Grey spinel fluorescing - synthetic?

[milton333]

I have a UV flashlight that I received when I got BGD blue stud earrings, and have had fun finding that some of the diamond melee in my pieces have blue fluor (some very strong). For fun, I turned it on a recently-acquired grey spinel, and it lit up bright pink. I'm not sure if my UV light is long-wave or short-wave, but this makes it seem like my spinel may be synthetic...?

 

[Autumn in New England]

Hi @milton333... I've read about natural gray spinel fluorescing red or pink due to chromium content. Perhaps other members will have more info on the topic. Now I want to put my gray under UV!

 

[VividRed]

Generally speaking, stone being synthetic has nothing to do with its fluorescence. It’s the chemical makeup and the presence of trace elements that determine if a stone will fluoresce or not.

Synthetic stones have the same makeup of their natural counterparts. If they didn’t, they would look different because light would be absorbed differently and you would see a different color.

Spinels might be different though. Do you have pictures?

 

[T L]

Photo? Can you loupe it? Are there any inclusions?