In Greek spinther means spark and in Latin spina means thorn .Besides red, Spinel is also found in other colors such as blue, pink, orange, lavender, black. Red spinel is sometimes called ruby spinel or balasruby.Very rarest spinel called the cobalt spinel. The yellow-orange or red-orange spinel is sometimes called rubicelle or flame spinel. Spinel is a historically important gem. As it is often found with corundum in gem deposits and has a similar color range, luster and hardness, it was, until modern times, used unknowingly as sapphire, and especially ruby. The famous “Black Prince’s Ruby” which forms part of the Crown Jewels of England, is, in fact, a red spinel. The advent of modern gemological identification and separation techniques in the later 19th century established spinel as a distinct species.