| Features | Garnet | Ruby |
|---|---|---|
| How they Look? |
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| Chemical Name | Silicate | Aluminium oxide |
| Crystal System | Isometric | Trigonal |
| Colours | Typically red, but can be orange, green, yellow, purple, black, or brown | Red |
| Hardness | 6.5 - 7.5 on the Mohs scale | 9 on the Mohs scale |
| Refractive Index | 1.72 - 1.94 | 1.76 - 1.78 |
| Specific Gravity | 3.5 - 4.3 | 4.0 - 4.1 |
| Transparency | Transparent to translucent | Transparent to opaque |
| Birefringence | None | -0.008 |
| Lustre | Vitreous to resinous | Vitreous |
| Cleavage | None | None |
| Streak | White | Colourless |
| Fluorescence | Variable | Strong - carmine red |