Shocking pink spinel; unheated?

[ger100]

This is supposed to be an unheated natural pink spinel. I''ve scanned around and could not find anything QUITE like this color. Is this color consistent with an unheated spinel?
Thanks
Ger

 

[innerkitten]

I''m no expert. But spinels come in all sorts of beautiful reds and pinks and they are not heated. So it''s most likely the natural color of the stone.

 

[widget]

My, what a yummy looking stone!

I''m no expert either, but I do believe Innerkitten is right: spinels are not heat treated, and do indeed come in lots of colors, including pink.

Where did you find that, ger?

widget

 

[Fashionvictim]

Ooh now that is beautiful! What is the hardness of that stone? Is it suitable for ring wear?

 

[ger100]

I saw this stone on ebay...got sniped, so it ain''t mine.

Spinel is very bright, hardness of 8. Great for jewelry. Also, you must have heard the famous stories about at least 3 red spinels in crown jewelry being mistaken for rubies.

I think you can get them pretty clean, and I''d almost prefer a spinel over a ruby! For the clarity, the price is a lot less. They are wonderful stones. I just thought that this color looked almost artificial.

Thanks
Ger

 

[strmrdr]

the pic looks like fairly typical spinel purplish pink to me.

 

[ger100]

Check out this one: Is it spinel or D-block tanzanite?

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 12/19/2006 10:52:39 PM
Author: ger100
Check out this one: Is it spinel or D-block tanzanite?

spinel
too blackish for good tanzanite,

 

[MINE!!]

Beautiful Spinel.. lots of nasty inclusions on that last stone.. ick...

So am not sure about whether it is tanz. or spinel, but I I do know that it is icky IMO

 

[ger100]

Hmmm. I did not think about all that black in the stone.

Frankly, I don''t know why some people compare Iolite with Tanzanite either!
I''ve been checking around on ebay, and all of the Iolites there look "dead" with no color or sparkle like tanzie. Someplace I had read that Iolite was a "sleeper," the Tanzie replacement-to-be. And no, it was not on JTV.

 

[MINE!!]

Date: 12/19/2006 11:49:26 PM
Author: ger100
Hmmm. I did not think about all that black in the stone.

Frankly, I don''t know why some people compare Iolite with Tanzanite either!
I''ve been checking around on ebay, and all of the Iolites there look ''dead'' with no color or sparkle like tanzie. Someplace I had read that Iolite was a ''sleeper,'' the Tanzie replacement-to-be. And no, it was not on JTV.

LOL.. Touche ger

 

[innerkitten]

I have a nice bubble gum pink spinel with good sparkle. It looks kind of like a pink sapphire.
It''s only .85 though... I wish it was a little bigger.

 

[Linda W]

Innerkitten,

Your pink spinel is really beautiful. What are you going to mount it in? A ring or a pendant?

Linda

 

[innerkitten]

Hmmm, Good question.
I have too many ring plans so maybe a pendant

 

[Richard M.]

Author: ger100


Frankly, I don''t know why some people compare Iolite with Tanzanite either!
I''ve been checking around on ebay, and all of the Iolites there look ''dead'' with no color or sparkle like tanzie. Someplace I had read that Iolite was a ''sleeper,'' the Tanzie replacement-to-be.

In terms of color alone, some iolites look at lot like tanzanite. The real giveaway is the lack of life and sparkle, as you say. Iolite/cordierite has a much lower refractive index than tanzanite/zoisite (1.542-1.549 compared with 1.691-1.700). The difference is easily apparent yet I''ve caught several retail B&M sellers misrepresenting iolite as tanzanite. They were charging the lower iolite price so my guess is they were trying to create a lower price-point to satisfy shoppers who couldn''t afford tanzanite.

Richard M.

 

[C Smith]

The extreme reaction of iolite to a dichroscope gives it away too. No other blue/purplish stone I''m aware of throws dark purple, light blue and colorless so distinctly with this instrument. Heck, the blue to colorless phenomena can be seen with no tools in good light.

 

[leggs]

I played the ebay gem buying game for a year or so. I got lured into buying Iolite because of the lower price but was very disappointed with the stone, it looks dull blue like lapis and it was extremely included.
I bought many spinels and always was pleased with the pinks.

Hope you have good luck in ebay...

 

[Richard M.]

Date: 12/20/2006 8:01:39 PM
Author: C Smith
The extreme reaction of iolite to a dichroscope gives it away too. No other blue/purplish stone I''m aware of throws dark purple, light blue and colorless so distinctly with this instrument. Heck, the blue to colorless phenomena can be seen with no tools in good light.

I was just giving an obvious eye-visible difference consumers can use requiring no instruments. You can see trichroism in tanzanite without instruments too -- if you know what to look for. But that''s a little too complex for the average gem shopper.

Richard M.

 

[colorchange]

It is consistent : The little inclusions and the bad cut are similar to many other spinels I''ve seen.

Anyway, note that :
- The color may very well be less saturated than in the photo.
- These inclusions affect seriously the price, they are not accepted in spinels as they are in sapphires.

Spinels are not heated to my knowledge.

The second stone may be a spinel or an iolite. My best guess based on photo would be iolitem, surely not a tanzanite.