spinel
Color: Red, pink, mauve, purple, blue, gray or black. More rarely yellow.
Main origins: Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Tajikistan, Madagascar, Burma.
Spinel is considered by some as "The 5th gemstone". Indeed its crystal is very bright, has few inclusions and its colors are of great beauty.
In History
For a long time, spinel was confused with ruby because it was found in the same deposits and some stones had a similar color.
The Black Prince's Ruby, present on the Royal Crown of England, is actually a spinel. Legend has it that King Henry V wore it during the battle of Agincourt (1415) and that it saved his life, stopping the trajectory of an arrow aimed at his head. Today, the mark left by this alleged impact can be seen on the stone.
Marguerite de Foix, Princess of Navarre and Duchess of Brittany owned the Spinelle Côte-de-Bretagne which, bequeathed to her daughter Anne of Brittany, became part of the royal treasure of François I. It was cut into the shape of a dragon to form the insignia of the Golden Fleece of Louis XV, and is one of the Crown Jewels kept in the Louvre Museum.
