DUTCHSWAN0311
Rough_Rock
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2008
- Messages
- 24
Well, where to begin? It all started when I was trying to find out my wife's ring size for a new 1.04t/I/VS2/H&A solitaire that I am buying to replace her wedding ring to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. While digging through the jewelry box, I found 2 Alexandrite stones (loose) that my wife's grandmother gave to us the first time we visited her family in Volgograd, Russia (my wife is Russian). Now, I understand in advance that natural mined Alexandrite is very rare and in most cases more valuable than diamonds of the same carat size ($10k - $15k per carat), and that most Alexandrite is synthetic or simulated.
But...here is the story: My wife's grandmother spent the 1960s working in the Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan. According to her, she obtained the two stones while she was there, and then brought them to Volgograd, Russia where she (and the rest of my wife's family reside today). Now, the Tokovaya Mines where most Russian Alexandrite was mined is located very near the northern border of Kazakhstan. Granted I don't know WHERE in Kazakhstan my wife's grandmother lived decades ago, and Kazakhstan is a VERY large country. When we visited Volgograd in 1999 during our 1st Wedding Anniversary, her Grandmother gave us the stones as a present.
Below are pictures of the stones under an incandescent light source. Tomorrow I will update this post with pictures of the stones under natural sunlight. If memory serves, there is a dramatic color change from turquoise/light green to pinkish/violet. I suppose I should have a gemologist take a quick look at them under a loupe to see if they have any of the tell tale signs of being synthetic...but until then I thought it might be fun and interesting to get everyone's take based on the pictures below. Have at it!
Note: I could not find the memory chip for my camera, so the first images below are from a scan. I will picture them under sunlight when I am able to take pictures of them. Now that I see the up-close scans...it seems there is some chipping...I don't know if that means anything, but it is an observation (50 years of travels?).
But...here is the story: My wife's grandmother spent the 1960s working in the Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan. According to her, she obtained the two stones while she was there, and then brought them to Volgograd, Russia where she (and the rest of my wife's family reside today). Now, the Tokovaya Mines where most Russian Alexandrite was mined is located very near the northern border of Kazakhstan. Granted I don't know WHERE in Kazakhstan my wife's grandmother lived decades ago, and Kazakhstan is a VERY large country. When we visited Volgograd in 1999 during our 1st Wedding Anniversary, her Grandmother gave us the stones as a present.
Below are pictures of the stones under an incandescent light source. Tomorrow I will update this post with pictures of the stones under natural sunlight. If memory serves, there is a dramatic color change from turquoise/light green to pinkish/violet. I suppose I should have a gemologist take a quick look at them under a loupe to see if they have any of the tell tale signs of being synthetic...but until then I thought it might be fun and interesting to get everyone's take based on the pictures below. Have at it!
Note: I could not find the memory chip for my camera, so the first images below are from a scan. I will picture them under sunlight when I am able to take pictures of them. Now that I see the up-close scans...it seems there is some chipping...I don't know if that means anything, but it is an observation (50 years of travels?).
I included a dime as a reference point for size. I remember the stones being a turquoise color under direct sunlight. Today is overcast, and so the second picture is under natural lighting conditions, but with no sun. The color change seemed more dramatic in person...these pictures never seem to quite reflect real life.
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