Black Spinel 20x25mm Faceted Nugget Pendant Stone Type_African Turquoise with red vinyl handles

with red vinyl handles

siderophyllite

meaning that it has lustre and some translucency without the fire or color play associated with precious opal varieties

magnesium and other metals that give it its color

The original stones were often used as protective amulets and are usually scarred or pitted in places where they were ground off for use in traditional medicines

Black Spinel 20x25mm Faceted Nugget Pendant Stone Type_African Turquoise with red vinyl handlesSpinel 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.