Ruby Buying Guide: Pigeon Blood, Treatments and Value
What 'pigeon blood' really means, how to read a ruby lab report, and why Mozambique rubies now dominate the fine-quality market.
What is 'pigeon blood'?
'Pigeon blood' is a trade term for rubies with a pure, vivid, strongly fluorescent red. GRS and Gübelin issue it as a colour grade; GIA does not use the term but describes the same stones as 'vivid red'.
Treatments to know
Heat is standard. Glass-filled (lead-glass) ruby is a composite material worth a fraction of natural ruby and should never be sold as 'ruby' alone. Every ruby we sell is free of glass filling, and the treatment is disclosed on the page.
Mozambique vs Burma
Burmese rubies set the historical standard. Since 2009 Mozambique (Montepuez) has produced large, clean, often unheated rubies that are now the main source of fine rubies over 2 carats.