Extraterrestrial-Like Inclusion in Mozambique Ruby

Nattapat Karava

A 3.03 ct stone submitted to GIA’s Bangkok laboratory was identified as a ruby from Mozambique with no indication of heating. Microscopic examination revealed a hypnotizing inclusion that resembled an extraterrestrial standing among specks of nebulae and waving its hand (see above). It had a large head and very thin legs, with two outstretched hands. This large, eye-visible inclusion was a colorless crystal among the particulate clouds. It showed iridescent color using fiber-optic illumination and was identified by Raman analysis as mica. Mica inclusions in Mozambique rubies usually have a pseudohexagonal shape with fringes (small expansion fractures) and can be found with a rosette pattern around them (“Rubies from the Montepuez area [Mozambique],” GIA Research News, 2013). This is another example of pareidolia observed in gems, the tendency to interpret an inclusion as some other object.