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Spinel

The Black Prince’s Ruby. The Timur Ruby. For centuries, spinel, the great imposter, masqueraded as ruby in Europe’s crown jewels.

See gem as
Polished
Rough

Tools

Research

Web-like fingerprint seen in a Vietnamese spinel.

An A-maze-ing Fingerprint in Spinel

E. Billie Hughes, May 13, 2022

A maze-like pattern is observed in spinel from Vietnam.

Iridescent needles in a Vietnamese red spinel resemble a skyline.

Vietnamese Skyline

Wimon Manorotkul, May 13, 2022

Red spinel from Vietnam features iridescent needles resembling a futuristic skyline.

A 69.96 ct antique cushion-cut gray spinel by David Nassi.

Gray “Spinel Sisters”

Lisa Kennedy and Tao Hsu, May 13, 2022

Two rare gray spinel stones stand out at the AGTA show for their exceptional size, quality, and color.

Purple Gem Spinel from Vietnam and Afghanistan: Comparison of Trace Element Chemistry, Cause of Color, and Inclusions

Philippe M. Belley and Aaron C. Palke, November 10, 2021

A chemical and spectroscopic comparison of two purple gem spinel samples, one of them the first reported example of a spinel with a saturated purple color caused predominantly by chromium and cobalt.

Spinel Suite with Rough Mineral Specimen

Micro-Features of Spinel

Nathan Renfro, John I. Koivula, Shane F. McClure, Kevin Schumacher, and James E. Shigley, July 9, 2021

Provides a visual guide to the internal features of natural, synthetic, and treated spinel, as well as inclusions of spinel in other gemstones.

Field gemologists sort through gem gravel in Myanmar

Field Gemology: Building a Research Collection and Understanding the Development of Gem Deposits

Wim Vertriest, Aaron C. Palke, and Nathan D. Renfro, January 31, 2020

With more than 90 field expeditions on six continents since 2008, GIA has accumulated over 22,000 colored stone reference samples. This extensive collection of colored stones with known origins supports GIA’s research on geographic origin determination.