Ruby in Marble – Dattaw Mine, Mogok, Myanmar

A striking ruby in marble specimen from the Dattaw Mine in the legendary Mogok district of Myanmar, featuring a prominent elongated ruby crystal dramatically exposed against a contrasting white marble matrix.

The ruby displays an attractive pinkish-red to purplish-red coloration with a vitreous to adamantine luster on portions of the crystal surface. This shade flirts with the boundary between ruby and sapphire but I am choosing ruby in this case. Its elongated form runs boldly across the pale matrix, making the ruby immediately visible and giving the specimen a particularly strong natural composition.

Mogok is one of the world's most celebrated sources of ruby, and specimens that preserve the ruby in its original marble host rock provide a fascinating mineralogical context for this famous gemstone. For a collector, this piece offers more than the appeal of ruby alone—it presents the gemstone as it occurs in nature, with dramatic color contrast and an instantly recognizable display presence.

Minerals: Corundum (Ruby), Marble
Locality: Dattaw Mine, Mogok, Myanmar
Crystal System: Trigonal
Mineral Class: Oxide
Provenance: Ex Rob Belcher (The Aesthetics Underground)
Dimensions: 6.5 x 5 cm