Pigeon Blood Ruby, Pink Sapphire, or Something Else? A GIA Guide to Ruby Color

TL;DR: Fine ruby is getting harder to source industry-wide, and GIA's color standard explains part of why. A lot of what gets marketed as "ruby" is, by the strict definition, pink sapphire. Alara holds the line on the GIA standard, including on two rare stones currently in the gallery: a Montana ruby and a Sri Lankan ruby, both coming to the website soon.

Fine Ruby Is Getting Harder to Find

If you have shopped for ruby lately, you may have noticed the good stuff is thinning out. According to gemstone supplier CR Gems, demand for exceptional ruby continues to outpace the availability of high quality material, and recent buying trips have shown just how competitive sourcing has become for stones with the color and clarity buyers actually want. Ruby was reportedly CR Gems' third most purchased gemstone in 2026, behind blue sapphire and emerald, which tells you plenty about how much demand is chasing a shrinking supply.

We see the same tightening from our side of the counter. So let's talk about what actually makes a ruby a ruby, because the answer explains a good chunk of the shortage. If you'd rather skip ahead and shop, browse our current ruby collection anytime.

The GIA Color Standard: Where Ruby Ends and Pink Sapphire Begins

Ruby and sapphire are the same mineral. Both are corundum. Color is the only thing separating one from the other, and GIA does not leave that line to guesswork.

To qualify as ruby, a red corundum needs to fall within a specific hue range: purplish red through red to slightly orangy red. Hue alone is not enough. Tone has to land in the medium to dark range, and saturation needs to be strong to vivid. Hue, tone, and saturation are all technical color aspects, and only specific combinations are considered ruby (as opposed to pink sapphire). The GIA identifies Red 6/6 (ColorMaster notation C 55.00.11) as fine color, the benchmark that top tier ruby gets measured against.

Here is the part most shoppers never hear: if a red to purplish red corundum falls short on tone or saturation, it does not become a lesser ruby. It becomes a different gem entirely. It is pink sapphire.

As a Graduate Gemologist, this is the exact standard I apply to every red stone that crosses our desks, and it is why we describe our inventory the way we do. If a stone does not meet the ruby threshold, we sell it and label it as pink sapphire. No exceptions, no softening the language to make a sale.

Ruby Trade Names, Decoded

The trade uses a handful of color names that get thrown around loosely. Here is what each one actually refers to:

1. Pigeon blood. The top of the ruby color hierarchy: a vivid, pure red with a whisper of blue. Historically tied to Burmese material, though the term now gets used across origins for the finest color available.
2. French color, or cherry. A prized rendering of red, slightly lighter than pigeon blood, known for its warmth and brightness.
3. Thai (formerly Siaam or Siamese) . A large share of the ruby in mass produced and promotional jewelry comes from Thailand. Thai material tends to run darker, more brownish or purplish red, and gets produced at a volume that makes it the default for lower price point pieces.
4. Burmese (Mogok). The historic benchmark for pigeon blood color. Roughly 60% of CR Gems' current ruby stock comes from Burma, with the remainder sourced from Madagascar, Mozambique, and Tanzania.
5. Sri Lankan (Ceylon). Rubies from Sri Lanka tend to sit at the pinker end of ruby's accepted range. Still ruby by GIA's definition, just with a brighter, more luminous personality than Burmese material.

None of these trade names guarantee fine GIA color on their own. A stone can be sold as "pigeon blood" and still miss the tone and saturation threshold. Color grading, not marketing language, is what actually determines whether you are holding ruby or pink sapphire. And while certain locales tend towards a certain color range, there are always exceptions.

Treatment and Rarity

Heat treatment is standard practice across the ruby trade, and disclosed heat treatment does not make a stone less legitimate. It simply affects rarity and price. Untreated, "no heat" ruby is a different tier entirely, and it commands a real premium at fine color grades. CR Gems recently sourced a 1-carat no-heat Burmese pigeon blood ruby that sold within days of arriving in stock, which is a fair snapshot of how quickly the best material moves right now.

A Word on Cut

Most ruby gets cut into oval or cushion shapes for a practical reason: the natural shape of ruby crystal lets cutters retain more of the original rough in these cuts. Oval tends to maximize brightness and carat retention. Cushion, with its larger facets, can deepen color saturation, often at some cost to yield. More unusual shapes, like marquise, require significantly more rough to be removed during cutting, which is why they show up far less often in fine ruby.

Ruby, Birthstones, and Zodiac Season

Ruby is the July birthstone, which puts it in an interesting spot on the calendar. July babies born before July 22 fall under Cancer, while those born July 23 and after fall under Leo. Ruby's fiery color and long history as a stone of vitality make it a natural pick for Leo birthdays in particular, though it works just as well as a July birthstone gift for a Cancer. Either way, you are shopping the same gem, just with a different reason on the gift tag.

In the Gallery Right Now

Two rare stones are sitting in our case at this very moment, not yet listed online.

Montana ruby. Genuinely rare. Most jewelers, let alone most shoppers, will go a career without handling one. Coming to our website soon. Come see it in person in the meantime.

Sri Lankan emerald-cut ruby. One of the most beautiful small emerald cuts we have carried, sourced through a long standing relationship with a small family cutter in Sri Lanka. Its color sits at the pinker end of ruby's accepted range, a signature of fine Sri Lankan material. Also coming to the website soon.

Both pieces will join our loose gemstone collection once photographed and listed.

Visit the Gallery

If you're searching for a ruby that actually meets GIA's color standard, and not just a stone marketed with the right trade name, we'd welcome you into the gallery to see these pieces in person. Book a viewing, or browse our current inventory below.

Frequently Asked Questions

Source note: sourcing and market data referenced above comes from CR Gems, via The Jewels Club. GIA color grading standards are drawn from Babs' Graduate Gemologist coursework.