In March 2006, we have seen at AIGS lab several attractive pink to red rubies from 1 to 10 carats presenting no indications of heat treatment and some unusual internal features compared to the usual rubies we see at AIGS Lab mainly from Burma or Madagascar. These rubies were presenting features close to less common rubies from Jagdalek (Afghanistan) or Vietnam, but still some of their inclusions were unusual for these areas.
After some discussions with other labs and our customers it seems that all these rubies were obtained from Tajik gem dealers coming from Peshawar. The ruby owner was suspecting these rubies to come from the Murgap area in the east of Tajikistan near the Chinese border.

On March 29th 2006, the Gubelin Gem Lab issued a news flash about these rubies:

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Gubelin Gem Lab News-Flash
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Rubies from Tajikistan presented as "Burmese rubies" on the market. Over the past few weeks, gem dealers presented several rubies of good to very good quality in the 5ct to 10ct range to the Gubelin Gem Lab. The stones, which were offered for sale in Bangkok and Yangon, supposedly come from a "New Burmese mine", and display gemmological properties of marble-type ruby deposits. However, advanced microscopic, chemical and spectral analyses show gemmological features that do not match those of the known Burmese deposits of Mogok, NamyaSek and Mong Hsu. On the contrary,they display properties consistent with those described of rubies from the Pamir mountain range in Tajikistan.
A research project of the Gubelin Gem Lab on rubies and pink sapphires from Tajikistan was undertaken in 1998, and the results thereof were published the same year in the ‘Journal of Gemmology’.
The gemstones presented to the laboratory display a pinkish-red to red coloration, often combined with a faint bluish sheen, sometimes displayed in rubies from other marble-type deposits such as Vietnam and Afghanistan.
Fortunately, traditional and more advanced analyses allow to distinguish these Tajik rubies from those of other known, commercially relevant marble deposit.
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(c) 2006 Gubelin Gem Lab Ltd.
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A study on these rubies was published by Christopher P. Smith working at this time for Gubelin in the "Journal of Gemmology.".
Some information about the area and its rubies is also available in "Ruby and sapphire" by Richard W. Hughes page 285 and 286. The Murgap area was reported to have produce rubies from marbles in the late 1980s. Currently very few is known about these area.
Another interesting ressource is form Gary Bowersox website as he visited the Murgap area in summer 2005: We can discover a Murgap ruby in matrix from the Dushanbe Gem museum. Then Bowersox present some interesting photos of the ruby mining area in his slide show about the mining area.
A 200 carats Tajik ruby on sale is Kabul is presented by Gary Bowersox even if the stone is not gem quality it show that large stones are possible for the area.
Ken Scaratt, Director of research for GIA Research Thailand told us that he has recently purchased in Bangkok some cabochon grade rough rubies from supposed Tajik origin. After examination of these rough stones, the author noticed that the color of the cut stones and the rough were very close. The internal teatures of these stones also looks very similar and match the information provided by C.P. Smith in his 1998 article in the "Journal of Gemmology".

In order to complete this study and confirm the Takjik origin of these rubies, an expedition to the possible ruby mining area in Tajikistan is currently planned for Summer 2006

The parcel of 8 rough rubies provided for comparison by Ken Scarratt, Director of Research GIA, Thailand.
Another view of these rough cabochon grade samples. Some white matrix is clearly visible on the rough samples giving some indication about the geologic origin of the stones.
Details on one of these rough ruby. Some white matrix is still attached to the stone.

On March 01, 2006 during the Basel show (Switzerland) I was able to see that some of these Tajik rubies were proposed for sale. Gubelin Gem Lab and SSEF gemologists informed me that they have both seen during the show some these new stones including some attractives stones over 5 carats.

As these stones are from marbles, they can be mistaken for Burmese gems but an experienced gemologist familiar with Burmese rubies will rapidly found out that the inclusions in these stones does not match what is currently know about Burmese rubies. It was reported several times that some of these stones were currently presented in the market as Burmese rubies or as Kashmir rubies. "Kashmir ruby" is an old term used by many Indian dealers to describe rubies from the west Himalaya from Kashmir, to Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

I would like now to present you a rapid inclusion study about these unusual rubies in order to facilitate their proper identification and illustrate further more the information available in the excellent study by Christopher P. Smith in the "Journal of Gemology" (1998). The stones presented here were sold as Tajik rubies in the Bangkok market and were provided by Scott Davies from American Thai. in Bangkok, Thailand.

A parcel of 14 of these unusual rubies possibly from murgap area in Tajikistan. The color range from pink to red, the size from 0.4 to 1.28 carats.
Under dark field illumination, we can see clouds of exsolved particles, feathers, and healed fractures. The stone also present some twinning planes.
Details on the exsolved particles.
Details from the exsolved particles from another stone.
General view on a third stone were healed fractures and exsolved particles are the main inclusions.
Details on the particles.
More details at 80x
General view on another stone. Notice the strong fluorescence and the parallel "flakes"
Details on the particles and the "flakes"
More details on the "flakes" that remind some inclusions seen in some rubies from Vietnam.
Other view on the same inclusion.
An other stone presenting mainly particles and liquids.
Details on secondary liquid inclusions.
Same inclusions, under bright field illumination.
An interesting network of liquid inclusions arranged regularly in unusual circular pattern.
Details on these liquid inclusions.
Details on a fingerprint.
Some crystals are also present as here.
In several stones white crystals are arranged in clusters.
Small euhedral crystals.
In the same stones as the previous photo, we can see negatives crystals surrounded by fingreprints...
Same view under brightfiled.
Same inclusions using cross polars.
same...
again...
General view on a stone with liquid inclusions
Details
The stones under immersion in Methylene Iodine.
Details on one stone.

Note: The inclusion photos presented in these pages can be used freely for illustration and educational purposes with proper credit to AIGS Gemological Laboratory as I took these photos while working for the AIGS Laboratory in bangkok, Thailand in March 2006.

Special thanks for this issue to Scott Davies from American-Thai Trading, Richard Hughes, Ken Scarratt and Gubelin Gem Laboratory for the help provided.