As with commercial grade unheated natural sapphires, commercial grade Spinels are abundant. Below are some examples of regular Spinels most people come across in stores or at their local jeweller.
commercial grade spinel that has heavily dark zones with 80% of gemstone in shadowcommercial grade spinel with inclusions commercial grade spinel with large window
Commercial grade spinels come as cheaply as $200/ct for sizes under 3cts. However, aesthetically beautiful, well-cut and 100% unheated Spinels are difficult to source. Often times, Spinels, like above, that come through our hands do not make through our quality controls. Investment-grade Spinels in shades of pink, blue and red can command a minimum of $4000/ct and upwards. This is assuming the Spinel is eye-clean/loupe-clean, well-cut with no colour zones, no areas of large windows, no areas of dark shadows.
Some examples of fine quality Spinels are as below. Well-cut, aesthetically beautiful & 100% natural Spinels are becoming increasingly difficult to source.
How is the Blue Spinel different to the Blue Sapphire?
How is the Blue Spinel different to the Blue Sapphire? Are they both natural gemstones?
Fine quality blue spinels are unlike any Blue Sapphires the regular consumer typically sees in the shops or online.
Clients often ask us: What is the difference between a Blue Spinel and Blue Sapphire?
Blue sapphires exist usually in the pure blue shade, often without any secondary tones.What varies is whether it is a light blue, medium blue, vivid blue, inky blue or deep blue. On the other hand, blue spinels come in a spectrum of blues, often with a secondary undertone or overtone of grey, green, or lilac/purple. This lends a depth of colour to the gem, quite unlike any other Blue Sapphire.
We share below a quick visual example of the difference between a Blue Spinel and a Blue Sapphire. It is quickly apparent that the colour tones of the Blue Spinel and a Blue Sapphire are quite different, yet both gorgeous in their own ways.
Commercial Quality Spinels VS Fine Quality Spinels:
Unfortunately, commercial quality blue spinels are usually lack-lustre, appearing somewhat dull and in an overly dark shade of colour. Common examples are as below.
Often times, a good portion / area of the stone appears to be nearly black or cast in shadow. As a result, you would find it difficult to see the individual facets of the stone being reflected back to the eye. It is possible to see that the stone is blue, but the actual colour is not seen evenly throughout the gem.
On the other hand, fine quality blue spinels will a nice brilliance and lustre, with good amount of sparkle throughout the stone. It will not appear overly dull or cast in dark shadow. Scroll through to see visual examples of fine quality Blue Spinel set in a beautiful 18K white gold setting.
An example of a commercial quality Blue Spinel that has too much shadow and appears overcast and dull.
Customisation Process:
Recently customised for a client, below features a stunning and mesmerising spinel in Midnight Blue, set in 18K White Gold and diamonds. Look at the depth of colour on this gem! Mysterious midnight blue so mesmerising one could stare at the stone for hours on end. Notice that most of the facets can be seen from the top of the stone.
As with sapphires, Spinels that are well-cut and eye-clean are not common. Beautiful Spinels are not overcast in shadow nor having areas that lack in colour.
There is something very endearing about blue Spinels. The blue is not the usual “pop” of blue, but an enigmatic blue hue that grows on you and looks more beautiful with time. As is said, in every gem connoisseur’s collection, there is always at least one Spinel sitting in that private collection.
This piece is also design to be in a seamless fit with the wedding band.
It was a delight for us to handcraft such a beautiful bespoke spinel engagement ring.
Would you like to customise a similar piece?
Contact us now at: heritagegems@gmail.com or WhatsApp +65 97716923 and we’d be happy to get you started.
Check out the links below for some inspiration on other types of spinel engagement rings
Customising a bespoke engagement ring holds a special place in every couple’s hearts as they hold both sentimental and emotional value.
If you prefer to have control over what design you would like to see in your ring and also decide what shades of colours you’d like your centre gemstone to be, it is likely you will enjoy the process of customising your bespoke engagement ring.
Spinels – Â available in a spectacular variety of colours from Mother Nature:
Spinels, the August birthstone, have been around since the beginning of time. In absolutely gorgeous shade of blue, this proposal ring is unique and one-of-a-kind. In its blue, pink, grey, lilac and red shades, Spinels have often been confused for Sapphires and Rubies. In no way inferior to Sapphire or Rubies, Spinels often come in such a great variety of shades and colours, there is literally more hues and shades of the Spinels than there are the colours of the rainbow!
The beauty and rarity of unheated, untreated coloured gemstones is that one can almost never just simply “order it” from Mother Nature. Finding the preferred shade of colour requires patience and luck. If lucky, we find ourselves with a gem piece that is both well-faceted and nearly loupe clean.
COMMERCIAL QUALITY SPINELS:
Most commercial quality Spinels look overly dark, with poor brilliance. These commercial quality Spinels look much less lively than preferred, with an almost “sleepy” look. What is common in the mainstream market is similar to the 2 pieces below, or at best, a little more brilliant or a little more lively looking than the 2 pieces immediately below.
FINE QUALITY SPINELS:
However, fine quality Spinels are almost never found in the mainstream market as supply is so limited. Most jewellery stores don’t stock fine quality Spinels. Fine quality Spinels, are pieces that look “alive”, brilliant and almost “dancing” when one views them from the table / face up. Pieces which are well-cut, well-faceted, good clarity and eye-clean. It is possible to source for Spinels which are very eye-clean. The better the eye-clarity, the higher the price of the Spinel. To be in possession of nice, lively, brilliant and eye-clean Spinel is sometimes dependent on luck.
The process of customising your own bespoke jewellery might seem daunting at first, but if you break it down in parts, it actually is not so difficult after all.
First: Choose your colour
Coloured gemstones come in a wide variety of colours. It ranges from light pastel colours, to shade of red, green, blue, blue-green, green-blue, turqoise, red-pink, pink, orange, purple, yellow. Have we left out any other colours of the rainbow?
Second: Practicality
With the exception of exceptionality soft stones like the Emerald, Tanzanite, Fluorite and Moldavite, most other gemstones are good to be used in fine jewellery.
Third: Design of ring
There is no hard and fast rule about what constitutes as a nice design of the ring that you would like to gift your betrothed. Every groom is a unique individual and so is every bride. If you are reading this post, feel free to browse around our other projects that we have customised for clients to get a feel of what you prefer in your proposal ring.
For a quick snap shot of possible ring designs and ideas:
At Heritage Gems, we offer 4 different choices of 18K gold: the traditional White Gold, Yellow Gold, Rose Gold and our own in-house custom blended Beige Gold!
Get in touch to see how we can help you achieve your unique proposal ring, special only to you and your life partner. A piece of jewellery by Heritage Gems is fully handcrafted, every step of the way, sourced ethically and supporting the local business environment here in Singapore. From the time our gemstones are mined, all our gemstones are faceted by hand, and our jewellery handcrafted right here in Singapore. The final product of each and every of our jewellery is a result of at least 80 man hours from the time the gemstone is faceted till the time it is gifted as a beautiful work of art.
Tell us about your story and we will help you craft and customise an engagement ring unique only to you and your partner.
Beautiful vintage style engagement rings never fail to evoke romantic feelings.
Our client very graciously shared her wedding day photos and nothing says love better than a couple with their megawatt smiles, vintage inspired engagement ring and a stunning lace dress.
Beautiful blue Spinels are extremely rare. Yes, equally as rare as the unheated blue sapphire. Blue spinels and most other Spinels are typically non-treated and non-heated. The unique feature about the blue spinel is that it has a very magnetic shade of blue, one that seemingly grows on you rather than simply catching your eye at the first instance. Spinels have long been mistaken for sapphires, or Corundums, because its lustre and brilliance quite resembles the Sapphires.
It’s nice to be able to create your own history and story by customising a vintage styled engagement ring because there’s just something alluring and romantic about it. They make for great photos as well!
Photo Credit: From Client, taken by Daniel Sim Photography
Photo Credit: From Client, taken by Jasper Avenue Sydney
A bespoke customised piece of jewellery to call your own, in a shade of colour that captures your heart and eyes is truly a gift to be enjoyed and appreciated for the years to come.
There’s always something truly memorable and nostalgic about a vintage style engagement ring.
Congratulations to this lovely couple and wishing you both bliss in your journey!
A beautiful rose gold pink Spinel engagement ring and wedding band set handmade in Singapore. Classic, elegant and such a luxurious look and feel. As it turns out, it is also a seamless engagement-cum-wedding band pair at that.
Rose Gold Spinel Engagement Wedding Jewellery
Spinels engagement rings are one of a kind, unique and stunningly beautiful. Spinels have a lustre and brilliance rivalling even the best sapphires and rubies, it is not difficult to see the appeal for brides-to-be choosing the Spinel over sapphires, rubies or diamonds.
As with sapphires and rubies and most other types of gemstones, prices for commercial quality Spinels and  fine quality Spinels differ greatly. Value for Spinels increases greatly if the Spinel is eye-clean, that sparkles as much as any diamond (yes, that is possible). Spinels are in fact more rare than sapphires and rubies.
Pink spinel engagement rings spell romance and are very versatile and easy to wear. Especially pink spinels in pastel, light to medium tones of pink.Â
Spinels rank very closely on the MOHs hardness scale to the Sapphire, making it easy to wear as regular or daily jewellery.
The other strong plus-point of Spinels is that they are usually not heated or treated, so these gemstones are 100% natural. In comparison, approximately 90% of commercially available sapphires are heated, 95% of the world’s rubies are heated and approximately 98% of emeralds have been enhanced or oiled in some way or another.
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seamless engagement and wedding band set
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That customised look for your nesting wedding jewellery
For brides-to-be who already know that they would like a seamless and nesting fit, please let us know during our design discussion stage. This ensures we can bring all design elements in alignment for you. As you can see from the photo above, the unique nesting fit spells bespoke and customised like no other. When worn together, it’s instantly recognisable that your wedding jewellery has been customised to a prefect fit for you. Not simply store-bought.
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nesting engagement and wedding band set
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Need inspiration for your engagement ring? Why not try these below for ideas:
Unique blue Spinels engagement rings are never short of stunning.Â
In our custom-blended 18K Natural Gold, notice that this shade of gold is unlike traditional 18K yellow gold seen typically in Asia. Â Paired with this shade of blue-violet spinel, this custom-blend of natural gold works well for this blue-violet spinel. Under different light sources, blue spinels sometimes display various shades of grey and violet. This unique colour shift is peculiar to the blue spinel.Â
This is one such piece – although the camera did not capture the grey in this spinel at all.
Blue Spinel engagement rings are not only refine and tasteful, but spinels are also a treasured gemstone that rank 8 on MOH’s hardness scale. This makes it durable for wear.Â
What is beautiful about the Spinel is that it is usually and often an unheated, untreated gemstone. It is naturally brilliant and fairly eye clean.
With embedded side diamonds, this style is one that is both elegant and functional that will stand the test of time. Propose with a unique blue spinel engagement rings and she won’t be able to say no. 🙂Â
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Like to check out other similar works? Click below:Â
On showcase will be our new collections of Spinels in a variety of colours, Blue Sapphires, Yellow Sapphires, Mandarin Spessatites, Tsavorite Garnets, Malaia Garnets, Padparascha Sapphires.
Also on display is our latest ready to wear collection featuring pearls, rubies and sapphires.
Photo Credit: From Client, taken by Daniel Sim Photography
Photo Credit: From Client, taken by Jasper Avenue Sydney
