I’m a Gemstone Whose Value Doesn’t Reflect My Stupendous Attributes and History

WHAT MORE DO they want? I’m hard, beautiful and come in a range of gorgeous colors. I am rare and have history — that’s me, all 170 carats, on the top of the Imperial State Crown of England, and me again in some of Peter the Great’s finest jewels. OK, so it turned out I wasn’t ruby after all, but what’s the deal? Corundum, in my view, is VHS while I’m Betamax. Say “ruby” or “sapphire” and women swoon. Say my name and people think of a synthetic version used for class rings. What gives?