The Enduring Allure of Ruby

BY BRITT SIMINITZ

California-based Yael Designs is no stranger to color. Its collections are rich with gemstones including Paraiba and green tourmaline, emerald, opal, and—July’s star—ruby. Designer Yehouda Saketkhou knows how to bring out the best in colored gemstones, having just celebrated 25 years of doing exactly that.

Sapphire, emerald, and ruby—known as the “big three” in gemstone circles—are always in demand. Yet, arguably, ruby remains somewhat enigmatic.

“Ruby carries weight that the others don’t,” Saketkhou says. “There’s something almost interior about that red. It’s the color of things hidden inside: blood, fire, the heart. Historically, it was called the king of gems, and I think people still feel that subconsciously.”

So what is it about ruby that inspires such devotion?

“It’s rarely one thing,” he says. “Color draws them in first—that warm, saturated red is unlike anything else in the gem world. But once they’re holding a piece, the conversation almost always turns to meaning: passion, protection, love, that doesn’t apologize for itself. Speaking from experience, the clients who choose rubies tend to know exactly who they are.”

For anyone investing in a first—or most significant—ruby, Saketkhou recommends aiming for a ring because rings are jewels “you interact with the most.” As for design, he favors a simple diamond halo, allowing the ruby’s “undeniable center of gravity” to remain the focal point.

About one of Yael Designs’ newest creations, an gorgeous oval ruby-and-diamond necklace, he notes, “Ruby and diamonds is the pairing I return to most,” he says. “The contrast is architectural: white gold or platinum runs cool against the warmth of the ruby, and that tension is where the magic happens.”

Creating a piece like this requires painstaking attention to detail, with each ruby matched not only for size and shape but also for depth of color, saturation, and, as Saketkhou puts it, “life in the stone.” When everything matches perfectly, “the result is this unbroken pulse of red around the neckline. It doesn’t look assembled, it looks fluid.”

Ruby is July’s primary birthstone, but Saketkhou believes its appeal extends far beyond the calendar.

“Rubies are not a consolation prize,” he asserts. “A fine ruby—natural, well-matched, with that deep, vivid red—is rarer and more valuable than a diamond of comparable size. What I hope people take away is that choosing a ruby is choosing intention. You’re not following a trend; you’re connecting to something ancient, worn by royalty and warriors and lovers for thousands of years.”