115.00 USD
This bracelet features 10 carats of pink spinel faceted rondelle beads with a sterling silver lobster clasp and sterling silver findings.
Spinel was recently added as an August birthstone, sharing this month with peridot and sardonyx. It has long been mistaken for ruby by emperors and monarchs. Many of the famous “rubies” of history were actually spinels.
Spinel ranges in color from orange to intense “stoplight” red, vibrant pink, and all shades of purple, blue, and violet through bluish green.
Spinel, like garnet and diamond, is singly refractive, with the same physical properties in all crystal directions. It belongs to the cubic crystal system, and its characteristic crystal shape is an octahedron, which looks like two back-to-back pyramids. Well-formed spinel crystals are fairly common in nature. Spinel crystals are so perfect, in Burma they are said to be nat thwe or “polished by the spirits.”
Spinel occurs with ruby and sapphire, and significant deposits have been found in Cambodia, Myanmar (Burma), Sri Lanka (Ceylon) and Thailand. Other locations where spinel deposits have been found are Afghanistan, Australia, Brazil, Madagascar, Nepal, Nigeria, Tadzhikistan, Tanzania and the USA.
These particular pink spinels were mined in Mogok, Myanmar.