GEM ALEXANDRITE

King_Solomons'_Mines | Jewelry_Dept. | Interesting_Groupings

**ALEXANDRITE, color changing chrysoberyl**

BIRTHSTONE FOR: June

COLOR: varies from red to green.

INDEX OF REFRACTION: 1.745 - 1.757

BIREFRINGENCE: 0.009

HARDNESS: 8.5

CLEAVAGE: good in one direction, imperfect in another

Pleochroic: strongly

Alexandrites For Sale

Alexandrite Jewelry For Sale

Alexandrite is named for the former czar of Russia, Alexander II, and was first discovered in the Ural Mountains of Russia, supposedly on the day of his birth. Chromium gives alexandrite its color. In most stones, a trace element like chromium would provide only one color to the stone, in alexandrite it gives it two! In alexandrite, the chromium is balanced so that the color of the specimen depends on the character of light that hits the gem. If the light is natural sunlight or fluorescent light, the gem will be green to greenish blue. If the light is incandescent, the gem will appear red to raspberry.

Synthetic corundums laced with trace elements that give an alexandrite-like color change are sold on the gemstone market. These stones have a red-violet, near-amethyst color in incandescent light and a blue-violet color in daylight. They are far cheaper than natural alexandrites, which are some of the rarest and most expensive of gemstones.