ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Alexandrite Buying Guide: a comprehensive guide on Alexandrite gems

Updated on January 6, 2011

If you or a loved one was born in June now is the time to buy an Alexandrite.  The prices have never been lower. 

Discovered in 1830 in Russia and named after Czar Alexander II, who was then Crown Prince of Russia, Alexandrite appears to change color under different forms of light. It can look red when viewed in candlelight, green when viewed in fluorescent light and blue green in sunlight. It appears reddish purple in standard electric, tungsten light, and in daylight it appears blue green. In artificial light Alexandrite will change to reddish purple or deep purple.

In the year 1987 Alexandrites were discovered in a place called Hematita in Brazil. The Brazilian Alexandrite contained a distinctive color change with good clarity and color.  Brazilian Alexandrites have a green to orange red color change that is not as crisp as the color change in a Russian Alexandrite.

What to look for in buying and Alexandrite.

With its good hardness of 8.5, Alexandrite is an uncomplicated stone to wear.

The more intensive the change of color, the more valuable the stone.

Beware of those selling 100% color change Alexandrite this is very uncommon. 75% is closer to the norm.

Flawless, large, perfect clarity, 100% color change Alexandrite, pretty much don't exist. If you see one for sale it is most likely a fake.

Fine Alexandrite, especially in qualities of over one carat, is extremely rare, thus Alexandrites have become one of the most expensive gemstones in the world. It is rarer than fine Ruby, Sapphire or Emerald.

Its value does mainly depend on the depth of the color change: a really fine Alexandrite should show a vivid green in daylight, and change to purple-red or deep purple in artificial light, without any trace of undesired brown. As seen in the picuture above.

Large Alexandrite rough

Rare look and an Alexandrite Crystal.

Alexandrite is used as a gemstone.

Alexandrite is used as a gemstone. Faceted alexandrite gemstones with good color change are considered very valuable, even when visible inclusions are present.

Not all Alexandrites change color. Some just stay a nice green or sea foam green color. These Gems are not as desirable as color changing Alexandrites and therefore are much more affordable.

Alexandrite is the traditional Birthstone for the month of June, but do to its rarity, the Birthstone for June was changed to Pearl.

Now with a new source of Alexandrite available, thousands of June babies like myself are clamoring to get our hands on one of these rare Beauties.

Small Alexandrite, under .50 carats is easily availible and relitively inexpensive and can be found on Ebay for under $50.00.

When buying an Alexandrite on Ebay, or anywhere, Ask Questions! Check Feedback! When buying any expensive item, look for a seller with at least 100 feedback points and a score of at least 99%. Be leery of Asian sellers. There are too many scams, high shipping and often big hassles with returns. Remember, Alexandrites over 1 carat in size are VERY rare and should cost several thousand dollars. If the deal sounds to good to be true it probably is.

Alexandrite

Phenomenal gemstones exhibit certain optical characteristics. Alexandrite changes color based on lighting. Learn how Jewelry Television buys alexandrite and what we look for when shopping for this phenomenal gemstone.

Andalusite

Garnet

Labradorite

Iolite

Sapphire

Like the gems you have seen on this lens? - Would you like to own one?

Now is your chance!

Check out our new gem store!

Gems at Ecrater.com

Quality gems at prices everyone can afford.

With 50 + lenses on Squidoo

Great gems and Fantastic prices

If you love our lens please vote for it on Digg This

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)