Red spinel ranges from orangy red to purplish red, with pure red to slightly purplish red hues of medium to medium-dark tone considered the finest of all.
Red spinel in a true ruby-red is now very difficult to find. Most red spinels are quite dark or tend towards garnety or brownish red. But there are have been some outstanding pink spinels from Burma and Tanzania. The most famous are the neon pink-red spinel from the Mahenge region of Tanzania — these are regarded by many gem dealers as the finest examples of spinel ever found. The saturation in these stone is remarkable and the color is quite pure, without the gray or brown secondary hue often in spinel. The color is also consistent under different kinds of lighting. But it is the remarkable glow that makes the best Mahenge spinel entirely unique, Mahenge spinel is very florescent and thus has an internal glow.