ROCK & GEM REVISITED

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the February 1985 issue of Rock & Gem, written by Earl Spendlove.

Brilliant colors enhance the beauty and add to the value of many of our gemstones, especially those that are clear or translucent. And I like any color… as long as it is red. For that reason, the blood-red ruby is about my favorite gemstone. And in museums around this country and in Europe I have seen carefully cut cabochons containing startling six-rayed stars that seem to slide over the surface of the stone as it is rotated in the light. It is no wonder that, for hundreds of years, the star ruby has been one of the favorite stones of royalty.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t buy a star ruby, even if I mortgaged my mother-in-law’s false teeth. Then, a couple of years ago Phil Andrist, a dealer at a rock show, from Bandon, Oregon showed me some beautiful, translucent, burgundy red, almandine garnet cabochons that contained some very nice four- and six-rayed stars.