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Ruby and Sapphire Survey: Where Do You Draw the Line?
The distinction between ruby and sapphire is more nebulous than most people realize. These gems are the same mineral: corundum. Color is the only thing that separates them. We wanted to learn more about the fuzzy line between ruby, pink sapphire, and padparadscha sapphire. So, in September 2018, we sent out a survey asking for people's opinions on these gems. Our 281 respondents had varying and often overlapping opinions about color in our ruby and sapphire survey. Read on to learn more about the survey results and the distinction between these gems.
Ruby and Sapphire Survey: Color
Ruby is red corundum, while sapphire is any other color. Long ago, pink corundum was also considered to be ruby, since pink is a lighter tone of red. More recently, Western gemologists have distinguished red and pink.
While gemological laboratories have standards distinguishing ruby from pink sapphire, these aren't universal. Some laboratories may call a borderline stone a ruby, while others may call it a pink sapphire.
Our survey also addressed another variety: padparadscha sapphire. These gems are traditionally described as lotus or sunset-colored. Unlike most gem varieties, padparadscha is best known for its pastel hues. In fact, Western gemologists assert that padparadschas must be pastel. Many gemological laboratories will designate a pastel sapphire as padparadscha but not a more vibrantly colored one.
Top Color Choices
When we asked people to select the top color for each of these three gems, the results were widespread. To visualize it, we plotted the colors in 3D HSL-space (hue, saturation, and lightness or tone). Larger markers indicate that more people chose that color.
In these selected views from the plot, you can see the overview and hue vs tone for all three gems, combined as well as individually. From the tone vs saturation plots, you can see that some choices for ruby had low saturation. In the last slide, you can clearly see the overlap of pink sapphire and padparadscha sapphire.
You can view and interact with the embedded 3D HSL-space below. (The embedded plot will only appear on desktops).
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