Alexandrite is one of those gemstones that everyone would love to own, but few people do because it’s rare and expensive. Read on to learn more about the facts of this gem, and why it is so valuable.
- Alexandrite is part of the chrysoberyl family along with chrysoberyl cat’s eye.
- Alexandrite appears blueish green in sunlight and reddish purple under artificial light like a light bulb. This colour-change quality in alexandrite is due to trace amounts of chromium.
- French mineralist Nils Gustaf Nordenskiöld discovered alexandrite in the Ural mountains of Russia in 1834. However, some accounts suggest the stone was found as early as the late 1700’s. When he first found it, he thought the stone was emerald.
- The gem was named after the Russian Czar, Alexander II, who was assassinated in 1881.
- The mines in the Ural region of Russia no longer produce large amounts of quality alexandrite gems. Instead, they are now mined in parts of Africa, Brazil, and Sri Lanka, though the gem is still extremely rare and valuable.
- Natural alexandrite is rarer than diamonds, and more costly than emerald, ruby, and sapphire.
- Any alexandrite over 3 carats is highly uncommon, with smaller stones being more readily available to commercial jewelers.
- Top quality natural alexandrite can cost more than $30,000 per carat.
- Pricing of alexandrite is based primarily on the strength of the colour change and the purity of the colour it produces.
- Unlike many other gemstones, natural alexandrite is often left untreated.
- Because of the intense colour change in alexandrite, colour changing abilities in other gemstones have become known as the alexandrite effect.
- Due to the gemstone’s rarity, many types of imitations and synthetics have been put on the market. Fake alexandrite from the 1920s was made out of the sapphire and ruby, and then laced with chromium or vanadium to create the colour change effect.
- Synthetic alexandrite composed of chrysoberyl has been around since the 1960s. It is a very costly process, so this type of synthetic alexandrite is still very expensive.
- The Smithsonian museum in Washington DC has the largest known faceted 66 carat alexandrite on display.
- The largest uncut gem-quality alexandrite specimen ever found is the Sauer Alexandrite, it weighs 122,5400 carats and was found in Bahia, Brazil in 1967.
Were you born in June? Now you have good reasons to be proudly associated with this rare, beautiful and priceless gemstone!
Source: about.com
