Blue Spinel Vs Sapphire

Common crystal forms are octahedra usually twinned it has an imperfect octahedral cleavage and a conchoidal fracture its hardness is 8 its specific gravity is 3 5 4 1 and it is transparent to opaque with a vitreous to dull luster.

Blue spinel vs sapphire.

There is a big difference in between the price of natural and synthetic spinels. Hi here is just a small video that shows 4 stones cut from synthetic boules of corundum and spinel the one you can see at the beginning of my video synthetics corundum and spinel. Price varies from color to color. Synthetic spinel showing a neon red color under short uv rays.

Other varieties are more common and less sought after. It is easy to understand how early gem traders confused spinel with ruby and sapphire for over 1000 years. Spinel pg 3 synthetic spinel. Picture courtesy ruby sapphire.

Color is an important factor that defines spinel s price red spinel is rarer than other varieties and also more expensive. Tourmalines pg 4 paraiba tourmalines. It may be colorless but is usually various shades of pink rose red blue green yellow brown black or. Spinel occurs in a wide variety of colors.

Garnet pg 2 understanding garnets. Spinel pg 2 red spinel pink spinel other colors. Sapphire ruby pg 2 ruby. Spinel has been making a name for itself over the last couple of decades and demand for fine stones well exceeds supply.

Sapphire ruby. The bright reds and deep blues are spectacular specimens. Spinel crystallizes in the isometric system. Red and blue spinel.

This has to some degree closed the spinel vs. However hundreds of years ago when spinel was found together with sapphire and ruby it was impossible to tell them apart. Sapphire status and reputation sapphire has always had a royal connection and was frequently worn by royals and the clergy throughout history. Tourmaline pg 2 black orange blue green tourmalines.

With modern gemological tools we can easily distinguish between blue spinel and blue sapphire. There is no telling how many spinels have actually been sold as sapphire. Blue spinel hues range from violet blue through very slightly greenish blue. It is noteworthy that the world s most famous engagement ring is the iconic blue sapphire ring of princess diana worn now by kate middleton.

Tourmalines pg 3 pink red yellow and other colors. Blue exemplars are the second rarest spinel gems. Blue spinel vs sapphire. Nevertheless spinel s price even in those cases is still lower than the price of sapphire and ruby.