Spinel on matrix

A pristine, sharp, lustrous, complete, gemmy, beautiful reddish-pink colored octahedron of Spinel measuring 1.3 cm across beautifully set atop white marble matrix. No damage and no repairs! It's incredibly difficult to obtain UN-repaired, fine quality isolated Spinel crystals on matrix like this, let alone such a GEMMY crystal! These pieces are highly prized by the locals who mine them, and this particular specimen is very fairly priced compared to everything else I've seen on the market. The crystal shows superb deep red fluorescence under UV light. The area around Mogok is world famous for producing the finest crystals and gems of Spinel in the world. Many of these crystals have yielded the most impressive red "Ruby Spinel" gems ever found. Mogok is most likely the site of the discovery of the famous Black Prince's Ruby in the Crown Jewels of the UK. The significance of the stone in the crown is that it was actually revealed to be a giant (170 carat) Spinel, and not a Ruby as had been thought for centuries. Spinels are typically found in opaque, dark crystals, but we were fortunate to pick up a parcel of not only colorful but GEMMY crystals direct from the source! Specimen #SPINEL111901