Spinels are rarer than rubies they used to imitate, but strangely they are more affordable. In the gem world, the rarer the stone more expensive, but that doesn’t apply to spinels. A spinel can be called the poorer poorer cousin of ruby, but its pinker color and other qualities make it attractive in its own right. Today, expensive rubies are still substituted for by spinel in much the same way a diamond is substituted by cubic zirconia.

Spinel and Ruby also have similar luster, density and hardness. A ruby is considerably harder ( Moh’s scale of 9) than spinel with a hardness of 8 on the same Moh’s scale.