Hi all,
I recently read a fantastic thread on this board about identifying real Alexandrites, and wanted to get some outside opinions on my own.
My great-great grandmother's family (Chinese) were wealthy jewellery merchants who dealt with Russian traders. Although much of their stock was stolen and/or forced to be sold in the Chinese Civil Wars, this particular gemstone has been passed down for around 7 generations now. My mother got this stone re-set, so the white gold ring/plating is relatively new. I am not sure if the stone was re-cut then too, but I believe it has been by one of my ancestors to be more 'modern'.
Of course, at the time it was believed this was a natural, real, Russian alexandrite, however with modern technology, I've never cared to look further into it (for it's sentimental value is enormous too.) I don't believe this is synthetic given how old this ring is, and at that time China did not partake in foreign trade. However I am interested in some outside opinions as I could be wrong.
I could not for the life of me take a photo of this ring when it was 'green' in daylight. It is a little murky green if I'm in the sun for a few seconds, and then a few minutes later it will be a bright green. When I tried to take a photo of the green stage the camera (iPhone 6S) captured it as purple! Talk about driving me insane
In artificial lighting, or even when I'm in a shadow, the stone turns darker and is a mixture of very very deep purple with streaks of red/light purple. If I stay in that lighting for long enough (more in the Shadows than in artificial lighting), it will be a bright red-dish purple.
For some reason, every time I try and photograph it in different lightings it always comes out the same purple, even if it looks different to the naked eye, so I will post the photos in different lighting even though they look the same. Very frustrating.
**edited by moderator, please upload photos to forum directly per our policies**
I recently read a fantastic thread on this board about identifying real Alexandrites, and wanted to get some outside opinions on my own.
My great-great grandmother's family (Chinese) were wealthy jewellery merchants who dealt with Russian traders. Although much of their stock was stolen and/or forced to be sold in the Chinese Civil Wars, this particular gemstone has been passed down for around 7 generations now. My mother got this stone re-set, so the white gold ring/plating is relatively new. I am not sure if the stone was re-cut then too, but I believe it has been by one of my ancestors to be more 'modern'.
Of course, at the time it was believed this was a natural, real, Russian alexandrite, however with modern technology, I've never cared to look further into it (for it's sentimental value is enormous too.) I don't believe this is synthetic given how old this ring is, and at that time China did not partake in foreign trade. However I am interested in some outside opinions as I could be wrong.
I could not for the life of me take a photo of this ring when it was 'green' in daylight. It is a little murky green if I'm in the sun for a few seconds, and then a few minutes later it will be a bright green. When I tried to take a photo of the green stage the camera (iPhone 6S) captured it as purple! Talk about driving me insane
In artificial lighting, or even when I'm in a shadow, the stone turns darker and is a mixture of very very deep purple with streaks of red/light purple. If I stay in that lighting for long enough (more in the Shadows than in artificial lighting), it will be a bright red-dish purple.
For some reason, every time I try and photograph it in different lightings it always comes out the same purple, even if it looks different to the naked eye, so I will post the photos in different lighting even though they look the same. Very frustrating.
**edited by moderator, please upload photos to forum directly per our policies**
only allowed trade between in Ghulja and Tacheng (both modern Yili Kazakh prefecture). In any case, your great grat --- parents had to be Manchurian speaking, not Chinese.
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