Getting your allocated seat on BA longhauls is an absolute rarity. I got it once since April 2014. Much more often, I get upgraded, moved to a mirrored seat on the other side, moved to the very back - offered an apology - moved back to the far front again, downgraded, offered a seat on another service or carrier.

Still I feel that BA treats me very well as a stinkin' mini elite from another airline. So I am very unsure what your criterion has to do with the question at hand.

I believe to recall that in SIN and BKK Rubies were explicitly called for priority boarding which I found rather generous.
It indeed did. And 10 years ago, it was a strong accusation. But these days? It's just used as code speak for someone from the other faction or someone who disagrees with you.
It is one of the words that underwent the strongest devaluation ever.