By the mid-23rd century, synthesizing technology had become sophisticated enough that rubies could be easily created in large quantities whenever needed, greatly reducing their value. Standard technology aboard the USS Enterprise was capable of performing this process. In 2267, an alien named Korob created a plateful of precious stones, including rubies, diamonds and sapphires, in an ill-conceived attempt to bribe Kirk, Spock, and McCoy into leaving Pyris VII and abandoning two Enterprise crewmen. An error led Korob to believe that the stones were still valued. (TOS: "Catspaw" )