I have a love/hate relationship with rubies. I love the way a stone like this looks in person. I hate them as a photographer. It's a rich, deep red. Based on my eyes, richer in real life as compared to the pics. And the transparency - in the pics, it looks like there's all kinds of shtuff visible - but in person, all you see is the deep red. And it's lively. If you like the pics, you'll love the stone in person. The ruby was heated before cutting- customary with good looking stones in this price range