Blue spinel - what to consider before buying?

[ItsMainelyYou]

I have never seen, or remembered seeing, a natural blue or violet spinel in that size, 4+ carats, ever cut in a round. Has anyone else?

My memory is either fading, or that’s a red flag. I could be wrong, but I’ve been collecting these spinels for years. Someone please let me know if I’m wrong.

Yes, I've seen some before.
There is one on 1stDibs now, offered by Merkaba. I linked unset in an earlier post- but it is also offered set.

Gray Blue Spinel Ring 4.15 Carat Round For Sale at 1stDibs | blue spinel jewelry, spinel ring price, blue grey diamond

For Sale on 1stDibs - Ultra exclusive 4.15 carat, 'loupe clean', round, Grey-Blue 'Ceylon' (Sri Lanka) Spinel platinum ring, decorated with a pair of 0.81 carats, D/VS2, pear

www.1stdibs.com

They want 56k for it mounted. Their prices seem crazy high to me but they assume you'll pay for the designer name, I guess. There are many loose spinel on there now that they're the it thing- all expensive.
Still, rare as hen's teeth.

Princess Gems on Insta gets some 3 to 4 carats in rounds.
Naing_linn 1992 on Insta does as well
Super rare that they're in round though if over 3ct.
Too much waste in the cutting, I think.

 

[fredflintstone]

I have never seen, or remembered seeing, a natural blue or violet spinel in that size, 4+ carats, ever cut in a round. Has anyone else?

My memory is either fading, or that’s a red flag. I could be wrong, but I’ve been collecting these spinels for years. Someone please let me know if I’m wrong.

I've seen larger. Up to 10 plus carats.

 

[T L]

Yes, I've seen some before.
There is one on 1stDibs now, offered by Merkaba. I linked unset in an earlier post- but it is also offered set.

Gray Blue Spinel Ring 4.15 Carat Round For Sale at 1stDibs | blue spinel jewelry, spinel ring price, blue grey diamond

For Sale on 1stDibs - Ultra exclusive 4.15 carat, 'loupe clean', round, Grey-Blue 'Ceylon' (Sri Lanka) Spinel platinum ring, decorated with a pair of 0.81 carats, D/VS2, pear

www.1stdibs.com

They want 56k for it mounted. Their prices seem crazy high to me but they assume you'll pay for the designer name, I guess. There are many loose spinel on there now that they're the it thing- all expensive.
Still, rare as hen's teeth.

Princess Gems on Insta gets some 3 to 4 carats in rounds.
Naing_linn 1992 on Insta does as well
Super rare that they're in round though if over 3ct.
Too much waste in the cutting, I think.

The cutting on that is not the best. I would love to see photos of large round brilliants, like the stone in question. I bet those are amazing. I looked, but couldn’t find any.

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

The cutting on that is not the best. I would love to see photos of large round brilliants, like the stone in question. I bet those are amazing. I looked, but couldn’t find any.

Honestly, I would too. I love rounds and they just don't come up often, not in blue, anyway. I don't have any special connections and I always just assumed they go straight to designers or special private boutique dealers.
I have a weird yen for a blue one(not even cobalt), with only little to moderate gray. If I win the lottery...because to afford something like that, it'd have to be the lottery

These sort of qualify-at least as rounds:

Crown Princess Gems (Pvt) Limited on Instagram: "Spinel 4+ Carats Usually It’s difficult to find a round shaped DM us for more information about the gemstone Contact Us for more beautiful gemstones like this and we provide you with following benef

13 likes, 3 comments - crown_princes_gems on March 25, 2022: "Spinel 4+ Carats Usually It’s difficult to find a round shaped DM us for more information about the gemstone Contact Us for more beautiful gemstones like this and we provide you with following benefits *Delivery of stones to your...

www.instagram.com

Crown Princess Gems (Pvt) Limited on Instagram: "It is an awesome 6 carats Spinel Loupe clean and perfectly cut Purple spinel #spinel Anyway its not available Contact Us for more beautiful gemstones like this and we provide you with following bene

crown_princes_gems on March 10, 2022: "It is an awesome 6 carats Spinel Loupe clean and perfectly cut Purple spinel #spinel Anyway its not available Contact Us for more beautiful gemstones like this and we provide you with following benefits *Delivery of stones to your doorstep via...

www.instagram.com

 

[Jadaph]

Maybe I am new to the CS world, but is it normal to sell a stone for $50+k without a lab report?

Yes, I've seen some before.
There is one on 1stDibs now, offered by Merkaba. I linked unset in an earlier post- but it is also offered set.

Gray Blue Spinel Ring 4.15 Carat Round For Sale at 1stDibs | blue spinel jewelry, spinel ring price, blue grey diamond

For Sale on 1stDibs - Ultra exclusive 4.15 carat, 'loupe clean', round, Grey-Blue 'Ceylon' (Sri Lanka) Spinel platinum ring, decorated with a pair of 0.81 carats, D/VS2, pear

www.1stdibs.com

They want 56k for it mounted. Their prices seem crazy high to me but they assume you'll pay for the designer name, I guess. There are many loose spinel on there now that they're the it thing- all expensive.
Still, rare as hen's teeth.

Princess Gems on Insta gets some 3 to 4 carats in rounds.
Naing_linn 1992 on Insta does as well
Super rare that they're in round though if over 3ct.
Too much waste in the cutting, I think.

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

Maybe I am new to the CS world, but is it normal to sell a stone for $50+k without a lab report?

No. Not at all.

*I don't know why they're only showing the reports for the side stones in the listing. I imagine if you asked they'd furnish you all the appropriate paperwork before sale.

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

@Avondale
I'm sorry for the thread jack! We(I) just love spinels and well, it happens sometimes.
Please come back and fill us in on your own adventures!

 

[T L]

Honestly, I would too. I love rounds and they just don't come up often, not in blue, anyway. I don't have any special connections and I always just assumed they go straight to designers or special private boutique dealers.
I have a weird yen for a blue one(not even cobalt), with only little to moderate gray. If I win the lottery...because to afford something like that, it'd have to be the lottery

These sort of qualify-at least as rounds:

Crown Princess Gems (Pvt) Limited on Instagram: "Spinel 4+ Carats Usually It’s difficult to find a round shaped DM us for more information about the gemstone Contact Us for more beautiful gemstones like this and we provide you with following benef

13 likes, 3 comments - crown_princes_gems on March 25, 2022: "Spinel 4+ Carats Usually It’s difficult to find a round shaped DM us for more information about the gemstone Contact Us for more beautiful gemstones like this and we provide you with following benefits *Delivery of stones to your...

www.instagram.com

Crown Princess Gems (Pvt) Limited on Instagram: "It is an awesome 6 carats Spinel Loupe clean and perfectly cut Purple spinel #spinel Anyway its not available Contact Us for more beautiful gemstones like this and we provide you with following bene

crown_princes_gems on March 10, 2022: "It is an awesome 6 carats Spinel Loupe clean and perfectly cut Purple spinel #spinel Anyway its not available Contact Us for more beautiful gemstones like this and we provide you with following benefits *Delivery of stones to your doorstep via...

www.instagram.com

Maybe a round brilliant isn’t feasible because it would eliminate too much off the pavilion. Love the stone, but the cutting is not the best.

 

[Avondale]

@Mrsz1ppy @ItsMainelyYou Threadjack away. If this thread evolves into a centralised hub of knowledge on blue spinels that everyone can refer to, this can only make me happy.

I've been waiting to see if the listing will come up again. Sadly, it hasn't, so someone must've bought the ring. That someone either got pretty scammed or massively lucky, but we'll never know.

And man, did I want to know. Was it low probability that it was a natural stone? Of course. But there's this saying, that luck is nothing more than opportunity landing on your shoulder and you seizing it. 99 out of a 100 times it will come to nothing, but for that 1 in a 100 it is worth to make the effort.