Spinel

Here we have a fantastic nearly full-sized thumbnail crystal of Spinel from Mogok. In reflected light, the exterior almost has a purple color, but with decent backlighting, you can see strong red-pink color coming through in areas. The piece is in good shape, but there are a few minor imperfections here there that keep it from being a complete "floater". I think my favorite aspect of the piece is the fact that there is a "hollow" area on the underside that gives the piece a distinctive character. The crystal shows a strong pinkish-red hue under UV light.

The area around Mogok is world famous for producing the finest crystals and gems of Spinel in the world. Many of these crystals have yielded the most impressive red Ruby Spinel gems ever found. Mogok is most likely the site of the discovery of the famous Black Prince's Ruby in the Crown Jewels of the UK. The significance of the stone in the crown is that it was actually revealed to be a giant (170 carat) Spinel, and not a Ruby as had been thought for centuries. Spinels are typically found in opaque, dark crystals, but we were fortunate to pick up a parcel of not only colorful but GEMMY crystals direct from the source!

Specimen #SPINEL111910