Carat Size estimate of an Alexandrite

[Bron357]

I have a small Alexandrite that I'm going to sell. It's in a pendant mount attached to a fine chain bracelet. The bracelet no longer fits (I'm a bit on the plump side these days) and my plan to reset in a ring never eventuated. It's been sitting around gathering dust for more than 20 years! It measures very approx 8mm X 6mm - oval. Thankfully it has lots of earth kisses inside (flaws as they are otherwise called) so it's real. Would 1 carat be approx weight?
It goes lovely blue green to purple.

 

[Michael_E]

Estimating weight on something like this requires that you know how deep the stone is as well as how it's cut. The pictures almost make the stone look like a cabochon cut, (smooth domed top, instead of faceted). If you can measure or estimate the depth, then it would be possible to take a guess at it's weight.
On the other hand that setting looks like one that would be very easy to remove the stone from and so you might want to find a trusted jeweler to remove the stone, weigh it accurately and then replace it in the setting. That would take all the guesswork out of this process and they may either be able to give you an estimate of value or make an offer on the stone themselves. It does have very nice colors.

 

[Bron357]

Thanks Micheal. It seems quite thin. I was thinking it was worth $100 or so (it's small,flawed and there's not much gold weight) making it not worth the cost of having the stone properly measured. It also doesn't look like a precision cut gem, the facets are not perfectly aligned. Then after a bit more research I've realised the stone is better than I thought, .80 to 1.0 carat is a perfectly decent size. Flaws aren't unusual and the style of cutting probably makes the stone older than I thought. What it does have is strong colour and strong even colour change which is also good. So I'll get it assessed and hopefully they can give me a guide as to its value.

 

[Michael_E]

Even though gold has dropped in price a bit recently, it's still pretty high. Couple that with the fact that some inclusions really don't affect value too much and I think that getting this piece assessed before selling is a very good idea. $100 seems very low for the level of color change and the attractiveness of the two colors this stone shows. I have a feeling that the gold value as scrap will be more than that and that the whole piece could be worth many times that. You can always do a little research and look for other alexandrites on line and see what they go for in order to get a better idea of what to ask when you do sell this.

 

[Bron357]

Thanks Micheal. They are hard gems to photograph for sure. I just used my iPad! Some of the other pics I've seem look very fancy indeed. From what research I've done it seems colour change is a higher priority than inclusions. However I find that the inclusions are actually quite interesting, they make the stone throw little sparks within of brighter colour in the daylight and in the candle, little red sparks from within the purple. Intriguing little gem for sure.