Senatorial Silk Ruby

Latin senātōrius, of the senator — adjectival suffix. As a color modifier, senatorial implies a saturated-and-aristocratic-and-Roman-Republic quality, the deep-rich color of Roman-Senate toga praetexta purple-bordered ceremonial-citizen-class livery. Sits at the bold-and-aristocratic end of the grid, parallel to patrician and imperial.

Old English sēolc, silk. As a color modifier, silk implies a smooth-and-lustrous-textile quality, the visual register of Chinese-Han-and-Italian-Renaissance-silk hand-reeled silk-fiber-and-mulberry-leaf-silkworm Han-and-Renaissance silk-textile surfaces under hand-reeled-silk-textile filtered light. Sits at the modifier-and-texture end of the grid, parallel to wool and lace 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.