There are many famous rubies with interesting stories behind them. Our favorite stories are about two specific rubies: the Sunrise Ruby and the Rosser.
The Sunrise Ruby is from the Mogok region of Myanmar (Burma). Weighing at 25.59 carats, it is considered to be one of the most expensive and rare gemstones ever. In 2015, it sold at Sotheby’s for over 30 million dollars! With a highly vivid red color, it was sold as part of a collection from Cartier and is set in a ring flanked by two shield shaped diamonds.
Rosser Reeves Star Ruby
Another famous ruby is the “Rosser”. It is named after Rosser Reeves, who was a very successful American television advertising executive. Weighing in at a heavy 138.7 carats, this brilliant gemstone was found at the mines in Sri Lanka. It is almost translucent in material but still richly red in color.
It is a star ruby, which means that it displays a unique gemological property, or optical phenomena, known in gemological terms as “asterism”. Asterism is a property that some gemstones can possess where a “star” seems to appear when a single light source is pointed directly at the stone. In the Rosser, extremely fine needles of light intersect at 60-degree angles to create a six rayed star.
Reeves was said to have once accidently left this stone in a taxi cab. Fortunately, the cabbie turned it in to his manager and Reeves was able to get it back. After that close call, he decided to donate it to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. where it currently resides.
