Natural spinel has been widely used in jewelry making in recent years. This semi-precious stone is characterized by a combination of attractive appearance and low price. Thanks to this, spinel jewelry is beautiful and at the same time relatively inexpensive. However, due to high market demand, there is a shortage of natural spinel. Therefore, the price for it is rapidly going up.
The very name of the stone “spinel” comes from the Latin term spinella, which translates as “thorn”. It indicates the shape of the crystals in the form of an octahedron and a dodecahedron with sharp edges.
Spinel is widely used in jewelry. This semi-precious stone has a glass luster, so it looks very impressive after cutting. Due to its significant hardness, amounting to about 8 Mohs units, spinel is similar in strength to beryl and topaz – and only slightly inferior to corundum, ruby and sapphire. Finally, it is related to more precious stones by a significant indicator of variance, which is 0.026 units.
But spinel is valued by jewelers for its unique colors – intense, close to neon red, blue, pink and even black. With the right cut and high crystal clarity, incredibly impressive stones with a bright shine can be created.
Colors and varieties of spinel
Spinel can be painted in almost any color. In jewelry, options for red, pink and blue shades are especially in high demand. But you can also find orange, blue, purple and black spinels on the market. Less common are colorless, yellow and green stones. Color-changing spinel is especially popular.
The color of the stone is determined by its chemical composition – different impurity metals give different shades. Among jewelers, the red variety is especially in demand. Neon blue is very rare, and faceted specimens weighing more than a few carats are incredibly rare.
Red spinel
One of the first varieties of spinel, which began to be used in jewelry, was precisely red. In fact, this is the most famous and demanded type of this semi-precious stone. Externally, this variety of spinel is extremely similar to rubies. It is she who is inlaid with the Crown of the Russian Empire and the Crown of Great Britain. It used to be thought to be decorated with rubies – but modern research has shown it to be spinel. The characteristic shade of the mineral is given by the chromium included in the composition.
Red spinel can be colored with different intensities – from light, close to pink, to intense, close to black, or a shade of wine from the Shiraz variety. Sometimes the color can be complemented by an orange, brown or purple tint. If there are too many such inclusions, the price of spinel decreases, so for investment it is better to choose stones with a pure color and transparent structure.
In recent years, the red Jedi spinel has been especially popular among jewelers. It is mined in Burma and is characterized by a unique look – it seems to be illuminated from the inside. Spinel “Jedi” exists in single copies, the mass of which usually does not exceed 2 carats.
Pink spinel
Due to its delicate and elegant color, pink spinel is used for making especially feminine jewelry. It is beautifully complemented by white (colorless) diamonds.
The largest deposit of pink spinel is located in Tajikistan, in the Pamirs. Especially pure stone is mined here without impurities and additional shades. Pamir pink spinel is very similar to diamonds – it has a cool color, not too bright, but not pale.
Pink spinel is also mined in Vietnam and Burma. This stone is also found in Tanzania, but painted in neon pink-red color. Because of this unusual tone, novice jewelers can confuse natural stone with synthetic.
If you want to buy spinel for investment, choose stones from one of the three most popular shades in jewelry: red, pink, blue. Color change spinel is also good.
Orange spinel
Orange spinel is very rare, especially a pure color mineral. More often, stones with a red or yellow additional tone are found. With its rich and intense hue, orange spinel looks good in yellow gold jewelry.
Spinel, colored in orange or orange-red tones, has the commercial name “rubicella” or “Flame spinel”. The stone is characterized by a light and almost neon color; dark versions are not found.
Blue spinel
Blue spinel is one of the rarest varieties. Its color can range from bright, almost neon, to deep dark blue. Some stones have gray or purple tones. In addition, blue spinel can be found on the market, which changes color depending on how the light falls and what kind of lighting in the room. This is the same color change spinel we mentioned above.
If the blue color is caused by the presence of cobalt in the chemical composition of the stone, then this spinel is called “cobalt”. The rest of the varieties are also found under the names “ganospinel”.
You should beware of dark, opaque, overly thick stones – their investment value is lower than that of pure ones.
Blue spinel
Blue spinel is rare. And the rarest stones are those painted in a shining neon heavenly color. Most of these specimens were mined at the Luc Yen mine in Vietnam.
The neon-shining blue spinel is rarely found in jewelry. Most of the mined stones end up in private collections.
Purple spinel
Purple spinel is widespread. The depth of color makes it very delicate and sophisticated. Sometimes a pure purple hue is complemented by pink or steel gray tones.
Stones with a light or lavender tone also have an unusual dispersion – a play of light on the edges.
Black and gray spinel
Black spinel is a common semi-precious stone that is especially widely used in silver jewelry and bijoux. It is characterized by a rich, uniform color. The cut pieces resemble a black diamond, and the polished surface shines with a glassy sheen.
Green spinel
Green spinel is formed when chlorine is included in the mineral. It is very rare and therefore still poorly understood. The color of the stone ranges from bright neon to dark green, often with a grayish tint. In most cases, it does not possess jewelry attractiveness.
White (colorless) spinel
White spinel looks completely colorless and transparent, making it look like a diamond. However, there are stones with a slight pink, gray or lavender tint, the intensity and tone of which depend on the lighting.
Due to its bright luster and transparency, white spinel is often used as a cheaper substitute for diamonds in inexpensive jewelry. However, the play of light in it is much more modest than that of diamonds.
Cut
Spinel is easy to cut and polish to create stones with intense shine. In addition, this mineral is characterized by high dispersion (decomposition of light into individual tones). However, this phenomenon occurs mainly in stones with an unsaturated color – gray, light pink, blue. Intense reds, blues and pinks cannot boast of high and noticeable dispersion.
In most cases, spinel is cut in four ways:
- Oval;
- Cushion;
- Radiant;
- Pear.
The approaches “Round“, “Marquis”, “Trillion” and “Heart” are much less common.
It is interesting that the manufacture of sets and composite jewelry with spinel is a rather complicated process. Especially if the manufacturer wants to use large stones weighing more than 2 carats. Spinel is characterized by variability in shades, so it can be quite difficult to pick up several copies of the same exact tone. Therefore, compound and complete jewelry inlaid with spinel can have an increased mark-up in the amount of 30 to 100%, depending on the complexity of the color.
However, choosing a set of small (weighing less than 2 carats) stones of a common shade – for example, gray – is not difficult.
The purity of the spinel
Spinel is a fairly common stone in jewelry, but only a small part of the specimens found is of proper quality and suitable for cutting. The main requirement is a clean texture without inclusions.
However, a small number of defects-inclusions – gases, liquids, minerals – are allowed. Small, feather-like cracks that do not spoil the spinel’s appearance are also acceptable. However, if the defects are large and noticeable, the price of this stone is significantly reduced.
How to tell natural from fake spinel
With the growing demand for spinel in the jewelry market, the number of counterfeits has also increased. For falsification, cubic zirconias, sitalls and glasses are often used, which stand out for this valuable stone.
In addition, there is an artificial analogue – synthetic spinel, which is grown in laboratories using the Verneuil, Czochralski or flux methods. Scientists can produce stones of various colors – white (colorless), green, blue, red, pink, purple, and so on. The easiest way to distinguish between natural and synthetic spinel is in the laboratory, where special analysis equipment is used.
Garnets, tourmalines, zircon hyacinths and fancy sapphires can also be sold under the guise of spinels.
All spinel jewelry presented in our stores are inlaid exclusively with genuine and natural stones. We have personally checked. Also, some copies are accompanied by conclusions from gemological laboratories about the authenticity.
