Is this alexandrite?

[Nufie]

Hello everyone!
I've been silently browsing pricescope forum for a while, and it's the best place I can think of to ask any gem-related questions, so here I am!

Recently my brother has found some jewelry which belonged to our grandmother, and he decided to give it to me
My grandma comes from russian nobility, so some of that jewelry is pre-revolution and I am so glad that she and my great-grandparents have somehow managed to keep it!
Among these pieces there's a loose stone which at first I thought was an amethyst when my brother showed me some pics, but when he gave the stone to me I realized that it's not always purple, in fact in daylight its color changes to some mix of teal and green, and the more daylight there is, the more green it looks, even though the parts of the stone where my fingers are stay purple unless I look at the light directly through the stone. The stone is eye-clean and is kind of big (at least to me it is!), but the cut is not doing the stone any favors, so I'm considering getting it recutted into something more nice.

When I googled color changing stones I realized that my stone kinda looks like an alexandrite, but I'm not sure. It doesn't really matter if it's an alex or not, but it would be really nice to know what exactly it is.
I was unable to take a pic of it's daylight color, so the pics are probably useless, but i'm posting them anyway because I'm in love with that stone

Can you guys help me? Does it look like an alex to you?

One of these pics was taken wth a flash in daylight and it's very close to what the stone looks like in incandescent light.

Also I apologize for my english, it's not my native language


P.S. also I've just found out that it looks green in the dark when there's no incandescent light and very little daylight (4:30am), which is weird because I'm pretty sure that it also looks purple in dark places during the daylight.

 

[normanintheskywithsapphires]

I think there is a threat for 'is it an alexandrite' somewhere. Where is that? Us the search function. It is pretty good.

 

[Nufie]

I've read some threads before making my own, it didn't really help
I was hoping that someone would be able to tell that its not a real alexandrite (thats what I'm actually hoping for ) based on my description and pics, but I guess its not possible?

 

[marymm]

If you really want to know what it is, send the stone to AGL Labs in New York - http://aglgemlab.com/ - when you fill out the submittal form ( http://aglgemlab.com/submission-guidelines/ ), request a Gem Brief ( http://aglgemlab.com/gembrief/ ), which is the lowest cost report and will include identification of the stone, whether it has been enhanced or not, and a photo of the stone. In my experience, a few weeks after AGL receives your package, an AGL examiner will contact you with the report results by phone at which time you can ask a question or two or request additional services if appropriate. Then (if no further services requested) a few days later AGL will contact you again to arrange for return shipping and payment.

 

[Nufie]

I wish I could! But I'm in Moscow so I'll probably take it to MSU gemological center (I think that's how its called in english?) in a few weeks, though I have no idea if they're as good as AGL.

Anyway, I've got one more question - are there many fake alexandrites or any other similar stones with very bad cuts? My stone is one huge window, you can read books through almost any part of it

 

[minousbijoux]

Anyway, I've got one more question - are there many fake alexandrites or any other similar stones with very bad cuts? My stone is one huge window, you can read books through almost any part of it

Unfortunately, yes, there are several forms of copycat stones. Synthetic alex was quite frequently used in high end jewelry of the last century. There are also other synthetic color change stones that people mistake for alex. Do you know the approximate size - carat weight and dimensions - of the stone? That might help us as well. It is true though, that for a definitive answer, you will have to send it to a lab. The well regarded labs nearer you are Gubelin, SSEF, and others worldwide include Lotus, GIA, AGL, AIGS and probably a few others I'm forgetting. You might see if any of them have a Moscow branch, as many of the labs have more than one location.

 

[Nufie]

Honestly the only reasons why I even have some thoughts that it might be real are the fact that my family was pretty rich before the revolution (and, judging by the few photos we have, relatively rich for some time after the revolution), the way it looks (kinda...not beautiful enough to be fake? It looks WAAAY better on pics than it looks in real life) and its very bad cut
Length seems to be around 14mm, width is around 8.5mm and depth is 8mm

That stone is also very clean, I'm unable to see anything besides my own fingerprints and little marks in the places where the prongs of something were holding it a long time ago

 

[minousbijoux]

Much more likely to be a high quality synthetic at that size and clarity.

 

[Nufie]

Will it be hard to tell if its a real one or a high quality synthetic one in the lab? Somehow I doubt that the very few labs we have around here are good

I googled some pics of synthetic alexandrite and it made me a bit sad. Everything is so nice and bright and pretty and the colors are so yummy and then there is my stone with its light tealish-green daylight color and purple color at night, but mostly a weird mix of those two. I hope it will become more pretty if I fix the cut

Or do all those stones look less fabulous in real life too? That would make me feel much better about mine!

 

[normanintheskywithsapphires]

I guess the higher the value of a gem variety, the more fakes are around?