Gems TV

ALEXANDRITE

Known in Russia as the “gem of the tsars”, Alexandrite is truly a miraculous gemstone. Often described as “Emerald by day” and “Ruby by night”, when viewed under sunlight Alexandrite appears teal to forest green, but when seen by candlelight, it appears violet, crimson red, raspberry, purple or orange.

Scant availability, remarkable colour change, excellent durability and a sparkling “sub-adamantine” or Diamond-like lustre, makes Alexandrite a “must have” for any true jewellery connoisseur. A rare variety of Chrysoberyl, Alexandrite ranks alongside Ruby and Sapphire as one of the world’s most coveted gemstones.

Legends and lore

Early one chilly October morning in 1830, a Russian peasant charcoal burner, Maxim Stefanovitch Koshevnikov, was making his way through the silver birch forests along the banks of the Tokovaya River. Tripping on the exposed roots of a large tree felled by a storm, he discovered some green gemstones. Quickly identified as Emeralds, by 1831 this deposit in Russia’s Ural Mountains was being mined.

The Tokovaya Emerald mines also yielded other gemstones, including a new one that had the strange ability to change colour. When viewed under sunlight, rich green colours appeared but when seen by candlelight it displayed red hues. The gem was named “Alexandrite” after the young Tsarevitch, who was crowned Tsar Alexander II in 1855. Legend has it that Alexandrite was discovered by Emerald miners on his birthday, April 23, 1830, the year the Russian heir apparent came of age. As the date of the deposit’s discovery and the alleged naming of the gem conflict, Vitaliy Repej, a Ukrainian Alexandrite specialist, instead believes that Alexandrite was actually discovered on April 3, 1834, by the Tzar’s famous Finnish mineralogist Dr. Nils Nordenskjold and wasn’t officially called Alexandrite until 1842.

Its birthday aside, this new gem created a sensation - everyone wanted an Alexandrite! But this was certainly no fun for the miners. Following the sparse Alexandrite veins through pegmatite rock with hand dug trenches, open pits and small tunnels, mining was very primitive to say the least. Imagine working through long winters plagued by biting cold and blinding snowdrifts. Summer brought no respite, just great swarms of gnats, mosquitoes and gadflies.

The fortuity of the discovery of Alexandrite on the future Tsar’s birthday was considered manifold as the colours displayed by this unusual gem can mirror the Imperial Russian military colours of red and green. Possessing dual nationalistic connotations, Alexandrite quickly gained popularity in Russia, where it was believed to bring good luck.

Because of its two colours, in Russia it is also believed to invite loneliness if you only wear one piece of Alexandrite jewellery.

Alexandrite is believed by crystal healers to strengthen the wearer’s intuition in critical situations. Some also attribute Alexandrite with the ability to aid creativity and inspire imagination.

Just the facts

In gemmology, any Chrysoberyl that changes colour can be called Alexandrite. The nomenclature is not dependent on the colours of the change. However, Alexandrite’s colour change is dependent on pure light sources (pure candescent light to pure incandescent light, for example sunlight to candlelight).

Interestingly, the colour change effect is not unique to Alexandrite. Many gem types display colour change, such as Sapphire and Garnet. However, the degree of colour change exhibited by Alexandrite is amongst the most extreme encountered in natural gems.

Similar to Emeralds, inclusions are a common feature in Alexandrite. Inclusions record a gem’s natural relationship with the earth. Given the prevalence of synthetic Alexandrite, they are also a fascinating hallmark of authenticity that helps us distinguish real gems from artificial impostors.

Because of this gem’s scarcity, Alexandrite is found in a wide variety of shapes and sizes faceted to maximise the carat weight and beauty of each individual crystal.

Coveted for its beautiful and mysterious optical effects, when you look at a Cat’s Eye Alexandrite you can see a single band of light on its surface. Technically known as “chatoyancy”, this intriguing phenomenon is unique to the world of gemstones. It is caused by minerals reflecting a band of light back to the eye like a mirror.

While beautiful Alexandrite is available from other locales, among Alexandrite connoisseurs, Russian Alexandrite maintains an historical pedigree that is highly coveted. In 1898 Edwin Streeter wrote in “Precious Stones & Gems”: “The wonderful Alexandrite is an Emerald by day and an Amethyst at night. Its market value is extremely variable, and sometimes as much as £20 per carat is paid for a fine stone”. Today, the same Russian Alexandrite is worth many thousands of pounds!

Although the Tokovaya deposit closed after only a few decades, limited mining is rumoured to have resumed around 1995. To date, very little mining of Russian Alexandrite is taking place. In December 2005, “Coloured Stone” reported that “there have been unconfirmed reports of new activity in this area, but no significant amount of material has hit the market yet”. While it is a country rich in gemstones, since the fall of the Soviet Union much of Russia’s gems have not been mined due to both economic conditions and outdated mining practices. Interestingly, both De Beers (a famed Diamond consortium) and Russian geologists are currently surveying Russian Diamond reserves and an offshoot of this exploration may be the discovery of new Alexandrite deposits. Regardless, very little Russian Alexandrite is available and those lucky enough to own one truly are custodians of a gem from a bygone era.

While it wasn’t until 1996 that the tribal peoples of Andhra Pradesh unearthed the first hints of Alexandrite in the Araku Valley, since its discovery Indian Alexandrite has endured a history as turbulent as Imperial Russia. From much needed mining regulation in 1999, to the destruction of coastal mines during the 2004 tsunami, Indian Alexandrite has certainly had its ups and downs. Displaying teal apple greens with changes ranging from orange raspberries to grape, the first Alexandrite ever featured on GemsTV was from Vishnakahaputnam in Andhra Pradesh, India. Always on the hunt for this stunning gem, we recently encountered Indian Alexandrite from a new locale whose rich colours are reminiscent of Alexandrite from the original Russian deposit. Today, Indian Alexandrite primarily hails from Narsipattnanm, 100 kilometres inland from the first discovery in Vishnakahaputnam. It is characterised by an intense green with an incredible colour change that ranges from vibrant Amethyst, to Ruby red and reddish purple. Formed hundreds of millions of years ago during the Palaeozoic era, it is believed that the pegmatite rocks found at the location of Alexandrite’s discovery in the Urals in Russia and at Narsipattnanm are the same. Mining Indian Alexandrite is a dangerous business and the tribal miners risk life and limb tunnelling muddy soil to a depth of 30 metres to find rocks rich with tiny clusters of Alexandrite.

While gems from the famous Brazilian state of Minas Gerais have enchanted the world for over 100 years, good quality Alexandrite was only discovered in 1987. As with other mines containing pegmatite rocks, Brazilian Alexandrite is found in rugged areas that can be difficult to access. Usually mined using primitive hand tools, one of the most famous exceptions is the Hematitia mine, whose beautiful Alexandrite is now regrettably depleted. Although the majority of Brazilian Alexandrite contains many inclusions or is translucent, a tiny amount of better quality gems has been unearthed. In 2004, a new pocket of Brazilian Alexandrite was discovered, yielding blue green Alexandrite that changed to a delightful raspberry red.

Mines in Madagascar, Tanzania and Mozambique, have been producing good quality Alexandrite for several years. African Alexandrite is typically located in wet regions near rivers and mined by digging through river beds by hand to unearth the Alexandrite-rich pegmatite rock.

For approximately 90 years Russia and Sri Lanka were the only known sources of Alexandrite. Obtained from alluvial gravels (in contrast to most other deposits that are mined from host pegmatite rock), Sri Lankan Alexandrite is characterised by a fine Sapphire green colour in daylight with a change to columbine red, similar to purplish red Spinel, in incandescent light.