A Crown Jewel Spinel Kept a Ruby's Name for Centuries

The Black Prince's Ruby in the Imperial State Crown is a large red spinel that kept a ruby's name for centuries — a common mix-up before modern gem science. COLOR stills: 1919 public-domain Imperial State Crown plate (and crops), CC red-spinel specimens, and Cleveland Museum CC0 paintings of historic spinels. Title is material-accurate (spinel, not ruby). Restricted modern Crown Jewels photography was avoided.
Part of Oddly True.
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Photo credits: Imperial State Crown plate — Cyril Davenport / G. Younghusband 1919 (Public Domain); Freiberg / Mozambique spinel specimens — Commons CC BY-SA; Shah Jahan & courtier spinel paintings — Cleveland Museum of Art Open Access (CC0). Attribution required where CC.