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Violet Spinel · Unheated
Sri LankaCertified
$449
Insured worldwide shipping included.
We like this unheated Sri Lankan spinel for its vivid violet colour, an eye clean 1.17 ct cushion that began as a 4.06 ct piece of rough.
From the buying desk
By Crestonne
Violet is the hardest colour in spinel to get right. Slip a little towards purple-pink and it reads as something else; lean too dark and the stone goes flat indoors. This one holds a vivid violet from edge to edge, saturated enough that you notice the colour before you notice the stone. At 1.17 carats it is a small stone with a large colour, and that is exactly why it stopped our founder at the table.
We bought it as rough, a 4.06 ct piece, at a market in Sri Lanka, in person and with a loupe in hand. That is how we prefer to buy. Rough tells you things a cut stone hides: where the colour sits, how the inclusions run, whether the material is worth the loss that cutting always brings. Here the colour was already there in the rough, and the decision was to protect it rather than chase size.
What came off the wheel is a cushion of 6.22 x 5.88 x 4.5 mm, graded Very Good for cut. The depth matters. At 4.5 mm there is enough body for the violet to build up properly, instead of thinning out into a pale, windowed centre. The stone is unheated, so the colour is what the ground gave, and that places it in the premium tier of Ceylon spinel. It has slight inclusions, which we would rather state plainly than hide. They are part of a natural stone's character, and at normal viewing distance they do not interrupt the colour.
Because it is unheated and natural, we sent it to the lab for certification, and the certificate sits further down this page for you to read alongside the stone. Look at the colour first, then check it against the paperwork. We think the two agree.
Certification
The stone ships with its original TGL report. To see it now, including the report number, enter your email and we send the link immediately.
Report No. •••••••
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Common questions
The questions buyers ask about this particular stone, answered against its own report and measurements.
Ask questions about this stoneIt is unheated. The colour you see is what the stone had as it came out of the ground, with no heat applied afterwards. Unheated spinel is the premium tier, and it is one of the reasons we chose this stone.
Yes, it comes with a gemmological laboratory report, and the report number is listed in the stone's specifications on this page. The report is the independent record of what the stone is, so you do not have to rely on our description alone. We would rather you check the paperwork against the stone than take our word for it.
Eye clean means no inclusions are visible to the unaided eye when you look at the stone face up at a normal distance. It does not claim the stone is flawless under magnification, and natural stones rarely are. For a violet spinel of this size, it means the colour is what you notice, not any internal features.
It is a descriptive colour term, not a formal grade. We use it because the stone shows a strong, saturated violet, not a pale or greyish one. Colour is always best judged in the stone itself, so we suggest looking at the photographs in both daylight and indoor light.
The stone measures 6.22 x 5.88 x 4.5 mm, so it is a slightly elongated cushion with a face-up size of about 6 mm across. The cushion cut is graded Very Good. That gives a balanced, compact stone that sits comfortably in a ring or hangs well as a pendant.
It is a natural spinel from Sri Lanka, and our founder bought it as rough, weighing 4.06 ct before any cutting. The finished stone is 1.17 ct, which is the weight that remained once the rough was shaped into a cushion that kept the colour and clarity. We record the country of origin as Sri Lanka and do not name a specific mine, since that is not something the specifications state.
Shipping and returns
Free standard shipping worldwide. Every stone leaves Sri Lanka fully insured, with a tracking number, and normally arrives within 7 to 10 business days. Customs duties and import taxes, where they apply, are the buyer's responsibility.
Changed your mind? Tell us within 14 days of receiving the stone, and we send you the return paperwork. Send it back unset, unaltered and undamaged, with everything that came with it, fully insured and tracked at your cost. We refund the full price you paid, with no fees. If anything is unclear, just ask.
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