Seen in daylight, it delights with a vivid shade of green; viewed under incandescent light, it transforms in color into a deep purple. This extraordinary property, similar to that of a chameleon, is found in one of the rarest gemstones on Earth – alexandrite. Discovered in the 1830s in the Ural Mountains, it was named in honor of the future Tsar of Russia, Alexander II Romanov.
“Emerald by day, ruby by night”
Alexandrite, which is a variety of another mineral, chrysoberyl, represents a perfect combination of beauty and rare properties. The aforementioned fluorescence feature, which results from the complex way in which this mineral absorbs light, is often called the ‘alexandrite effect’, because although it also applies to other stones in the chrysoberyl family – they too change color in response to changes in the light source – the transformation of alexandrite is the most striking.
Describing this mineral, it is also said that ‘it is an emerald by day and a ruby by night.’
Characteristics of Alexandrite
Alexandrite is rated 8.5/10 on the Mohs hardness scale, just behind diamond (the hardest gemstone in the world, 10/10) and corundum (representatives: sapphire and ruby, both 9/10).Although relatively very hard, it is at the same time an extremely delicate gemstone. It is easily damaged, poorly withstands friction and thermal shock caused by extremely high temperatures, and is also not conducive to cutting or polishing.
Occurrence
Since its discovery in Russia, alexandrite has also been found in other parts of the world, where it occurs mainly in metamorphic rocks and pegmatites. Small clusters of alexandrite have been found in Sri Lanka (in the town of Latpandura, the largest single crystal found so far, named ‘The Saurer Alexandrite’, which, after being cut and polished, retained a mass of 66 carats), in India, in the United States, in Madagascar, and in Brazil.Minerals from these parts of the world, however, do not have colors as vivid as their Russian ‘siblings’ and do not change color as dominantly.
The resources from the Ural mountain range, however, were exhausted long ago, influenced by the increased demand for alexandrite in recent decades. Incidentally, it was in Russian mines that the most beautiful and largest group of alexandrite minerals was found, consisting of 22 crystals with a total weight of 5 kg!
Value
There are two main factors for assessing, determining the value of alexandrite: size and depth of color.
The assessment of color is twofold: first, one should determine how intense the color change effect is and how close the stone is to the color of juicy green and red. The closer the alexandrite comes to these colors and the more intense their change, the more valuable the stone is.
Another important factor determining the value of alexandrite is size. The saying: “the more, the better” definitely applies in the case of this mineral, which naturally occurs in small sizes. Alexandrites weighing over three carats are extremely rare, which makes them all the more sought after by gemologists and jewelers around the world. The clarity and transparency of the mineral (which are very important in the valuation of, for example, diamonds or rubies) are often overlooked, as long as the stone is large and exhibits an impressive color change.
Alexandrite jewelry
Jewelry adorned with Russian alexandrite achieves prices at auctions incomparably higher than jewelry with natural rubies and emeralds of the same size – this results from the fact that most gold jewelry with alexandrite, made at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, was melted down. Hence, every piece of antique alexandrite jewelry is extremely rare and valuable.
This exceptional gemstone is also difficult to find in ‘ordinary’ jewelry stores; jewelry with alexandrite is almost always made to order, and the cost of the mineral ranges from $5,000 to $37,000 per carat!
At the 79 Diamonds jewelry workshop, we put our whole heart into our designs so that our Clients receive the jewelry treasures they dream of. If you are captivated by the stunningly shimmering alexandrite jewelry, we will source the stone specially for you – custom-made jewelry is our specialty!