Gem News International Gems & Gemology, Spring 2023, Vol. 59, No. 1

GIA Museum’s “Paint the Town Ruby Red” Exhibit at TGMS

Erin Hogarth

Download PDF
The GIA Museum’s “Paint the Town Ruby Red” exhibit at TGMS featured a Burmese ruby and diamond necklace and earrings, courtesy of Mona Lee Nesseth (Custom Estate Jewels) and a private collector. Photo by Terri Ottaway.
 
The GIA Museum’s “Paint the Town Ruby Red” exhibit at TGMS featured a Burmese ruby and diamond necklace and earrings, courtesy of Mona Lee Nesseth (Custom Estate Jewels) and a private collector. Photo by Terri Ottaway.

At the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, the GIA Museum exhibited a Burmese ruby and diamond necklace and earrings against a backdrop of the necklace fluorescing in ultraviolet light (see above). The necklace contains 39 untreated rubies from Mogok totaling 83.73 carats and 302 diamonds totaling 42.62 carats. The largest ruby is 5.00 ct.

The exhibit highlighted the “magic ingredient”—chromium—that gives ruby not only its color but also its fluorescence. Mogok rubies are renowned for their high concentration of chromium and low concentration of iron. The latter element, if present in a high enough concentration, quenches all or part of the red fluorescence produced by the chromium. This fluorescence is an important factor in the high value of Mogok rubies.

TGMS began in 1955 and is one of the longest-running gem and mineral shows in the world. GIA Museum curator Terri Ottaway said she was thrilled at the opportunity to showcase such a gorgeous necklace and include a bit of chemistry and geology for the gem and mineral enthusiasts.

Erin Hogarth is senior writer and editor in Learning Design and Development, and assistant editor for Gems & Gemology, at GIA in Carlsbad, California.