|
Spinel Specimens
Spinel is a very attractive and historically important gemstone mineral. Its typical red color, although pinker,
rivals the color of ruby. In fact, many rubies, of notable fame belonging to crown jewel collections, were found to actually
be spinels. Perhaps the greatest mistake is the Black Prince's Ruby set in the British Imperial State Crown. Whether these
mistakes were accidents or clever substitutions of precious rubies for the less valuable spinels by risk taking jewelers,
history is unclear. The misidentification is meaningless in terms of the value of these gems for even spinel carries a considerable
amount of worth and these stones are priceless based on their history, let alone their carat weight and pedigree.
Today, expensive rubies are still substituted for by spinel in much the same way a diamond is substituted
by cubic zirconia. Not to commit a fraud or theft but to prevent one. Spinel may take the place of a ruby that would have
been displayed in public by an owner who is insecure about the rubies safety. The spinel probably is still valuable but better
to lose a $100,000 dollar spinel than a $1 million dollar ruby!
Spinel and ruby are chemically similar. Spinel is magnesium aluminum oxide and ruby is aluminum oxide. This
is probably why the two are similar in a few properties. Not suprisingly, the red coloring agent in both gems is the same
element, chromium. Spinel and Ruby also have similar luster (refractive index), density and hardness. Although ruby is considerably
harder (9) than spinel, spinel's hardness (7.5 - 8) still makes it one of the hardest minerals in nature
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
Beautiful, well-formed, dark red (maroon) crystal from Yen Bai, Viet Nam. Approx. size: 15x12x12. Weight:
14.45 cts.
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
Good octahedral crystal structure on this crystal from Yen Bai province, Viet Nam. At this price, this specimen
is a great addition to your collection. Approx. size: 18x12x12. Weight: 17.7 cts.
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
An incredible, gemmy crystal from Yen Bai province in Viet Nam. Beautiful color and crystal structure make this
one great specimen! Approx. size: 17x17x10 Weight: 19.25 cts.
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
This is a huge purple spinel crystal from Yen Bai Province, Viet Nam, with at least one small gemmy window. Approx.
size: 30x32x28 Weight: 31.9 grams!
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
The crystal face showing in the photo is really gemmy and beautiful, unfortunately, it's the only face that looks that
good. Still, this specimen displays good crystal structure and would make a nice addition to any collection, especially
at this price! Mounted in a 1½" perky box. Originates from Yen Bai Province, Viet Nam. Approx. size: 20x17x15
Weight: 31.7 cts.
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
Pretty pink crystal from Yen Bai Province, Viet Nam with some of the mica matrix still attached to it. Approx.
size: 29x23x22 Weight: 94 cts.
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
Unbelievable specimen from Yen Bai, Vietnam! This cluster has numerous light pinkish/purple crystals and shows
very, very little damage. This is an awesome piece! Approx. size: 45x29x25 Weight: 33.7 grams
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
Quite frankly, the side of this piece showing in the photo is the only good side. It does have a great gemmy color
and an interesting etched surface. Approx. size: 26x25x20 Weight: 67.8 cts.
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
Rare crystal twin from Yen Bai Vietnam! I was fortunate to acquire several of these crystal twins and decided to
put a few up for sale! This crystal is red and brown and is a bit gemmier than most of the twins, which really isn't
saying much. Still, this is a great spinel crystal that I would be proud to add to my collection. Mounted
in a 1½" labelled perky box. Approx. size: 21x18x9 Weight: 24.75 cts.
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
Pretty little, semi-gemmy crystal cluster from Yen Bai, Vietnam, Approx. size: 26x15x12 Weight: 31.3 cts.
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
Here's another nice crystal twin from Yen Bai, Vietnam. This is a pretty rare mineral to find crystal twins of
and I was really happy when I was able to acquire several of them recently. This one has a reddish-brown color.
Approx. size: 19x18x11 Weight: 41.1 cts.
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
Huge maroon-colored cluster with a rather large crystal from Yen Bai, Vietnam. This is a rather spectacular specimen!
Approx. size: 50x34x32 Weight: 66.8 grams!
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
Well-formed purplish crystal from Yen Bai, Vietnam. The best side is definitely forward in this photo and the other
surface don't look as good. Still this is a wonderful specimen for the price! Approx. size: 20x15x15 Weight:
31.3 cts.
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
Large maroon crystal from Yen Bai, Vietnam with a very cool unique crystal structure. Approx. size: 28x24x14
Weight: 77.9 cts.
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
Cluster of crystals from Yen Bai, Vietnam. Approx. size: 30x22x18 Weight: 77.7
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge on new window. |
|
The picture makes this crystal look awesome, inactuality, the back side looks as though it was etched away, but it does
have some really cool crystalline structure on the backside and a lovely pinkish-red color. Originates from Yen Bai,
Vietnam. Approx. size 23x16x18 Weight: 33.3 cts.
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
Fantastic dark purple crystal with a very unique structure from Yen Bai, Vietnam. Approx. size: 24x17x15
Weight: 44.8 cts.
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
Beautiful, gemmy red crystal still in the white marble matrix. This specimen hails from Yen Bai, Vietnam and the
marble matrix has been attractively carved into a leaf shape. Approx. size: 52x25x35 Weight: 43.4 grams
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
Small grouping of gemmy red crystals still in the handcarved white marble matrix. The largest crystal measures
approx. 7mm Approx. size: 61x17x29 Weight: 27 gr.
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
Small grouping of gemmy red crystals from Yen Bai, Vietnam, with a slight green stain caused by pargasite. The
largest crystal is about 11mm across and the whole group is still in the attractively carved white marble matrix. Approx.
size: 60x32x55 Weight: 93.2 gr.
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
Lovely specimen with a bunch of small very gemmy red spinel crystals stuck in an attractively carved white marble
matrix from Yen Bai, Vietnam. The largest crystal in this piece is about 4mm across. Approx. size: 64x23x54
Weight: 141.6 gr.
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
Lovely grouping of very gemmy red and light purple crystals of spinel with some traces of pargasite. This
exquisite specimen comes from Yen Bai, Vietnam, and the white marble matrix has been hand carved into an attractive pattern.
Approx. size: 54x34x68 Weight: 100.3 gr.
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
This is a really cool piece with the white marble matrix carved to highlight three very gemmy crystals, the largest of
which measures 6mm. Originates from Yen Bai, Vietnam. Approx. size: 61x35x54 Weight: 64.2 gr.
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
Awesome cluster of extremely gemmy light purple crystals still in the nicely carved white marble matrix from Yen Bai,
Vietnam. Approx. size: 41x23x60 Weight: 53.3 gr.
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
Beautiful purplish-red gemmy crstal in the attractively carved white marble matrix from Yen Bai, Vietnam. Approx.
size: 36x29x41 Weight: 31 grams
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
Nice piece of marble from Yen Bai, Vietnam that has been attractively hand-carved to expose several small gemmy red spinel
crystals. The largest crystal near the bottom of the piece is actually humite. Approx. size: 78x76x26 Weight: 110.7 gr.
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
One more crystal twin, this one is brown, and well-formed. It's pretty rare to encounter crystal twins of
spinel and I'm proud to offer these few specimens for sale at reasonable prices. Approx. size: 16x15x11 Weight: 28.2
cts.
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
Beautiful white marble from Yen Bai, Vietnam that has been attractively
hand-carved to expose several small gemmy red spinel crystals. Approx. size: 56x62x21 Weight: 92.8 grams
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
Very cool little cluster of dark reddish-brown crystals from Yen Bai, Vietnam. Approx. size: 26x18x15 Weight:
39.7 cts.
|
| Click on photo to enlarge in new window. |
|
|
|
