Spinel Price per Carat: What Sellers Ask, by Colour
Red, pink, blue, cobalt and purple spinel, with the ranges at least three sellers publish, read on 30 September 2026.
How much should a spinel cost? The spinel price per carat runs from about a hundred dollars for lavender and grey-blue stones to a few thousand for fine red and pink, and cobalt blue can cost more. Colour decides, far more than size. Sellers’ guides disagree, often widely, so we put them side by side, read on 30 September 2026.
- Price is set by
- Colour first, then clarity, cut and size
- Most valued colour
- Red, then fine cobalt blue, then vibrant hot pink and vivid orange
- Least in demand
- Violet, bluish purple and lavender
- Top red spinel versus ruby
- Around a tenth of the price at 5 carats
- Hardness (Mohs)
- 8
- Treatment
- Rarely treated
- Watch for
- Synthetic spinel is common
What Is the Spinel Price per Carat, by Colour?
Find your colour, then read across: at least three sellers per line, in their own size bands, in US dollars per carat.
| Colour | What sellers publish, per carat |
|---|---|
| Red | An auction site: $275 to $3,700 (1 to 2 ct), $650 to $8,400 (2 to 5 ct). A first dealer: $1,000 to $3,000 (1 to 3 ct). An online shop: $420 to $3,350 asked (10 listings, 1 to 4.25 ct). |
| Pink | A first dealer: $200 to $600 (1 to 3 ct). A second dealer: $500 to $1,000 (1 to 2 ct), $1,000 to $2,000 (2 to 3 ct). A rare-gem seller: fine larger pinks over $4,000. |
| Blue | An auction site: $80 to $1,000 (1 to 2 ct), $150 to $1,800 (2 to 5 ct). A first dealer: $500 to $1,500 (1 to 3 ct). An online shop: $160 to $365 asked (3 indigo listings). |
| Cobalt blue | A first dealer: $1,000 to $2,500 medium blue, $3,000 to $5,000 vivid blue (both 1 to 2 ct). A second dealer: $500 to $1,000 (1 to 2 ct), $1,200 to $2,000 (2 to 3 ct). A marketplace: $1,016 to $46,000 asked (10 listings). |
| Purple, lavender | An auction site: $70 to $900 (1 to 2 ct), $130 to $1,600 (2 to 5 ct). A first dealer: $150 to $400 (1 to 3 ct). An online shop: $100 to $395 asked (3 listings). |
Fine red is a separate market. The first dealer lists $8,000 to $15,000 for red over 5 carats, the rare-gem seller says fine larger reds fetch over $8,000, and a third dealer quotes $5,000 to $15,000 for high-quality Burmese red.
Now read the cobalt blue line again. For 1 to 2 carats, the second dealer puts top quality at $500 to $1,000, while the first puts medium blue at $1,000 to $2,500. Same colour, same weight, two different stories. So read every range as one seller’s opinion, not a quote. That is why our own prices are not in the table.
What Moves a Spinel’s Price the Most?
Colour, by a distance. Red is the most desirable spinel, then fine cobalt blue, then vibrant hot pink and vivid orange. Violet, bluish purple and lavender stones are less in demand, and it shows on the bill: a purple or violet spinel typically sells for around half the price of a pink spinel of similar quality.
Each colour comes down to a trace element. Chromium gives the intense reds and pinks: more chromium, stronger red. Iron alone gives a low-saturation violet or grey-violet, attractive but rarely fine. Iron is also behind most blue spinel, which is why it looks greyish. Add cobalt to the iron and you get the rare, vibrant cobalt blues, which are much more desirable.
So the pink spinel price per carat is not one number: the guides above run from $200 to over $4,000 a carat. Look at depth of colour first, then at the name: it is a judgment call. Try it on ten of our spinels: pink or purple?
Blind test
Pink or purple?
Ten spinels from our stock, no labels. Pick pink or purple for each one, then see the name it is listed under.
Stone 1 of 10
5.07 ct, cushion cut
- 5.07 ct, cushion cutPink or purple?
Listed as pink. See this stone
5.06 ct, cushion cutPink or purple?Listed as purple. See this stone
3.01 ct, cushion cutPink or purple?Listed as purple. See this stone
4.03 ct, oval cutPink or purple?Listed as pink. See this stone
3.56 ct, heart cutPink or purple?Listed as purple. See this stone
2.64 ct, oval cutPink or purple?Listed as pink. See this stone
4.06 ct, oval cutPink or purple?Listed as pink. See this stone
4.37 ct, cushion cutPink or purple?Listed as purple. See this stone
5.05 ct, cushion cutPink or purple?Listed as pink. See this stone
4.10 ct, cushion cutPink or purple?Listed as purple. See this stone
The name is a judgment call, and it is part of the price: purple and violet spinel typically go for around half the price of a pink one of similar quality.
Real stones from the Joalys stock, Joalys catalogue photos. Names as listed on October 9, 2026. Not to scale.
Size counts most at the top. Gem-quality spinel is hard to find above 5 carats, and for fine red, pink and blue stones above five carats availability drops and prices rise sharply. Three of the guides above publish higher figures per carat as weight goes up.
Can a Spinel’s Price per Carat Hide Weight?
Yes, because you pay for carats and you look at millimetres. Spinel crystals are often flattened twins, so cutters keep stones shallow to save weight. The signs: large tables and windows, shallow crowns and pavilions.
A shallow stone looks large for its weight, and may show a window. A deep one carries carats you do not see: it looks smaller face-up than its weight suggests. Two of our spinels weigh about 5 carats each: the deeper one, 7.2 mm, measures 9.0 mm across; the shallower one, 5.6 mm, measures 11.1 mm. Same weight on the invoice, two different sizes to the eye. So compare the size you see, and ask for the depth. See both to scale below, then turn the deep one.
Real stones from our catalogue, drawn to the same scale from our measurements.
Both weigh about 5 carats. The left one is 7.2 mm deep and 9.0 mm long. The right one is 5.6 mm deep and 11.1 mm long: same weight, more to see.
2.64, 4.03 and 5.05 carats, left to right. The heaviest is the shortest: much of its weight sits in its depth.
Stones are drawn in proportion to their measured length. On a screen this is not life size. Stock changes, so these are examples.
A real stone from the Joalys stock, photographed on a white ground. Snapshot of October 9, 2026. See this stone
When Is a Spinel Price Too Low?
When a clean, saturated stone sits far below the ranges above. At that point, stop asking “how much?” and ask “what is it?”. Natural spinel is rare and synthetic spinel is common, so many people have never seen the natural stone. Synthetic spinel first appeared by accident in the early twentieth century, when researchers were trying to grow blue sapphire, and it has stood in for sapphire, zircon, aquamarine and peridot ever since. A flux-grown version followed in the 1990s, in colours including red.
An independent lab report settles it: see what a gemstone certificate proves.
How Do You Check a Spinel Price?
Tourists buy a lot without a certificate, and without knowing real market prices. They compare with what they find online, but the stone does not look like the photo.
Do not answer a quote with a yes or a no. Answer with questions: copy the ones below and send them to the seller.
Five questions before you accept a spinel price
5 points
A message ready to send to the seller, with all the questions.
See the message
Hello, I am interested in this spinel. Before I decide, could you answer a few questions? 1. How do you describe the color of this stone: red, pink, blue, cobalt blue or purple? 2. What are the price and the exact weight of this stone itself, not a range from a guide? 3. What are its length, width and depth in millimeters? 4. Can you send photos or a short video of the stone face-up in daylight, tilted, so I can see the window, the fractures and the color zoning? 5. Is the stone natural or synthetic, and does it come with a report from an independent outside laboratory? Thank you for your time.
Next: blue spinel versus blue sapphire, and the complete spinel guide for the species.
Quick answers
What is the average spinel price per carat?
How much is pink spinel per carat?
How much does a 1 carat spinel cost?
Is spinel cheaper than sapphire or ruby?
Does spinel price per carat go up with size?
What to Take Away
A spinel price per carat tells you little until you know the colour. Keep the order in mind: red first, then fine cobalt blue, then vibrant hot pink, with lavender near the bottom. Find the line your stone belongs to, then look at the stone itself.
