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Spinel is a good candidate for the title of “History’s Most Underappreciated Gem.” Some ancient mines that supplied gems for royal courts from Rome to China produced spinel, but it was usually confused with better-known stones like ruby and sapphire.

尖晶石之旅

The Black Prince’s Ruby. The Timur Ruby. For centuries, spinel, the great imposter, masqueraded as ruby in Europe’s crown jewels

尖晶石描述

The spinel used in jewelry is a small part of a group of minerals that share the same crystal structure. Not all of them form transparent crystals suitable for jewelry use, however. Spinel offers a range of hues, from orange to intense “stoplight” red, vibrant pink, and all shades of purple, blue, and violet through bluish green.

Sunstone Quality Factors

Learn about the factors that make sunstone so desirable.

Sunstone History and Lore

In the early 1800s sunstone was a little-known, rare, and costly gemstone. It wasn’t until finds in Norway, Siberia, and other parts of the world that sunstone became somewhat more widely recognized, more available, and less expensive.

Sunstone Description

Not all feldspars that bear the name “sunstone” are from the same side of the feldspar family—both the orthoclase and the plagioclase species boast a sunstone feldspar variety. The name sunstone refers to the gem’s appearance rather than to its chemical makeup.

Iolite Description

This silicate of aluminum, iron, and magnesium has two distinctive features—a beautiful, violetish blue through slightly violetish blue hue derived from iron and a striking, eye-visible pleochroism.