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So you've spotted an "Alexandrite" ring on that ever popular auction site: the stone is huge, the price is affordable but climbing, and ooh, you've wanted a real alexandrite for so long! You're thinking "maybe this is the one you should go for.?" Well, before you dive in and bid or buy, here's some information that might stop you from making an expensive mistake.
Discovered in April 1834, near the Tokovaya River in the Urals of Russia, and named after Tsar Alexander II, alexandrite is one of the world's rarest and most valuable gemstones. When found in large sizes over 2 carats, if of good quality, this rare color-changing gem belonging to the Chrysoberyl family can surpass even the finest rubies and sapphires in value. However, finding this extremely beautiful gemstone as a "natural" stone in large sizes of fine quality, can be like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Occasionally set in Russian and Victorian jewelry during the 1800s and into the early 1900s, this jewelry typically held small, faceted Alexandrite of varying quality, due to the rarity of finding large, clean specimens. Alexandrite gained popularity when Tiffany's master gemologist, George Frederick Kunz, became enamored with the gem and set out to create beautiful rings and platinum ensembles using Alexandrite. Due to the great demand for this lustrous gemstone, synthetics began being created and were used in many pieces of what are now recognized as antique and vintage jewelry.
These fakes were especially abundant after World War II in Mexico and Alexandria, Egypt (though Alexandrite is not found in Alexandria). They were large stones of fine quality, boasting rich raspberry-red to deep plum-purple 'color changes', and over the years, have been passed on through the generations being referred to as Alexandrite. The majority were synthetic sapphire or spinel laced with Vanadium to create the color change.
So now, let's get back to that ring you're dying to buy and consider some "ifs" "ands" & "buts"!
IF the stone in question changes color, does that mean it is Alexandrite? No. There are numerous color-changing pleochroic gemstones, Alexandrite being the rarest of them. Sapphire corundum, garnet, and tourmaline are just a few of many color-changing gemstones. To be deemed "Alexandrite", your stone MUST distinctly change from a green to bluish-green in daylight to a soft shade of red to purplish-red or raspberry red in incandescent or artificial light. Being part of the 'chrysoberyl' family, there are sellers who call yellow-green chrysoberyl "Alexandrite". This is incorrect and can not be sold as such. It is strictly chrysoberyl, even if it has a slight change from yellow to green. One of the biggest indicators of synthetic Alexandrite in antique and/or vintage jewelry is the color-change in the stone: before the 1980s, the true green-to-red color change was never duplicated in the created stones, so if your stone shows a brilliant raspberry red to plum purple in different lighting, but no green to bluish-green, it is not Alexandrite. If the piece in question is from the 1980s and later, it could be a higher-quality fake. These newer synthetics DO possess a teal blue to lavender purple change, however, they also usually have very fine clarity, which is hard to come by in genuine Alexandrite.
AND just how big is this "real" Alexandrite we're talking about? Another give-away of synthetic stones: genuine alexandrite is rarely found in sizes bigger than 2 carats, and more often 0.50ct to 1.00ct, so if the stone you have in question is bigger than your pinky fingernail, question it, and then question it again - especially if its clarity is excellent. Most antique/vintage settings hold stones that are about the size of dime, if not bigger, and their clarity is crystal clean. If this was real Alexandrite, you'd be sitting on a gem worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. If you can't see any inclusions with your naked eye, and it is loupe clean, it most likely is a synthetic stone. Yes, there ARE some very fine REAL Alexandrites that possess an incredible color change and excellent clarity, but we're also talking gems that can run up to $45,000 per carat!! These gems are rarely available except to the elite and the wealthiest collectors, and even then, they are not readily available to put on the auction block. On the other hand, if your stone is the size of a pencil eraser or smaller, and its color change is noticeable but not mind-blowing, and its clarity maybe slightly cloudy or silky, and/or it has noticeable recrystal inclusions, you possibly have a genuine gem.
BUT the seller claims this is a real Alexandrite ring and was sold to his/her great, great Aunt as such.? Honestly, the only guaranteed way to be sure the stone is a genuine, natural Alexandrite is to have a certified gemologist, preferably G.I.A. certified examine the stone. Gemologists DO make mistakes, and there a some VERY GOOD fakes that have come on the market since the 1980s. However, gemologists who are G.I.A. and Colored Stone certified will be able to distinguish whether this stone is real or not.
My very first "Alexandrite" purchase of course was just 'too good to be true'. When I look at it now, there were so many giveaways the stone was fake, but not having the knowledge, I fell victim to the sale. Firstly, what kind of metal is it set in? 10k? Sterling Silver? There is nothing wrong with these metals, and I'm sure there are real gems set in them, but with a stone so fine, would you really set a highly valuable gem in less than 14k? The ring I bought was 10k gold. Secondly, the color change was instant and drastic: teal blue-green which would immediately switch to lavender purple as soon as I got it out of the natural light source. Unless the gem is of that $45,000/ct quality aforementioned, you're going to need to get rid of all natural light to truly capture the green/blue to red/purple change. Most of the time, real Alexandrite will show a mix of the two at any given time as we're not usually in JUST sunlight or JUST incandescent. This fake stone of mine didn't mix the two, yet it instantly changed from once source to another. Thirdly, again, the clarity was just crystal clear, with not a single inclusion visible. Real Alexandrites always have some inclusions, even if graded VVS. The good thing about this situation is I took my 'gem' to my gemologist and within seconds of viewing it under the microscope he was able to break the bad news to me. Inside that "Alexandrite" were gas bubbles and curved striae, the 2 'inclusions' gemologists know to look for in fake Alexandrite. It got worse though. The "diamonds" surrounding the fake stone were cubic zirconia. Which again makes me say, if your "Alexandrite" is surrounded by known synthetic stones, or even white sapphire, question it, and then question it again. Would Tiffany put fake stones around a real Alexandrite? No, and neither would any other jeweler who is creating jewelry with real Alexandrite. They've paid a lot for that stone and putting cheap stones around it would only de-value the piece. Lucky for me, I was able to get my money back, however, the seller did nothing about it once I was done with him and is still selling the fakes as real Alexandrite today. You have to be careful!
If you type "Alexandrite" into your browser, many links will come up leading you time and time again to created stones that in reality cost pennies compared to real Alexandrite. If you're able to get a "real" Alexandrite bigger than 0.50ct for only a few hundred dollars, you are most likely not buying the real thing at all, and full disclosure must be made available in this case. Don't be fooled by sellers claiming "real Russian Alexandrite". Many times, and as in my case of fraud, these are created stones grown in Russia, and are being labeled "Russian", but they are not real. In reality, the Urals were depleted of Alexandrite years and years ago once its popularity grew, and the majority of Alexandrite is now only mined in Brazil, India and Africa. Brazilian Alexandrite is the next best in quality to Russian Alexandrite, with clearly discernible color changes, and distinct green to red hues.
If owning a piece of real Alexandrite is on your list of "Things to do", be prepared to spend a decent dollar on it, and make sure your source is credible and/or can provide certification that the piece is genuine. Genuine gemstones like Alexandrite, Sapphire and Ruby don't and won't depreciate and can always be looked at as investments, but make sure the 'gem' you're investing in is indeed that - a real gem!
BY VICTORIA BOLAND of VINTAGE JEWELRY SHOWCASE at http://www.rubylane.com/shops/vivijewels
(reprinted with permission from the Ruby Lane Blog)
