Alexandrite is the most Amazing and MAGICAL gemstone!
“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.” Roald Dahl.
Do you believe in magic? In real life? If not – here is an amazing truth – there is a definitely one – a colour change Alexandrite gemstone…
Alexandrite is an extremely rare and absolutely gorgeous stone which has a miracle – colour changing ability under various lights.
This phenomenon is due to a gemological composition of this stone - chromium within the crystal structure. It is part of the Chrysoberyl mineral family which also includes Aquamarine and Morganite. Top-quality Alexandrites can change colour from a teal-blue in natural daylight to a red-purple in artificial light.
Those stones were first discovered in 1834 in an Emerald mine located in the Ural Mountains by Finnish Mineralogist Nils Gustaf Nordenskiold.
Today Alexandrite deposits in Russia are no longer exists, in fact, a majority of these gemstones were mined out by the early 1900’s.
Quite a few antique pieces of Jewellery still available to this day and are very valuable and expensive. Only a few gemstones are as valuable as diamonds, but Alexandrite may be one of them.
In more recent times Alexandrite has been discovered in other parts of the world including Brazil, Sri Lanka, India and Africa. But the stones found do not have the same unique colour change as the original Alexandrite.
Alexandrite is quite a hard gemstone measuring 8.5 on the Mohs hardness scale (Diamonds are 10) so is an excellent gemstone for your engagement ring and every day wear jewellery pieces.
Luckily, affordable Alexandrites are still available in the form of Lab-Grown varieties.
In our Jewellery pieces we use one of the best and expensive type of Lab-grown Alexandrites - the best known methods for growing these gorgeous gemstones is called the Czocchralski or pulled method which enables to grow gemstones of the same chemical and physical properties as natural Alexandrites.
The created Alexandrites are grown from chrysoberyl crystals and unlike lab corundum, these pulled Alexandrites actually identical to the natural mined stones in many ways including the amazing colour change - from dark Purple to deep Sea-Blue colours.
Please do NOT confuse our expensive lab-grown Alexandrites with mass-produced cheaper methods gemstones - most gemstones described as synthetic Alexandrite on market today are actually simulated Alexandrite: Synthetic corundum laced with vanadium to produce the colour change.
One of the greatest features of our lab-grown gemstones is they are sustainable, eco-friendly, ethically sourced and conflict-free.
You can see our beautiful and affordable range of Alexandrite Jewellery by visiting our online store : www.bijouxdechagall.com
