Alexandrite 3.15 ct n 1.50 ct from an old mines

[Rubygrt]

This is from a old mines known as "KARUKKA" ANDRAPRADESH,INDIA. This mine has produced plenty of Alexandrite. After a very long time i have seen these,seller has sent this pics to me.This is "NATURAL".

 

[minousbijoux]

Interesting - in the photo where the 3.15 ct stone is exhibiting both colors simultaneously, do you know what the light source was?

 

[Rubygrt]

Interesting - in the photo where the 3.15 ct stone is exhibiting both colors simultaneously, do you know what the light source was?

The lighting source is there "pen torch"!!!!

 

[minousbijoux]

Interesting - in the photo where the 3.15 ct stone is exhibiting both colors simultaneously, do you know what the light source was?

The lighting source is there "pen torch"!!!!

With some natural light as well?

 

[LD]

Photographing an Alex so you see the green is incredibly difficult. Combine that with the fact that the seller has photographed the green AND incandescent colour from a pen light is highly unusual and the only time I've seen this done before has been with synthetics. Having said that, nothing is impossible and it would be hard to imagine somebody making a synthetic that would have so many inclusions and also windows. I'd love to know what type of camera and setup was used for these photographs.

As for the gems themselves, Alex is a type 2 gemstone and you expect to see some inclusions but having this much is detracting from the visual appearance of the stones. Couple that with the fact that they've been cut to preserve weight so have very large windows which again will affect their appearance and the cutting is really not good which affects the value. If you are thinking of buying these, I would suggest seeing if the 3ct one could be recut to lessen the window. I don't normally advocate recuts - especially with Alexandrites - but in the case of the 3ct one, if the recut was not too drastic (and knowing the measurements of the 3ct one would be helpful) then you might actually not lose value - especially if the strength of colour change improved as well. The value in an Alex is primarily judged by the strength of colour change. If an Alex is windowed that greatly affects the colour change seen, so by recutting and closing the window it MIGHT improve it in that regard hence the value may stay the same (hope that makes sense). If you haven't already done so, please look at www.multicolour.com Multicolour is run by David Weinberg who is an expert in Alexandrite. Although I haven't looked at the website for a while, certainly last year he had a great selection of Alexandrites and you can compare prices/sizes/cuts etc. When looking at his pricing, you'll find that if something is cheaper than the rest there will be a reason so you can judge by his pricing, the quality of the Alex for sale.

The mines in India I think only closed a couple of years ago so material is still available from there and the Indian mines produced stones with a lovely green daylight colour. Some of the stones from there have been breathtaking.

 

[LD]

I want to show you this ......... I was offered this for sale about 10 years ago. It's from the Andrapradesh mines as well. It's 3ct. Can you see the massive window even though the overall cut is not unpleasant? The reason I managed to photograph the green on this one is because it had NO colour change at all. Maybe it had a hint of tint in some lights but hardly anything. I didn't buy this stone purely because of the lack of colour change and the cut. I thought it might be helpful for you to compare.

 

[chrono]

I'm with LD in surprise to see an alexandrite show two colours at once with very defined areas, even with a pen light. Even when there is an incomplete change, there should be an area where the two colour merges. I would question the vendor about the type of camera and ssetup used for photography as well.

I don't think these stones can be tweaked to lessen the window. I see large inclusions that would have to be removed which will affect the carat weight and colour significantly. Then again, perhaps if recut to look more attractive, more buyers will be interested, even if it is smaller and costs more.