Jedi spinel is a trade name applied to the small but exceptional production of brilliant pink to slightly orangey red spinel from the Man Sin (Namya) deposit in the Mogok region of upper Burma, distinguished from other Burmese spinel by an intense saturation, a slightly fluorescent neon-pink quality and an absence of the grey or brown overtones often present in lesser material. The name is widely accepted in the modern coloured-stone trade and is reported on origin reports by the major laboratories where the colour qualifies.

Origin of the Name

The name Jedi spinel was coined in the early 2000s by the American gem dealer Lisa Elser of Custom Cut Gems and the dealer Vincent Pardieu of GIA Bangkok, who described the highest-saturation neon-pink Man Sin material as bright and luminous in the manner of the Jedi knights of the Star Wars films, in contrast to the darker spinel from the Sith side of the same deposits. The trade name took hold in the international coloured-stone market through the 2010s and is now standard usage among dealers, auction houses and laboratories in describing this very specific subset of Mahenge and Burmese spinel.

Source

The principal source of Jedi-grade spinel is the Man Sin deposit in the Namya area of the Mogok stone tract in Sagaing Region, upper Burma, with related material from the Pein Pyit deposit. Production is small, with finished stones over two carats already rare and stones over five carats exceptionally so. A separate but related production of bright neon-pink spinel from the Mahenge area of Tanzania, often grouped with Jedi material in the broader trade, is sometimes distinguished as Mahenge neon spinel.

Properties

Jedi spinel is, in mineralogical terms, gem spinel of the species MgAl2O4, with the same hardness of 8 on the Mohs scale, the same isotropic optical character and the same refractive index of approximately 1.718 as other red and pink spinels. The distinguishing feature is colour, with strong red fluorescence under both daylight and ultraviolet, and a saturation that gives the stone its characteristic glow in mounted form.

Treatment

Jedi spinel is sold as a strictly untreated gem material, with no commercial heat treatment regarded as effective for spinel of this type. This sets the material apart from much modern ruby and sapphire and contributes to its high relative value within the coloured-stone trade.

Trade and Value

Jedi spinel commands prices that have risen substantially since the early 2010s as awareness of the material has spread, with fine stones over two carats trading at levels that approach or exceed comparable unheated Burmese ruby on a per-carat basis. The stones are favoured by collectors of unheated coloured stones and by designers seeking a brilliant pink with strong saturation that does not depend on heat or other treatment.