Lab Finds Burma Rubies false

Gubelin Gem Lab received several rubies between 5 to 10 carats, ranging from good to very good quality. They were submitted under the pretext that they were from a �new Burmese mine�. Gubelin Gem Lab concluded that the rubies were submitted by gem dealers as "Burmese rubies," but advanced microscopic, chemical and spectral analyses, found that the gems were not consistent with known Burmese deposits but rather closer in property to those found in the Pamir mountain area of Tajikistan.

"We recognized that the material is not matching the properties of the rubies from our reference collection of any of the known Burma mines,� said Daniel Nyfeler, Managing Director of Gubelin Gem Lab. "However, the properties of the stones we have seen from our clients well match the stones from the Murghab area in the Pamir mountains of Tajikistan."

The rubies were purchased in Bangkok, Thailand, and Yangon, Myanmar, under the assumption that they were from Burma. Lab results proved that gemological features of the rubies did not match those of Burmese deposits of Mogok, Namya Sek, and Mong Hsu, but rather were similar to rubies found in the Pamir mountain area in Tajikistan with gemological properties of marble-type ruby deposits. The gemstones submitted to the laboratory display a pinkish-red to red coloration, often combined with a faint bluish sheen. These characteristics are often displayed in rubies from other marble-type deposits such as Vietnam and Afghanistan.