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Spinel |
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Color range: orange, pink, black, blue, lavender, mauve, greenish
blue, and vivid red
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Spinel is a favorite of gem dealers and gem collectors due to
its brilliance, hardness, and wide range of spectacular colors.
Vivid traffic-light red and cobalt blue are the most expensive
colors for spinel and nice stones over 3-carets in size are always a
rarity. Top quality red spinels display superb bright and
saturated red colors that actually fluoresce, or glow, in natural
light. Pure colorless natural spinel is extremely rare and natural
white spinels always show a trace of pink. Star spinels are found
occasionally and they may display either four or six rays depending
on their orientation. Spinel is the great imposter of gemstone history: many famous rubies
in crown jewels around the world are actually spinel. The most
famous is the "Black Prince's Ruby", a magnificent 170-carat red
spinel that currently adorns the Imperial State Crown in the British
Crown Jewels after a long history: Henry V even wore it on his
battle helmet! The "Timor Ruby", a 352-carat red spinel now owned by
Queen Elizabeth, has the names of some of the Mughal emperors who
previously owned it engraved on its face, an undeniable pedigree.
In Burma, where some of the most beautiful colors are mined, spinel
was recognized as a separate gem species since 1600 but in other
countries, the masquerade continued for hundreds of years.
Historically, fine red spinels were esteemed as much as
ruby, and sometimes
even more. Next to ruby
and the rare red
diamond,
spinel is the most expensive of all red gems.
Spinel is thought to protect the owner from harm, to reconcile
differences, and to soothe away sadness. However, the strongest
reason for buying a spinel is its rich, brilliant array of colors in
conjunction with its surprising affordability. |
