December 2006
In our newsletter this month:
Spinel: Best Kept Secret in the Gems World
Announcing Bargains of the Day
New in Gems
This Month's Birthstone
Gemstones Worth Knowing
Customer Questions
Spinel: Best Kept Secret in the Gems World
One of the most famous gemstones in the world is the Black Prince's Ruby in the Imperial State Crown of the United Kingdom. You can see it on public display in the Tower of London (or see the photos below). This glowing red uncut stone, nearly 5 cm long, is estimated to be 170 carats. It has been in the possession of the British royal family since 1367.
The Black Prince's Ruby is a remarkable stone. But one of the most remarkable things about it is that it's not a ruby at all. It's a red spinel.
Prior to the scientific study of minerals, all red gems were called ruby. In 1783, mineralogist Rome de Lisle was the first scientist to clearly distinguish the differences between true ruby and true spinel. But the Black Prince's Ruby was not correctly identified as a spinel until recently.
Spinel is a magnesium aluminate, colored by chromium and iron. It is quite hard (8 on the Mohs scale), and it forms as a cubic crystal like a diamond. Spinel occurs in octahedral crystals, and has a complete absence of cleavage (unlike diamond). Due to spinel's excellent dispersion, gem spinels can possess vivid fire, and the intensity of spinel color is partially due to the fact spinel is singly refractive.
Spinel is usually formed as a contract metamorphic mineral in limestone. It is discovered as rolled pebbles in sand and gravel pits. Spinel today is mined primarily in Burma and Sri Lanka, usually along side corundum (ruby and sapphire). Large stones are very rare; a ten carat sized spinel is practically nonexistent.
The most sought after colors by collectors are red, hot pink, and flame orange. Any spinel over two carats is rare. The most valuable spinel is red/red or red/orange. But one of the attractions of spinel is that it comes in a wide range of gorgeous colors. For red spinel, the finest colors tend to be similar to ruby, i.e. a rich, intense red similar to that of a red traffic signal. However, spinel tends to be a bit more of a brick red than ruby (which is slightly more purplish). Like all gems, the most coveted are those whose color is intense, while being neither too light nor too dark. The value of red spinel tends to decline as the color diminishes into either light pinks or 'garnety' reds.
So what is the great secret of spinel? The answer is that spinel is in many respects the equal of ruby. Though ruby is slightly harder (9 vs 8 for spinel), spinel contains fewer inclusions than ruby, and spinel has greater fire and brilliance. Spinel is never heated or treated in any way; indeed, there is no known treatment for improving the color or clarity of spinel. Virtually every affordable ruby these days is treated in some way. Also, since spinel is singly refractive and ruby is doubly refractive, the primary color in red spinel appears purer and more intense than the reds seen in many rubies. But spinel is typically only 20-30% the cost of ruby. That makes spinel a tremendous value.
Why then isn't spinel better known and more highly valued? The simple answer is that supply is very limited, and the jewelry industry doesn't market what it can't get. So spinel continues to be mainly a collector's stone. Here at GemSelect we are lucky to be located close to the source of the finest spinel in Burma, and Chanthaburi is the first stop for uncut spinel coming out of Burma. Spinel is still a secret to many people, but it's a secret we like to share with our customers.
Announcing Bargains of the Day
We keep a large inventory at GemSelect, typically over 7,000 gemstones. But we love to buy new and interesting gems, so from time to time we need to do a bit of housecleaning and clear out some excess stock. So this is your chance to pick up some excellent bargains. Each day we offer 20 gems on our Bargain Page at a 40% discount, with a new group offered each day. So if you see something you like, don't hesitate!
New in Gems
Our buyers are in the market every day finding the best values for our customers. Here are some of the excellent buys we've made in the last two weeks. Click on the gem names to view the latest samples.
- Emerald from Columbia: Looking for a fine emerald at an outstanding price? We just acquired some wonderful pieces in sizes up to 3 carats, in ovals, octagons and pairs. These are the best values in emerald we've found all year.
- Blue Sapphire from Nigeria: We've been looking hard for some larger blue sapphires. We've just made a super buy on some Nigerian sapphire, in blue and deep blue. These are well sized for rings at about 1.9 to 2.3 carats, and quite clean (most pieces are VVS-VS). The pricing on these is extremely attractive at about $150 a carat.
- Spessartite Garnet from Namibia: Spessartite is incredibly popular these days, and we had sold out most of our stock. Here are some new pieces, in mandarin and red. Sizes up to 2 carats in the mandarin, in a variety of shapes. The reds are a bit unusual -- very clean pieces in octagon bars.
- Sea Green Apatite from Madagascar: Neon green-blue is a very hot color in gemstones these days. With paraiba tourmaline becoming impossibly expensive, this Apatite from Madagascar is a highly regarded and affordable alternative. We've found some specimens with that real electric paraiba-like color, in a variety of shapes. Many of the pieces are eye-clean.
- Red Spinel Pairs from Burma: Beautiful red spinel is a terrific value. We've just bought some matching round pairs, ideal for earrings, in a perfect red.
- Prehnite from South Africa: Last month we got a new stock of Prehnite cabochons. Now we've added some oval checkerboard facet pieces with a fascinating luster. These are marvelous and unique pieces at a very affordable price.
- Star Moonstone from India: There is nothing quite like the magical shimmer of light over the surface of moonstone. We've added some lovely new pieces from India in the 14-18 carat range.
- Amethyst from Uruguay: Amethyst is always in good supply here and the prices are attractive. We've been adding to our stock in the last few weeks with some very fine rich violet pieces, some interesting carvings, and a huge variety of shapes and cuts. We now have over 400 pieces in our amethyst stock, all at very affordable prices.
- Black Diamond from India: In response to customer interest, we've started stocking some colored diamonds. We've just added some stunning natural black diamonds from India, diamond cut, in sizes from 1 carat up to nearly 2 carats.
New & Interesting Gems, Every Day
Now you don't have to wait for the monthly newsletter for the latest news on our new aquisitions. Just click on the New & Interesting Gems link on our homepage for all the latest news. Updated daily!
This Month's Birthstone
The traditional birthstone for December is Turquoise. Turquoise, known for thousands of years, has long been appreciated as a holy stone, a good-luck-charm or a talisman found in every type of jewelry. It is believed to promote good fortune, happiness, and long life. Recently Tanzanite was added to the list of birthstones for December by the American Gem Trade Association, the first time a change had been made to the birthstone list since 1912.
Gemstones Worth Knowing
Each month we focus on one of the lesser known gemstones. This month's featured stone is Fluorite.
Fluorite, a form of calcium fluoride, is famed for its rich variety of colors, including purple, blue, green, yellow, pink, black and reddish orange. One of the unique properties of fluorite is that it glows when heated and fluoresces under ultraviolet light.
Flourite is quite a soft stone (4 on the Mohs scale), so is best used for pendants, brooches or earrings. It is quite a difficult stone to cut, so it needs an expert lapidary to do it justice. But the colors are splendid, and it is a relatively inexpensive gem available in good sized pieces. We even have a few pieces over 50 carats suitable for collectors. For more information see our Fluorite Information Page.
Customer Questions
Every month we answer questions of general interest from our customers. Please feel free to send your questions to help@gemselect.com, with "Newsletter question" in the Subject line. |
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