July Birthstone - Ruby

The official birthstone for July is the ruby stone.

Rubies are a beautiful and valuable gemstone, usually red, that often represent love and good fortune.

To keep your precious ruby jewellery shining, it’s important to care for it properly and clean it regularly.

Oils from your skin and hands can be transferred to your ruby jewellery, and can easily be wiped clean with a soft jewellery cleaning cloth. It’s best to remove your ruby jewellery before showering or swimming, and at night, and store it safely in a jewellery box. Ruby is the second hardest gemstone, with only diamonds outranking them on the hardness scale, which makes them ideal for wearing every day and makes them a popular choice for a coloured engagement ring.

With its vibrant red colour, ruby jewellery is striking as a standalone piece, but can also be beautifully styled with other gemstones such as diamonds, amethysts and morganite stones.

The warm tone of rubies pairs beautifully with yellow gold, however rubies also look stunning contrasted with sterling silver or white gold settings. A ruby necklace can be layered with chain necklaces for a striking effect, while a beautiful ruby ring makes a bold centrepiece for a multi-ring stack.

Rubies are defined by their deep red colour, which comes from the element chromium that is present in the stone.

While all rubies are red, the precise colour can change in natural stones from a deep, blood-red to a pink-red, purple-red or orange-red hue. The more pure red a natural ruby is, the higher its value will be.