Who has experience wearing spinel for a long time?

[oncrutchesrightnow]

I am considering building a ring with spinel and diamond. I read the threads on spinel and people say it should hold up to daily wear. Does anyone have experience wearing spinel daily? Does it make a difference that I will be using them as accent stones and they might be small? Is there such a thing as spinel melee?

Need pink, lavender, dark purple, and/or black. Sapphire is second choice but not as sparkly, diamond is third choice due to $$$. I am trying to limit this ring to natural untreated stones but will consider lab if the cost is so prohibitive that I could not otherwise afford it, or the odds of needing frequent repair/replace would be high. I put options in a poll.

 

[chrono]

The cost of setting spinel melee will be greater than the labour to set them. You'll need a good bench that can get matching sizes and colours that you want. I would get spare melees in case something happens during the setting process / future damage so you won't have to worry about trying to find matching size and colour in the future.

 

[PrecisionGem]

Is there such a thing as spinel melee?

I see things like this all the time in Tucson at the gem shows.

 

[marymm]

agree with @chrono about cost of setting likely higher than cost of Spinel melee, and to make sure you get extra melee of each color/size for future use -- Spinel is pretty darn durable so replacement would be necessary for same reasons as diamond melee (i.e., melee stone popped out or cracked due to loose prongs / crazy accident / extensive wear and tear)

 

[llamacat]

If you're looking for spinel melee, suggest getting in touch with Yvonne at Cecile Raley Designs on etsy and have a browse through her shop, she has a good range of coloured stone melee.

 

[foxinsox]

I have a 7 stone French cut spinel ring. I’ve been wearing it now daily for 2 years on my non-dominant hand. I take it off for any manual work, cooking, gym and to sleep but otherwise wear it all the time. I’ve managed to chip one of the stones and the facets look a bit abraded. You may just want to factor in some spares for replacements.

 

[CrazyBirdLady]

I have a 3 stone ring with a spinel as the centre stone. I'd worn it for years and it was all fine until last month when I knocked it on some glass. A large chunk has come away unfortunately and its now a bit sad looking. So my advice is be prepared for damage or replacement at some stage if you do go ahead with the spinel.

 

[Neptune]

Not as experienced as others and I only have lived with this spinel for a few years. I’m not the original owner. The ring might have been created more than a decade ago, an uneducated guess, since I saw a very similar gallery design done by Leon Megé back in 2009 on PS.

Showing off the abrasions here. They’re mostly tiny nicks along the facet junctions. I was aware of them at the time of purchase. I do wear it 4-5 times a week.

Want to see abrasions?




Want to see facets?

 

[oncrutchesrightnow]

Not as experienced as others and I only have lived with this spinel for a few years. I’m not the original owner. The ring might have been created more than a decade ago, an uneducated guess, since I saw a very similar gallery design done by Leon Megé back in 2009 on PS.

Showing off the abrasions here. They’re mostly tiny nicks along the facet junctions. I was aware of them at the time of purchase. I do wear it 4-5 times a week.

Thanks! Pretty color.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Is it definitely daily wear?

I have a lot of giant rings with soft stones but I only wear them for a few hours during an outing.

 

[T L]

Any stone can get damaged if you’re not careful, even diamond. I wear my favorite spinel ring at least five days a week, but I take it off when I sleep, shower, do hands on chores (I wear it to the grocery store though), and it has held up beautifully. There are microchips, but nothing that you can see with the naked eye. Here it is after a decade of wear

 

[oncrutchesrightnow]

Is it definitely daily wear?

I have a lot of giant rings with soft stones but I only wear them for a few hours during an outing.

Maybe not daily-daily but it will be a major purchase and I hope to wear it most days and all occasions. I hear you on the occasional-special-occasion piece — I have a sphene ring that only comes out occasionally and it has its own covered ring box.

Any stone can get damaged if you’re not careful, even diamond. I wear my favorite spinel ring at least five days a week, but I take it off when I sleep, shower, do hands on chores (I wear it to the grocery store though), and it has held up beautifully. There are microchips, but nothing that you can see with the naked eye. Here it is after a decade of wear

That color and sparkle are gorgeous. Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

I have one I almost never took off for 15 yrs that was made in @1895- it being in a belcher setting was key- it knocked gold and not the stone- I dug in the garden with that one- stone looks perfect. The prongs are almost done.
My e-ring now is only a few years old. I don't wear it daily or doing 'chores', but it gets worn fairly often. I would beef the prongs if I were to do it over again as a daily driver.
My big blue is 'vintage' possibly 40-50's, occasional wear for me (it's huge to me) this one was obviously worn often by the previous owner and is the only one I have with some facet abrasion.
If I set any others I would likely either do a longer chunky claw or bezel set. Something protective. They're pretty hard at 8, but it's important that they have few internal inclusions if you want daily wear.

 

[fredflintstone]

I'm not voting, because the questions are too general.

Some people are much harder on rings than others. Spinel is a good durable ring stone, so is Sapphire, both have no cleavage where a Diamond has four perfect cleavage planes. Which means if you hit a Diamond at the right angles it will cleave, break. Which means as far as bump and thumps, Spinel and Sapphire are tougher stones than Diamond, though Diamond is harder, but that does not necessarily equate to toughness. Jade is the toughest gemstone.

I’ve had a 3 carat red Spinel ring for over 20 years, looks great, but I am careful with my rings. I have had a Welo Opal in a ring for 4 years, the Opal looks like new, but I know the rules of wearing Welo Opal. In other words, if you are tough on your rings, don’t expect them to last a lifetime but if you treat them with caution and respect they can be passed down to the next generation.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

I'm not voting, because the questions are too general.

Some people are much harder on rings than others. Spinel is a good durable ring stone, so is Sapphire, both have no cleavage where a Diamond has four perfect cleavage planes. Which means if you hit a Diamond at the right angles it will cleave, break. Which means as far as bump and thumps, Spinel and Sapphire are tougher stones than Diamond, though Diamond is harder, but that does not necessarily equate to toughness. Jade is the toughest gemstone.

I’ve had a 3 carat red Spinel ring for over 20 years, looks great, but I am careful with my rings. I have had a Welo Opal in a ring for 4 years, the Opal looks like new, but I know the rules of wearing Welo Opal. In other words, if you are tough on your rings, don’t expect them to last a lifetime but if you treat them with caution and respect they can be passed down to the next generation.

Here is a fun 2-3 minute video I made during Covid lockdowns that has a crack at explaining this. (BTW Jade is the toughest gem)

 

[Neptune]

I have one I almost never took off for 15 yrs that was made in @1895- it being in a belcher setting was key- it knocked gold and not the stone- I dug in the garden with that one- stone looks perfect. The prongs are almost done.

Whaaaa???

 

[LilAlex]

Nothing but diamond holds up to "daily wear" in our pretty extensive (and occasionally sad) experience over many decades.

Spouse has a spinel that she wears every now and then and loves it. She'll wear it daily for a week and then put it away. I have no concerns about durability but I would not make it a daily driver or e-ring. Plus, we are getting older so our "lifetime of wear" feels like a lower bar lately...

The best thing is to get a few rings and wear them in rotation.

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

Whaaaa???

I know, I know.
I owe that poor stone a new mounting, she earned it.
Would I do that now?
Nevah!

 

[T L]

Nothing but diamond holds up to "daily wear" in our pretty extensive (and occasionally sad) experience over many decades.

It depends on how hard you are on your jewelry. My mother’s diamond e-ring has two huge chunks (not chips, but chunks) taken out of it, and one of the side baguettes is cracked in half. I was astonished!! It’s in a platinum setting and at least the prongs held up. This is from daily wear of fifty+ years. Of course the diamond is scratch free, but they do cleave and chip.

 

[musicloveranthony]

It will eventually wear.. It's up to you whether than wear will necessitate repair or replacement, though. I have a few spinel, tourmaline, zircon, garnet in various rings, pendants, and earrings that are all very careful/infrequently worn. Despite the care they all have wear on them but only one of the rings has enough facet abrasion that I don't wear it any more - I'll need to get it re-polished here some day