Hello,
Do you think this gem could be Mahenge spinel ? or Mahenge garnet ? It is for sure one of the two options and i bought it as Malaia Garnet from Mahenge but i have some doubt that it could be spinel because of the particular neon pink color and overall beauty. Stone is 5.4 carats and i have noticed feels particularly heavy in my hand.
How can i know for sure ? It does a little but show flurorescence under uv light but not crazy as you can see. Thanks !
That is a very nice stone!
Spinel and Garnet share similar optical and physical characteristics. Both are isotropic, typically non-birefringent and share similar range in RI and SG. Spinel does have some response in UV. It is very difficult to see any fluorescence in the images you have posted. What type of UV source do you have?
A good diagnostic that would help is the absorbance spectra.
Some other characteristics that could help distinguish the two would be type of inclusions (if any).
Cheers!
Thanks !! it is a mahenge malaia garnet, not a spinel. I have checked under microscope for RI.
