Spinel

Color: Red, purple, blue, lavender, green, pink, yellow (unusual), orange/peach
Moh’s Hardness: 8
Refractive Index: 1.712-1.736
Critical Angle: 35.79°
Specific Gravity: 3.58-3.61
Cleavage: Imperfect
Fracture: Conchoidal, uneven
Dispersion: Moderately high (.026)
Heat Sensitivity: None
Birefringence (double refraction): None
Crystal Structure: Isometric

Treatments: Generally none

What I prefer to polishing with: Alumina oxide on a Tin lap, Spectra Ultralap, 8,000 diamond pre-polish 50,000 diamond polish on a Zinc laps

Jeff's Comments: Spinels are easy to cut and come in about any color. Some rough has a grey under tone and I recommend against buying this type of rough. There are a few rare color change Spinels, but they are not common.

Design Notes: About any Spinel design will work well... As the rough gets more saturated I prefer checker board designs. For light rough I like deep brilliant designs.

Design Links:
Cornered -This will work nicely in darker rough

Rough Links:
Spinels - Index to Spinels
Spinel - Spinels Parcels from Tunduru (Africa), Tunduru Spinels in all colors, red, pink, blue, purple, teal, Spinels
Spinel - Spinels Parcels from Tunduru (Africa)

Cut Stone Links:
Spinel - Faceted Spinels

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E-mail to inquire or order: jeff@faceters.com