Ruby Spinel

Item Description

It has been next to impossible to obtain fine quality Spinel specimens from Burma these days it seems. The vast majority of Spinels that we've seen out of Myanmar (Burma) over the last 20 years or so are loose singles off matrix. This piece is a classic Burmese "Ruby Spinel" crystal with sharp, defined, octahedral faces plus it's very gemmy with a strong red color. The fact that the piece hosts more than one crystal is rare in my experience with this material. The crystal is complete "floater" on all sides, showing no damage, and to top it off, the smaller crystal actually seems to show a slight amount of "Spinel"-Law twinning! This piece was mined around 2000. The best of these specimens are simply the finest in the world for what they are. This is an example of a non-pegmatite gem mineral for which many collectors probably do have a good specimen in their collections.