sapphire vs. spinel

[Kitten35]

Can someone tell me the main differences between sapphire and spinel? I read that spinel is rare, why is it cheaper than sapphires? Is it just an awareness issue about spinel among the general public?

If you had a choice between a sapphire and a spinel and it was the only "expensive" gem you were going to buy for awhile, which would you choose? I have never seen a spinel in real life, but love what I see on here in photos of rings and things.

 

[T L]

Can someone tell me the main differences between sapphire and spinel? I read that spinel is rare, why is it cheaper than sapphires? Is it just an awareness issue about spinel among the general public?

If you had a choice between a sapphire and a spinel and it was the only "expensive" gem you were going to buy for awhile, which would you choose? I have never seen a spinel in real life, but love what I see on here in photos of rings and things.

Spinel is not necessarily "cheaper" than sapphires. Fine cobalt spinels can run thousands per carat, such as the ring below.

However, most blue spinel has a strong grey mask and cannot compete with the blue hue of a nice sapphire. That, and the fact that spinel is far less marketed than sapphire, makes it less expensive overall. However, the good things about spinel are that its rarely treated (sometimes heated or fracture filled though), and it has great luster, fire and durability. It has a high RI. Some people overlook the greyer hue because of those things, especially in a well cut spinel. They also lack the zoning that is so common with sapphires. I personally adore spinels, but I wouldn't refuse a fine sapphire either. I'm sort of disappointed that there's so many ways to treat a sapphire from coating, filling, irradiation, diffusion, all the way to just simple heating. It's harder to treat a spinel and get prime results. This has made unheated sapphires extraordinarily expensive, especially due to the resurgence of the Kate/Diana ring.

 

[chrono]

Firstoff, TL, that is a gorgeous blue spinel!

Ahem.....moving on to the topic at hand.

Spinel is less well known and marketed in the general public circles, hence pricing is usually less than sapphires. There have been many instances where spinel has been mistaken for a sapphire in the past. Unfortunately, just like sapphire, there are fine spinels and there are commercial spinels. The unattractive red spinels usually appear garnety (brownish) and unattractive blue spinels can look like black holes. I like spinels for the fact that they are almost comparable to sapphires in terms of Moh, untreated for the most part and can sparkle your socks off.

My opinion is that super fine spinel is rarer and more difficult to find than super fine sapphire though.

 

[Kitten35]

Thanks! I was just curious. I have seen a lot of the spinels on here and think they are gorgeous but was just wondering what the differences were.

 

[Michael_E]

Can someone tell me the main differences between sapphire and spinel?

Spinel's crystal structure has about 17% magnesium and the material is a little softer than sapphire. It's optical properties are very close to sapphire, but it has an isometric, (cubic), crystal structure which leads to the gems having the same color in every direction, while sapphire is always dichroic, (a different color along the 'C' axis), to some extent.

I read that spinel is rare, why is it cheaper than sapphires? Is it just an awareness issue about spinel among the general public?

Yes, it is mostly awareness. This is probably due to the fact that spinel is easy and cheap to create synthetically. It has been used in that form for maybe 100 years, causing spinel to be seen by the masses, (and most jewelers who were not gemologically astute), as a cheap material for low quality jewelry. In the last 20 years that has changed and fine spinel now commands prices which can be close to sapphire.

If you had a choice between a sapphire and a spinel and it was the only "expensive" gem you were going to buy for awhile, which would you choose? I have never seen a spinel in real life, but love what I see on here in photos of rings and things.

I would base my choice on color and price, not on mineral species, since they both make fine ring stones.

 

[minousbijoux]

Just to add to everyone's great posts, spinels have really been making a splash and gotten a lot more press since the discovery of the extremely bright, glowy red/magenta Mahenge spinels found in the last what, ten years? More specifically, reports back from Tucson this year from our purveyors and cutters indicate that spinel was the sought after stone.

I think it also depends on what you're looking for. I agree with TL that if you want a vivid blue without a grey mask, then you're better off getting a sapphire - the only spinel I have "seen" like that recently is Jewelfreaks. I have "seen," bought and returned a few online because they tend to pump up the contrast and saturation to eliminate the grey and make the spinels look that pure blue. Sadly disappointing.

For the pure red spinels, I'm sure someone can speak to the price of the Mahenge spinels compared to ruby, but I wouldn't be surprised if there is not much of a price differential any more.

Finally, I have been looking for a large, 3 - 4 ct. oval spinel to fit a ring for some time. I would love it to be a pale pink/peach color, and wouldn't mind lavender thrown in as well. Huge price differential here between an unheated padparadscha sapphire of that size, probably in the $10k-$20k range, and a spinel - I recently bought and returned one from Dana at Mastercut (now kicking myself) for $580. This last example is one extreme end of the continuum, but you get the point...

 

[JewelFreak]

Like Michael, I'd make a choice based on color & price. For me, the treatment issue with sapphires is too much of a hassle in addition to the cost, but that's a personal choice. (If somebody, ahem, gave me a lovely untreated sapphire, I'd snatch it right out from under their nose.) It takes a little searching to find a spinel of a good blue without gray, but they're available & you don't generally have to worry about treatments. A spinel costs less than an equivalent untreated sapphire...now. Don't know if or how long that will last but prices have risen enough that I'm glad I bought mine when I did. As said above, (blue) spinels aren't currently marketed in the big way sapphires are -- maybe because there are fewer of them -- but jewelry designers are always looking for new things, & that could change.

I feel going to vendors known to carry top-notch stones is worth the slightly higher price you'll pay. My spinel came from Roger Dery, (http://www.spectralgems.net/) who has nice examples of both spinels & sapphires & is wonderful to work with. There are plenty of others on the Trusted Vendor list. Mainly it's a case of visiting them fairly often, keeping an eye out, even asking if they have rough of either species or could look on their next buying trip.

--- Laurie

 

[T L]

It should be noted that you should always buy blue spinels from reputable sellers, as there are many synthetic blues that are highly saturated in color. I always look for blue spinels with visible natural inclusions or I buy from sellers I know and trust.

 

[Barrett]

One "Hauyne blue spinel" posted by Big E over on GO
I wonder if Harriet has seen this one
Luc yen I assume(Vietnam it says)

http://www.kingdomofredspinels.com/showdetail_pro.asp?product_id=613

 

[Pandora II]

Nice - do you remember how much?

Blue spinels that look like fine sapphires don't come cheaper....

 

[LD]

One "Hauyne blue spinel" posted by Big E over on GO
I wonder if Harriet has seen this one
Luc yen I assume(Vietnam it says)

http://www.kingdomofredspinels.com/showdetail_pro.asp?product_id=613

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG
Never mind Harriet, I'll fight whoever has put that on hold. I WANT AND NEED IT.

Just to be clear, I really do like this stone!

Sorry for the threadjack ............ to answer the question ..........

people have generally heard of sapphires but the average jewellery buyer won't really know about spinel and if they have heard of them it may be something about "poor man's ruby" or something equally as daft! The finest spinels are just incredible. As are sapphires. At the end of the day it comes down to cost, size, clarity, colour (not necessarily in that order). if you're open just to finding a stone that speaks to you then look at both because it vastly increases your options.

 

[Justin_Cutter]

One "Hauyne blue spinel" posted by Big E over on GO
I wonder if Harriet has seen this one
Luc yen I assume(Vietnam it says)

http://www.kingdomofredspinels.com/showdetail_pro.asp?product_id=613

Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh! What the heck! I have never seen a Spinel that color! LD I'll fight you for it!

Kitten35,
I honestly think that in another year or two spinel will much more popular than they are currently. This is just my opinion. That being said if I had the choice between a top quality spinel or a top quality sapphire I would pick the spinel. Here are my personal justifications

1. My gut tells me in a couple years I will pay twice the price for the same spinel.

2. Thanks to the current sapphire crazy prices on sapphires are out of control.

3. Lack of treatment in spinel. If you prefer untreated stones as I do then this is a easy decision. I know better than most the pains of trying to find a untreated sapphire. Not a easy process.

~Justin

 

[JewelFreak]

My gut tells me in a couple years I will pay twice the price for the same spinel.

Revise waaayy upward, Justin! Just got an email from a vendor who says the good blue rough (& cut stones, I assume) is being snapped up so fast by the Asian market that what is left of decent quality is many multiples of what I paid a little over a year ago. So, availability extremely down, price extremely in the ozone.

 

[jstarfireb]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I also think spinels have a sparkly metallic luster, whereas blue sapphires tend to have more of a soft, velvety glow. I prefer the appearance of spinels because of that.

 

[T L]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I also think spinels have a sparkly metallic luster, whereas blue sapphires tend to have more of a soft, velvety glow. I prefer the appearance of spinels because of that.

If a sapphire has silk, it can glow, but not all sapphires have silk. I have a sapphire that looks almost identical to several of my spinels (below). If I had to say anything about spinels, I do think they have more fire when cut well. I think they have a higher RI than sapphire, but I have to look that up. Sorry, I'm such a show off , but sapphires can have nice luster and sparkle, and some dispersion.

 

[minousbijoux]

SUCH a showoff!

TL, what makes you think this is the place to show off your beautiful examples of spinels and sapphires? What, do you think this is the Colored Stones forum or something?!!

Some nerve.

 

[Justin_Cutter]

My gut tells me in a couple years I will pay twice the price for the same spinel.

Revise waaayy upward, Justin! Just got an email from a vendor who says the good blue rough (& cut stones, I assume) is being snapped up so fast by the Asian market that what is left of decent quality is many multiples of what I paid a little over a year ago. So, availability extremely down, price extremely in the ozone.

Wow good to know! Thank you!
~Justin