Interesting Green ones....

[Bron357]

I was doing some sorting of the gem haul during the day, tough work but someone has to do it.
I took a closer look at these 3 green ones I have, quite a nice green but fairly included. I figured Prasolite or Green Amythest. Nothing special.
Went back in after dinner to tidy up (I have gems out of their gem boxes and equipment from one end of the dining room table to the other).
Are my eyes deceiving me or what?
We have incandescent light courtesy of the dining room lights and I’m now wondering......

 

[stracci2000]

Uh Oh! Emerald by day, ruby by night!

 

[ChanterelleJ]

Good catch

 

[peacechick]

Could they be color change garnets?

 

[Bron357]

Well, im not quite sure what they are. Green quartz they aren’t.
I do have some other synthetic green spinel but these are glowing a different milder orange colour under LW UV.
More testing needed
But no, frankly they can’t be Alexandrite, they are each around 5 carats. Way too big for Alexandrite!

 

[voce]

Ooh, what fun, another mystery! There's definitely a color change there. They could be CC garnets, but I wouldn't rule alexandrite out if Mr. Jeweler has been hoarding for several decades.

 

[prs]

But no, frankly they can’t be Alexandrite, they are each around 5 carats. Way too big for Alexandrite!

Wanna bet?

 

[MollyMalone]

If you've not already seen this chapter on Russian Alexandrites from Dr. Peter Bancroft's book,The World’s Finest Minerals and Crystals (1984) -- accompanied by a Buying Guide by Richard Hughes
http://www.lotusgemology.com/index.php/about/staff
-- think you'll really enjoy reading it & seeing the historical photographs!
http://www.palagems.com/alexandrite-russia/

 

[peacechick]

Bron, take a photo of your bracelet with them, let’s compare the light shift!

 

[Bron357]

Bron, take a photo of your bracelet with them, let’s compare the light shift!

Ha ha, that was me last night!
Unfortunately or fortunately I tightened the clasp on the bracelet so it wouldn’t fall off so now I can’t get it off!
It’s daytime here still but alongside the bracelet hmmmmm
But no, that would be totally outrageous.

 

[foxinsox]

Ha ha, that was me last night!
Unfortunately or fortunately I tightened the clasp on the bracelet so it wouldn’t fall off so now I can’t get it off!
It’s daytime here still but alongside the bracelet hmmmmm
But no, that would be totally AMAZING.

fixed your quote for you

 

[peacechick]

Ha ha, that was me last night!
Unfortunately or fortunately I tightened the clasp on the bracelet so it wouldn’t fall off so now I can’t get it off!
It’s daytime here still but alongside the bracelet hmmmmm
But no, that would be totally outrageous.

Hmm, the colors kind of match, don’t you think? What about the color shift?

 

[Bron357]

The day colours are remarkably close, not that that means anything. I’m Waiting for night time again. Well not quite.
I think there is some sort of colour shift going on. One has a part that stays more green.

 

[voce]

Side-by-side comparison does look suspiciously similar to your alexandrite bracelet. Even if incandescent colour isn't exactly the same, there are many alexandrites coming out of Brazil that turn clear under incandescent lighting. Are you willing to do a Moh's test on somewhere not very noticeable to ascertain the hardness?

 

[LemonMoonLex]

This is oh so interesting (:

I hope you find out what they are!
Whatever they are, they're beautifully different and a nice size!
I'll be following along!

 

[icy_jade]

Oh my so exciting!!! Hope they are alexandrites.

 

[prs]

We are all pulling for you Bron, and hoping it is Alexandrite!!!!

Didn't Russian Alexandrite turn its best night time color under candle light? If so, no need to wait for darkness, just light some candles and draw the curtains.

 

[LJsapphire]

Wow what an exciting mystery!

 

[Sparkles88]

This is so exciting.... another enthralling development

 

[MJ_Mac]

I'm on the edge of my seat like everyone else waiting to find out if these really are alexandrites. This is so exciting, just like the rubies! You could be sitting on a small fortune. The best part of this, you have found a true gem passion.

 

[princessandthepear]

This just keeps getting more interesting all the time. I hope they turn out to be alexandrite or something equally as exotic.

 

[pwsg07]

Did you test the RI? The flux grown synthetic one is really hard to detect. I hope they are natural alexandrites.

 

[Sunstorm]

Wow, wow, how cool! I really love reading about your journey. My first bet was going to be also... khm Alex? Wow but that large? Interestingly enough the pix you took alongside your bracelet support the suspicion many of us here have. Wow, now I really want to know. What is your next step planned? Are you testing them with a refractometer first?

 

[Bron357]

It would be far too crazy for them to be Alexandrite.
I’m leaning towards colour change garnet. I don’t think they are lab grown as one, in particular has a darker zone which also doesn’t seem to change colour as much under incandescent light. I feel that the slight tonal difference within a gem is more akin to natural gems than man made ones?
To be honest the night time colour is pretty bland, sort of a murky grey mauve colour, whereas the daylight colour is really pretty. I’ve read that often times that is the way with colour change gems, I think I prefer that the daylight colour is better as most indoor lights these days aren’t incandescent anyway.

 

[prs]

The daylight color is gorgeous, but it does look like the stones are quite shallow and windowed, maybe that's why the night time color isn't so good?

I wonder if the jeweler had them at home whilst he pondered on a decision to re-cut. Finding someone in Australia with the knowledge and skill to cut Alexandrite wouldn't have been easy, particularly in the days before the internet.

 

[peacechick]

Anyway to sneak one of these into your GIA class like you did with the ruby?

 

[Bron357]

The cutting is atrocious, huge windows and seemingly randomly placed facets. No precision cutting here! They are all very close in physical size but different carat weights 4.73, 4.87 and 5.05.
What I find most intriguing is the zones that don’t seem to change colour, particularly the top one.

 

[Stone Hunter]

So COOL!! Garnets or Alexandrites they would make a lovely ring to match your bracelet!

 

[MJ_Mac]

It would be far too crazy for them to be Alexandrite.
I’m leaning towards colour change garnet. I don’t think they are lab grown as one, in particular has a darker zone which also doesn’t seem to change colour as much under incandescent light. I feel that the slight tonal difference within a gem is more akin to natural gems than man made ones?
To be honest the night time colour is pretty bland, sort of a murky grey mauve colour, whereas the daylight colour is really pretty. I’ve read that often times that is the way with colour change gems, I think I prefer that the daylight colour is better as most indoor lights these days aren’t incandescent anyway.

Bron, you just described the colour of my cat's eye alexandrite. It may be very moody but I love it. Fingers crossed you have natural earth mined alexandrites, even if they do have windows you can drive a truck though (lol).

 

[Nosean]

Songea produces nice alex like color changing sapphire - often with zoning and color patches. But would be quite large for sapphire...

Check RI...