Myths You Shouldn't Believe About Rubies

Even if you know next to nothing about precious stones, you probably know that rubies are red and sapphires are blue. That means that they're completely different stones, right? Well, not quite. While the variation between a ruby and a sapphire definitely makes a difference to jewelers and people who want to color-coordinate their jewelry to their outfits, they're the same stone as far as a to gemologist is concerned.

As noted by PBS Nova, both rubies and sapphires are varieties of a mineral called corundum. Corundum in its purest form actually has no color, the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) explained. When mixed with other elements, however, corundum give us beautifully colored gemstones. Rubies get their red color from a trace element called chromium whereas sapphires get their blue hue from iron and titanium.

While we often think of sapphires as only being blue, they can also be white, yellow, orange, green, purple, or pink. It's only the red varieties of corundum (rubies) that get their own name.