Ruby. The July birthstone, and the colour of a thousand years of English jewels.
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If you were born in July, your stone is one of the oldest worn in this country.
Ruby is the July birthstone. That's the headline, and it's the thing most people already know. But the reason ruby has sat at the top of the gem hierarchy for centuries, and the reason it's worth a closer look this month, is more specific than the usual story about passion and vitality.
A stone that's been worn here for a very long time
Rubies have been part of English jewellery since at least the medieval period. The Black Prince's Ruby, set in the Imperial State Crown and worn at every coronation since the seventeenth century, isn't actually a ruby at all. It's a red spinel. But it was called a ruby for hundreds of years, because for most of that time nobody could tell the difference. Anything red, hard, and shining was a ruby.
The actual gem we now call ruby is a variety of corundum, the same mineral as sapphire, just coloured by traces of chromium. It's the chromium that makes ruby genuinely difficult to fake. Glass and synthetic stones can match the colour, but they can't match the way ruby holds light, the way it seems lit from inside even in low light. That quality has a name. Jewellers call it fluorescence.
What ruby actually looks like
Most people imagine ruby as a single colour. It isn't. The colour ranges from a soft pinkish red through to a dense, almost black-red. The most prized stones are what's called pigeon's blood, a deep red with a slight blue undertone that comes mostly from Burma. Burmese rubies are export-restricted and increasingly difficult to source ethically, which is why most of the rubies in modern jewellery come from Mozambique, Madagascar, or Thailand.
A small ruby, three or four millimetres across, is going to be a deep clear red with some natural inclusion. Inclusion in ruby isn't a flaw. It's evidence of a natural stone. The trade name for the silky inclusions you sometimes see is silk, and at the right density it actually intensifies the colour rather than dulling it.
Why ruby suits silver
Most jewellery you'll see ruby in is gold. There's a reason for that. Yellow gold and red ruby flatter each other. The gold warms the stone and the stone deepens the gold.
But ruby in silver is something else. It looks more contemporary, more graphic. The silver doesn't try to flatter the stone. It just frames it. The contrast is sharper, and the red reads as more saturated against the cool grey than it does against gold. It's a quieter way to wear a ruby, which is part of why it appeals to people who don't usually go for red.
What I'm making for July
The July ring in the Twelve Months collection is a hammered sterling silver band with a small faceted ruby gypsy-set into the surface. The band is around five millimetres wide, hand hammered for texture, and made to order in my studio in England. Each one is hallmarked at the London Assay Office before it ships.
The ruby itself is approximately three millimetres, faceted, natural, and selected by hand once you order. Because each stone is chosen individually, no two finished rings are quite the same. Some are slightly more pink, some lean darker. If you have a preference, message me before ordering and I'll work to it.
Two-week lead time. £145.
If you or someone you love has a July birthday, this is the ring. If you've never thought of yourself as someone who'd wear red, the silver setting might change your mind.
The Twelve Months collection is twelve handmade silver bands, one for each birthstone, made to order at my studio in England. New pieces published monthly. Sign up to my newsletter to be told when each one goes live.