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A RARE ANTIQUE RED SPINEL MOUNTED AS A PENDANT
The table-cut red spinel of octagonal outline weighing 97.25 carats later mounted as a pendant
Spinel occurs with ruby in its natural form and was only classified as a separate mineral in the mid-nineteenth Century. An example of this confusion is the so called 'Black Prince's Ruby' in the British Crown Jewels. There are many examples of spinels, some inscribed with dates, in the Persian Crown Jewels, for a similar octagonal step-cut tablet of spinel with an estimated weight of 80 carats (see P. Pal and others, "Romance of the Taj Mahal," Thames and Hudson, 1989 (see page 66)
Table cut stones are amongst the earliest cut preserved to this day. Table-cut diamonds were mostly found in alluvial river deposits in India such as the Gouel River near Soumelpour in Bengal and were so described in "Les Six Voyages de Jean Baptiste Tavernier en Turquie, en Perse et aux Indes," Paris 1679 (II 15).
The table-cut red spinel of octagonal outline weighing 97.25 carats later mounted as a pendant
Spinel occurs with ruby in its natural form and was only classified as a separate mineral in the mid-nineteenth Century. An example of this confusion is the so called 'Black Prince's Ruby' in the British Crown Jewels. There are many examples of spinels, some inscribed with dates, in the Persian Crown Jewels, for a similar octagonal step-cut tablet of spinel with an estimated weight of 80 carats (see P. Pal and others, "Romance of the Taj Mahal," Thames and Hudson, 1989 (see page 66)
Table cut stones are amongst the earliest cut preserved to this day. Table-cut diamonds were mostly found in alluvial river deposits in India such as the Gouel River near Soumelpour in Bengal and were so described in "Les Six Voyages de Jean Baptiste Tavernier en Turquie, en Perse et aux Indes," Paris 1679 (II 15).