Coloured Stoners! Alexandrite help?

[LaurenThePartier]

You ladies (and gentleman) have been so incredibly helpful in the past, and I was hoping someone would have some recommendations of where to find good alexandrites.

Should I recommend one of our cutters to my friend? What do you guys think?

 

[Kismet]

If you want a really nice one, I would ask Richard Wise to hunt for you. To look by yourself, Pala gems is a good place to start but your jeweler will have to inquire about prices and viewing them in person.

 

[T L]

That''s one gemstone where you really have to spend a lot to get a nice one. All the moderately priced ones are really not that pretty IMO. I know others might disagree with me. It''s really difficult to find nice ones. I think Pala would be good option.

 

[LD]

Well as somebody who has been buying Alex for many years, I can tell you that there isn't one particular place. Good stones with great colour change are quite difficult to source. However, the best Alex I have EVER bought was from multicolour.com David Weinberg who works/owns/has something to do with them also specialises in Alex and has written a very comprehensive guide. He will give very honest opinions and has seen so many that he knows when he's looking at a good Alex.

One word of warning, you may have to be less fussy about cut if the colour change is good.

Good luck in your hunt and I can't wait to see what your friend gets - please photo of pictures won't you?

 

[m76steve]

lauren-i have been buying alex for some time-i use ebay because as of now they will cover your price-paid in full if any problems arise-if you are interested i will post a pic of one of thependents i have-steve...

 

[RNgemlover]

Alexandrite is my favorite gemstone! As has been stated before, if you want great, you''ll have to fork over a lot of money, "perfect" alexandrites are expensive. Ebay may have some stones, but I have had miserable luck. They show color changes that simply cannot be rendered at home. Also, there are some gemstones that can mimic the color change. Do NOT buy alexandrites that go from greenish olive to orangy, you will be disappointed. I strongly recommend ONLY buying alexandrites in person. This is one stone that really has to be seen. Get certified natural stones if possible. And, be sure to check the reddish/purple color. Most jewelers seem to think the magic is in the green, but I think the magic is in the red. If the red is strong, in my experience, so is the green. Take a lighter with you if you have to lol, or make sure to use an incandescent lightbulb in the store. My local jeweler here is able to source stones, and have me look first, buy next. My best stone is only .64 carats, and is a mine cut stone. The hue in incandescent light/flame is vivid purplish red, and in daytime, bright vivid green. I have larger stones, but none that change like that. The single most important characteristic for alexandrite is color change. I think next in line is clarity, and last is cut. But that I just my opinion. You will find some stones in jewelry stores, but used extreme caution... i went to a place in Colorado Springs who offered a 1.2 carat oval alexandrite for 15,900.00. The stone had only one corner that color changed, and was ridden with inclusions. Wish I could go with you! Best of luck on this, the most beautiful of all gems

There is one place on the web: khazargems.com

occasionally they have nice stones...

 

[ma re]

Awesomegems.com has IMO some nice ones. Bear in mind that color change is (almost) everything when it comes to this stone. Individual colors don''t have to be top notch if color change is sharp and distinct. Also stay away from overly light colors, cause saturation is as coveted in alexandrites as it is in most other stones.

 

[m76steve]

lauren-here is one of my pendents-8cts of alexandrite & catseye inder daylight...

 

[m76steve]

im using a double light source-the upper & lower stones are facited & the 3 cats are cabs.-carefully bought with a good appraisal...

 

[m76steve]

same pendent under incandecent light-pretty good color change & a difference can be seen...

 

[Honey228]

I spent yesterday digging through the pricescope forums and looking at websites for alex. Like others said, I looked at multicolour.com and I also found a couple of nice ones at ajsgems.com. His pair was WAY out of my price range, but I guess I shouldn''t have been surprised.

I found a pair of alexandrite studs at this website: http://www.mineralminers.com/html/alxjlry.stm, but I have no idea if it''s reputable. For those of you who buy off of Ebay and other sources, how do you know if the stones that you are getting are authentic? Do you require a certificate? Can you just tell by looking at it if it''s synthetic? I don''t want to pay the price for a "natural" stone and end up with a synthetic. Is it a case of, if it''s too good to be true then it probably is?

shaunrice, I''m glad that you mentioned khazargems.com because I also looked at them and was wondering about their reliability.

LovingDiamonds, I just have to say that I LOVE your alexandrite ring. Did you ever have a thread about that baby?

 

[T L]

Date: 1/8/2009 12:44:51 AM
Author: shaunrice
There is one place on the web: khazargems.com

occasionally they have nice stones...

I was looking at khazargems a long time ago, and I didn''t care for the color change on their stones. It seemed that the color change was purple to grey green. I was very unimpressed. Did you ever buy from them?

 

[Harriet]

Date: 1/7/2009 4:40:56 PM
Author:LaurenThePartier
You ladies (and gentleman) have been so incredibly helpful in the past, and I was hoping someone would have some recommendations of where to find good alexandrites.

Should I recommend one of our cutters to my friend? What do you guys think?

Lauren,
I wouldn''t go the cutter route. The material is so scarce that I''d be surprised if good rough were available.

 

[LD]

I agree with absolutely everything Shaunrice has said ............... and would like to add that the number of (very convincing synthetic Alexandrite) on Ebay is astonishing. If the colour change is great and isn't accompanied by a huge price tag / reputable lab cert you can bet it's synthetic. I have bought Alex from Ebay and most of it has been rubbish and I would never recommend that source.

Obviously seeing the colour change in person is preferable but there are some excellent dealers who will let you buy and then return if you're not happy.

Honey thank you for the lovely compliment on my ring. No it's never had it's own thread! Perhaps I should start one. In the meantime, this is what I believe a good looking Alex should be like - forest green in daylight (which doesn't photograph well and this photo looks more grey than it actually is in real life) to a raspberry purple pink/red in incandescent light. Stats on my baby are 3.06ct eye clean Alexandrite plus diamonds VS quality (can't remember total diamond weight but think it was around .50ct).

 

[LD]

This is another of mine. It's 2ct Alex plus diamonds (can't remember exact weights - sorry). You will see that the colour change is not so strong and in this case it looks more purple in incandescent light. The daylight green is stunning in this gemstone. The cut is poor with an off centre culet but it's still difficult to find a colour change like this.

 

[LD]

I thought you might like to see an "interesting" Alex for reference purposes. This is a 1.5ct Alex and it looks hazy/smokey due to the silk like inclusions. When you see this in Alexandrite it can actually enhance the colour change (not always). However, it really does impact on the beauty of the gemstone in my opinion.

 

[m76steve]

im curious-is the stone, the 3.06 ps in the ring real or synthetic-its a very good looking stone-steve...

 

[m76steve]

hello all-several years ago i bought a stone from khazargems out of florida-the woman who sold me the stone seemed very knowledgeable and said the stone was clean,which it is, & pretty good color change, which is a fair statement, not to bad. she told me the stone would appr. at about 9 thousand dollars-this is a 1.05ct stone out of india. i got the stone had it apprsed, at about7.7 thousand dollars. she was a little surprised and offered me a refund-which i refused. i kept the stone & put it in my large pendent. i have bought most of my stones from ebay-they stand behind what they sell-if you are not happy with your material after the auction, you do have the right of return in all situations. i have only returned 1 or 2 stones in my history-all the alex i bought was apprased and found to be authentic & from the locations stated in the paperwork. one must follow thru when buying in this forum to really know what you have-there are bad people who do bad things-just a few-dont be afraid of using the web-it has worked for me very well in the past-the 5 stone pendent thats on this forum has an appraisal over 25 thousand dollars-replacement value for insurance purposes. in a retail value it would a little higher-fact are facts-these figures are verified by the appraisers i use.

-i really enjoy this forum & hope i am helping with any questions i can help answer...steve....

 

[coatimundi_org]

Date: 1/8/2009 11:50:56 AM
Author: Harriet

Date: 1/7/2009 4:40:56 PM

Author:LaurenThePartier

You ladies (and gentleman) have been so incredibly helpful in the past, and I was hoping someone would have some recommendations of where to find good alexandrites.


Should I recommend one of our cutters to my friend? What do you guys think?

Lauren,

I wouldn''t go the cutter route. The material is so scarce that I''d be surprised if good rough were available.

Ditto H.

Good Alex is tough to find. It''s for a friend? Must it be Alexandrite?

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Date: 1/8/2009 8:02:10 PM
Author: coatimundi

Date: 1/8/2009 11:50:56 AM
Author: Harriet

Date: 1/7/2009 4:40:56 PM

Author:LaurenThePartier

You ladies (and gentleman) have been so incredibly helpful in the past, and I was hoping someone would have some recommendations of where to find good alexandrites.


Should I recommend one of our cutters to my friend? What do you guys think?

Lauren,

I wouldn''t go the cutter route. The material is so scarce that I''d be surprised if good rough were available.

Ditto H.

Good Alex is tough to find. It''s for a friend? Must it be Alexandrite?

Thanks for your help, everyone!

Coati, yes, it''s for a friend, and he was asking about a 1 ct. higher clarity Alex.

 

[Harriet]

Can it be a garnet? What is his budget so we can help?

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

My Alexandrites from Multicolour Gems has been fair. Not bad, not great, but I never paid over 1k. I should post a pic of the 1 carat pear I have not set yet. It is a bluish green with fain shift to purple. Very pretty stone.

If I could do it all over again I would spend that money on a nice cc saphire of garnet. They are way prettier in my opinion, unless you get a spectactular one.

 

[LD]

Date: 1/8/2009 6:58:12 PM
Author: m76steve
im curious-is the stone, the 3.06 ps in the ring real or synthetic-its a very good looking stone-steve...

Very much real AND certified! Happy to post up the cert if you want to see it!

 

[Fly Girl]

If money is no object, I''ve been admiring this pretty for some time at wildfishgems. Alex

A smarter buy might be this color change tourmaline which Ed says is rarer than the alexandrite, but priced far less. Tour

Or, go the color change garnet route. Here''s one. Garn Also, Rick at artcutgems has some that are not on his web site.

 

[LD]

Date: 1/9/2009 3:38:25 PM
Author: Fly Girl
If money is no object, I''ve been admiring this pretty for some time at wildfishgems. Alex

A smarter buy might be this color change tourmaline which Ed says is rarer than the alexandrite, but priced far less. Tour

Or, go the color change garnet route. Here''s one. Garn Also, Rick at artcutgems has some that are not on his web site.

OMG that Alex is waaayyyyyyyyy too expensive considering the daylight colour (in the photos) has a lot of yellow - the colour change isn''t fantastic either. What you''re paying for is the carat weight - the cut also leaves a lot to be desired. If money were no object I think I''d rather hang onto my money and see what else I could get (no disrespect to wildfishgems).

Now the colour change tourmaline is very interesting! Think I could be persuaded to part with my hard earned cash for that one!