Red Spinel?
Click to view full-size image.
Related topics
|
|
|
|
by strmrdr » March 25th, 2004, 5:13 pm
Iv checked some out in person it can be a match for the finest ruby at a reasonable price.
It is slightly softer than ruby but not enough to really matter. It rates an 8 where ruby is a 9. www.ajsgems.com has some really nice samples. There are others here that know far more about them than I do so hopefully they can comment further. |
|
|
|
|
for example I would love to have this one to make something into for my wifey2b.
http://www.ajsgems.com/SPI/SPI-00144.htm There are several others just as nice there. |
|
|
|
|
I love these to pieces, but Mogok is the expert in this field! If anyone can tell you about the fine details of what red spinel is prised for and where it comes out of the ground, it's him.
The one think I most like about spinel is its huge range of subtle colors. This might make it an endless topic, but there is no need to get into great detail if what you want is a stone without the accompanying gemology tome  What are you after? |
|
|
|
|
Thanks for the replies!
strmrdr - That site is fabulous, but most of their stones have been sold already.  I have to find more sites like it. Do you know if these polish as well as rubies? Good luck in your search for wifey's spinel!valeria - I love the fiery color they give off with the right cut. I've noticed they come in every cut imaginable. I agree with you on the color issue. The wide range of colors combined with the low cost can make for a possible collection addiction. I will have to look into these more!  I'm not sure what I'm after. I'm just in the beginning stages...lusting after another pretty stone! ...but this one seems to be within grasp  |
|
|
|
|
Not sure of the low cost... these can get quite expensive, although always 'trailing' top rubies and sapphire (just like any other gem, in fact).
Polish is not an issue in such a hard material, sure that. If you want to browse a couple hundreds of spinels of all kinds, these three addresses may help  (WWW , and a few words of wisedom, gems included , and more stones (btw, you may want to see the 'reserve collection here too) ) |
|
|
|
|
Hello,
You are perfectly right: red spinel is a beautiful stone, to my opinion it is the most beautiful red stone you can find. The reasons for that are that spinel is as diamond a single refractive stone, it so does not have the slightly blur appearance of double refractive stones as ruby. Its color saturation can equal to the ruby one... Of course its hardness is slightly lower than ruby but it is a very durable stone that you can use in any kind of jewelry. If you want informations about spinels you can go to the following link: http://www.gemwow.com/category_info.php?cat2=14 You will find there if you click to "see items" many spinels as they are found in the earth: as beautiful crystal. The website has also a cathegory for cut stones in which you will be able to find many cut red spinels. Most of the cut stones on this website are cut directly in the mining area and none of these stones were heated or treated in any way. Anyway one thing that make red spinels really interesting is that there is currently no treatments on them. This is also the reason why red spinels are that rare in the market: You have to take only the beauty coming from the ground: There is currently no known way to improve their color or clairity! Red spinel is just a great stone, but so difficult to find even in Burma were the most beautiful of these little beauties are found. You can also find some spinel in Vietnam, Sri Lanka or in several African countries but they are more pink or purple than red. All the best, Oh Pretty Princess, that's a gift for you: These stones are not on line now but you can looking at these photos that red spinel is really something!
|
|
|
|
|
Mogok, you had mentioned this thing about no spinel enhancements before. It is certainly the "conventional wisdom" but it's just plain wrong, as demonstrated by the following AGTA report. The supplier was unaware (had said the same thing that you are saying), and fortunately for us they stood behind their product and even reimbursed the report cost. I hate to admit that I was a little surprised, but there is still honor in this business.
|
|
|
|
|
Ok Elmo, you get me...
 My mistake: You are right! I have to agree that of course any stone can have a crack and any stone with a crack can be oiled... on the same way any stone can have been submit to heat treatment or HPHT and may be somebody can find an other report with a heated spinel or why not a laser drilled spinel... Anything is possible. When I was telling that there are not treatment known to improve the color or the clarity of red spinels, I was not meaning that there are no treated spinel, I was meaning that there are no known techniques to used commonly to improve the color or the clarity of a spinel as it is for exemple for rubies, sapphires, emeralds or diamonds Usually red spinels are as they were found from the earth, just polished and cut. But Ok I should have been more careful while saying that... You are right, and you know: Its not the first time somebody catch me like that as usually I dont like to pack my posts with lists of precautions in order to avoid somebody to catch me on one point or 2! Thanks for your post, anyway its healthy to get shot down from times to time! All the best Elmo  |
|
|
|
|
Wasn't meaning to shoot  , simply to inform, primarily because I used to think exactly what you're saying about spinel treatment and almost got burned on this. Consumer, jeweler, supplier were all thinking the same thing so imagine everyone's surprise when the report comes back like this.Because everyone believed no treatment was likely the situation got a little hairy with some interesting words tossed around. That part was actually just as surprising . It all worked out in the end.Oiling is the oldest treatment in the book and is easy enough to check for...in an ideal world you shouldn't have to, but I think this illustrates why lab reports for colored stones are important for consumers, even with a few thousand dollar purchase. |
|
|
|
|
This thread brings out an important point: Any stone that has surface-reaching fractures is a candidate for clarity enhancement these days--it's no longer just emerald and diamonds, though those are by far the most common. Nowadays, there is an entire cottage industry of treaters out there trying anything they can think of to increase the salability/selling price of their gems. You can no longer rely on blanket statements that "[fill in the blank] is customarily not subject to treatment." Custom or not, any gem might have been treated. You have to ask, and in the case of pricey stones, insist on a lab report. Treatment in itself is neither good nor bad; it just needs to be disclosed so you know what you're buying.
|
|
|
|
|
They update every week or so. Not too bad. I did like allot the professional detail one can get on their stones: it seems that every small online stone based in SE Asia has a gemologist on staf! This store looks like it does. I wouldn't worry. |
|
|
|
|
Yep Lawgem, I agree with you and Elmo was very good to put this point in the day light...
Everygem might have undergone a kind of treatment, which is not good or bad if its is properly disclosed. That's the point. In fact there is nothing wrong to enjoy the beauty of a "beryllium heated pink-orange sapphire" if you bought it as it. Now its a different story if you have bought it as a natural padparadsha! same story with an oiled spinel... This is the point. Greed and ignorance are the devils within the gem trade! Ana said: "it seems that every small online stone based in SE Asia has a gemologist on staf! This store looks like it does" Yep you know the AIGS (Asian Institute of Gemological Sciences) which is the oldest gemological school in Asia has formed more than 10.000 gemologists in Thailand during the last 25 years. And currently my classes are full... |
|
|
|
|
A thread about a ruby (fire&ice's) caught my eye and then I saw this thread. Here is an url for a thread with pictures of my spinel in it. You have to cut and paste it, I'm afraid. Deb http://www.pricescope.com/forum/show-me-the-ring/red-spinel-with-pair-of-pears-t7728.html |
|
|
|
|
Hi, f&i- I had already bought the larger pair of pear shaped diamonds when that thread was going on. I had bought them thinking I would use them with the spinel. I decided that I didn't like the proportions of the pears with my spinel; I found them too large to complement it. So I bought a larger tanzanite and used the pears with the tanzanite. My spinel remains unset. I don't know how I want to set the spinel: with smaller pears than I used with the tanzanite; as a solitaire; or in yet another way. I actually started a "contest" to get ideas. LawGem and strmrdr gave me some ideas in that thread and I promised a red stone I own as a "prize". Maybe I should go back and try to get more interest in my contest!!! I still don't have the design I want and I feel honor-bound to award the "prize" I promised! Deb |