For a long time, many countries have mistaken spinel for ruby, and the most legendary one is the spinel named "Ruby of black prince". It is admired by the world because it was embedded in the crown of the king of England and saved his life.

Another legendary stone, Timur Ruby, has long been mistaken for ruby.

In the Qing Dynasty in China, the crown jewel of the hat worn by Yipin officials was ruby. In modern times, after the identification of jewelry experts, most officials in the Qing Dynasty were spinel rubies, not rubies.

A born beauty

So, why has spinel been mistaken for ruby for a long time? In fact, this just proves that spinel has excellent gemological indexes.

Spinel and ruby are often a natural pair, both oxides, with similar crystal characteristics, similar color and hardness. This is why there is no corresponding instrument to distinguish red spinel from ruby until modern times.

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Weight. Generally, spinel over 5 carats is very rare, and spinel over 3 carats is also very rare for particularly beautiful colors.

Color. Bright red spinel is the most popular at present, and most of the royal collection spinels that are mistaken for rubies are red. In addition, the pink spinel produced in Mahenger, Tanzania has a special neon feeling, and the output is scarce, which has been selling well in the past two years.

Clarity. Gemstones have no flaws, and the value is higher with fewer inclusions and cracks.

Stop. When the other three conditions are similar, the spinel with excellent cutting can highlight the beauty of gems, so it is more valuable for collection.

Special optical effect: for a spinel with perfect appearance, if there are more color-changing effects or starlight effects, the value will be greatly improved.

Collection value

Although spinel has been misunderstood for a long time, in recent years, spinel, whose value is seriously underestimated, has started to heat up rapidly, and the auction price of spinel has skyrocketed in the international market.

In the origin of spinel, the top-grade spinel was often collected by European and American jewelers before it entered the free circulation link. In recent years, there have been many top-grade jewelry works with spinel as the main stone in the world's first-line jewelry brands, which indicates that spinel will return gorgeously after a long silence. Spinel, after all, there is no special mine for mining, and the output is extremely limited, but the most important thing is that the beauty of spinel is so breathtaking and eye-catching.

Cai Baojun, Ph.D. in Mineralogy, China Geo University (Wuhan), will share your colored gems expertise, industry information, matching skills and jewelry experts around you.