Spinel Jewelry
Natural Spinel Jewelry
Spinel is the August Birthstone and the 22nd wedding anniversary gemstone.
The stone comes in a wealth of colors: intense red, vibrant pink, orange, purple, violet, blue and blue green. Intense reds and pinks are caused by traces of Chromium. The higher the chromium content, the stronger the red hue. Orange and purple stones owe their color to a mixture of Iron and Chromium. Violet to blue spinel can be colored by trace amounts of Iron, and vibrant blues owe their saturated color to trace amounts of Cobalt.
Spinel comes in beautiful red, pink, purple, and blue colors. FAMILY
Spinel is considered the August Gem of the Month (along with Peridot ) and the 22nd Wedding Anniversary Gem.
Spinel (like Garnet and Diamond) has a single refraction, the same physical properties in all crystal directions. It has a cubic crystal system, and the characteristic crystal shape is an octahedron, which looks like two pyramids facing each other.
With its beauty and brilliance, Spinel is considered “History's Most Underappreciated Gem”.
In ancient times, the Kuh-i-Lal mine in Tajikistan produced exceptionally large raw Spinels called Balas Ruby. Some of the stones are famous as valuable possessions of Kings and Emperors who obtained the spoils of wars.
For centuries Spinel was confused with Ruby and Pink Sapphire. In 1783, mineralogist Jean Baptiste Louis Rome de Lisle identified Spinel as a different mineral than Ruby.
Spinel is mined in Tajikistan , Myanmar , Sri Lanka , Vietnam , Tanzania and Pakistan . Mogok mine, Myanmar is famous for Burmese Spinel with eye-catching colors such as hot pink and red. Sri Lanka offers blue, pink and purple Spinels. Vietnam's Luc Yen gem mine , Yen Bai has been producing deep red, purple, pink, violet and violet-blue spinels since the 1980s, and vivid blue spinels since 2000.
Mineralogy, Spinel has a chemical composition of MgAl 2 O 4 , hardness 8.
Source: HOUSE
Natural Gemstone Tested Spinel by AME Jewelery.