Origin: Vietnam

Hardness: 8

This Spinel contains the element cobalt which gives it a blue colour. These are extremely hard to find. Also, on top of the rarity of the cobalt blue, this stone exhibits colour change. Wow what a beauty!

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. Recently gem quality spinels were also found in the marbles of Luc Yen (Vietnam), Mahenge and Matombo (Tanzania), Tsavo (Kenya) and in the gravels of Tunduru (Tanzania) and Ilakaka (Madagascar).