Of all the varieties of rubies the true pigeon’s blood red is the most precious and treasured – primarely found in Mogok Valley, Burma. Extremely rare – more a colour of the mind than the material world.
Trying to put this fascinating red into words is a challenging task and even when succeeded the phrasing still leaves room for imagination and interpretation by both author and reader. Dr. Eduard Gübelin, described it with the following words:
“Ruby owes its personal popularity to the gorgeous glowing colour of smoldering red fire beneath its shining, lacquerlike surface, and its name, derived from the Latin word ruber = red, denotes the embodiment of the most beautiful red. Light and velvety shades range from pink to darkest purple, but the crown of all the beauty, the noblest and most precious nuance is pigeon blood red, a saturated shade of carmine red. The more glowing, the more vivid is the red sparkle, the choicer and more costly is the ruby.”
Many legends and myths exist on how and why this true red came to its name “pigeon’s blood”. From comparing it to the centre of a live pigeon’s eye over defining it as the red of the first two drops of blood from the nose of a freshly slain Burmese pigeon. The more scientific but of course much less mystic explanation is, that in attempt to seek a more quantitative description for this mysterious red James B. Nelson sought the help of London Zoo. Their Research Department were quick to oblige and sent a specimen of fresh, lysed, aerated, pigeon’s blood which was indeed the match to the colour of these unique rubies. (Journal of Gemmology, 1985, XIX / 7)
„ ...asking to see the pigeon’s blood is like asking to see the face of God“
as a Burmese trader once expressed to the point!
(A pilgrimage to Mogok – Valley of Rubies, R.W. Hughes)
