This Gem’s Name Is a Tribute to Another Luscious Red Stone

THERE’S AN EGYPTIAN legend that when my family made its way to the surface of the earth we passed over a rainbow and in doing so took on all the colors of the spectrum. That worked well for me because not only did I land red, but it’s a glorious lush strawberry red (at my best) that earned me my own moniker — a tribute of sorts to another fine gemstone. Of course, man being man, someone figured he could improve on nature, and I am now often irradiated, something that didn’t go down well in the market in the first few years.

Who am I?