Bastioned Hera Ruby

Italian bastionato, fortified-with-bastions — past-participle of bastion, derived from bastia (fortified-tower). As a color modifier, bastioned implies a saturated-and-fortified-and-projecting quality, the deep-rich color of Vauban-period military-fortress star-fort projecting-bastion stone-architecture. Sits at the bold-and-fortified end of the grid, parallel to fortified and buttressed.

Greek Ἥρα, queen-of-the-Olympian-gods. As a color modifier, hera implies a peacock-feather-and-queen-of-gods quality, the visual register of Olympian-Hera-and-Argos-temple hand-peacock-feather-and-queen-of-gods Olympian-Hera-and-Argos-temple-and-Heraion-of-Samos hera-and-peacock-feather-and-queen-of-gods surfaces under Olympian-Hera-and-Argos-temple-and-Heraion-of-Samos Polyclitus-and-Argive-and-Samian peacock-throne-light. Sits at the modifier-and-myth end of the grid, parallel to zeus and diana in usage.

From the Latin ruber — simply, red. The gemstone is a chromium-tinged corundum, harder than anything in nature except diamond, and so saturated that a fine Burmese pigeon's blood ruby at auction outpaces a comparable diamond by weight. The color borrows the gem's confidence: a clear, glassy red without the brown of garnet or the blue of crimson.