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Description
"Ruby" Spinel [MgAl2O4]

This is a mineral that is notorious for being a Ruby and Sapphire impostor. It is hard, but not nearly as hard as a real Ruby/Corundum (which has a hardness of 9). There are not a lot of common things out there to test this stone's hardness against (the most common standard is Quartz, hardness of 7, which both a Corundum and a Spinel will scratch). A real Ruby will scratch a Spinel, but not the other way around.

Hardness: 7.5-8
Streak: White, Gray, Brown
Specific Gravity: 3.5-4.1
Conchoidal-Octahedral Fracture
Cleavage: None
Crystal System: Cubic

Moved from my old account at DemonicAnomaly

Description
"Ruby" Spinel [MgAl2O4]

This is a mineral that is notorious for being a Ruby and Sapphire impostor. It is hard, but not nearly as hard as a real Ruby/Corundum (which has a hardness of 9). There are not a lot of common things out there to test this stone's hardness against (the most common standard is Quartz, hardness of 7, which both a Corundum and a Spinel will scratch). A real Ruby will scratch a Spinel, but not the other way around.

Hardness: 7.5-8
Streak: White, Gray, Brown
Specific Gravity: 3.5-4.1
Conchoidal-Octahedral Fracture
Cleavage: None
Crystal System: Cubic

Moved from my old account at DemonicAnomaly