Beautiful Spinel

Spinel is a wonderful stone that is available in a huge array of colours; both Spinel and synthetic Spinel measure 8 on the Mohs scale and have cubic crystal systems. The variety of colours are due to the presence of various impurities – such as iron, chromium, vanadium, and cobalt. The most popular colour is red, which is coloured by chromium and iron; red was previously thought to be a variety of Ruby. Unsurprisingly they are similar chemically; Spinel is magnesium aluminium oxide and ruby is aluminium oxide. This is probably why the two are relatively similar. Rubies are harder to find in a popular “pillar box” red colour, as they tend to be more pinky, so Spinel is often suggested as an alternative stone if the red colour is desired.

Other available colours are: orange, yellow, brown, blue, violet, purple, green, black. Clear spinel is VERY rare.

Spinel occurs in granite and metamorphic rocks, and is often found in association with corundum. They are found in places such as Burma, Sri Lanka and Madagascar; as well as sometimes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Brazil, Australia, Sweden, Italy, Turkey, Russia, and the USA.

Apart from red diamonds and rubies, it is the most expensive red gemstone; although the prices do vary depending on size, quality, and colour. In large sizes it’s the most expensive – but compared to a ruby of the same size and colour, a red spinel would be considerably less costly.

The gemstone is most often faceted in oval, round, or cushions shapes, and is therefore used often in jewellery. It is sometimes cut in cabochons, which can rarely show a cat’s eye effect or asterism.