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


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.
Read More
2019: A year of ups and downs in the gem and jewelry industry, including diamonds, retail, auction sales and laboratory-grown diamonds.
Read More
A look at the gem ornamentation of this landmark, as well as the jewels of the Mughal dynasty.
Read More
A cabochon displaying asterism is found to be an untreated spinel with two different stars.
Read More
A yellowish green specimen with horsetail-like inclusions is found to be glass rather than demantoid garnet.
Read More
For the first time, wurtzite is found as an inclusion in gem material.
Read More
Award-winning jewelry designer Erica Courtney presents four of her creations.
Read More
Miriam Kamau relates how she became a prominent dealer and miner.
Read More
Rex Guo describes how he sources and systematically recuts faceted stones to unlock their inner beauty.
Read More
Margit Thorndal of Madagascar Imports offers her perspective on the colored stone market.
Read More