Spinel

Spinel

Spinel is considered to be a noble mineral that, with its rich palette of colors. Its chemical composition is similar to rubies and sapphires. This colored stone will carry to rare minerals. Because of this, high quality samples are highly appreciate, to several thousand dollars per carat. Experts note a shortage of supply jewelry spinel in the world market. The market value of the gems affects the color of the crystals, in particular its saturation, and the purity and origin. The cost for the different colour varieties are very different.

In the Windows of jewelry stores there are virtually no products, decorated with noble spinel. Rare natural minerals makes masters to carry boxed copies of the jewelry on order only. Experts many world-famous jewellery brands to create exclusive jewelry with spinel of different colors, which is the highlight of their collections.

Main color varieties of spinel

• Red spinel refers to the highest price category. The presence of additional colors (orange, purple or Burgundy) reduces the price of red spinel.Read more about red spinel...
• Spinel pink color also is quite expensive. The best specimens of gems are exported from Burma (Myanmar) and Tanzania. The market value of the gems red and pink shades is constantly increasing.Read more about a pink spinel...
• Minerals having a blue or light blue color, considered to be one of the rarest. In the jewelry market it is customary to call such instances "cobalt spinel" because the color scheme is determined by the admixture of cobalt.Read more about blue and blue spinel...
• There are instances of gems with purple and lavender color. More saturated minerals look more attractive and more expensive. They are characterized by the manifestation of dispersion, favorably affect the beauty of the gem.Read more about purple spinel...

The refinement of the spinel

Natural spinel is not subjected to refining, owing to the unique properties of these gems. However, the methods of growing synthetic crystals. Therefore, the sale often come across instances of synthetic spinels which are difficult to distinguish from these minerals of natural origin standard methods of diagnosis. When you purchase expensive spinel necessary to verify the presence of the expert opinion issued by one of the independent Gemological laboratories. The lack of refinement is what sets the spinel compared to other precious gems.

Deposits of spinel

• Burma (Myanmar)
• Tanzania
• Vietnam
• Sri Lanka
• Tajikistan (Pamir)
• Madagascar

History of spinel

Jewelers use spinel from time immemorial. Previously, its transparent red crystals erroneously attributed to rubies. We have recordings of the famous traveller Marco Polo that pink spinel from Badakhshan called the "Rubin bale". Europeans called this mineral a "Balas", referring to him according to the ancient name of Badakhshan. The French transformed the name "Balas rubies" in "rubies bale", and since the beginning of the twentieth century began to call these gems "bale spinel".

Colored crystals of spinel at all times was ranked as the most costly precious gems. These minerals were adorned with the Royal regalia, carrying spinel to the symbols of power. It is known that noble Burgundy stones Shine on the crowns of the emperors, Russian and German empires, kings of great Britain and France. Spinel occupied a dominant place in the "Cap of Monomakh", which was used at the coronation of the Russian princes. In the manufacture in the eighteenth century for the crown of the Russian Empress Catherine II in its pommel is set with a unique crystal spinel weighing 398,72 carats, taken with the "cap of Monomakh". Eastern rulers, possessed of untold wealth, loved to decorate spinel their thrones. Interestingly, the modern methods of diagnosis of gems allowed to find out that some of the world's most famous rubies are actually a noble spinel crystals. It refers to the ornaments of the British Treasury "Timur ruby", having a mass of 361 carats, and the "black Prince ruby" weighing 170 carats.