Burmese Ruby Inclusions

First Published: 7 September 2026

Burmese Ruby Inclusions

Explore Burmese ruby inclusions in Hyperion, the Lotus Gemology inclusion database. Hyperion contains photomicrographs of inclusions and internal features in natural rubies from Myanmar (Burma), documented with information on treatment, lighting conditions, field of view, photographer and published references.

Rubies from Myanmar’s Mong Hsu region only rarely feature rutile silk. Instead, the silk-like exsolved particles are composed tiny particles of the mineral diaspore—α-AlO(OH). Diaspore gets its name from the Greek word “to scatter,” in allusion to its propensity to decrepitate (audibly pop) when heated. Diaspore silk is extremely heat sensitive and its alteration can help identify heat treatment.
Mong Hsu rubies are generally heat treated to remove the blue cores that darken their color. In addition, most contain open fissures that disfigure the gems. Treaters use fluxes like borax to heal the fissures with microscopic amounts of synthetic ruby, which recrystallizes in the cracks. This photo shows a flux-healed fissure, accompanied by a cottony cloud of diaspore silk.
Rubies from Myanmar’s Mong Hsu region only rarely feature rutile silk. Instead, the silk-like exsolved particles are composed tiny particles of the mineral diaspore—α-AlO(OH). Diaspore gets its name from the Greek word “to scatter,” in allusion to its propensity to decrepitate (audibly pop) when heated. Diaspore silk is extremely heat sensitive and its alteration can help identify heat treatment.
Many gems entering the market from Burma have been found to be oiled in an attempt to conceal their fissures. This fraud can often be unmasked by using the hot point, which may cause oil drops to leak from fissures.
Shortwave ultraviolet can often reveal heat treatment even at relatively low temperatures. Low-iron rubies, padparadschas and blue sapphires will often display a zoned chalky fluorescence following heat treatment. It is generally the colorless areas of the stone that show this. The presence of chalky SW fluorescence is a strong indication of heat treatment.
Shortwave ultraviolet can often reveal heat treatment even at relatively low temperatures. Low-iron rubies, padparadschas and blue sapphires will often display a zoned chalky fluorescence following heat treatment. It is generally the colorless areas of the stone that show this. The presence of chalky SW fluorescence is a strong indication of heat treatment.
Shortwave ultraviolet can often reveal heat treatment even at relatively low temperatures. Low-iron rubies, padparadschas and blue sapphires will often display a zoned chalky fluorescence following heat treatment. It is generally the colorless areas of the stone that show this. The presence of chalky SW fluorescence is a strong indication of heat treatment.
Rutile silk creates a magical display of light within the red chamber of this Mogok ruby.
Short rutile needles light up the interior of this ruby from Mogok, Myanmar. These represent secondary inclusions, meaning inclusions that formed after the host. Rutile silk forms in corundum through exsolution—the unmixing of a solid solution.
Angular growth zoning is a common feature in rubies from Mong Hsu, Burma. Growth zoning reveals the shape of a crystal at an earlier point in its development.
Flux-healed fissure in a heat-treated ruby from Myanmar’s Mong Hsu mines.

Burmese ruby inclusions may include mineral crystals, rutile silk, healed fissures, fluid inclusions, negative crystals, growth features and other internal features formed during or after crystal growth. Such features are important to gemologists because they can provide evidence useful in identifying ruby and evaluating a possible Burmese origin.

Burmese Ruby Inclusion Photomicrographs

The Hyperion Burmese ruby gallery includes microscopic features documented in rubies from Myanmar (Burma). Each entry is accompanied by descriptive information and, where available, references to the gemological literature.

What Inclusions Can Reveal About Burmese Ruby

Inclusions are an important part of geographic origin determination in ruby. Their form, composition, orientation and associations can provide evidence that, when considered together with other gemological properties, may support or contradict a Burmese origin.

Hyperion combines inclusion photomicrography with supporting gemological information so that individual features can be compared with documented examples from Burmese rubies.

About Hyperion

Hyperion is the Lotus Gemology searchable inclusion database. It allows users to browse gemstone inclusions by gem type, geographic origin, treatment and keyword.

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