Our evaluation of three models of the origin of spinel-rich chondrules and inclusions includes new calculations of the major-element refractory mineral condensates sequence from a gas of solar composition over a wide pressure interval. Our condensation calculations show that spinel-rich chondrules did not crystallize from metastable liquid condensates, and that spinel-rich inclusions are not aggregates of refractory nebular condensates. We propose that spinel-rich objects are fractionated distillation residues of small aggregates of primitive dust that lost Ca, Si-rich partial melts by evaporation, ablation, or splashing during collisions. This models also explains why spinel-rich chondrules and inclusions: (1) are usually smaller than melilite-rich chondrules and inclusions; (2) often have highly fractionated trace-element compositions: and (3) usually do not contain Pt-metal nuggets even when they are more enriched in the Pt-groups metals than nugget-bearing melilite-rich objects.