Extraordinary Gemstones · 05
Spinel
The connoisseur's secret
For centuries the world's most celebrated 'rubies', the Black Prince's Ruby of the British Imperial State Crown among them, were spinels. The stone spent five hundred years being mistaken for its neighbour, and the connoisseurs never minded: they simply collected it quietly.
Spinel crystallises in the same marble as Burmese ruby, glows in reds, roses and flame oranges, and is nearly always untreated, nature's colour, exactly as found.
From the House
Spinel, in the house's hands
The Science
What the earth had to do
An honest stone
Spinel is magnesium aluminium oxide, singly refractive, with colour from chromium (red), or cobalt (the rare vivid blue). Unlike most gems, spinel is almost never enhanced: what the collector sees is what the earth made.
The red line
Fine red spinel stands beside ruby in fire and often exceeds it in clarity. Long overlooked, it has been rediscovered by collectors who learned what royalty owned all along.
Cobalt blue
A small number of spinels, coloured by cobalt, show a blue of startling vividness. They are among the rarest coloured stones now traded.
Provenance
Where the finest come from
Burma's Mogok tract produces the legendary reds and hot pinks. Tajikistan's Badakhshan, the historic 'balas ruby' country, Tanzania's Mahenge, with its neon pink discovery of 2007, and Vietnam complete the connoisseur's map.
Collecting
How collectors judge it
Spinel is the thinking collector's stone: untreated by nature, historically resonant, and still valued below corundum of comparable beauty. Fine Mahenge pinks and Burmese reds above five carats have become auction fixtures.
The Genesis Perspective
Spinel at Genesis is present tense: the house holds a rare 6 carat natural Jedi spinel, untouched by heat and glowing with a luminescence all its own, among the finest of its kind in the world.
Further Reading
From the Genesis Journal
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Whether you are searching for an extraordinary natural gemstone, commissioning a bespoke creation or seeking expert guidance, we look forward to hearing from you.