Alexandrite

Alexandrite
Alexandrite is a variety of Chrysoberyl. It was named after Czar Alexander II.

It displays a color change (alexandrite effect) dependent upon the nature of ambient lighting. It is vivid grass green in daylight or fluorescent light, and intense raspberry red in artificial incandescent light. To accentuate this peculiar character the stone must be cut of a certain thickness, the difference in colour being much less marked in a stone cut with little depth.

Until comparatively recent times alexandrite was found only in Russia, in the emerald mines on the right bank of the Takovaya, a small stream east of Ekaterinburg in the Urals. Today these mines produce very little and Sri Lanka becomes the major source for the material.

Value
Size always affects alexandrite value. In sizes up to one carat, top-quality natural gems can sell for up to $15,000 per carat. Over one carat, the prices range from $50,000 to $70,000 per carat!

Record(s)
The largest known faceted alexandrite, a 65.7-ct green/red color change stone from Sri Lanka, resides at the Smithsonian Institution. The largest Russian gems weigh about 30 carats. However, the vast majority of alexandrites weigh under one carat.

History
Abundant alexandrite deposits were first discovered in 1830 in Russia’s Ural Mountains. Those first alexandrites were of very fine quality and displayed vivid hues and dramatic color change. The gem was named after the young Alexander II, heir apparent to the throne. It caught the country’s attention because its red and green colors mirrored the national military colors of imperial Russia. The spectacular Ural Mountain deposits didn’t last forever, and now most alexandrite comes from Sri Lanka, East Africa, and Brazil. The newer deposits contain some fine-quality stones, but many display less-precise color change and muddier hues than the nineteenth-century Russian alexandrites. You’ll still find estate jewelry set with some of the famed Ural Mountain alexandrites. They remain the quality standard for this phenomenal gemstone.