The ruby is 3.0 cm tall. When backlit, it absolutely GLOWS in a case! Rarely do you get such large examples of rubies from Afghanistan and usually they are broken, when you do. A crystal of such size is EXCEEDINGLY rare....and so nicely perched, almost beyond expectation! This lovely corundum var. ruby, perched on white calcite, is lustrous, translucent, with wonderful "pigeons blood" red color saturation. This has recently proven to be one of the world's greatest localities for fine specimen rubies. This must have been one of the earliest specimens to trickle out, and was surely prized as such a rar epiece! Even today, for the aesthetics overall and size of the crystal, it remains an oustanding specimen that is not dated at all.