The discovery of gem quality ruby and pink sapphire in Greenland was a cause for excitement, not only for their unusual location, but because they are among the hardest, densest, and most valued gems in the world.
Embedded in a remote, icy landscape, these beautiful gemstones are members of the mineral species called corundum. Greenlandic rubies and pink sapphires are found in rock that geologists believe is 3 billion years old — the oldest rock formation on earth.
Greenlandic rubies and pink sapphires range in colors from what is described as’ pigeon blood’ red in the industry, to light icy pink, shades of smokey-purple and snow-white. Because of the nature of the material, cabochon cuts are often the preferred method of shaping these gems which are categorized as transparent, translucent, and opaque.