Ruby & Sapphire Bibliography
Explore books, articles and historical sources on ruby, sapphire and corundum in Four Treasures, the Lotus Gemology reference database. This bibliography brings together matching records from the collection, with publication details, abstracts and cover images where available.
Ruby & Sapphire References
The list below matches the terms ruby, rubies, sapphire or corundum in the database's searchable fields. Some references discuss these gems as part of a broader subject. Linked titles take you to external links where you may find the full reference.
Princely Magnificence: Courtly Jewels of the Renaissance, 1500–1630
Book
Somers Cocks, A. and Victoria and Albert Museum (1980) Princely Magnificence: Courtly Jewels of the Renaissance, 1500–1630. London, Debrett’s Peerage Limited, 149 pp.
Record No. 4994 | not seen
Alexandrite Edelsteine und Mineralien
Alexandrite-like gemstones and minerals
Journal Article
Gübelin, E.J. (1980) Alexandrite Edelsteine und Mineralien. [Alexandrite-like gemstones and minerals] Neue Zürcher Zeitung, No. 228, October, Beilage “Forschung und Technik”.
Record No. 2148 | Language: in German | not seen
Gübelin discusses gemstones and minerals displaying the alexandrite effect—the marked change in apparent color produced by different illumination—and places the phenomenon in the broader context of chrysoberyl alexandrite and other minerals capable of comparable color change. His work from the same period treats alexandrite-like garnet, corundum, spinel, and fluorite and relates the effect to their absorption and transmission characteristics under daylight versus red-rich artificial light; the Neue Zürcher Zeitung article appears to be a popular presentation of this subject rather than a separate technical study.
Alexandritartige Edelsteine: Eine Zusammenfassung
Alexandrite-like gemstones: A summary
Journal Article
Gübelin, E.J. (1980) Alexandritartige Edelsteine: Eine Zusammenfassung. [Alexandrite-like gemstones: A summary] Zeitschrift der Deutschen Gemmologischen Gesellschaft, Vol. 29, No. 3/4, pp. 126–134.
Record No. 2146 | Sinkankas/Born No.: NIS/NIB | Language: In German | not seen
Gübelin and Schmetzer review gemstones exhibiting the alexandrite effect, defined as a change from blue, blue-green, or violet in daylight to red or red-violet under incandescent illumination. First recognized in chromium-bearing chrysoberyl from the Urals, comparable color change is also found in certain garnets, corundums, spinels, and fluorites. The authors relate the phenomenon to characteristic absorption in the visible spectrum and explain that the observed color depends upon the relative transmission of blue-green or violet wavelengths in daylight and red wavelengths under red-rich artificial illumination.
Contribution to the Sanskrit sources of the knowledge of precious stones
Journal Article
Wojtilla, G. (1980) Contribution to the Sanskrit sources of the knowledge of precious stones. Vishveshvaranand Indological Journal, Vol. 18 (Prof. K.V. Sarma Felicitation Volume), Pts. i–ii, pp. 396–402.
Record No. 1881 | not seen
Further thoughts and questions on Australian sapphires, their composition and treatment
Journal Article
Tombs, G.A. (1980) Further thoughts and questions on Australian sapphires, their composition and treatment. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Gemmologischen Gesellschaft, Vol. 29, pp. 79–81.
Record No. 1731 | not seen
Treatment of sapphires
Journal Article
Sasaki, E. (1980) Treatment of sapphires. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Gemmologischen Gesellschaft, Vol. 29, p. 66.
Record No. 1528 | not seen
Deposits of precious stones in Afghanistan
Journal Article
Rossovskii, L.N. (1980) Deposits of precious stones in Afghanistan. Geology of Ore Deposits [Геология рудных месторождений Geologia Rudnih Mestorozhdenii], Vol. 22, No. 3, pp. 74–88.
Record No. 1498 | Sinkankas/Born No.: NIS/NIB | Language: in Russian | not seen
Rossovskii surveys Afghanistan’s principal gemstone deposits and places them within their geological and metallogenic settings. The paper is particularly concerned with gemstone-bearing pegmatites of the Hindu Kush–Nuristan region and the relationship between gem mineralization and the regional pegmatite belts; Rossovskii’s related work from this period specifically treated rare-metal pegmatites and the Kulam kunzite deposit. The article became a frequently cited early Soviet synthesis of Afghanistan’s gemstone resources and later literature on Afghan pegmatites and the Nuristan–South Pamir gemstone province repeatedly references it.
Isometrischer Habitus von gezüchteten Korundkristallen mit großer Flächenzahl
Isometrischer Habitus von Gezüchteten Korundkristallen
Journal Article
Knischka, P.O. (1980) Isometrischer Habitus von gezüchteten Korundkristallen mit großer Flächenzahl. [Isometrischer Habitus von Gezüchteten Korundkristallen] der Aufschluss, Vol. 31, No. 10, pp. 469–471.
Record No. 1105 | Sinkankas/Born No.: NIS/NIB | Language: in German | not seen
Knischka describes laboratory-grown corundum crystals exhibiting an unusual approximately equidimensional (isometric) habit and a large number of well-developed crystal faces, rather than the more familiar strongly tabular or elongated habits of corundum. The work concerns the morphology of flux-grown synthetic ruby crystals and the crystallographic forms responsible for their distinctive habit; later studies cite Knischka’s crystals in discussions of the growth structures and crystallographic features useful in distinguishing natural from synthetic corundum.
Mineral resources of Sri Lanka
Journal Article
Herath, J.W. (1980) Mineral resources of Sri Lanka. Geological Survey Department of Sri Lanka, Economic Bulletin, No. 2, 70 pp..
Record No. 965 | not seen
Il De lapidum virtutibus di Michele Psello: Introduzione, testo critico, traduzione e commento/Pierpaolo Galigani
De lapidum virtutibus by Michael Psellus: Introduction, critical text, translation, and commentary / Pierpaolo Galigani
Book
Galigani, P. (1980) Il De lapidum virtutibus di Michele Psello: Introduzione, testo critico, traduzione e commento/Pierpaolo Galigani. [De lapidum virtutibus by Michael Psellus: Introduction, critical text, translation, and commentary / Pierpaolo Galigani] Firenze, CLUSF, Cooperativa Editrice Universitaria, 121 pp.
Record No. 806 | Language: in Latin | not seen
Dazzling jewels from muddy pits enrich Sri Lanka
Journal Article
Chernush, A. (1980) Dazzling jewels from muddy pits enrich Sri Lanka. Smithsonian, Vol. 11, No. 3, p. 69.
Record No. 503 | not seen
Stages of mineral formation in the magnesian skarns of the Kuh-i-Lal deposit (south-western Pamirs)
Стадии минералообразования в магнезиальных скарнах месторождения Кухи-Лал (Юго-Западный Памир)
Journal Article
Kiselev, V.I. (1979) Stages of mineral formation in the magnesian skarns of the Kuh-i-Lal deposit (south-western Pamirs). [Стадии минералообразования в магнезиальных скарнах месторождения Кухи-Лал (Юго-Западный Памир)] Доклады Академии наук Таджикской ССР [Doklady Akademii Nauk Tadzhikskoi SSR], Vol. 22, No. 7, pp. 433–437.
Record No. 29258 | Sinkankas/Born No.: NIS/NIB | Language: in Russian | not seen
Kiselev examines the sequence of mineral formation in the magnesian skarns of the Kuh-i-Lal deposit in the southwestern Pamirs. The study distinguishes successive stages of skarn and post-skarn mineralization and relates changes in mineral assemblages to the evolving conditions of metamorphism and metasomatism. The principal skarn minerals include forsterite, enstatite, spinel and clinohumite, followed by later hydrous minerals produced during retrograde alteration. The work establishes a staged model for the formation and subsequent modification of the Kuh-i-Lal mineral assemblages, providing an important basis for later interpretations of the genesis of the deposit and its gem-quality spinel.
L’escarboucle médiévale, pierre de lumière
The medieval carbuncle, stone of light
Journal Article
Miguet, T. (1979) L’escarboucle médiévale, pierre de lumière. [The medieval carbuncle, stone of light] Marche romane, Vol. 29, No. 3–4, pp. 37–60.
Record No. 28060 | Sinkankas/Born No.: NIS/NIB | Language: in French | not seen
Miguet examines the medieval escarboucle (carbuncle) as the legendary “stone of light,” tracing its appearances and symbolic functions in medieval French literature. The carbuncle is represented as a marvelous gem capable of emitting its own light: illuminating rooms, showing the way at night, and shining from helmets, crowns, jewelry, and other precious objects. The study draws on works including the Roman de la Rose, Raoul de Cambrai, the Voyage de Charlemagne, and other romances and chansons de geste, examining how the stone developed from the ancient carbuncle tradition into a literary and symbolic gem whose supernatural luminosity signified magnificence and wonder. Later scholarship repeatedly cites Miguet as an important study of this medieval gemstone tradition.
Connoisseurship in rubies
Journal Article
Zucker, B. (1979) Connoisseurship in rubies. The Connoisseur, Vol. 202, No. 814, December, 6 pp..
Record No. 16967 | not seen
Economic geology of Australian gemstone deposits
Journal Article
Broughton, P.L. (1979) Economic geology of Australian gemstone deposits. Mineral Science and Engineering, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 3–21.
Record No. 7447 | not seen
The diamondiferous and the sapphire-zircon gemmiferous gravels of eastern Queensland and New South Wales are buried Tertiary fluvial clastics preserved from erosion by overlying basalt flows. The igneous sources of the gemmiferous fraction are unknown. The Great Artesian Basin (Cretaceous) across western New South Wales, Queensland, and northern South Australia hosts the continent's precious opal districts. Igneous and metamorphic host rocks for gemstone deposits are rare on the continent. Notable exceptions are the chrysoprase veins associated with serpentite belts of eastern Queensland and the emerald deposits in the Precambrian Shield of Western Australia.
Diamonds; Mechanisms; Weapons of war; Yoga sutras
Book
Josyer, G.R. (1979) Diamonds; Mechanisms; Weapons of war; Yoga sutras. Josyer [Mysore], India, iv, 244 pp.
Record No. 7429 | not seen
Neue Edelsteine aus Sri Lanka
New gemstones from Sri Lanka
Journal Article
Gübelin, E.J. (1979) Neue Edelsteine aus Sri Lanka. [New gemstones from Sri Lanka] Zeitschrift der Deutschen Gemmologischen Gesellschaft, Vol. 28, No. 4, pp. 194–196.
Record No. 2142 | Sinkankas/Born No.: NIS/NIB | Language: In German | not seen
Gübelin describes four unusual gem materials from Sri Lanka, presenting their physical properties: a saturated blue sillimanite resembling sapphire or cordierite; a yellow-brown epidote whose color is attributed to iron; a warm-brown idocrase (vesuvianite), somewhat more yellow than comparable material from Canada and Kenya; and a red stone initially believed to be taaffeite but subsequently recognized as a distinct mineral of the taaffeite group, provisionally called “taprobanite.” The paper was presented at the 17th International Gemmological Conference at Idar-Oberstein in September 1979.
Fiskenaesset: Rubinvorkommen auf Grönland
Fiskenaesset: Ruby deposits in Greenland
Journal Article
Gübelin, E.J. (1979) Fiskenaesset: Rubinvorkommen auf Grönland. [Fiskenaesset: Ruby deposits in Greenland] Lapis, Vol. 4, No. 3, März, pp. 19–26.
Record No. 2140 | Language: in German | not seen
Gübelin describes the ruby occurrences of the Fiskenæsset (now Qeqertarsuatsiaat) area of West Greenland, where ruby and pink corundum occur within the Archean Fiskenæsset complex. The article places the rubies in their mineralogical and geological setting and discusses the associated minerals of this unusual assemblage. Later geological work confirms that the district contains numerous ruby–sapphirine occurrences, commonly associated with ultramafic rocks near contacts between anorthosite and amphibolite, with associated minerals including sapphirine, kornerupine, gedrite, enstatite, cordierite, spinel, pargasite, and phlogopite. Gübelin’s 1979 article is one of the early gemological accounts of the Greenland ruby deposits, which had been discovered in 1966 and were attracting commercial exploration during the 1970s.
L’oeuvre minéralogique d’ Anselme Boèce de Boodt (1550–1632)
The mineralogical work of Anselm Boèce de Boodt (1550–1632)
Journal Article
Halleux, R. (1979) L’oeuvre minéralogique d’ Anselme Boèce de Boodt (1550–1632). [The mineralogical work of Anselm Boèce de Boodt (1550–1632)] Histoire et Nature, Cahiers de l’Association pour l’Histoire des Sciences de la Nature, No. 14, pp. 63–78.
Record No. 925 | Sinkankas/Born No.: 2687; NIB | Language: in French | not seen
Sinkankas: The Gemmarum et lapidum historia of the Flemish physician … was the most popular textbook of mineralogy of the XVIIth century. The present paper identifies the sources of the book and analyses its attempts at mineral classification, its theories about the genesis of stones and its critical attitude towards their magical and medicinal virtues. There are numerous footnotes citing older literature and modern commentaries.
Great Treasures of the Kremlin
Book
Duncan, D.D. (1979) Great Treasures of the Kremlin. New York, Abbeville Press, 176 pp.
Record No. 679 | not seen
Exploring the Literature of Corundum
Ruby and sapphire research spans mineralogy, gem deposits, identification, treatments, synthesis and the history of the gem trade. Older publications can also be useful for tracing terminology, early observations and accounts of mining localities. Publication dates and the original source should be considered when using historical descriptions.
For an introduction to collecting books on this subject, read Ruby & Sapphire Books: Collecting the Literature of Corundum.
About Four Treasures
Four Treasures is Lotus Gemology's freely accessible gemological reference database. Use the full database to search by author, title or keyword and explore literature on gemology, mineralogy, jewelry and related fields. Where available, hyperlinks on titles may lead directly to the full publication.