Fake alexandrite on ebay

[ilovegemstones]

I bought a "natural Russian alexandrite" ring. I looked at the reviews and saw some curious ones such as "not what I expected" and "fake". I cancelled the order before the item was shipped and got a full refund. I think this must be lab created alexandrite. Just a heads up!

 

[LD]

Unfortunately Ebay is full of synthetic Alexandrite and other gemstones masquerading as Alexandrite.

If you see "Russian" run away as fast as you can. The mine in Russia closed many years ago and there is very very little Russian material on the market, if any. What is for sale is virtually never found on Ebay! If somebody claims that their Alex is Russian then they need to have proof of origin and if you had challenged the seller it would have been interesting to hear the waffle you''d have got back.

 

[RevolutionGems]

another common "alexandrite" on ebay is a doublet which is a (theoretically) natural alex crown bonded to a lab spinel culet.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

definitely agree! run when you "russian" on ebay. Buying gems on ebay is not so great, I''d stick with other vendors...the onyl ebay part I think can sometimes have good finds is the vintage jewelry section...

 

[chrono]

When buying from eBay, you have to read the description carefully. Sometimes they play around with key words (paraiba apatite for example) or origin (Siberian amethyst which is no longer mined) to rope unsuspecting buyers in.

 

[T L]

This is supposedly true Russian alexandrite. I know this seller is highly respected on PS.

http://www.litnon.com/preview.php?cat=259&id=6516

 

[LD]

Date: 1/13/2010 11:05:16 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
This is supposedly true Russian alexandrite. I know this seller is highly respected on PS.

http://www.litnon.com/preview.php?cat=259&id=6516

Far be it from me to be rude about a highly respected PS Vendor BUT the colours on that gemstone (and I appreciate they''re a menace to photograph) are NOT what you''d expect to see from an Alexandrite. You shouldn''t see blue. I''ve seen some material where the green has been a teal colour so has a blue element but not one that looks like this, ever. The only photograph that even resembles what an Alex looks like is the last green one and even then it doesn''t look "real". Personally, I''d steer well clear or would ask a ton of questions before even considering buying this. Not to mention wanting to know absolute provenance.

 

[Arkteia]

I am not the greatest expert but in my search for alexandrites I found out two things:

a) That best-quality fakes or synthetic stones come from Russia (I am proud for my native country!)
b) That there is some small amount of Russian alexandrites mined out but they are usually heavily included

Also, stones above 2-ct are rare - remember recent rave on PS when a dealer from CA showed a photograph of a 20+ ct (real) alexandrite that the owner asked him to appraise?

If you look at Sotheby''s website, even there Russian alexandrites are incredibly rare and may not demonstrate significant color shift

 

[chrono]

Date: 1/14/2010 3:20:11 PM
Author: LovingDiamonds

Date: 1/13/2010 11:05:16 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
This is supposedly true Russian alexandrite. I know this seller is highly respected on PS.

http://www.litnon.com/preview.php?cat=259&id=6516

Far be it from me to be rude about a highly respected PS Vendor BUT the colours on that gemstone (and I appreciate they're a menace to photograph) are NOT what you'd expect to see from an Alexandrite. You shouldn't see blue. I've seen some material where the green has been a teal colour so has a blue element but not one that looks like this, ever. The only photograph that even resembles what an Alex looks like is the last green one and even then it doesn't look 'real'. Personally, I'd steer well clear or would ask a ton of questions before even considering buying this. Not to mention wanting to know absolute provenance.

I’ve never seen a blue to green alexandrite either. The ones I have seen, like LD, is the green with slight blue (top left) to purplish red. The 5 or 6 that I saw in person at the same time were slightly over 1 ct to 2 ct, with obvious colour change, terribly expensive and yes, slightly gray.

 

[Arcadian]

Date: 1/13/2010 11:05:16 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
This is supposedly true Russian alexandrite. I know this seller is highly respected on PS.

http://www.litnon.com/preview.php?cat=259&id=6516

I''ve seen this and yeah he is (I''ve bought plenty from him)

I wouldn''t want this stone without some certs. I think that certain types of stones just have to come with them.

-A

 

[LD]

Date: 1/14/2010 3:39:28 PM
Author: crasru
I am not the greatest expert but in my search for alexandrites I found out two things:

a) That best-quality fakes or synthetic stones come from Russia (I am proud for my native country!)
b) That there is some small amount of Russian alexandrites mined out but they are usually heavily included

Also, stones above 2-ct are rare - remember recent rave on PS when a dealer from CA showed a photograph of a 20+ ct (real) alexandrite that the owner asked him to appraise?

If you look at Sotheby''s website, even there Russian alexandrites are incredibly rare and may not demonstrate significant color shift

Actually synthetic Alexandrite has been around for many years and you find many antique rings with "Alexandrite". Whilst I love all things Russian I have to say that synthetics are produced everywhere. I have THE most convincing synthetic that I bought (and it was cut in) the US! I just had a gut feel that it wasn''t "real" but had to send it to be analysed by a lab before I was certain!

Russian Alexandrites come in all qualities. Flawless, eye clean, included, heavily included just like any other gemstone from any other locality and as you say Crasru, the colour change can be phenomenal to weak! In all honesty, as I''ve said before, the Russian material is lovely but I''ve seen better colour change from other parts of the world.

My automatic reaction when I see somebody selling "Russian" Alexandrite it to disbelieve it I''m afraid.

 

[RockHugger]

I have won 2 alexantrites on ebay. A 2.3ct Cats Eye alexandrite fro Sri Lanka (turns from green to a strong purple), and a .3ct russian (SUPER weak color change...you can only see it if you know its there). Both are natural stones. Alexandrite is one of those stones thats pretty easy to tell if its synthetic or not under a strong scope, there are specific micro inclusions that appear in a fake stone. Also, an included stone is most likely natural (I havnt heard of any fake included stones on the market..correct me if I am wrong). Both my stones have light inclusions. Sri lanka stones are my favorite. I have come across quite a few alexandrites in person, and the russians have always been weak color change, but the sri lanka stones have been very strong.

My advice for anyone looking on ebay for one is buyer beware, and do your research!!! If there is an alexandrite that is inclusion free and has a perfect blue/red shift going for less then $1000/ct. I can guarantee its fake.

 

[Arkteia]

Date: 1/14/2010 4:53:19 PM
Author: LovingDiamonds

Date: 1/14/2010 3:39:28 PM

Author: crasru

I am not the greatest expert but in my search for alexandrites I found out two things:


a) That best-quality fakes or synthetic stones come from Russia (I am proud for my native country!)

b) That there is some small amount of Russian alexandrites mined out but they are usually heavily included


Also, stones above 2-ct are rare - remember recent rave on PS when a dealer from CA showed a photograph of a 20+ ct (real) alexandrite that the owner asked him to appraise?


If you look at Sotheby''s website, even there Russian alexandrites are incredibly rare and may not demonstrate significant color shift

Actually synthetic Alexandrite has been around for many years and you find many antique rings with ''Alexandrite''. Whilst I love all things Russian I have to say that synthetics are produced everywhere. I have THE most convincing synthetic that I bought (and it was cut in) the US! I just had a gut feel that it wasn''t ''real'' but had to send it to be analysed by a lab before I was certain!


Russian Alexandrites come in all qualities. Flawless, eye clean, included, heavily included just like any other gemstone from any other locality and as you say Crasru, the colour change can be phenomenal to weak! In all honesty, as I''ve said before, the Russian material is lovely but I''ve seen better colour change from other parts of the world.


My automatic reaction when I see somebody selling ''Russian'' Alexandrite it to disbelieve it I''m afraid.

Oh I have an old stone with Russian alexandrite which was passed over to me as a family heirloom. Ostensibly my paternal grandfather bought it for my paternal grandmother when my father was born. In high-carat gold, and with rose-cut diamonds. Fake. One thing I have noticed is that it does not gradually change colors (like my real alex, when I am sitting in a car early morning with the lights inside the car on - then the side that is close to the street is green, and the one close to the light is red-purple. Very interesting effect). With my synthetic alexandrite, either night color (pink-violet) or daytime color (blue) pops out. Because alexandrite is not to be found among beach pebbles, it takes some time even for a gem dealer to source out one. Yet I have seen so many on ebay...you''d think that they stroke out five new mines.

 

[LD]

My synthetic Alexandrite has inclusions which is why I had to have it checked by a lab. 3 trained gemmologists looked at this before it was sent away for testing and they couldn't decide. Their gut feeling was the same as mine that it probably wasn't natural BUT they couldn't tell. A normal gem lover or collector has no chance using testing appliances available to use at home.

I have a natural Alexandrite that is virtually flawless.

Unfortunately you can't tell anything by looking at inclusions alone.

If anybody sees a "blue" Alexandrite you can virtually guarantee it's not an Alexandrite.

 

[T L]

Date: 1/14/2010 6:36:53 PM
Author: crasru


Oh I have an old stone with Russian alexandrite which was passed over to me as a family heirloom. Ostensibly my paternal grandfather bought it for my paternal grandmother when my father was born. In high-carat gold, and with rose-cut diamonds. Fake. One thing I have noticed is that it does not gradually change colors (like my real alex, when I am sitting in a car early morning with the lights inside the car on - then the side that is close to the street is green, and the one close to the light is red-purple. Very interesting effect). With my synthetic alexandrite, either night color (pink-violet) or daytime color (blue) pops out. Because alexandrite is not to be found among beach pebbles, it takes some time even for a gem dealer to source out one. Yet I have seen so many on ebay...you''d think that they stroke out five new mines.

Actually, they have found some new mines in Africa, India and Brazil. Russia (the Ural mountains) was where it was discovered, and for a long time, the only source. However, there have been new discoveries of it in recent times.

 

[jewelz617]

If the price seems too good to be true, it usually is.

 

[Arkteia]

Date: 1/14/2010 8:01:39 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover

Date: 1/14/2010 6:36:53 PM

Author: crasru



Oh I have an old stone with Russian alexandrite which was passed over to me as a family heirloom. Ostensibly my paternal grandfather bought it for my paternal grandmother when my father was born. In high-carat gold, and with rose-cut diamonds. Fake. One thing I have noticed is that it does not gradually change colors (like my real alex, when I am sitting in a car early morning with the lights inside the car on - then the side that is close to the street is green, and the one close to the light is red-purple. Very interesting effect). With my synthetic alexandrite, either night color (pink-violet) or daytime color (blue) pops out. Because alexandrite is not to be found among beach pebbles, it takes some time even for a gem dealer to source out one. Yet I have seen so many on ebay...you''d think that they stroke out five new mines.

Actually, they have found some new mines in Africa, India and Brazil. Russia (the Ural mountains) was where it was discovered, and for a long time, the only source. However, there have been new discoveries of it in recent times.

Oh, TL, I know about these mines...But sometimes one seller would be selling so many alexes on his site simultaneously...I start thinking that they had a new lucky strike at Hematita or what not.

 

[T L]

Date: 1/14/2010 9:17:56 PM
Author: crasru

Date: 1/14/2010 8:01:39 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover

Date: 1/14/2010 6:36:53 PM

Author: crasru



Oh I have an old stone with Russian alexandrite which was passed over to me as a family heirloom. Ostensibly my paternal grandfather bought it for my paternal grandmother when my father was born. In high-carat gold, and with rose-cut diamonds. Fake. One thing I have noticed is that it does not gradually change colors (like my real alex, when I am sitting in a car early morning with the lights inside the car on - then the side that is close to the street is green, and the one close to the light is red-purple. Very interesting effect). With my synthetic alexandrite, either night color (pink-violet) or daytime color (blue) pops out. Because alexandrite is not to be found among beach pebbles, it takes some time even for a gem dealer to source out one. Yet I have seen so many on ebay...you''d think that they stroke out five new mines.

Actually, they have found some new mines in Africa, India and Brazil. Russia (the Ural mountains) was where it was discovered, and for a long time, the only source. However, there have been new discoveries of it in recent times.

Oh, TL, I know about these mines...But sometimes one seller would be selling so many alexes on his site simultaneously...I start thinking that they had a new lucky strike at Hematita or what not.

I don''t know if LD would agree with me

, but I think there is a fair amount of alexandrite on the market. Multicolour.com and other places seem to have their fair share. Now, what is rare, is fine quality alexandrite. However, on ebay, buyer beware!! Much of what you see is synthetic alexandrite or synthetic corundum. Always get your alexandrite certified from a reputable gem lab, in particular if you''re spending a lot on it.

 

[Arkteia]

Date: 1/14/2010 10:05:23 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover

Date: 1/14/2010 9:17:56 PM

Author: crasru

Date: 1/14/2010 8:01:39 PM

Author: tourmaline_lover

Date: 1/14/2010 6:36:53 PM


Author: crasru




Oh I have an old stone with Russian alexandrite which was passed over to me as a family heirloom. Ostensibly my paternal grandfather bought it for my paternal grandmother when my father was born. In high-carat gold, and with rose-cut diamonds. Fake. One thing I have noticed is that it does not gradually change colors (like my real alex, when I am sitting in a car early morning with the lights inside the car on - then the side that is close to the street is green, and the one close to the light is red-purple. Very interesting effect). With my synthetic alexandrite, either night color (pink-violet) or daytime color (blue) pops out. Because alexandrite is not to be found among beach pebbles, it takes some time even for a gem dealer to source out one. Yet I have seen so many on ebay...you''d think that they stroke out five new mines.

Actually, they have found some new mines in Africa, India and Brazil. Russia (the Ural mountains) was where it was discovered, and for a long time, the only source. However, there have been new discoveries of it in recent times.

Oh, TL, I know about these mines...But sometimes one seller would be selling so many alexes on his site simultaneously...I start thinking that they had a new lucky strike at Hematita or what not.

I don''t know if LD would agree with me

, but I think there is a fair amount of alexandrite on the market. Multicolour.com and other places seem to have their fair share. Now, what is rare, is fine quality alexandrite. However, on ebay, buyer beware!! Much of what you see is synthetic alexandrite or synthetic corundum. Always get your alexandrite certified from a reputable gem lab, in particular if you''re spending a lot on it.

Funny, I just finished talking to a guy who showed me his ring and said it was an "alexandrite" that he bought for 5 dollars. The ring was, in fact, quite beautiful, but what do you do when someone shows you a thing like this? I was thinking of how to delicately tell him the truth, but then he laughed and said, "oh, I know, it is synthetic, but it is still beautiful". Just a funny coincidence.

 

[chrono]

I don’t have an issue if the vendor states the truth about the stone (treatment and lab/synthetic) and if the buyer knows what he/she is really getting. I have also seen synthetic alexandrites and agree they are beautiful. Very strong saturation on both changes and complete colour change; it is what every real natural alexandrite aims to look like.

 

[LD]

Date: 1/14/2010 10:05:23 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover

Date: 1/14/2010 9:17:56 PM
Author: crasru

Date: 1/14/2010 8:01:39 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover

Date: 1/14/2010 6:36:53 PM

Author: crasru



Oh I have an old stone with Russian alexandrite which was passed over to me as a family heirloom. Ostensibly my paternal grandfather bought it for my paternal grandmother when my father was born. In high-carat gold, and with rose-cut diamonds. Fake. One thing I have noticed is that it does not gradually change colors (like my real alex, when I am sitting in a car early morning with the lights inside the car on - then the side that is close to the street is green, and the one close to the light is red-purple. Very interesting effect). With my synthetic alexandrite, either night color (pink-violet) or daytime color (blue) pops out. Because alexandrite is not to be found among beach pebbles, it takes some time even for a gem dealer to source out one. Yet I have seen so many on ebay...you''d think that they stroke out five new mines.

Actually, they have found some new mines in Africa, India and Brazil. Russia (the Ural mountains) was where it was discovered, and for a long time, the only source. However, there have been new discoveries of it in recent times.

Oh, TL, I know about these mines...But sometimes one seller would be selling so many alexes on his site simultaneously...I start thinking that they had a new lucky strike at Hematita or what not.

I don''t know if LD would agree with me

, but I think there is a fair amount of alexandrite on the market. Multicolour.com and other places seem to have their fair share. Now, what is rare, is fine quality alexandrite. However, on ebay, buyer beware!! Much of what you see is synthetic alexandrite or synthetic corundum. Always get your alexandrite certified from a reputable gem lab, in particular if you''re spending a lot on it.

Absolutely agree!

Actually I believe, and I''m happy to stand corrected, that the mine in India was mined out in either 2007 or 2008, the Brazilian strike mined out in the same year it was found and I''m not sure but believe the Tanzanian mine is also now deplete. So what''s on the market is not likely to be replaced (unless a new strike happens elsewhere of course).

 

[RevolutionGems]

There are actually two different types of MM alex that appear. The most common is color-change corundum (a simulant that goes from blue to purple) which is very inexpensive and, somewhat more rare, Chatham Alex which is a lab grown synthetic of the real thing (goes from strongly bluish green to strongly purplish red) and is quite expensive.

All things considered, Chatham Alex is about as close to a natural alex as most of us will ever get.

A jeweler friend of mine got a 60 pt natural alex for a client (his cost was almost $2000) that had good color change but had a giant crack-type inclusion. The moral of the story is, even included or poor color change alex is EXTREMELY expensive. It is one of the few stones out there where "bargains" are simply not to be had.

 

[Arkteia]

Date: 1/15/2010 10:57:55 AM
Author: Revolution
There are actually two different types of MM alex that appear. The most common is color-change corundum (a simulant that goes from blue to purple) which is very inexpensive and, somewhat more rare, Chatham Alex which is a lab grown synthetic of the real thing (goes from strongly bluish green to strongly purplish red) and is quite expensive.

All things considered, Chatham Alex is about as close to a natural alex as most of us will ever get.

A jeweler friend of mine got a 60 pt natural alex for a client (his cost was almost $2000) that had good color change but had a giant crack-type inclusion. The moral of the story is, even included or poor color change alex is EXTREMELY expensive. It is one of the few stones out there where ''bargains'' are simply not to be had.

Jeff,

You got me concerned. My alex has a strong color change, of typical Brazilian type, exhibits strong color change, and has been certified by Gubelin, GIA and my apprasier (for insurance purposes) as Brazilian. Do you think I have to have it certified by, say, AGS? Just to be sure?

 

[LD]

On the left is a Chatham Alex in its incandescent mode. In daylight this is bottle green. You can see it has 100% colour change and the colour looks too good to be true. This was sold as "Russian" Alexandrite (natural)!

On the right is a natural (certified) Alexandrite in its incandescent mode. This is a top colour changer and is 3.06ct.

I don't know what you guys think but when you look at them you can understand how people are fooled. Especially if they haven't seen many (or any) Alex before.

 

[chrono]

Date: 1/15/2010 11:12:33 AM
Author: crasru
Jeff,

You got me concerned. My alex has a strong color change, of typical Brazilian type, exhibits strong color change, and has been certified by Gubelin, GIA and my apprasier (for insurance purposes) as Brazilian. Do you think I have to have it certified by, say, AGS? Just to be sure?

Crasru,
You can trust Gubelin and GIA. I would not go for another lab check.

 

[Arkteia]

Date: 1/15/2010 12:13:22 PM
Author: Chrono

Date: 1/15/2010 11:12:33 AM
Author: crasru
Jeff,

You got me concerned. My alex has a strong color change, of typical Brazilian type, exhibits strong color change, and has been certified by Gubelin, GIA and my apprasier (for insurance purposes) as Brazilian. Do you think I have to have it certified by, say, AGS? Just to be sure?

Crasru,
You can trust Gubelin and GIA. I would not go for another lab check.

Only Gubelin says it comes from Brazil but I guess GIA does not always disclose the origin. I have seen it before. I think it still should be fine.

 

[RevolutionGems]

Certification is not my strong suit. I don''t know much about the labs out there as far as who is reliable. I will defer to Chrono on this one. She is a true "Rock" star and I would trust her judgment on just about anything related to gemstones.

 

[ilovegemstones]

This thread has exploded! I ordered rings from Sally and I am very excited about them. One is an alexandrite. Here are the pics of the gems. I picked the second one, but am now worried a bit due to the blue colour, and what I read about blue alex''s in this thread. I will post more pics! Please let me know what you think as soon as possible.

 

[ilovegemstones]

pic 2 indoors, natural light, same lighting as above.

 

[ilovegemstones]

incandescent lighting