Corundum Crystal


near the town of Prilep, Former Yugoslavian Republic of MacedoniaThe Ottoman Turks actively mined the only known European rubies at this location for nearly 300 years after their conquest of the region in the year 1389. Due to the mainly opaque nature of the ruby from this locality most of the stones were used for decorative purposes to adorn daggers, swords, armor and turbans of the pashas and high ranking Turkish officials. Present day production is very sporadic and accidental finds are associated with the mining of dolomite marble at the quarry near the town of Prilep. The present offering is a huge pinkish-red single crystal of ruby of hexagonal outline. Weighing 9592.5 carats (1918 grams) measuring 4 x 4 x 3 1/2 in
|Provenance: Ex. Will Heierman Collection