Starting to have second thoughts…blue spinel cab earrings I bought on eBay. Opinions requested!

[Slickk]

Gosh they’re beautiful!! That shade of blue is just *chefs kiss* delicious! They look fab on you!! Happy it all worked out!

 

[Mrsz1ppy]

Gosh they’re beautiful!! That shade of blue is just *chefs kiss* delicious! They look fab on you!! Happy it all worked out!

Thank you! The pictures on eBay did not do them justice.

 

[Bron357]

As said already, they are absolutely stunning and certainly worth the purchase price.
sure, natural would have been nice but matching In colour?
Very difficult.
Id be wearing those babies EVERYWHERE

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

They have arrived. Good thing I’m not doing this to make a living. I love these even though I’m sure they aren’t natural. But the color is spinelly and they aren’t too big so I am going to keep them. Please excuse my hair…

That colour is to die for.
Its so lucouse and deep
Its a beaitiful blue
they look fabulous
Enjoy

 

[MMtwo]

They are so perfect! I love the drop shape. Very elegant!

 

[voce]

The earings are lovely. A lot of antiques are made with synthetic stones though because they were considered highly valuable in the early 1900s. I don't think the seller was trying to decieve you, just that antique jewelery is commonly like that. For what it's worth you could start by asking the seller in a friendly way, they may come straight out and tell you the spinel is synthetic and the earings are priced based on this, the 1.75 ct of daimonds and the fact that they're antique. My guess is they'll say this because if that spinel is real then those earings are worth probably more than 10 k (cobalt spinel in those sizes is inordinately rare today). The fact that the seller only priced them at 4 k makes me think they won't be surprised if it turns out to be synthetic.

Edit -- actually put it under a uv light, see if it flouresces (if yes id guess at cobalt spinel based on the colour), then look into the timeline of cobalt spinel mining. I don't have time right at the moment, but I think this may make it clearer

If you miss your emerald ones, then why not take the earings to some local jewelery stores who set coloured stones. Can ask what the jeweler thinks of the stones, but can also see whether you'd be able to replace the spinel down the track. You could then go look at muzo emeralds, and Jr Colombian emeralds inventory for cabs that might fit. See if one or the other can suggest how much they'd think such a pair would cost.

Agree about the UV light producing the fastest results, but if they do fluoresce, that indicates they're lab-created, not mined. I have a few itty bitty blue spinels, and none of them fluoresce. I've also conversed with vendors who have educated me that it's the fluorescent ones that are synthetic.

The earrings are lovely, and as long as you love them, that's all that matters, because they are one-of-a-kind.

 

[Mrsz1ppy]

Absolutely not! I think the scale is perfect. I’ll do it tomorrow.

The whole earring is 36mm long, and the cap and cab spinel are 12.8mm. The cabs are supposedly 4 carats each. Hope this is what you need, If not, let me know. Looking forward to seeing the results!

 

[AnastasiaBeaverhausen]

The whole earring is 36mm long, and the cap and cab spinel are 12.8mm. The cabs are supposedly 4 carats each. Hope this is what you need, If not, let me know. Looking forward to seeing the results!

You are awesome. That is all.

 

[athenaworth]

They have arrived. Good thing I’m not doing this to make a living. I love these even though I’m sure they aren’t natural. But the color is spinelly and they aren’t too big so I am going to keep them. Please excuse my hair…

Holy crap they're beautiful!!

 

[qubitasaurus]

Agree about the UV light producing the fastest results, but if they do fluoresce, that indicates they're lab-created, not mined. I have a few itty bitty blue spinels, and none of them fluoresce. I've also conversed with vendors who have educated me that it's the fluorescent ones that are synthetic.

The earrings are lovely, and as long as you love them, that's all that matters, because they are one-of-a-kind.

If I am being totally honest I don't know whether fluorescence would indicate natural or synthetic, it seems like the origin of the fluorescence in both cases is cobalt. But maybe natural cobalt spinels fluorescence less strongly than synthetics -- due to relative iorn vs cobalt content in the natural spinels, at least that is what I picked up reading this (and I have to admit I'm not reading carefully)

** Blue flame fusion synthetic Spinels with relatively high cobalt content fluoresce pink or red under long wave UV light due to cobalt, and fluoresce yellow/green under short wave UV light, presumably due to a minor amount of manganese. Because of the quenching effect of iron in natural Spinels, pink/red UV fluorescence from cobalt is difficult to detect, except in the rare Cobalt Spinel
**

Synthetic Spinel

A look at synthetic spinels and how to distinguish them from natural spinels.

www.gemstonemagnetism.com

But I'm really honestly just guessing.

It will be a moot point anyway, as I think cobalt spinels asn't mined until recently and the earings are apparently circa early 1900s. Also they're crystal clean. So more or less they're almost certainly synthetics if they flouresce, irregardless of the exact way we arrive at that conclusion.

 

[Mrsz1ppy]

If I am being totally honest I don't know whether fluorescence would indicate natural or synthetic, it seems like the origin of the fluorescence in both cases is cobalt. But maybe natural cobalt spinels fluorescence less strongly than synthetics -- due to relative iorn vs cobalt content in the natural spinels, at least that is what I picked up reading this (and I have to admit I'm not reading carefully)

** Blue flame fusion synthetic Spinels with relatively high cobalt content fluoresce pink or red under long wave UV light due to cobalt, and fluoresce yellow/green under short wave UV light, presumably due to a minor amount of manganese. Because of the quenching effect of iron in natural Spinels, pink/red UV fluorescence from cobalt is difficult to detect, except in the rare Cobalt Spinel
**

Synthetic Spinel

A look at synthetic spinels and how to distinguish them from natural spinels.

www.gemstonemagnetism.com

But I'm really honestly just guessing.

It will be a moot point anyway, as I think cobalt spinels asn't mined until recently and the earings are apparently circa early 1900s. Also they're crystal clean. So more or less they're almost certainly synthetics if they flouresce, irregardless of the exact way we arrive at that conclusion.

And to the surprise of no one, they do fluoresce. I checked this afternoon. Thank you for the input.