Spinel Gem Stone

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Spinel deserves to be known and appreciated far more widely than it is, for it possesses most of the virtues which make a gemstone popular. It is brought and fully transparent, occurs in a wide range of handsome colors and takes a good polish and wears well. Its misfortune may be that it is often found in the same places as the corundum gems which have all these virtues in even greater measure.

When quite pure, spinel is colorless, but it can show any color except, curiously, a clear yellow. The reds and blues approximating to the colors of ruby and sapphire are valued most and they have been sold under such misleading names as 'balas ruby', 'spinel ruby' and 'sapphire spinel', but there are usually slight differences in color which give spinel the less rich hue.

Spinel is an oxide of magnesium and aluminum, but both these metals may be replaced by others. This explains the wide range of colors and also accounts for some variations in its properties. Recognized varieties that are occasionally cut as gemstones include ceylonite (green), pleonaste (black), chlorospinel (green), all of which contain iron, and gahnospinel (blue), which contains zink. All these have higher refractive indices and densities. Apart from these names, it is best merely to use a color prefix when describing spinels. Spinels are often found as twin crystals that look as if two octahedra grown into each other. This form of twinning is so typical of the species that it is commonly known as 'spinel twinning'.

The origin of the name 'spinel' is uncertain except that it has been adopted from the French.

Spinel appears in almost any kind of jewelry. It is used both as a single stone and as small stones to surround others, but it is by no means in common use.