SPINEL: An August Birthstone

Greetings from a sunny wintry Queensland,

With August looming, I thought I would expand on Spinel, one of the August Birthstones. Normally Peridot is the common stone for August but Spinel was added in 2016, one of only two additional gemstones in the last century. (The other is Tanzanite for December). For those who don't like the fresh green peridot then pivoting to a cool pinky grey palette that is sophisticated, understated but still significant for the month of August may well be an ideal choice.

In the past Spinel was often mistaken for Ruby.

It has a very similar composition to both ruby and sapphire and the deepest pinky reds ensured it a place in royal jewellery history. There is currently a sizeable spinel in the Imperial Crown of the British royal family known as the 'Black Prince's Ruby' an irregular cabochon gem weighing 170cts. Also called the 'Great Imposter' as a reference to how often Spinel was mistaken for ruby over the centuries.

Spinel is a relatively rare gemstone, mined in Africa, it is hard, coming in just behind ruby and sapphire (Moh's hardness 8) making it a durable stone for jewellery. It is now a widely respected and coverted stone, not only for its deep reds found in Mahenge, Tanzania but beautiful pastel colours from the Morogoro area also in Tanzania which include pinks, greys, plums and purples which fill a missing gap in the gemstone palette.

Spinel is derived from the Greek word for 'spark' due to its high refractive index and resulting brilliance when facetted. It is noted for its health and energetic qualites as well as the ability to calm and sooth the emotions.