Spinel Education

Spinel

Throughout history, people believed most Spinels to be Rubies. It wasn’t until 1783 when meteorologist Jean Baptiste Louise Rome de Lisle determined that Spinels are in fact different than Rubies. Spinels were just recently added as an August birthstone joining Peridot and Sardonyx.

Color

The most valued Spinels are vivid reds and cobalt blues. Other colors are pink, mauve, lilac, and black.

Clarity

The lighter pastel colors are expected to be mostly free of inclusions, but the deeper more saturated colors (the reds and blues) are expected to have inclusions. Some of inclusions can appear to resemble human fingerprints.

Cut

The spinel is most often cut in cushion and oval shapes.

Carat

Spinels are commonly cut to standard sizes for jewelry. Spinels are also suitable for stones in rings as they measure around 6x4-mm and 7x5-mm in size.