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The Winza Ruby
I have to be honest with you – for the most part I have never really cared for rubies. While the colors were often beautiful, the stones were typically very included, often opaque and the best ones were horrendously over priced. Then of course came the Burma boycott and the best of the rubies disappeared from the market and the price of old material went through the roof.
But then late last year along came something that made even this grizzled old heart flutter… From the depths of Africa in remote southeastern Tanzania the Winza mine brought forth some of the most breathtaking rubies that I have ever seen. Clear, often inclusion free, deep rich red and filled with fire, the Winza ruby is magnificent – but be aware, the extent of the find is unknown and may be exhausted before its real potential is known.
Despite the rarity and the uncertainty of supply, Winza Ruby is getting a lot of notice for several reasons, chief among them, exceptional transparency. The only ruby with similar transparency was the Vietnamese material discovered in the 90’s and that material was more pink than red. Another amazing thing about the Winza Ruby is that it doesn’t need heat to produce its fantastic clarity or color.
Some unique traits of the Winza Rubies include; internal features of specifically bent fibers, later identified as hollow channels and blue color zoning often occurring as thin stripes that tend to give the gem a purplish color or blue / purple flashes as the stone moves. Heating does not remove the blue color and is proof of a Winza Rubies origin. These characteristics can be seen in both the faceted and rough material and again, offer proof of origin.
For most rubies (and other gems as well), proof of origin is hard to find as most gems of the same type share common characteristics regardless of origin. The curved fibers and uncharacteristic blue stripes tag these rubies as uniquely Winza Tanzanian Rubies. The first material was on the orangey side, however the newer material may be slightly blue or purple (usually as a result of the blue mixing with the red to show the eye purple). Top quality is pure rich red. There was a recent gemological report of a Winza Ruby weighing over 11 carats that sold at a luxury jeweler in Europe for a sum in the millions of dollars. If you can find one, buy one, they are an excellent investment!
The discovery of the Winza beauty is still fresh and its hard to tell what the ultimate impact of this magnificent gemstone will be on the market but it is a safe bet that it will help to boost Tanzania’s reputation as a world class gem supplier much as last years gorgeous Spinels did. It’s high time that East African Rubies, Sapphires and Spinel are given the front rank status they so richly deserve!
The Winza Ruby is an unbelievable gem and a REAL MUST HAVE!!!!! Winza Ruby could easily be this generations Paraiba Tourmaline or Tanzanite.
For more on the Winza Ruby:
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