Disadvantages of spinel?

[akmiss]

I am on the hunt for a reddish pink spinel and may have found one. I know that spinels are very popular on PS - for those that have one already - what are your thoughts on the stone's performance? Does it perform well in most lighting conditions? And how is the sparkle factor? Sorry for the pretty basic questions but I am pretty new to colored stones.

 

[VirginiaZee]

I'm pretty new too but do have a few spinels. The sparkle (assuming they're cut well - both of mine are precision cut) is very nice, they seem to polish nicely. My medium-light lavender one has lavender-pink sparkles, and holds its color well in most lights. It does tend to grey out a bit and lose some saturation outside though. I also have a medium / medium-dark purple one. It is a lovely, fairly bright and sparkly color in indirect light (and seems to love fluorescent light, I don't know why) but goes very dark outdoors in direct sunlight. IMO I love the sparkle, and think spinel is a very beautiful stone, but prefer the medium to medium light toned ones.

Regarding the stone you found, if the vendor has a good return policy I'd suggest you buy it and see for yourself how the stone performs for you. You could also ask the vendor how it holds its color in different environments, or see if they're willing to send hand shots.

 

[FrekeChild]

What are your thoughts on the stone's performance?
It's my favorite gemstone. I have spinels in a variety of colors including almost colorless, gray, peach, pinks, reds, blues, lavender. I enjoy the colors and I enjoy the sparkle, especially when precision cut. I also like gray as a modifier, so blue spinels and I get along very, very well.

Does it perform well in most lighting conditions?
It depends. It's not going to look like a diamond, and typically colored gemstones do not stay the same color in different lighting situations. This isn't necessarily something you can generalize to the gemstone species, spinels come in all different colors and quality. A dark gray-blue spinel isn't going to "perform" as well as a light pink spinel, for instance.

Gemstones tend to black out in direct light, and in diffused lighting, such as under a tree at midday, will light up. Some stones shift colors under fluorescent lights.

And how is the sparkle factor?
Depends on color and cut/polish. Lighter spinels are very sparkly and can show lots of dispersion and fire. Darker spinels don't tend to do this as much. So medium-medium dark-dark spinels are typically more about the color than the sparkle factor. Which doesn't mean that they don't flash, but you're not going to get as much dispersion as you would from a lighter spinel.

First thing that you should judge a colored stone on is color. The rest is a game of give and take.

Here are some pics of stones from my collection, all of them were taken in the sun.

 

[the_mother_thing]

Great thread topic, OP!

I was looking at a couple spinels just trying to get an idea of what I might like, and read on one sellers page that spinels are not ever/usually treated. Does anyone know if that is true? I would imagine any stone that has potential for "improvement" in some way might be treatable via heat or filling so that claim didn't set well with me.

 

[LoversKites]

Some spinel is clarity treated but it is not too common. Not sure about heating.

 

[T L]

I am on the hunt for a reddish pink spinel and may have found one. I know that spinels are very popular on PS - for those that have one already - what are your thoughts on the stone's performance? Does it perform well in most lighting conditions? And how is the sparkle factor? Sorry for the pretty basic questions but I am pretty new to colored stones.

You have been given very good answers so far, so I'll just say that pink/red spinels can tend to color shift to a more orange and/or brownish color in some lighting. Since red/pink is the color you're looking for, I thought I'd add that. Blue/violet spinels tend to shift to a more greyish color in some lighting, or tend to be greyish overall.

When looking for a red/pink spinel, just make sure you are aware of the color shift, and ask to view photos of it in various light sources (artificial vs. natural). Pink/red spinels that tend to fluoresce in the sun are very nice, as they can get a more intense reddish color outdoors. I would also check for the stone's ability to fluoresce, as not all red spinels have this attribute.

Good luck on your search.

 

[akmiss]

Thanks for the responses VirginiaZee, Freke, JoCoJean, and LoversKites, and VL this is all very helpful! Freke, you have an awesome collection. I love the bubblegum necklace

I am inspired by Art Nouveau's beautiful spinal. I don't see any brown in this stone, is that correct? The stone I am looking at is from Burma - does Burma tend to have more brownish overtones than stones originating from Mahenge?

 

[T L]

Thanks for the responses VirginiaZee, Freke, JoCoJean, and LoversKites, and VL this is all very helpful! Freke, you have an awesome collection. I love the bubblegum necklace

I am inspired by Art Nouveau's beautiful spinal. I don't see any brown in this stone, is that correct? The stone I am looking at is from Burma - does Burma tend to have more brownish overtones than stones originating from Mahenge?

Yes, I think Burmese stones tend to be brownish or orangy, but Mahenges can be as well.

There are always fine specimens from both locations however. One must be prudent in reviewing them in various light sources, and checking for fluorescence IMO. It's always good to see a fine specimen first hand to, in order to ascertain the quality of the stone you're looking at. Not everyone can afford top grade material, but you definitely don't want to overpay for something that looks like a pyrope garnet.

 

[akmiss]

Thanks for the responses VirginiaZee, Freke, JoCoJean, and LoversKites, and VL this is all very helpful! Freke, you have an awesome collection. I love the bubblegum necklace

I am inspired by Art Nouveau's beautiful spinal. I don't see any brown in this stone, is that correct? The stone I am looking at is from Burma - does Burma tend to have more brownish overtones than stones originating from Mahenge?

Yes, I think Burmese stones tend to be brownish or orangy, but Mahenges can be as well.

There are always fine specimens from both locations however. One must be prudent in reviewing them in various light sources, and checking for fluorescence IMO. It's always good to see a fine specimen first hand to, in order to ascertain the quality of the stone you're looking at. Not everyone can afford top grade material, but you definitely don't want to overpay for something that looks like a pyrope garnet.

That is good to know. What would be a standard price range for a top quality burma stone just under 2 cts? Looking at different sources, including eBay, the prices range is wide. The stone I am looking at is $2,200... Is this overpriced?

 

[T L]

Thanks for the responses VirginiaZee, Freke, JoCoJean, and LoversKites, and VL this is all very helpful! Freke, you have an awesome collection. I love the bubblegum necklace

I am inspired by Art Nouveau's beautiful spinal. I don't see any brown in this stone, is that correct? The stone I am looking at is from Burma - does Burma tend to have more brownish overtones than stones originating from Mahenge?

Yes, I think Burmese stones tend to be brownish or orangy, but Mahenges can be as well.

There are always fine specimens from both locations however. One must be prudent in reviewing them in various light sources, and checking for fluorescence IMO. It's always good to see a fine specimen first hand to, in order to ascertain the quality of the stone you're looking at. Not everyone can afford top grade material, but you definitely don't want to overpay for something that looks like a pyrope garnet.

That is good to know. What would be a standard price range for a top quality burma stone just under 2 cts? Looking at different sources, including eBay, the prices range is wide. The stone I am looking at is $2,200... Is this overpriced?

It depends on the quality. If it's a top stone, then $2200 is a good price, if it looks like a pyrope, then it's extremely overpriced. There are many things that determine quality, but color is most important, and hopefully it doesn't have eye distracting or very visible inclusions.

Most Burmese material I see looks like this. Overly extinct, and brown.

 

[NKOTB]

I'm another spinel fan. I have a few of the pink-reds, mostly from Mahenge, a couple from Burma.

Here are my two Burmese. Both were under 2k (the pink one was originally listed at 1100, but went on sale for under 1k, so I scooped it), both are around 1.4 cts, though. It's not the best pic of either of them, but I don't see any brown in either IRL.

Is the one you're considering more red, or more pink? The pink ones tend to be cheaper, though according to our sources that were in Tucson this year, pink-red spinels seem to have risen dramatically in price. By "top quality", do you mean in colour, cut, or both?

 

[FrekeChild]

Great thread topic, OP!

I was looking at a couple spinels just trying to get an idea of what I might like, and read on one sellers page that spinels are not ever/usually treated. Does anyone know if that is true? I would imagine any stone that has potential for "improvement" in some way might be treatable via heat or filling so that claim didn't set well with me.

From what I understand, heating doesn't do much to spinel. I've never heard of filling a spinel for inclusions, but I'm sure someone has done it somewhere.

Spinels are not typically treated. I only say typically because I'm sure someone out there is experimenting. Spinels are not a well known gem, such as ruby, sapphire or emerald, so therefore the demand is not very high. It's really more of a collector gem than one that's in the public domain. And spinel is very rare. It's very rare to find stones that can cut 3+ ct gems, and it's very rare to find very fine colors.

So, between the actual rarity of the mineral, the rarity of fine colors, the rarity of large sizes, and the fact that it's not really in the public eye, you're not going to have much in the way of treatment. Spinel is actually pretty cheap compared to the big three, except for fine examples.


Now, having said that, synthetic spinel is plentiful. Say, in class rings, for one.

 

[chrono]

Effect of Light
Spinels are shifty stones, regardless of hue. Most reds have a tendency to shift to orange indoors and most blues have a tendency to shift to gray indoors. As always, there are exceptions.

Sparkle
This is dependent on the cut and tone. Darker coloured spinels tend to throw more body coloured flash whilst lighter ones tend to show more varied coloured sparkles. How sparkly it is, tends to be more dependent on how well cut it is and the type of cut (lots of small busier facets or fewer large facets).

Treatment
As far as I know, the most common form of treatment is oil and heat, but even so, they aren't common at all. Oiling and heat are done to improve the apparent clarity of the spinel. As available top colour spinels decrease in quantity, I am seeing more oiled spinels in the market.

Colour
The way colour is judged is in 3 main categories; hue (purity of colour), saturation (pop of colour) and tone (light or darkness). There is some overlap of all 3 categories but they are separate for the most part. I will refer to these in the paragraph below.

Origin
Burmese spinels tend to be redder than Mahenge spinels which tend to be pinker. However, as with most reds, there are more of those with an orange modifier rather than a blue. Purer hues tend to be prized and more expensive than those with modifiers with a few exceptions. When the stone has lower saturation, it is perceived to look browner (for reds) or grayer (for blues). Mahenge spinels tend be lighter in tone whilst many Burmese spinels suffer from being overly dark and tend to show a lot of extinction.

$2200 can be expensive or a good deal depending on factors. Without at least a picture, there is no way to tell.

 

[akmiss]

Thanks again for all the responses. Sorry, I have been caught up at work…

the stone in question is from Finewater Gems and it is the 1.90 ct Burmese cushion

http://www.finewatergems.com/spinel.html

The stone looks great in the vendor photo and Gary was able to send a low daylight picture too. He has stated that there is no brown modifier and that it does fluoresce but unfortunately he is traveling at the moment. I am hoping that the stone is not too dark. Opinions please on the middle stone below

 

[akmiss]

I'm another spinel fan. I have a few of the pink-reds, mostly from Mahenge, a couple from Burma.

Here are my two Burmese. Both were under 2k (the pink one was originally listed at 1100, but went on sale for under 1k, so I scooped it), both are around 1.4 cts, though. It's not the best pic of either of them, but I don't see any brown in either IRL.

Is the one you're considering more red, or more pink? The pink ones tend to be cheaper, though according to our sources that were in Tucson this year, pink-red spinels seem to have risen dramatically in price. By "top quality", do you mean in colour, cut, or both?

Love the big red NKOTB!

 

[NKOTB]

It's from Gary. The vendor pic is still up on his site (on the main page, with the other stones sold in the past), if you want to see how my pic compares.

It's weird, I find his hand shots seem to add brown. I would hazard a guess that the cushion 1.90 ct will NOT be too dark, and will look better than that hand shot. Will the small window/tilt window bother you?

 

[akmiss]

Yes, I think my hesitation set in after I say the hand shot. Gary did say that the center doesn't look as dark in real life…

 

[chrono]

I don't think the spinel will be overly dark, looking at the amount of light in the picture. That said, the spinel looks more rosy than red-pink in that picture too.

 

[T L]

It is not precision cut, and still retains its native cut, just so you know. There's nothing wrong with that, but do not assume its precision cut because you're obtaining it from a lapidary.