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Small Hauyne and Luc Yen Cobalt Spinel

M

Marlow

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Apr 15, 2013
Messages
1,726
Not many gems are found in Germany but Hauyne is well known and shows a extremely high saturated blue color!!

For me it is still a miracle that Luc Yen/Vietnam offers Cobalt Spinel which are very close to Hauyne.



Spinel 0,11 ct Hauyne 0,10 ct
Hauyne 0,09 Spinel 0,09 ct
 
Lovely, Marlow. Hauyne is one of my favorites for its beautiful saturated pure blue. It brings out the purple in your spinels! Thanks for a peek at them.

--- Laurie
 
Beautiful.
 
Lovely colour Marlow! Hauyne is rarely seen on this forum so again, thanks for the showcase :))

ETA: spelling
 
Sweet looking stuff!
 
Gorgeous! As always, thank you for sharing. Don't mind me if I stare for a bit ... :whistle: :lickout:
 
Oh, Marlow, it's such a joy seeing these beautiful examples from your collection! Your step-cut Luc Yen.... :love: But, I have to ask -- how do you pronounce "hauyne"?
 
Very nice stones Marlow, thanks for sharing.
 
evergreen|1412001401|3758611 said:
Oh, Marlow, it's such a joy seeing these beautiful examples from your collection! Your step-cut Luc Yen.... :love: But, I have to ask -- how do you pronounce "hauyne"?
Click to expand...

We pronounce it like

how iiin ( a long "i" like need)

"hau ihn" ( same pronounciation in german) would mean "hit him" in english.

The octagon is beautiful too but a bit difficult to picture - I was so glad to buy them course there absolutely nothing to buy in germany in this color! They where 600 EUR pct ( the hauyne too course loupeclean and exc. cutting.)

Be careful buying hauyne larger than 0,25 ct - they are stabilized with filler course extremely bittle during cutting. Later you can wear them in earrings. I think of purchasing next year some parcel with small stones and sell it on Loupetroope course we get it cheaper here.
If some is interested....
 
Marlow said:
I think of purchasing next year some parcel with small stones and sell it on Loupetroope course we get it cheaper here.
If some is interested....
Click to expand...

Quite possibly. :naughty:
 
Beautiful small stones.!!! :appl:

There is a cobalt spinel from Luc Yen with a "higher" cobalt content ( 250-630 ppm) with a extremely saturated vivid blue ( very similar to hauyne ( or hauynite) - my two cobalt spinel I posted here belong to that group.

The second group has a "lower" cobalt content ( 5-20 ppm) and they have a a color shift from vivid blue to blueviolet.

Cobalt has a VERY strong ability to absorb light - you need only a tiny amount to color a spinel deep blue.

Luc Yen is special course this source produces cobalt spinel with an extremely low iron content ( but still MUCH higher then the Co content) - unfortunately very small.... Still dream of a 0,30 ct - would be enough for me.

So your stones have a color shift and maybe - typical for cobalt spinel - strong red flashes ( use a loupe and you will see a red rim on each facet if you move the stone in the tweezer) - these red flashes are the "rest" of the dispersion - cobalt absorbe orange, yellow and green - only blue and red are visible - in smaller stones a reflex looks violet-red.

I love esp. this in cobalt spinel!!! Same in Sri Lanka Cobaltoferrous spinel - some outstanding ( TheGemtrader this month ) Spinel from Sri Lanka are to die for!!!

Cobalt spinel should show a typical spectrum ( thick - thick - thin in the red-orange-yellow-green area), a red to reddish brown reaction using a Chelsea filter and these red flashes.
 
Wow, Marlow, you know so much about the chemical/mineral composition of stones from various locations. Impressed once again.
 
I don't have much knowledge to share, but I can say...PRETTY!
 
Hope you find the 7th stone!!! Try it!!!

They are cobalt spinel - look at this article ( No 21. ). Mrs. Hanser made some research about Luc Yen cobalt spinel. The stones with the higher Co content don't shift and with the lower shift - both are great and extremely pretty! And we are talking about parts per million!!!

http://www.ssef.ch/research-publications/facette/

Great you see the red flashes - they are so pretty!!

Hauyne or hauynite - both is the same!! For example some here use still "tsavolithe" instead of tsavorite for green grossular!

Hauyne has a lower RI compared to Co spinel - they will sparkle like spinel - hauyne is like a tiny brazilian high quality paraiba or a small top emerald COLOR,COLOR,COLOR.

This weekend is a small gem show - I will talk to a vendor with hundreds of tiny hauyne - maybe we produce some small lots for accent stones or halos for Loupetroop.

If you want to set your hauyne be careful - they are brittle - you need some extra stones if they damage a stone.
 
These are killer color...
 
These are really stunning Marlow!
 
Hope you find the missing 7th stone! :errrr:

Unfortunately, I'm not knowledgeable enough to answer your questions. I've seen cobalt spinels that are a strong medium dark blue (lab deemed it a cobalt spinel) but the Luc Yen's I've seen are all a medium light blue.
 
Chrono|1429012437|3861628 said:
Hope you find the missing 7th stone! :errrr:

Unfortunately, I'm not knowledgeable enough to answer your questions. I've seen cobalt spinels that are a strong medium dark blue (lab deemed it a cobalt spinel) but the Luc Yen's I've seen are all a medium light blue.
Click to expand...
I've seen a couple of medium dark Co spinels from Luc Yen... it's a very scarce material in good quality, even in small size.
 
Thank you Diane!!!

Great that you postet Luc Yen cobalt spinel AND Hauyne too!! Not many here who could do this :D !!!

I got today sime stones to check from a friend - diamonds, moissanite and synthetic spinel - two cobalt blue too

It is VERY interessting!! They are small too ( a 0,42 square and a 0,14 ct round) - NO chance to see a difference - same color, same fluor and Chelsea filter.

BUT - the RI is always higher then natural spinel - Luc Yen Cobalt is around 1,710-1,715 ---- the synthetic around 1,725-1,730.

My advice - if you buy in a show insist on a check with the refractometer and via internet a report or describtion with the RI - is would be too expensive to send them to a lab!!

If they don't do this avoid buying - it is easy to salt rough from Vietnam - so a vendor could be a victim too.

Natural spinel with a RI higher then 1,72 is possible ( Zinc ) but they look different!!
 
The Verneuil synthetic also displays a very typical "tabby" extinction between crossed polariscope filters.
Might be difficult to see if the stone is really small. UV fluorescence reactions can help to separate natural from synthetic.

If you encounter a flux melt synthetic spinel, you're in much more trouble as they have the same RI as the natural ones and they grow into nice octahedrons, just like their natural counterparts.
The spectrum can help to differenciate them.
 
Dioptase|1429062006|3861973 said:
The Verneuil synthetic also displays a very typical "tabby" extinction between crossed polariscope filters.
Might be difficult to see if the stone is really small. UV fluorescence reactions can help to separate natural from synthetic.

If you encounter a flux melt synthetic spinel, you're in much more trouble as they have the same RI as the natural ones and they grow into nice octahedrons, just like their natural counterparts.
The spectrum can help to differenciate them.
Click to expand...

The two Luc Yen I postet here have exactly the same LW UV color a the two synthetic and the same Chelsea filter color.

Spectrum using a handhold spectroscope is the same too - the iron line which seperates the Sri Lanka deep-dark blue from synthetics is very weak - I could see it -I need better equipment. A friend has a spectrometer - we will check them.

I got them from a trusted source ( a PhD in mineralogy) and Dr. Schmetzer checked them. The other 3 I got from Dr. Schmetzer.

So a trusted source is very important - no Ebay, no vendor unless he/she is specilized in dealing with rare gems and a good reputation.
 
Diane thanks for bringing up this post back up - I had forgotten about it. Months ago, I was looking for a parcel of 3mm for a pendant setting I have but gave up and have been contemplating another direction. So I couldn't resist getting some little ones like yours from Yvonne when I saw her post on FB. Lucky you for being smart enough to get some spinels too!

At first, I bought them as collection stones but they are too pretty to sit in a gem jar. Too small for my pendant setting so I am working with Yvonne on a ring as well.

They remind me of paraibas but even better color (for me anyway)....even the tiny ones glow. Appreciate all the added information from the always fascinating/informative Marlow and dioptase.
 
:love: :love: That is just stunning! Well done!
 
Beautiful ring Diane, reminds me of a zinnia flower. Do you have a separate thread for this?
 
DianeM|1435619829|3896546 said:
Hi again, all,

Thought I would update with some photos of the finished ring that Yvonne made for me with eight 2mm hauynites (like the ones pictured above), eight 1mm hauynites, and a one-carat diamond. She calls this design "camellia" because of the double halo. First is her vendor photo, then the ring as it arrived in its box today, and then my attempt at a hand shot in the shade. (I find it almost impossible to focus in on rings while also holding my iPhone, so my apologies.) The total cost was less than $1300 because Yvonne gave me a break on the diamond price, since it was old stock, and the weight is 3.9 grams. I'm very happy! :love: Now, on to setting the remaining cobalts - just hope I don't lose any more of them! :oops:






I'd love to see photos of your ring, too, lilmosun, when it's finished.

Diane
Click to expand...


This is beautiful, and at a very reasonable price. :) Please post it in the "Rings under $1250" thread!
 
Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous ring, Diane! :love: :love: :clap: The hauynites hold their own - loooove that color - and they make the diamond pop. Very well done!

ETA: What do you plan to do with the remaining hauynites?
 
Unbelievably gorgeous! :love: The stones pop and the design is just perfect.
 
Diane, that is a beautiful ring. :love:
 
KILLER ring DianeM...A friend suggested a diamond and I ruled it out because I didn't want to spend that much...now kicking myself seeing yours but on the other hand, I know I would have had to pay a lot more than you did...you got a GREAT price.

After a month of trying different stones/colors including numerous yellow variations, (Saint) Yvonne found a blue-green paraiba cab for mine - and while a cab wasn't my original preference, as soon as I placed it with the hauynes, we had a winner :dance: We had talked about two rows of hauynes (like yours) but I noticed on my receipt that she went with diamonds on the outer leaves. I assume it went better with the paraiba and I trust her eye completely. I can see why so many love working with her.

Don't have the ring yet, hard to compare after seeing yours :love: but it will be totall different since its a cab (and I do love blue-green and green-blue stones).

hauynes_with_greens.jpg

P.S. A bright pink spinel first came to mind but I am on a pink stone ban. (Although, I did buy some of the 3mm red-pink spinels for a setting I had :shhh:) So I can't wait to see your Luc Yen spinel with the mahenge so I can kick myself for behaving :angel:
 
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