A type of red spinel gem, historically confused with ruby but actually a different mineral that's prized for jewelry.
From Persian 'balāš,' the region where these stones were historically mined, used in English since medieval times through trade with Middle Eastern gemstone merchants.
Medieval European royalty owned huge collections of balases thinking they were rubies—when modern gemology revealed they were actually spinel, it turned out some 'priceless crowns' contained less valuable stones, showing how trade secrets protected profit margins.
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