Spinel ("floater")

A textbook, pristine, complete "floater" crystal of beautiful glowing pink Spinel. This attractive and fine quality thumbnail is a fine example of this well-known, yet elusive material from Mogok. The piece was a bit difficult to photograph but truly looks much better in person. Upon exposure to UV light, the crystal shows a mix of whitish-pink and strong red fluorescence. 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 #SPINEL111911