Black Spinel 15-20mm Double Drill Puff Hexagon - 8 Inch march_aquamarine It was first found in

It was first found in the Unaka Mountains in Tennessee and North Carolina

This earned it the Russian name “orletz” or Eagle Stone

brown to golden-yellow hydrous potassium iron titanium silicate mineral

a silicate of calcium and magnesium -- from western Canada

When this combination crystallized

Black Spinel 15-20mm Double Drill Puff Hexagon - 8 Inch march_aquamarine It was first found inSpinel is a hard vitreous magnesium aluminum oxide, and comes in a range of other colors, but those varieties are transparent. Black Spinel not only has the dark color, but it is opaque as well, rendering its black especially deep and mysterious. Sometimes called the "Black Prince's Ruby" for its role in the English crown. It has been mistaken for ruby and sapphire at times, but can be distinguished by its structure and its lower relative hardness.