Engraving Rubies

The ancients seldom engraved the ruby. Pliny ascribes this fact to the singular reason that seals made of this stone carried away the wax.

The excessive hardness of the ruby, its costliness, and the great rarity of specimens proper for engraving are, without doubt, the true reasons which prevented the ancients from engraving it; the impossibility, moreover, of polishing the cavities made in this substance may have occasioned the fault which Pliny has ascribed to ruby signets.

In the Odescalchi museum the design of an engraved ruby represents Ceres standing with an ear of corn in her hand.

Another engraved ruby represents a bearded head, supposed to be that of a Greek philosopher. This ruby is cut in the shape of a heart, and formed a part of the collection of the Duke of Orleans.