Corundum Var. Ruby –  Ampanihy, Atsimo-Andrefana, Madagascar

Ex Robert Scheck, acquired in Munich in 1987

 

A wonderfully crystallized, lustrous and particularly colorful purple-red ruby crystal. The tabular hexagonal corundum var. Ruby  comes from Ampanihy, a lesser-known locality in Madagascar. At 440.5 carats, the considerably large ruby shows a wonderful luster on the terminations and beautiful, clearly defined surface structures. While the termination appear reddish-pink, the prisms are purple. Viewed from the side, this results in a color gradient from light pink to dark purple and back to light pink again. Depending on the light source and viewing angle, the crystal shows a variety of shades from red-pink to violet (can be seen clearly in the video). 

Strong cherry-red fluorescence under long-wave UV.