Pink spinel from the Pamir Mountains, Tajikistan

[Nick_G]

I thought this may be of interest. I bought these pieces today at the Kempton Park Rock Gem & Bead Show. They were in a parcel of gem rough, and I chose them because they show crystal faces, or are partial crystals.The largest piece is 10 mm across (top left) and the smallest, and most vividly-coloured is 6 mm across (bottom right):



The piece at top left shows part of a twin plane, indicating that it is a fragment from a spinel law twin (sorry the back pieces are a little out-of-focus). They show magenta fluorescence under LW UV. The colour is also gorgeous.

Is this Tajik material becoming more readily available these days? I don't think I've seen any for sale before this at the gem shows. I find this material particularly interesting as until recently the location was lost for a long time. It is probably the source for many famous spinels of yore, such as the Black Price's Ruby.

Best of all was the price, £7 for the lot!

 

[pwsg07]

Do they have dark tone like most of the spinel? I remember the Black Prince Ruby has a dark tone.

 

[Nick_G]

No they are a vibrant pink. The deeper coloured one could almost be called hot pink in some lights. I can see why this colour would be popular as a cut gem.

I think the colour looks a bit dark because the camera settings weren't ideal, but I didn't really want to tweak the settings afterwards.

 

[arglthesheep]

@Nick_G Yes you see them far more often in the trade then in the past - rough an cut. That doesn´t mean that you will get them on every show or from every dealer who is selling spinel.
The colour is typical for this source. We have lighter coloured and deeper saturated ones - both possible. Good find.

 

[Nick_G]

Thanks for the info. I got the impression that this material was pretty expensive because of the attractive colour and the fact that it is gem quality, so I was very surprised at how cheap that little lot was.

 

[minousbijoux]

Are you sure that your little lot is gem quality? It doesn't look clean enough - well maybe for cabochons...

 

[Nick_G]

Are you sure that your little lot is gem quality? It doesn't look clean enough - well maybe for cabochons...

They may not be flawless but they are all transparent. There are some irregular and rougher surfaces that scatter the light but the smooth fracture surfaces reveal the clarity. So not facet grade no but not bad for the price IMO.