SPINEL

ROUGH SPECIMEN

Mogok Myanmar [Burma]

TREATMENT -NONE

Spinel is the great impostor of gemstone history: many famous rubies in crown jewels around the world are actually spinels. The most famous is the Black Prince’s ruby, a magnificent 170-carat red spinel that now adorns the Imperial State Crown of England in the British Crown Jewels after a long history: Henry V even wore it on his battle helmet! The transparent red spinels were called spinel-rubies or balas-rubies. In the past, before the arrival of modern science, spinels and rubies were equaly known as rubies. After the XVIII the word ruby was only used for the red gem variety of the mineral corundum and the word spinel became used. “Balas” is derived from Balascia, the ancient name for Badakhshan, a region in central Asia situated in the upper valley of the Kokcha river, one of the principal tributaries of the Oxus river. The Badakshan province was for centuries the main source for red and pink spinels.Now treasured for its own sake, spinel is a favourite of gem dealers and collectors on account of its brilliance, hardness and wide range of spectacular colours. In addition to beautiful rich reds, spinel can be found in a range of gorgeous pastel shades of pink and purple. Of particular interest is a vivid hot pink with a tinge of orange mined in Burma. It is one of the most spectacular gemstone colours seen in any species at all. Spinel also comes in beautiful blue tones called cobalt spinel, but these are very, very rare