Ruby & Sapphire Bibliography

First Published: 25 September 2026

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.

4,641–4,660 of 4,691 matching references

[Gem mining in Ceylon]

Gem mining in Ceylon

Report

Brown, C.B. (1893) [Gem mining in Ceylon]. Ceylon Gem and Mining Syndicate, Ltd., January,

Record No. 2718 | Sinkankas/Born No.: NIS/NIB | not seen

Described by Kunz, US Mineral Resources, 1893 Unpublished report.

Montana sapphires

Journal Article

Kunz, G.F. (1892) Montana sapphires. Jewelers Weekly, 11-May, p. 23.

Record No. 1143 | Sinkankas/Born No.: NIS/NIB | not seen

Kunz discusses Montana sapphires.

[Montana sapphires]

Montana sapphires

Journal Article

Financial News (1892–1894) [Montana sapphires]. Financial News, London, 27 August, 1892; 6 December, 1894,

Record No. 765 | Sinkankas/Born No.: NIS/NIB | not seen

Contains description of Streeter’s Sapphire and Ruby Company of Montana Ltd.

Ceylon Gems: How to Test Them and How to Buy Them

Book

Colombo, A.B. (1891) Ceylon Gems: How to Test Them and How to Buy Them. Colombo, Times of Ceylon, 42 pp.

Record No. 2736 | Sinkankas/Born No.: NIS/NIB | not seen

Small booklet about buying gems in Sri Lanka.

Plis Cachetés, Sur un nouveau procédé de fusion et d’affinage de l’alumine chromée et la production d’une matière possedant la composition, la dureté et la densité du rubis

Sealed Letters: On a new process of melting and refining chromed alumina and the production of a material possessing the composition, hardness and density of the ruby

Unpublished Work

Verneuil, A. (1891, 1892) Plis Cachetés, Sur un nouveau procédé de fusion et d’affinage de l’alumine chromée et la production d’une matière possedant la composition, la dureté et la densité du rubis. [Sealed Letters: On a new process of melting and refining chromed alumina and the production of a material possessing the composition, hardness and density of the ruby] pp. 131–132; unpublished report.

Record No. 1762 | Sinkankas/Born No.: NIS/NIB | Language: in French | not seen

Verneuil records in sealed communications (plis cachetés) his early experiments toward producing ruby by melting and refining chromium-bearing alumina. The work describes a process intended to obtain a homogeneous material corresponding to natural ruby in chemical composition, hardness, and density, representing an important stage between the earlier experiments of Frémy and Feil and Verneuil’s later development of flame-fusion synthetic ruby.

[Montana sapphires]

Montana sapphires

Newspaper Article

The Star (1891–1892) [Montana sapphires]. The Star, 1891: 11 December; 1892: 23 January, London

Record No. 1693 | Sinkankas/Born No.: NIS/NIB | not seen

Notes on sapphire mining in Montana.

The Sapphire and Ruby Company of Montana, Ltd.

Journal Article

Anonymous (1891) The Sapphire and Ruby Company of Montana, Ltd. Engineering and Mining Journal, Vol. 52, No. 16, 17 October, p. 461.

Record No. 1280 | Sinkankas/Born No.: NIS/NIB | not seen

Reports on the Sapphire and Ruby Company of Montana’s proposal to raise $2,250,000 through a London stock offering to acquire 4,000 acres of gem-bearing land along the Missouri River near Helena. Drawing on comments by George Frederick Kunz of Tiffany & Co., who had inspected the deposits, the article describes sapphire-bearing placers extending six or seven miles between Ruby and Eldorado Bars, approximately sixteen miles east of Helena. The stones occurred in gold-bearing gravels described as glacial and had previously been recovered as a by-product of gold sluicing rather than through systematic sapphire mining. Growing commercial interest had prompted an option on extensive properties in 1889 and the formation of smaller companies intending to recover gemstones either alone or together with gold. Kunz characterizes the sapphires as brilliant but generally pale, with a wide range of yellow, blue, green, and intermediate colours. Stronger greens tended toward blue-green rather than emerald-green, while finely cut stones reportedly displayed a distinctive, apparently metallic lustre. Eldorado Bar had produced one to two pounds of sapphires daily, although individual crystals rarely exceeded one-quarter to one-half inch in length. A particularly fine green cut specimen weighed approximately 3½ carats. The report highlights the commercial difficulty posed by these unusual colours, which differed from the ruby-red and sapphire-blue shades preferred by buyers. Although Kunz states that conventional red rubies and blue sapphires had not been found, he also mentions two small specimens of those colours in the Amherst College collection.

[Montana sapphires]

Montana sapphires

Journal Article

Lighthouse (1891) [Montana sapphires]. Lighthouse, London, 31 October, 1891,

Record No. 1190 | Sinkankas/Born No.: NIS/NIB | not seen

Notes on the sapphire mining situation in Montana.

[Montana sapphires]

Montana sapphires

Journal Article

Financial Observer and Mining Herald (1891) [Montana sapphires]. Financial Observer and Mining Herald, London, 29 August, 7 November,

Record No. 766 | Sinkankas/Born No.: NIS/NIB | not seen

Notes on the sapphire mining situation in Montana.

Gem mining in Siam

Journal Article

Anonymous (1890) Gem mining in Siam. Scientific American, 25 October, p. 262.

Record No. 258 | Sinkankas/Born No.: NIS/NIB | PDF

Summarizes the British Consul-General’s report on ruby and sapphire mining in Siam, describing the principal gem districts, their workforce, extraction methods, and commercial arrangements. Chantabun (Chanthaburi), connected with Bangkok by regular steamship services, served as the regional centre. Nearby Ban Kacha produced inferior rubies worked by Siamese and Chinese inhabitants, while Krat (Trat) reportedly employed about 3,000 Tongsoo miners and yielded mainly rubies. Phailin (Pailin), described as the largest and most frequented mining locality, supported between 4,000 and 5,000 gem seekers and produced both rubies and sapphires, with sapphires predominating. The article also notes existing or proposed mining concessions to foreign interests. Miners paid an entry fee of five shillings and sixpence to a headman responsible to the local governors, with no additional fee or government claim to preferential purchase of valuable discoveries. Extraction involved locating a yellowish, generally clay-free layer of gem-bearing alluvial sand, lying between a few inches and twenty feet below the surface, and washing the excavated material through hand sieves in nearby waterways. No mechanical washing processes had been introduced. Tongsoo diggers generally worked in pairs or groups of three, moving between mines as their prospects changed. Valuable stones were carried to Rangoon or Calcutta for sale or entrusted to agents. The highest reported values were approximately £280 for a sapphire and £960 for a ruby. Rubies and sapphires frequently occurred together, but the report characterizes Siamese rubies as light or dull red, rarely approaching pigeon’s-blood colour, and sapphires as dark, dull blue. It concludes by noting garnet-like stones near Raheng (Tak) and suggesting that further prospecting might reveal valuable ruby deposits there.

[Burma ruby mines]

Burma ruby mines

Journal Article

Anonymous (1890) [Burma ruby mines]. Engineering and Mining Journal, Vol. 49, No. 23, p. 636.

Record No. 257 | Sinkankas/Born No.: NIS/NIB | not seen

Reports on the statutory shareholders’ meeting of the newly established Burma Ruby Mines Company, held at London’s Cannon Street Hotel under the chairmanship of Sir Lepel Griffin. The company had been registered on 26 February, and its offering of 200,000 ordinary shares attracted subscriptions for 2,761,000 shares within a few hours. Griffin discussed difficulties in implementing the company’s plans amid unrest in Burma, while expressing confidence that peace would soon be restored. Transport access posed another major obstacle because the ruby mines lay in mountainous country. Nevertheless, the road to Mogok was expected to be completed within two months of 20 May, the date of the chief engineer’s first official report.

[Burma ruby mines]

Burma ruby mines

Newspaper Article

Financial News (1889) [Burma ruby mines]. Financial News, 28 Feb., 26 June, London

Record No. 2758 | Sinkankas/Born No.: NIS/NIB | not seen

Notes about the Burma ruby mines.

[Montana sapphires]

Montana sapphires

Journal Article

Northwest Magazine (1889–1901) [Montana sapphires]. Northwest Magazine, Vol. 7, No. 8, p. 33; Vol. 9, No. 3, p. 36; No. 6, p. 36; No. 8, p. 41; Vol. 10, No. 11, p. 42; Vol. 11, No. 6, p. 14; No. 8, p. 36; Vol. 14, No. 7, p. 34; No. 11, p. 47; Vol. 17, No. 8, p. 40; Vol. 19, No. 1, p. 43; No. 5, p. 60,

Record No. 1364 | Sinkankas/Born No.: NIS/NIB | not seen

Articles mentioning sapphire mining in Montana.

To the Gem Pits, Ratnapura, Ceylon

Book

Hayward, J. (1888) To the Gem Pits, Ratnapura, Ceylon. No place, no publ., 18 pp.

Record No. 2786 | Sinkankas/Born No.: NIS/NIB | not seen

Small book about gems in Sri Lanka.

Burmah. A series of one hundred photographs, illustrating incidents connected with the British Expeditionary Force to that country

Book

Wallace, H.W. (1887) Burmah. A series of one hundred photographs, illustrating incidents connected with the British Expeditionary Force to that country. London, Bangalore and Calcutta, J.A. Lugard, C.G. Brown and Thacker, Spink & Co.

Record No. 3301 | Sinkankas/Born No.: NIS/NIB | not seen

Wallace’s Burmah is a photographic record of the British military expedition to Upper Burma following the Third Anglo-Burmese War and the deposition of King Thibaw. Comprising one hundred photographs, the work documents the expeditionary force, military operations and encampments, landscapes, towns, buildings, transportation, and people encountered during the British occupation.

The mineral resources of India and Burmah, being a lecture delivered at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition on the 5th June 1886

Journal Article

Ball, V. (1886) The mineral resources of India and Burmah, being a lecture delivered at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition on the 5th June 1886. The Mining Journal, Railway & Commercial Gazette, Vol. 56, pp. 674–675.

Record No. 407 | Sinkankas/Born No.: NIS/NIB | not seen

Report of a lecture delivered by Valentine Ball at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition on 5 June 1886, surveying the known mineral resources of India and the recently annexed territories of Burma and considering their commercial development. The subsequent discussion emphasized inadequate mining regulations, resulting in a resolution urging the revision of mining laws throughout British India, Burma and the princely states.

[Kashmir sapphire mines]

Kashmir sapphire mines

Newspaper Article

Civil and Military Gazette (1883) [Kashmir sapphire mines]. Civil and Military Gazette, Nov. 2, Lahore

Record No. 2731 | Sinkankas/Born No.: NIS/NIB | not seen

One of the earliest accounts of the Kashmir sapphire mines.

[Burma ruby mines production]

Burma ruby mines production

Newspaper Article

Rangoon Correspondent (1882) [Burma ruby mines production]. The Statesman, 3-Oct, Calcutta, p. 1395.

Record No. 2850 | Sinkankas/Born No.: NIS/NIB | not seen

Records of Burma ruby mines production.

A Contribution to Burman Mineralogy

Book

Doyle, P. (1879) A Contribution to Burman Mineralogy. Calcutta, 15 pp.

Record No. 2841 | Sinkankas/Born No.: NIS/NIB | not seen

A short survey by mining engineer Patrick Doyle of the mineralogy of Burma, published at Calcutta in 1879. The pamphlet was reprinted with modifications from articles in the Rangoon Gazette and runs to 15 pages. It belongs to the early literature attempting to bring together contemporary knowledge of Burmese minerals before the more systematic geological investigations undertaken after the British annexation of Upper Burma. The work is of historical value for documenting nineteenth-century interest in Burma’s mineral resources and their potential exploitation.

[Founding of Yogo Town]

Founding of Yogo Town

Newspaper Article

Rocky Mountain Husbandman (1879) [Founding of Yogo Town]. Rocky Mountain Husbandman, Sept. 1, Nov. 20, Dec. 11, Diamond City, MT

Record No. 1488 | Sinkankas/Born No.: NIS/NIB | not seen

Discusses the founding of Yogo town in Montana.

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

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