Some gemstone finds are significant. Others less so. Some finds change the history of a gemstone entirely. This Ruby, discovered in late 2015 in Madagascar is one of the latter. Called the ‘most significant find in Madagascar’ in the last twenty, or even thirty, years, Malagasy Ruby is staggeringly beautiful.
The Find
In 2005, Rubies were discovered in Moramanga, Madagascar, a little further north than the latest discovery, just over ten years later. Whereas the Moramanga deposit produced gems that were often dull or included, the newest deposit in Malagasy is producing gems that are being favorably compared to the famed Burmese Ruby.
Malagasy Rubies have crystallized in a tabular shape, making them ideal for cutting into large sizes. In fact, we have never seen Rubies of this quality in sizes anywhere near this.
The color is also rich, due to high chromium content. This is particularly surprising, since the area is iron-rich. The chromium has to fight the iron to find areas to bond with in limited room available in the crystal’s structure. This makes finding a rich red gem in this area even less likely, but Mother Nature has obviously found a way.
Not only is the color striking, but this Ruby is definitely what is known in the trade as ‘gemmy’. This means that instead of being opaque and cloudy, this gem has great clarity. The sizes, colour and clarity of stones from this deposit is extremely rare.
Direct to Source
We were extremely lucky to be able to get hold of any of this new material. It is only due to the fact that the find was in Madagascar, in an area where we already have great relationships with local miners, that we could get any. Thankfully, a member of our buying team was able to be on the scene of the new discovery before the wider world of gem buyers.
From the source at Malagasy, the miners were taking their finds to the local town of Andrebakely. From there, gem merchants were taking the gem north to the larger town of Andilamena, nearer the old deposit. This is where most foreign gem traders would buy the gem. However, with our local links, we were told the news of the find early on and were able to go directly to Andrebakely and meet the miners there. We were able to choose the very best (and largest) pieces that were first unearthed, from the miners who unearthed them. We then took these rough pieces to our Gemporia cutting house, eliminating the middle men. This means that we are able to offer this brand new Ruby at phenomenal prices.
