World’s rare spinel auctions, demand and resources

Spinel comes in red and blue varieties, mostly it is believed to be a ruby, or a sapphire, although, not very recognized, these stones outperform diamond in some auctions.  Some of the most expensive rubies are, fundamentally, spinels, which can come from mines of Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Tanzania, Myanmar or Madagascar. While rubies are compounds of aluminum oxide, spinels are compounds of magnesium aluminum oxide. These are pinkish red in color, where some of the most beautiful expensive jewelries in spinels are made from raspberry red variety and sapphires. Considering the market price of these rare stones –-5.3 carat Burmese red spinels was auctioned for £65,000 (at the London Fine Jewellery sale in April 2017) and in another auction, in November a 9.15 carat blue spinel from Sri Lanka was sold for £60,000.

Last year uncut ruby red spinels were found by children that weighted 55 carat and was linked to the builder of the monument Taj Mahal in India. The spinal was lost by Mrs. Graham Pole – which she brought during the colonial era from India, and she lost it while travelling to North England in the 20^th century. The stone was picked up by a railroad employee and given to children to play. The spinel embedded with three names in Persian, is set into a gold chain and was auctioned at London Sotheby’s Arts of the Islamic World where its value estimated was £80,000.

The fondness for investment in diamonds and other precious stones has increase in the past few years as the value of currency is declining and investor are losing faith in the current monetary system. Rich investors are looking for other options such as gold, but in gold, it is believed the rates are manipulated to some extent, and storage of gold is a big problem. Currencies are just paper, produced by some Central banks and manipulated through various government policies, whereas, precious stones are trouble-free.

Precious stones have been valued more than expected at auctions. Bonhams auctions claimed in the past 10 years, the rate of precious stones such as rubies rose 1900 per cent and it found the rate of emerald was up 1900 per cent, while,  sapphires gained 970 per cent and rubies rate increased by 1100 per cent. A decade ago, buyers were getting these stones for $200,000 a carat but now more and more auctions of gems are fetching rate of $2 to $3 million per carat.

The Hope spinel

The Hope spinel belonged to the esteemed collection of Hope, where the price of collection at an auction was nearly 200 times the amount in 1917, up to £200,000. Hope was once the part of jeweler of Sun King Louis XIV and owned by merchant banker, who assembled some of the rare gem collections. The spinel was initially purchased at the price of £1,060 at Bonhams auction.   At Sotheby Hong Kong auction - a diamond – ruby ring was valued approximately US $10.43 million, and a red Hope Spinel gemstone was sold at London Fine Jewellery sale by Bonhams in September in 2015 for US$1.55 million.  

To find out about some of the rarest spinel gems, rubies, diamonds and other precious stones and to get reports related to latest auctions across the world – click 99 Alternative Investments – (http://www.99alternatives.com).

Spinel comes in red and blue varieties, mostly it is believed to be a ruby, or a sapphire, although, not very recognized, these stones outperform diamond in some auctions.  Some of the most expensive rubies are, fundamentally, spinels, which can come from mines of Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Tanzania, Myanmar or Madagascar. While rubies are compounds of aluminum oxide, spinels are compounds of magnesium aluminum oxide. These are pinkish red in color, where some of the most beautiful expensive jewelries in spinels are made from raspberry red variety and sapphires. Considering the market price of these rare stones –-5.3 carat Burmese red spinels was auctioned for £65,000 (at the London Fine Jewellery sale in April 2017) and in another auction, in November a 9.15 carat blue spinel from Sri Lanka was sold for £60,000.

Last year uncut ruby red spinels were found by children that weighted 55 carat and was linked to the builder of the monument Taj Mahal in India. The spinal was lost by Mrs. Graham Pole – which she brought during the colonial era from India, and she lost it while travelling to North England in the 20^th century. The stone was picked up by a railroad employee and given to children to play. The spinel embedded with three names in Persian, is set into a gold chain and was auctioned at London Sotheby’s Arts of the Islamic World where its value estimated was £80,000.

The fondness for investment in diamonds and other precious stones has increase in the past few years as the value of currency is declining and investor are losing faith in the current monetary system. Rich investors are looking for other options such as gold, but in gold, it is believed the rates are manipulated to some extent, and storage of gold is a big problem. Currencies are just paper, produced by some Central banks and manipulated through various government policies, whereas, precious stones are trouble-free.

Precious stones have been valued more than expected at auctions. Bonhams auctions claimed in the past 10 years, the rate of precious stones such as rubies rose 1900 per cent and it found the rate of emerald was up 1900 per cent, while,  sapphires gained 970 per cent and rubies rate increased by 1100 per cent. A decade ago, buyers were getting these stones for $200,000 a carat but now more and more auctions of gems are fetching rate of $2 to $3 million per carat.

The Hope spinel

The Hope spinel belonged to the esteemed collection of Hope, where the price of collection at an auction was nearly 200 times the amount in 1917, up to £200,000. Hope was once the part of jeweler of Sun King Louis XIV and owned by merchant banker, who assembled some of the rare gem collections. The spinel was initially purchased at the price of £1,060 at Bonhams auction.   At Sotheby Hong Kong auction - a diamond – ruby ring was valued approximately US $10.43 million, and a red Hope Spinel gemstone was sold at London Fine Jewellery sale by Bonhams in September in 2015 for US$1.55 million.  

To find out about some of the rarest spinel gems, rubies, diamonds and other precious stones and to get reports related to latest auctions across the world – click 99 Alternative  – (http://www.99alternatives.com).