History Of Alexandrite Stone
“Emerald by the day, Ruby by the night”, the journey of an Alexandrite stone takes millennia of natural deposits and the magical alchemy of nature’s minerals. Each stone presents the same startlingly vivid beauty that enticed royalty from Russian Tzars to European Kings.
From deep emerald green to rich reddish-purple, this mesmerizing gemstone changes its color when introduced to light—setting the perfect mood for different times of the day.
An extremely rare gem formed by the color-changing mineral chrysoberyl, this beautiful stone will enchant its owner and be a source of awe and aspirational envy to all her companions.
Alexandrite stone was discovered in an emerald mine near the Tokovaya River in the Urals In April 1834, when the young Tsar Alexander II was coming of age. In celebration of Prince Alexander's coming-of-age, this amazing gemstone was named after him.
This is the only gemstone named after the Prince and a Tzar. Alexandrite became extremely popular in imperial Russia both with the royal family and the aristocracy, because of its association with the Tzar, and also because red and green were the royal colors of the Russian Empire.
Alexandrite is bluish green in daylight, and a purplish red or reddish purple in candle light or incandescent light. It eventually became the gemstone of Imperial Russia.
At the end of the 19th century and in the beginning of the 20th, George Frederick Kunz, gemologist for Tiffany & Co and world-renowned jeweler, fell in love with this gemstone and created exquisite platinum sets and rings set with alexandrites.
Natural alexandrite is extremely scarce and very expensive gem. Although synthetic Alexandrite is common and widely available, it is estimated that only one person out of 100,000 has ever seen a real Natural Alexandrite gemstone.
The vast majority of jewelers are selling synthetic alexandrines and if you ask them directly it will be confirmed. If you see clean alexandrite with prominent color change sold cheaply, know without a doubt that this is man made stone. The color change in natural stones is much more subtle.