METAPHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF ALEXANDRITE:

Alexandrite is said to help balance one’s emotional state, to provide confidence, to increase self-esteem and to help bring about change. It is also said to bring happiness and success, and to intensify feelings of love and sensuality.

Alexandrite is said to be useful to help treat pancreatic disorders, swollen lymph nodes and ailments of the spleen, as well as in the treatment of afflictions occurring with leukemia.

Color. For alexandrite, the quality of the color change is paramount. While the holy grail is a gem whose color changes like a traffic light from green to red, such a stone has yet to be found. In fine examples, the change is typically one from a slightly bluish green to a purplish red. The quality of color change is often referred to by dealers in a percentage basis, with 100% change being the ideal. Stones that display a change of 30% or less are of marginal interest and are arguably not even alexandrite. Significant brown or gray components in either of the twin colors will lower value dramatically.

Clarity. In terms of clarity, alexandrite is comparable to ruby, with clean faceted stones in sizes above one carat being rare and extremely rare in sizes above 2–3 carats. Negative crystals and parallel rutile silk are common inclusions.

Cut. In the market, Alexandrite’s are found in a variety of shapes and cutting styles. Ovals are cushions are the most common, but rounds are also seen, as are other shapes, such as the emerald cut.

Prices. Alexandrite is one of the world‘s most expensive gems, with prices similar to those fetched by fine ruby or emerald. But like all gem materials, low-quality (i.e., non-gem quality) pieces may be available for a few dollars per carat. Such stones are generally not clean enough to facet.

Alexandrite History:

Formed when the earth was a molten mass, one of the most rare of gems, natural Alexandrite has an equally mysterious and sinuous history woven in the mystique of explorers, czars, princesses and emperors.

Hidden for millennium deep within the earth’s crust, Alexandrite first came to light in the XIX century. Discovered by an unnamed farmer in the outposts of the Urals, a single glowing green crystal was found under the roots of a stunted tree. This crystal was thought to be an emerald queen of the empire’s jewels. Other glowing crystals were discovered in the same region and hidden in the Empress Ekaterina’s jewel vaults. Unknown to her, a lowly caretaker of the royal vaults sold these glowing crystals at a high price to a visiting German Prince who had them cut and set into magnificent settings for his wife, the Princess. The Princess bejeweled herself with her Alexandrite ring, Alexandrite earrings, natural Alexandrite white gold, yellow gold, platinum; many an Alexandrite gemstone in glorious settings.

On a later date in the middle of the XIX century, the Princess, wearing her Alexandrite jewelry, and Empress met in a grand ball. Happenstance declared itself as the Empress admired the breathtaking jewels of the Princess, and the Princess declared they were from Russia, with love, from the Prince.

Seething with anger that these glowing jewels were not hers, the Empress sent envoys to the Royal Jewel Vaults and discovered more of these gems hidden away in the recesses of the vault. The caretaker was imprisoned and executed, the rest of the Emeralds were bought out to light where it was discovered that they changed from a cool, Mediterranean blue-green in the light of the day, to a hot, smoldering red in torchlight.

Alexander Nikolayevich (1818-1881) became Emperor of all Imperial Russia in the middle of the XIX century. His sweeping reforms earned him the love of the people and the hate of the nobility. Alexander sold Alaska and the Aleutian Islands to the United States and earned the enmity of revolutionary students- one of whom threw a bomb that mortally wounded the Czar.

Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskjold was a Finnish-Swedish mineralologist and world famous explorer of the Northeast Passage. He collected rare and unusual minerals from Finland and Russia. Forced from his homeland, Finland, for his political views, he explored the Artic for the Swedish and pushed far into northern icey waters. During the last ten years of his life he wrote profusely about his travels and finds. It was at this time, late in the XIX century and the cusp of the XX century, that he classified the mysterious color changing gem from Russia and named it after the Emperor he admired and who had died for the cause of his country: Czar Alexander II.

Steeped in mystery, Alexandrite continues to mystify and capture the attention of royalty, scientists, and gemologists alike. Pushed through alluvial molten rock over tens of thousands of years Alexandrite contains iron and titanium as well as the elements of chromium and beryllium a combination of chemical elements that had not been found together before. Alexandrite’s unique optical qualities as well as its hardness (8.5 Mohs) has made it the most sought after gem in the world.

Natural Alexandrite is still making its mark in history: Alexandrite Birthstone of June, online India Gemstone, Natural Alexandrite Ring of religious leaders, colors of Imperial Russia and the loose gemstone of the arts.