Show me your ALEXANDRITES!

[sphenequeen]

Hi All!

I know some of you have collected alexandrites and/or have made alexandrite pieces ~ would you care to share? I have been thinking about them A LOT lately and would love to know your stories.

Thanks in advance.

SQ

 

[Andelain]

Here's mine. I have a .86ct oval with over 90% color change. Deep green in daylight to maroon in incandescent light. The pear is around .75 with the same color change, but is very dark. Unfortunately I can't get a decent pic of either. They both look purple on camera, even though they look completely different in person..

 

[sphenequeen]

Andelain!

Thank you for being the only taker so far! I don't know why, but I thought more of the colored stoners had Alexandrites!

Your stones look very pretty - I kow how frustrating it can be trying to capture their beauty with a camera.

Thank you again for sharing ~ perhaps a few more PSers have these babies tucked away???

 

[soberguy]

Here is mine... Terrible pictures I'm afraid, the color change is much finer in person, in fact... the finest I have ever seen in any alexandrite... It is loose, and will remain so out of complete fear of something dreadful happening to it

 

[minousbijoux]

I'm so sorry, cause I have one and would love to play, but its locked up in my safe deposit box at the bank. I don't trust myself to have valuable unset stones around...I fear that I may just drop 'em and then accidentally vacuum 'em up or some such ridiculousness. But I think its a little over 1.5 carats, emerald cut, great color change and I think its by far the most I've ever ahem, invested, in any stone...

My goal is to master the process of taking good pix and uploading them this weekend. If I do that, I promise I'll bring him home long enough to have his picture taken

 

[sphenequeen]

Soberguy and Minousbijoux ~ This is a crime! You should set those puppies and wear them!

And how sad for a 1.5 carat alexandrite to be tucked away in a dark safety deposit box, away from the sources of light that give it that unique play of color! I do understand though... it would be a shame to lose or to break it, but sometimes you've gotta take a chance to be able to enjoy something that awesome!

I am officially jealous and off to find my own. Now, where to look...

 

[sphenequeen]

P.S.
Soberguy,
HUBBA HUBBA... that color is delectable.

 

[LD]

A few of mine - in my experience the "green" daylight colour is exceptionally difficult to photograph but the incandescent "red" or "purple" is very easy to photograph. You can see the difference in the daylight colour in the first picture. It's actually more green than either photo appears and incandescent colour in the second photo in is probably very realistic of what I see.:

3.06ct eye clean with superb colour change

2.78ct earrings with reasonable colour change

5.53ct trilliant cut bracelet with weak colour change

1.56ct pear necklace with superb colour change

I have over 50 pieces of Alexandrite most set but some unset.

 

[LD]

A few more:

Some on the hand - desperately trying to (and being unsuccessful) at capturing the daylight green.

Can't remember carat weight of this one. It's just under 2ct I think (from memory) - this has a silky appearance and it has enhanced the colour change in this stone.

3 rings - all between 1ct and 1.5ct

2.17ct oval (extreme native cut!)

 

[Andelain]

LovingDiamonds you are making me seriously drool! Do you have an armed guard living at your house?

Those are beautiful!

 

[T L]

Here is mine... Terrible pictures I'm afraid, the color change is much finer in person, in fact... the finest I have ever seen in any alexandrite... It is loose, and will remain so out of complete fear of something dreadful happening to it

Very nice soberguy. It's so hard to capture the color change accurately in photos.

 

[T L]

A few more:

Some on the hand - desperately trying to (and being unsuccessful) at capturing the daylight green.

Can't remember carat weight of this one. It's just under 2ct I think (from memory) - this has a silky appearance and it has enhanced the colour change in this stone.

3 rings - all between 1ct and 1.5ct

2.17ct oval (extreme native cut!)

LD, do you happen to like Alexandrites by any chance??

 

[VapidLapid]

LD, you seem to have more Alexandrites than I have raisins in my raisin bran!
(Two scoops!)

 

[soberguy]

If you are interested in buying alexandrite, do your research, and be careful. You can get one quite easily that displays a green to purple change that is moderate, or a stone with brownish or orangy color. When you enter reddish purple/purplish red to bluish green... expect to pay a great deal of money, and INSIST upon certification. You could buy 20 stones that would cost less than one very nice one... a lesson I have learned the hard way... I have soooo many "not too bad" stones sitting in cases never to see the light of day. I wish I had saved all that money and bought something I would have really enjoyed. So, my point is... Save your money, and buy a really great alexandrite that you will enjoy. No point in having 5 alexandrites that sit around collecting dust because they aren't what you want.

 

[sphenequeen]

Great advice, soberguy. This is not a project I will take lightly!

 

[m76steve]

to sphenequeen-here r 2 of my alexandrite pendents-the cross is 8+cts of alex & catseye while the circle is 15+cts of alex & catseye-both items r under flourescent light-fun things to wear whenever-steve...

 

[Arkteia]

I am dying of envy! Beautiful stones; LD, yours alone could make a collection for a good museum. I am waiting for a friend who photographs well to do a good job for me. She has proper lighting.

 

[Kismet]

Here's my little cat's eye alex. It only has about a 40% color change but the eye is nice.

 

[chictomato]

Hi gals, here is mine! A mere 0.64 carats, certified. Tan described as strong color change. I thought of letting it go due to its small size. But am considering to use it in a men's ring now. Do you think a petite size like this will work in a men's ring? No intention to threadjack do check out my new thread. I like the color though.TIA!

 

[m76steve]

to chicktomato-the fact u have good color chg out of natural alex is a plus no matter what u put it in-try 4 a setting that allows light to work the stone-my thing is pendents because they r worn almost at eye level & less chance of hitting the stone from moving ur hand at the wrong place at the right time-i post my pics of my pendents from time 2 time-they r always fun 2 wear because of their properties w/light-my 2 cnts....

 

[chictomato]

to chicktomato-the fact u have good color chg out of natural alex is a plus no matter what u put it in-try 4 a setting that allows light to work the stone-my thing is pendents because they r worn almost at eye level & less chance of hitting the stone from moving ur hand at the wrong place at the right time-i post my pics of my pendents from time 2 time-they r always fun 2 wear because of their properties w/light-my 2 cnts....

Tks for the suggestion m76steve

However, I do not like wearing a chain. Hence, I can only work on another ring But, I am careful with my rings, hopefully nothing will bad will happen!

Do check out my other thread and let me know your views on my selected settings! TIA

 

[T L]

Here's my little cat's eye alex. It only has about a 40% color change but the eye is nice.

Wow, that is a nice eye. It looks like a laser beam.

 

[m_kluch]

Here is mine.

 

[LD]

Here's my little cat's eye alex. It only has about a 40% color change but the eye is nice.

Kismet - typically Alex cat's eyes don't have a strong colour change. When you say 40%, you don't mean only 40% of the gem changes colour do you? You're talking about strength of change aren't you? The reason I ask is that when you talk about colour change in a non-cats eye Alex you talk about the percentage of the gem that changes colour because in some gems, some areas won't change and others will.

BTW, with my cat's eyes they tend to change from a green/grey to a mid purple/grey. Is that what you see? Yours looks very lovely!

 

[Kismet]

Here's my little cat's eye alex. It only has about a 40% color change but the eye is nice.

Kismet - typically Alex cat's eyes don't have a strong colour change. When you say 40%, you don't mean only 40% of the gem changes colour do you? You're talking about strength of change aren't you? The reason I ask is that when you talk about colour change in a non-cats eye Alex you talk about the percentage of the gem that changes colour because in some gems, some areas won't change and others will.

BTW, with my cat's eyes they tend to change from a green/grey to a mid purple/grey. Is that what you see? Yours looks very lovely!

Yes, that's pretty much how mine goes too although the color tends to be better if viewed from the side rather than from the top.

 

[m76steve]

to lovingdiamonds-im really interrested to see what your alexandrites in your rings looks like under flourescent lighting-im wanting to see if the green color shows better under this condition than under sunlight-im expecting to see more green-am curious-my stones show green under sun light but show really well under flourescent light-the bottom pic is sunlight-the top pic is flourescent light-thanks steve...

 

[LD]

Steve I don't have a fluorescent light to take photos under I'm afraid. Photographing Alex, I think, depends on your camera as well. None of the Canon cameras I've owned pick up green at all. I simply can't take the green of Alexandrites at all. If I manage to get it, it's simply a fluke! What I can tell you is that if I photograph the green as I see it in real life, it's typically a poor colour changer. The phenomenal colour changes refuse to photograph green for me. I've been trying to photograph them for over 20 years and haven't managed to do so. I could, of course, cheat and find a programme to adjust the colour but I refuse to do that! All of my photos of my Alex are poor - I know that - but I also know that most of my specimens are exceptionally good so I'm not too worried that the little rotters don't want to show their beauty!

Curiously, I have trouble with greens of Emeralds also so I think it's how my camera "sees" green and translates it.

Please don't feel you need to answer this question but I'm taking it from your name that you're a man? Are the pendants worn by you or by a partner? I'm really curious because they're quite statement pieces. I hope you don't think I'm being rude - I'm really not trying to be - I'm just very very curious! If you are setting them for your partner, clearly you have a love of alexandrite, haven't you been tempted to put one in a ring so you can see the colour changes as it happens?

 

[chrono]

My local jeweller has some amazing alexandrites which are bluish green to purplish red with just the right medium dark tone and excellent saturation (little gray or muddiness that are common to lower quality alexandrites). Of course, they are not inexpensive (only 5) and they are around 1 to 2 carats only. I don’t believe I’ve seen a green alexandrite other than the cat’s eye variety which is usually a slightly grayish green to purplish red?

 

[soberguy]

Again... AWFUL picture, but this is the best I could get on the blue green... I agree with LD, theses are one of the hardest to photograph true to life. It doesn't help that my pictures are so over the limit that I have to shave them down so far...

 

[m76steve]

to lovingdiamonds-i dont no if you are male or female but i love you for asking up front questions-i am a man although some of my friends arent sure if i qualify as human at times----the pendents are worn by myself & my wife-when we wear some of the items its fun to see the looks on some faces as they stare just below our chins trying to see the pendents before passing on the street----il never put any of my stones in a ring because im a bull-in-a-china-shop kind of guy and always knock my hands into hard objects-the wife does have several rings with different stones that she wears at times and enjoys looking at-----as for taking pictures of the alex under flourescent light -these lights are fairly cheap and easy to use-i think you would be very surprised to see what a specific light band from the flourescent tube will do for your alex-when taking pictures of alexandrites in the sun you will see many changes of all colors at the same time-the result is mush-im sure your camera is similar to what i use and mine is not in good shape as my lighting can be improved also---im sure you have looked at the pictures of the round pendent-the bottom is in bright sun and you can see just about all the colors that alex are known to be while the upper picture is only under the flourescent light and the difference is noticeable at the least---thanks for your questions-i hope i answered most-steve.....