anger. Rubies strengthen you to rise from martyrdom and choose whether or not to dwell in suffering, distress, and anguish. As a result, the gems encourages a more courageous and positive state of mind.
Rubies illuminate the prospective aspects, inspiring you to move forward and provide a support system for the threatened, whether it is the environment, friends, family, strangers, or animals.
Rubies improve your self-esteem by overcoming the fear of feeling “ugly” or “unloved.” It empowers individuals with excess body weight to the ground in the physical world.
Ruby releases destructive emotional holds and is a powerful crystal for improving a more loving attitude towards oneself and the physical body.
Physical Healing Properties
As a blood stone, ruby strengthens your heart, myocardium, coronaries and ventricles, and stimulates proper blood flow and circulation. It helps you treat disorders and heart diseases.
The crystal regulates your menstrual flow and alleviates pain associated with menstruation. Ruby provides many benefits to the reproductive organs. It treats sexual dysfunction, early menopause, impotence and fertility. It also provides support during gynaecological operations.
Rubies help during pregnancy, especially for older women. It helps in the maximum formation of children in the embryonic state. Moreover, star ruby supports men during a vasectomy reversal.
The crystal helps to detoxify your blood, body, and lymph. It treats infections and fever. Ruby stimulates the adrenals, kidneys and spleen, and helps in the circulation of energy flow in your feet.
Ruby helps you in weight regulation, especially if the weight issue is caused by stress-eating. Decorate your home with ruby crystals to help you relax and feel rejuvenated.
Ruby and Chakra
Ruby comes with the enlightened Base Chakra’s frequency. It stimulates the flow of life-force energy, commonly referred to as chi, throughout your body. Ruby strengthens the ability to manifest your desires and meet your needs. It is a powerful crystal to activate the kundalini.
Base or Root Chakra is found at that base of your spine. It controls the energy for kinesthetic feeling and movement. The Base Chakra is the foundation of spiritual and physical body energy.
When your Root Chakra is physically out of balance, symptoms tend to manifest as low enthusiasm, low activity levels, lethargy, and a need for constant stimulation. On the other hand, when spiritually imbalanced, you tend to feel flighty, distant and disconnected from reality.
Rubies help put your Base Chakra in proper balance. Once the Chakra is in balance, your physical body regains its stamina and strength. Moreover, a balanced Chakra rekindles your spiritual energy in the form of security and a sense of your power.
Ruby Vs Pink Sapphire
Ruby and pink sapphire belong to the same family of the mineral known as corundum. Most of their attributes as similar. However, there are different elements that you can use to differentiate them.
For example, while ruby gets its color due to chromium presence, the addition of titanium and iron impurities is responsible for pink sapphire’s color.
Rubies are pigeon red in color and are the most valued of rubies. On the other hand, the sapphire is blossomy and hot pink and are often the most sought-after shade.
Rubies have long been used to symbolize love, passion, and power, while pink sapphire is a symbol of trust, truth, and honesty. A top-quality ruby can cost you between $5,000 and $15,000 per carat, while an equally high-quality pink sapphire will cost you from $500 to $1000 per carat.
Surprisingly, they both weigh 9 on the Mohs Scale, meaning they are exceptionally durable and resilient to damage occurring from daily wear. They are both an ideal gift for a loved one. However, the pink sapphire is more affordable than a ruby and still offers a unique shine and feel.
Ruby Price
Gemstone vendors consider color, clarity, carat, and cut when determining the price of a stone. Various factors that affect the price of ruby include whether they have cracks of a cloudy appearance.
Rubies are considered pleochroic since they display a deep red from one angle and minimal orange from a different angle. Ruby with the deep red color dominating is more expensive than the alternative.
Rubies over 1 carat are rare and become more expensive as they increase in size. Moreover, a heat-treated ruby brings out the best of its clarity and color and is considered more valuable. On the other hand, a fracture-filled ruby is considered less valuable.
Are Rubies More Expensive than Diamonds?
Ruby is extremely rare, almost rarer than diamonds, notwithstanding the high premium diamond prices. The supply of diamonds is highly controlled, and the demand is well-cultivated by a superb marketing campaign.
Rubies and diamonds are almost similar in price per carat, with perhaps the bigger sized rubies being able to outprice their rival. Colored diamonds tend to be pricier than rubies.
Ruby Care and Cleaning
Rubies are also prone to cracks and damage when mishandled or set in a ring or bracelet. They also tend to accumulate dirt and dust. The most common method of cleaning and maintaining rubies is heat treatment that removes the purplish discoloration and leaves a purer red. Heat treatment also eliminates silk that causes the gem to appear lighter in tone and appear more opaque.
You can also gently clean the ruby with mild liquid soap water and a soft toothbrush. Then rinse it immediately using fresh warm water. Dry it using a lint-free cloth.
Take the ruby jewelry off if you are performing everyday chores and put them off after applying lotion or perfume to hinder the surface from turning cloudy.
Carnelian
Carnelian is considered the modern July birthstone in Britain and the ancient July birthstone in the old Arabic calendar. Carnelian has been associated with kings and different royalty since the dawn of civilization. It was commonly used as amulets and seals in ancient kingdoms.
The stone is a translucent orange form of chalcedony quartz. However, the colors range from brown to red and mostly appear more opaque than translucent.
Carnelian has been used in many civilizations since the ancient Egyptians and Sumerians. It was revered more for its spiritual significance and power than its rarity.
Carnelian colors range from light golden yellow to almost red colors. Carnelian differs from most of its counterparts in the Chalcedony family in different ways. First of all, it is technically translucent, meaning you cannot see through it. However, if you hold it up, you can see some light coming through, mainly around the stone’s edges.
Ancient civilization used Carnelian to protect the dead as they moved to the afterlife. People believed that Carnelian helps one to accept the natural life circle and loss of a loved one.
Carnelian is also an energizing stone and boosts your enthusiasm. It brings you positivity and optimism in your endeavors. This orange gemstone has a special connection to the Sacral Chakra, situated just below your navel. The Sacral Chakra is mostly concerned with emotions, creativity, sexuality, and relationships.
Traditionally, Carnelian was believed to help individuals with blood-related issues. It is also linked to the body’s center, meaning a boost in your reproductive organ functioning.
Onyx
Onyx is one of the traditional July birthstones in the ancient Hebrew, Italian, and Roman calendar. It was also the zodiac stone for Leo, which falls partly in July.
The stone is black and white banded agate. The onyx banding tends to be parallel and consistent. Different onyx varieties show different colors. For example, in the sard onyx, the base tends to be brown, while the Cornelian onyx has a red base.
Onyx deposits are found globally in countries such as Argentina, Uruguay, Burma, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Mexico, Madagascar, Botswana, the USA, among other countries. The stone has a waxy to dull luster and is primarily opaque.
It can be drilled to make beads or pendants. Onyx is mostly carved into pretty cameos, which maximize the banding. Onyx is a grounding stone and is believed to absorb negative energy.
Sardonyx
Sardonyx is a July birthstone in the ancient Russian calendar. Sardonyx is a type of onyx but with a brown instead of a black base. Sardonyx has been used since ancient times, dating as far as the Second Egyptian dynasty, over 4000 years ago.
Sardonyx is a variety of onyx occurring in bands of red and white. The bands are composed of sard and white chalcedony, respectively, sard being the darker shade of Carnelian. Sardonyx is found in many places, including Madagascar, India, Brazil, and Uruguay. Sardonyx is believed to keep an individual brave.
Sapphire
Sapphire is the July birthstone in the ancient Hindu calendar. For centuries, it has been associated with romance and royalty. In 1981, Britain’s Prince Charles engaged Lady Diana Spencer with a blue sapphire ring. Princess Diana’s sapphire ring held the link between history and fairy tales with modern events.
Ancient Roman and Greek kings and queens were convinced that blue sapphires protected their owners from harm and envy. It is precious corundum that occurs in various colors except red, otherwise known as ruby. Sapphire is highly-valuable, making it one of the top precious stones in the modern era.
Sapphire brings inner peace and combats depression.
Turquoise
Turquoise is also a July traditional birthstone with an attractive bluish color. It is a sky-blue or green translucent to opaque basic aluminum phosphate-containing copper.
Ancient Egyptians and Aztecs used Turquoise as a decorative stone and jewelry. They believed that it was a color or regeneration. Turquoise is also popular as a December birthstone. It is also rare and valuable. Turquoise is known to bring clarity of the mind and spiritual understanding associated with the sea.
Final Thoughts
July birthstones comprise some of the most expensive and rarest gemstones. This gives them a unique edge among all birthstones combined. Buying a July birthstone is a brilliant way to celebrate your July birthday while receiving all the physical and emotional healing benefits.
