Spinel

Item Description

Spinel is a well-known mineral, but good quality display specimens are not terribly easy to find. The attractive and fine quality Spinel that have been coming out of Mahenge are among the best examples of the species to be found in the last 20+ years in terms of size, color and quality. Some of the most well-known Spinels in history are the pink to red colored crystals from Mogok in Myanmar, and the Mahenge pieces are comparable in terms of morphology and that saturated pink/red hue. This thumbnail sized piece was found in 2010 and features good quality, sharp, well-formed, euhedral octahedral crystals of rose colored Spinel measuring up to 1.2 cm across, sitting on minor marble/calcite matrix. The piece displays well from several angles. The crystal are translucent when backlit with an almost "silky" interior. For a final touch, the crystals show an intense cherry-red fluorescence under UV light. Spinel is a "gem crystal" species that you don't see well-represented in most collections, so don't miss out on your chance to get a good example of this how hard to find material for your own collection.