Do some hot pink Mahenge spinels show some magenta and red?

[Gempassion]

Hi everyone,

I was just wondering if top color hot pink Mahenge spinels show some purplish magenta (and maybe some red too)... depending on the lighting? I was oogling over Chrono's magnificent pear shaped spinel and it looks to me like it does show some signs of magenta but I am just wondering if this is simply an impression from the photos or if it does exhibit some purple and red flashes IRL?

Thank you,

 

[RockHugger]

Re: Do some hot pink Mahenge spinels show some magenta and r

My saturated stones show purple and red flashes. That's what makes the so cool!

 

[Gempassion]

Re: Do some hot pink Mahenge spinels show some magenta and r

Perfect! Thank you RockHugger, that's exactly what I am looking for!

 

[LtlFirecracker]

Re: Do some hot pink Mahenge spinels show some magenta and r

My spinel is hot pink.

It does show some purple flashes in sunlight. I attached a picture. It also looks red in some lightings, and in low lighting has a red "glow." That is proven difficult to photograph.

 

[Gempassion]

Re: Do some hot pink Mahenge spinels show some magenta and r

Thank you LtlFirecracker that spinel looks like it lights up like a little firecracker!

 

[chrono]

Re: Do some hot pink Mahenge spinels show some magenta and r

There is some slight colour shifting that I’ve noticed in my Mahenge spinel depending on the light source and time of the day but I don’t think I’ve seen any magenta flashes. It typically ranges from a very saturated pink to some combination of pink and red, and red. I guess this goes to show how horrible my photography is; my camera has issues with the colour orange and red although it seems to do well with blue and green, so maybe it a “cool” camera.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Re: Do some hot pink Mahenge spinels show some magenta and r

My mahenges don't show red at all - just a very bright, saturated pink, with pink flashes.

 

[Sagebrush]

Re: Do some hot pink Mahenge spinels show some magenta and r

Gempassion,


Mahenge spinel does come in red though it is extremely rare and the red is a light toned, ok let me try "maraschino" cherry red. Burma spinel will come in similar hues. Much of Mahenge is the typical light to medium toned orangy red. The chief reason for Mahenge's sudden rise to popularity has to do with saturation. The color is just so vivid! Early on it was compared to Burma, but now Burma is compared to Mahenge and so it goes.

Best,

 

[jleb]

Re: Do some hot pink Mahenge spinels show some magenta and r

Well for me hot pink/sleepy spinel and the mahenge spinel are two different types. At the GIA spinel symposium in 2009 Pala gems bought out a large selection of spinel, some of it from that big multi kilo mahenge chunk. Most of it was not the stop light red you'd see in those smaller Vietnamese pieces, like richard said an Orangy Red, although some had a bit of magenta in it as well.

The hot pink is really pink. Sleepy spinel has the micro needles in it that scatter the light and give it the glow. I've never seen any color other than pink come off the hot pinks I've had. It is pretty distinct from the red mahenge, although they are from the same region.

 

[T L]

Re: Do some hot pink Mahenge spinels show some magenta and r

If you notice a stronger red shift in sunlight, it may be due to fluorescence that these stones have. I have noticed that some have weaker fluor than others, but the ones with nice strong fluor tend to glow in the sun and become more red.

 

[Gempassion]

Re: Do some hot pink Mahenge spinels show some magenta and r

Thank you Chrono, LD, Richard, jleb and TL (again),

Chrono: I don't think it is only your photography that gave me a magenta impression. (Your photography looks very good). I've been looking at the Mahenge's on Swala's site to price them and many of them seem to be of a hot pink/red/magenta mix. I suppose that I would have to email Swala gems directly to ask them if they have a spinel in stock that would show these three colors (under different lighting conditions perhaps).

jleb: Thank you. Yes, I have noticed that some spinels (like the asscher from flawless facets) is red/orange but that's just not the color I'm looking for.

Richard: The hot pink spinel on your site is to die for (too bad it's out of my price range).

Thanks again everyone for your opinions, it will give me a better idea on what to look for (or ask) on my spinel hunt.

 

[Sagebrush]

Re: Do some hot pink Mahenge spinels show some magenta and r

If you notice a stronger red shift in sunlight, it may be due to fluorescence that these stones have. I have noticed that some have weaker fluor than others, but the ones with nice strong fluor tend to glow in the sun and become more red.

TL,

That is a very interesting point. Fluorescence, does your stone fluoresce strongly in UV light or are you talking about sunlight. Typically, some spinel will fluoresce but as far as I know there is nothing origin specific about it. I asked Vincent about it some time ago, but he had not done much with UV florescence in Magenge spinel. Burma ruby does fluoresce a strong red which contributes to its visible saturation, you seem to be saying that the same thing happens with your Mahenge spinel, am I correct? Have you read anything about general fluor. in Mahenge material?

Best,

 

[T L]

Re: Do some hot pink Mahenge spinels show some magenta and r

If you notice a stronger red shift in sunlight, it may be due to fluorescence that these stones have. I have noticed that some have weaker fluor than others, but the ones with nice strong fluor tend to glow in the sun and become more red.

TL,

That is a very interesting point. Fluorescence, does your stone fluoresce strongly in UV light or are you talking about sunlight. Typically, some spinel will fluoresce but as far as I know there is nothing origin specific about it. I asked Vincent about it some time ago, but he had not done much with UV florescence in Magenge spinel. Burma ruby does fluoresce a strong red which contributes to its visible saturation, you seem to be saying that the same thing happens with your Mahenge spinel, am I correct? Have you read anything about general fluor. in Mahenge material?

Best,

Richard,
My stone fluors in both sunlight and a UV light (long wave and short wave). I have only seen one Mahenge spinel that didn't show any strong fluorescence. Most of the ones I have seen have very discernable fluorescence under sunlight and UV light. Like Burmese ruby, I believe the stronger saturation of color in sunlight, is due to the fluorescence in Mahenge spinels, but not all of them. I did happen upon one Mahenge that went rather extinct in sunlight, but it also did not have strong fluorescence. It also did not have good saturation of color in comparison to finer material that I have seen. I do not recall reading about fluorescence in Mahenge spinels, but these are just my own observations and some other owners of Mahenge that I spoken with. I have some stones that have incredible saturation in sunlight, and appear to "glow."

 

[brandy_z28]

Re: Do some hot pink Mahenge spinels show some magenta and r

The red/pink/orange mahenge or tanzanian spinels that I own also all show some degree of, most of them being strong, fluor in both uv and sunlight.

 

[LtlFirecracker]

Re: Do some hot pink Mahenge spinels show some magenta and r

I don't know if this helps. But I been meaning to take this pic. The small stone is a Burmese spinel. The larger one is a Mehenge. Both seem to equally light up to me. The Mahenge is a bit "sleeper" in real life.

 

[Fly Girl]

Re: Do some hot pink Mahenge spinels show some magenta and r

Your question reminds me of this discussion of "wild rubies" in gemstones on photo published on the wildfishgems website.

http://wildfishgems.com/gemstones_on_photo#wildru

Ed says that the best rubies split purple from red in a photo, but red spinel never does. I'm wondering if the intense hot pink Mahenge color is an exception.

 

[T L]

Re: Do some hot pink Mahenge spinels show some magenta and r

I think fine Mahenge does show some violet.

 

[Gempassion]

Re: Do some hot pink Mahenge spinels show some magenta and r

Thanks flygirl,

Yes, I have read that on Ed's site, I just wasn't sure if it applied to Mahenge's too. I suppose that, as many of you have suggested, it depends on the quality of the spinel.

 

[Sagebrush]

Re: Do some hot pink Mahenge spinels show some magenta and r

Firecracker,

Nice images, what was the lighting used on the second one, Long or short wave? The violetish glow that you captured quite well in your first image is likely the result of myriad tiny inclusions, the cause is similar to the sleepy phenomenon in Kashmir sapphire. It is characteristic of pink/red spinel from E. Africa, at least. I am not enough of a spinel aficionado to know if it is also found in Burmese. I have often wondered why, if it is such a wonderful thing in sapphire, it is not recognized as such in spinel.

I have started a discussion elsewhere on the diagnostic value of fluorescence in red spinel. There have been no serious studies, though some of my more scientifically oriented colleagues are intrigued. Stay tuned.

Best,

 

[LtlFirecracker]

Re: Do some hot pink Mahenge spinels show some magenta and r

Richard,

It is short wave UV light. Honestly, this discussion is forcing me to review the difference long range and short range light.

Thanks for explaining the violet effect to me. The sleepy quality does make the Mahenge a fascinating stone. I don't know about all Burmese spinels (mine is not sleepy, but a beautiful pink), but the Mahenge glows in low light and the Burmese blacks out. I have never seen a Kashmir sapphire in real life, but if this stone has similar qualities in terms if sleepiness, than I can understand appeal of the Kashmir.

BTW, my Father bought me the French Blue a few months ago. It is coming with me on the airplane to my Honeymoon in a few weeks .

 

[Gempassion]

Re: Do some hot pink Mahenge spinels show some magenta and r

Ah ok your comparison between karshmir's and spinel's has helped me to understand the appeal of kashmir's!

 

[Sagebrush]

Re: Do some hot pink Mahenge spinels show some magenta and r

LtFirecracker & gempassion,

Glad the comparison helped. The so-called Kashmir affect is really light dispersion, imagine light rays bouncing like demented pin-balls (are you young enough to remember pin balls) off very tiny inclusions, not resolvable under 160X, or some sort of Star wars scenario with lasers hitting tiny asteroids. Large inclusions would block the light, tiny ones fracture it.

Best,

 

[Largosmom]

Re: Do some hot pink Mahenge spinels show some magenta and r



Imagining the "kashmir" light show...pew pew pew! (lasers)

 

[Gempassion]

Re: Do some hot pink Mahenge spinels show some magenta and r

Yes, I can see how microscopic inclusions could cause a pinball effect. Nice!

 

[Sagebrush]

Re: Do some hot pink Mahenge spinels show some magenta and r

LtFirecracker,

Nice to hear you bought my book, hopefully you won't have time to read all 585 pages....

Congratulations and best wishes,

 

[Sagebrush]

Re: Do some hot pink Mahenge spinels show some magenta and r

Tourmaline Lover,


A collegue of mine did a quick photometric comparison between Burmese, Mahenge and Vietnamese (Loc Yen) spinel. The graphs were quite distinctively different. Does that mean that it is possible to differentiate pink spinel from these three locations by fluorescence alone, not enough data! However, we will be doing some more comparisons. Thanks for putting the idea in my mind.

Best,

 

[chrono]

Re: Do some hot pink Mahenge spinels show some magenta and r

I find it interesting that so far, all the Mahenge spinels I’ve handled and seen react to UV. I know that some Burmese and Vietnamese spinels also have fluorescence but they do not seem to happen as frequently as the Mahenge spinels. I’m definitely intrigued and am looking forward to hearing more about the comparison testing.