Spinel?

[karenleah15]

I know I am going to sound like an idiot here but hey what can I do LOL!

What is a spinel? Is it a man made stone? I had someone ask me if my beautiful ruby was a spinel. I told them no and wasn''t sure how to feel about it.

 

[MINE!!]

Personally, I would take it as a compliment. There have been some recent posts about it in this section... Take a look

 

[raddygast]

I posted a rant in the thread "Does this make me a bottom feeder?"

Check it out if you want to know a bit more about spinel. It''s likely that the person who asked you meant it as a double-edged compliment. First edge: a compliment because he/she was suggesting that your ruby was so fantastic it was more likely to be a spinel because who could afford such a ruby? Second edge: a bit of a jab because he/she may have been implying that they found it hard to believe you could possess a ruby of such fine colour.

My guess is this person was using "spinel" as the ruby equivalent of diamond''s Cubic Zirconia. Which it most definitely isn''t -- this is just a very uninformed opinion, and might have to do with the fact that for years, *synthetic* spinel was used as a ruby substitute in costume jewelry and cheap graduation rings, etc.

 

[velouriaL]

OR, it could be that the person was showing off their gem chops... few people who aren''t into gemstones know about spinels (at least in my experience), so maybe they were showing that knew about stones other than rubies, sapphires and emeralds.

 

[raddygast]

You''re right. I thought about that instantly, but then somehow conveniently forgot about it when composing that reply. Guess I''m just in a grumpy mood today -- have to get some fillings and just realized I wasted 3 years of dental coverage, so this year I have to get fillings and cleaning and it won''t be entirely covered.

But back to the point, yeah. The person may have been an informed gem afficionado.

 

[velouriaL]

Have you read my dental woes on the "watched pot" thread? All that from not having my wisdom teeth removed years ago... stupid teeth...

 

[MINE!!]

I am with you guys on the teeth thing!! UGH!!

 

[karenleah15]

Mine,
What gem stone is in your ering. It is beatuiful.

 

[MINE!!]

It is a spessartite. It is a Nigerian Garnet.

Here is the link to the threads
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/its-coming.29115/
and
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/mine-mine-mine.29389/

Someday I am going to have to learn to do the link thing...

Thanks for the compliment!!