Alexandrite

[Pelz]

I purchased this ring and was told it was an alexandrite. The stone changes to a blueish colour in daylight but I can't seem to get a photo of it doing it. Does the stone look genuine? Thank you.

 

[voce]

It could be genuine, or it could be a color changing sapphire. Do you know if it was priced as an alexandrite or as a sapphire?

 

[Pelz]

I brought it from ebay as a genuine alexandrite. They purchased it from a shop in Birmingham called Greens 20years ago. I spoke to the shop who confirmed they did used to sell alexandrite but not just sell diamonds. Online I have ready that in daylight the ring has to be green/blue. I do see blue in it in day light but it's not completely blue, I can't still see purple too.

 

[Nosean]

To me it looks like a vanadium doped synthetic sapphire.

So neither a natural nor synthetic alexandrite.

 

[Pelz]

Does that mean it's worthless? I was going to send it off for testing but don't want to waste £60 if it's not an alexandrite.

 

[Pelz]

This is it next to a created alexandrite ring I purchased from earnest Jones.

 

[Pelz]

 

[Bron357]

Hi, as per a number of other threads, unfortunately that lovely ring will be a synthetic Alexandrite.
Synthetic Alexandrite has been popular for many decades, it is usually synthetic corundum and comes in large sizes. The older type is a blue mauve colour in daylight and a stronger purple pink in candlelight.
The most modern type is a blue green in daylight and a purple red in candlelight. It’s very pretty but still a synthetic.
Your eBay seller may have genuinely believed it is natural, but it’s not. You can get a jeweler or pawn broker who sells jewellery (for free I hope) to quickly test it with a Presidum gem tester. It should show as “sapphire” which means it’s not Alexandrite.
In case you wonder, a Presidum checks thermal conductivity and a genuine Alexandrite is Chrysoberyl and doesn’t test as high. Synthetic and natural corundum btw are the exact same material so test the same.
Depending on the price you paid (a genuine Alexandrite at that size would be around $10,000) you can decide whether to return it as a “not a described item” or keep it and wear it because it’s still a lovely and pretty ring.
You wouldn’t want to have paid much more than 20% over gold melt value as a guide to a fair price to have paid.

 

[Bron357]

UThis is a natural alexandrite in daylight (very hard to get correct colour using an iPhone) and incandescent or “candlelight” to show colour change.

 

[Nosean]

Please don't mix synthetic Alexandrite and vanadium doped synthetic sapphire.

A synthetic alexandrite is synthetic chrysoberyl ( Al2BEO4) colored by chromium - synthetic sapphire is Al2O3...

These kind of sapphire are not "synthetic alexandrites".

 

[qubitasaurus]

On a side note your lab created alexandrite ring is gorgeous . It is a really pretty colour. I hope you enjoy both rings, irrespective of what they are.

On the plus side you might even be able to get someone local to you to test the round stone for your edification -- I agree with others that it looks like synthetic sapphire. But the upside of this is that you may be able to find a local jewler who can run a test to discriminate sapphire from chrysoberyl -- that will save you from dishing out the money to send it to a lab.