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Well, how did I do with my wife’s Alexandrite ring?

Voodoo Child

Voodoo Child

Shiny_Rock
Joined
May 4, 2021
Messages
142
Hello all,

I recently decided to upgrade the center stone in my wife’s wedding ring for our anniversary. Being of Russian heritage, I’ve always been fascinated by Alexandrite and decided that’s what I wanted to get her. My sister lives in NYC and has a good friend who is a broker in the diamond district, so I consulted with him to make my purchase. I flew to New York and looked at several stones before selecting this one. It’s a very-slightly included 1.01 carat GIA-certified. The incandescent color varies from purple to reddish purple depending on the wattage of the bulb. I apologize for my poor photography skills as all I have is an iPhone. Did I do ok?

BFC6E45E-842C-4660-A1CE-BB580D82752D.jpeg
 
WOW that alexandrite is magnificent!! That color change is textbook. Adore it
 
I love it! The shape is really pretty. Don’t see much alexandrite so thanks for sharing pics.
 
Excellent color change and a beautiful setting. Alexandrite is one of those stones where the supply is so low that it actually affects demand as you just can't get clean stones even if you have the money. I honestly would've thought the stone is over 1.5 carats, so shows very well as well ! congrats !
 
Thank you for the kind words everyone! I lurked on here and read a bunch of threads on Alexandrite before buying that stone. I was worried that maybe the daylight color wasn’t bluish enough, but I’m actually really happy with the shade of green that it is.
 
Gorgeous ring! I heard that Alexandrite is very rare so glad to see such a beautiful ring and that it also honors your heritage. Happy Anniversary!
 
It’s a wonderful alexandrite ring. Did your wife want a gemstone other than a diamond?
 
We had talked about it and she was open to the idea. Her original center stone was the diamond from my Grandmother’s engagement ring. We had that setting re-created and put the diamond into it, so that my wife can wear either a yellow gold or white gold ring.
 
Happy Anniversary! How thoughtful of you!
 
Always good to see a fellow Alex lover! I am lucky that I started collecting it around 20 years ago and at that time you could afford to be fussy and really sort through the good and bad stones! Now it's a totally different picture and the fact you had to fly to New York makes my mind boggle! It's always good to have one with a decent colour change and size over a carat. I don't say it often but it's likely to hold its value and potentially even increase! My avatar is my favourite Alex and I wear it most days! I hope your wife enjoys such a lovely reflecting your heritage.
 
Do you happen to know the provenance of the stone? At a guess, looking at the colourway I would assume Tunduru, Tanzania?
 
LD said:
This makes me angry. Wildfishgems know better than this. Not only is all Alexandrite untreated, to call it Russian without a provenance is simply wrong. This is what bad sellers do. :x2
Click to expand...

Is Alexandrite really as expensive as this price suggests?? I clearly don't know enough about it, but this price blows my mind.
 
lizzydm26 said:
Is Alexandrite really as expensive as this price suggests?? I clearly don't know enough about it, but this price blows my mind.
Click to expand...

Yes! There is very very very little good quality left on the market now. Top quality gemstones over 2-3ct can command prices up to $50,000 and upwards but in all honestly it's like all other gemstones - you can pick up a poor quality one, under 1 ct, with a weak to moderate colour change for around $1000. Once you get over 1ct the prices increase and if the colour change is strong then the sky's the limit. Whilst you look for clarity in an Alex, it is a type 2 gemstone so inclusions are expected so again, if your Alex is eye clean then this adds to the price! If you look at my avatar that's an example of a strong colour change and it's over 3ct and eye clean. I have absolutely no idea how much something would be to buy in this range now but it would most likely be on the second hand market.
 
LD said:
Yes! There is very very very little good quality left on the market now. Top quality gemstones over 2-3ct can command prices up to $50,000 and upwards but in all honestly it's like all other gemstones - you can pick up a poor quality one, under 1 ct, with a weak to moderate colour change for around $1000. Once you get over 1ct the prices increases and if the colour change is strong then the sky's the limit. If you look at my avatar that's an example of a strong colour change and it's over 3ct. I have absolutely no idea how much something would be to buy in this range now but it would most likely be on the second hand market.
Click to expand...

Thanks- wow! I had no idea. Your avatar is a gorgeous stone! Sounds like you purchased at the right time.
 
LD said:
I have no idea how he's photographed that poor stone but if the colour change in his third photo is all it changes to then that's a weak weak weak colour change and definitely NOT worth the price he's asking. It's soooooo easy to photograph the colour change that it's evident this is not a good stone if this is all he can produce in way of photos! :x2
Click to expand...

I need to just check myself here. I've just noticed the stone has an IGI report stating origin as Russia. I am very surprised but apologise that I hadn't noticed it before. I have therefore amended my post in the quote above and have asked Admin to remove my original post as I can't edit it now.
 
LD said:
Do you happen to know the provenance of the stone? At a guess, looking at the colourway I would assume Tunduru, Tanzania?
Click to expand...

The GIA report didn’t specify origin, although the broker I was working with did say that he believed it was an African stone. With a little bit brighter incandescent bulb it turns a lovely pinkish purple, which is why I picked it.29A56683-3C5C-4193-A944-693C5E80AFD9.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Voodoo Child said:
The GIA report didn’t specify origin, although the broker I was working with did say that he believed it was an African stone. With a little bit brighter incandescent bulb it turns a lovely pinkish purple, which is why I picked it.29A56683-3C5C-4193-A944-693C5E80AFD9.jpeg
Click to expand...

Beautiful stone! I’m impressed by the colors you were able to capture with an iPhone.
What light did you use for the picture in your avatar? It’s much more red than the color shown here. I’m intrigued with the range of color a single stone can show under different light temperatures within the incandescent range.
My alexandrite stays mostly a pinkish purple color under incandescent light, but then again maybe I need to experiment with more lights.
 
Pysix said:
Beautiful stone! I’m impressed by the colors you were able to capture with an iPhone.
What light did you use for the picture in your avatar? It’s much more red than the color shown here. I’m intrigued with the range of color a single stone can show under different light temperatures within the incandescent range.
My alexandrite stays mostly a pinkish purple color under incandescent light, but then again maybe I need to experiment with more lights.
Click to expand...

The picture in my avatar was taken with a 25w frosted soft light. I’m not sure how many K it is. The loose stone picture was taken with the clear 60w bulbs in my chandelier.
 
Beautiful ring and stone.

But, a note about photography as it relates to color accuracy, especially with color change stones
...
In these pics the color of your skin changed dramatically and impossibly.

698547.jpeg

The problem is not your skin; It's the photography.
Specifically, the camera's white-balance setting did not match the light source used.

A two-second search turned up this for white balance on an iPhone, so you may find a better tutorial.

https://iphonephotographyschool.com/white-balance/

Since the color of your skin could not have changed that much, neither did the stone's color.
Perhaps have another go at capturing your Alex's color change under both light sources after reading about and practicing white balance for your iPhone.

You'll know you've nailed it when your skin is the same color in both pics.


Here's Kenny ... donning his flame suit.

478.jpeg
 
Last edited:
kenny said:
Beautiful ring and stone.

But, a note about photography as it relates to color accuracy, especially with color change stones
...
In these pics the color of your skin changed dramatically and impossibly.

698547.jpeg

The problem is not your skin; It's the photography.
Specifically, the camera's white-balance setting did not match the light source used.

A two-second search turned up this for white balance on an iPhone.

https://iphonephotographyschool.com/white-balance/

Since the color of your skin could not have changed that much, neither did the stone's color.
Perhaps have another go at capturing your Alex's color change under both light sources after reading about and practicing white balance for your iPhone.

You'll know you've nailed it when your skin is the same color in both pics.


Here's Kenny ... donning his flame suit.

478.jpeg
Click to expand...

This is what I was thinking but too shy to say.... :???:
 
MjK1 said:
This is what I was thinking but too shy to say.... :???:
Click to expand...

Just the facts, Ma'am. ;))

My mama told me, Never be afraid to tell the truth.
 
Last edited:
kenny said:
Beautiful ring and stone.

But, a note about photography as it relates to color accuracy, especially with color change stones
...
In these pics the color of your skin changed dramatically and impossibly.

698547.jpeg

The problem is not your skin; It's the photography.
Specifically, the camera's white-balance setting did not match the light source used.

A two-second search turned up this for white balance on an iPhone, so you may find a better tutorial.

https://iphonephotographyschool.com/white-balance/

Since the color of your skin could not have changed that much, neither did the stone's color.
Perhaps have another go at capturing your Alex's color change under both light sources after reading about and practicing white balance for your iPhone.

You'll know you've nailed it when your skin is the same color in both pics.


Here's Kenny ... donning his flame suit.

478.jpeg
Click to expand...

Glad I wasn’t only one wondering why the color looked like that. Thought there was some weird light source I’ve been missing out on for photographing my alex.
 
My wife is at work, so that’s the best I can do using the white balance in Light Room and the original pictures.1D3C87C5-70E7-479B-8B22-6784CBAD430B.jpeg
 
Better, but if I may say so there's still much room for a closer match so your skin looks the same color.
I also tried color correcting with a software from Adobe called Elements, but failed.
I know I failed because it did not make the color of your skin match, not even close.

Doing white balance before taking the pics is vastly better.
Even better, is placing something pure white in the pic before you take the pic, like a little piece of white paper off in a corder that you'll crop out later.
Then after the pics are taken you can use software like Adobe elements (or maybe Lightroom) to do an effective color correction.

And, thanks for reacting kindly and open-minded to my post. :))
Many people would react differently, some quite differently.

I recommend taking new pics with a white piece of paper in the corner.

FWIW, there are various ways to white balance.
Some better than others.
Google around if you're interested.
The more you learn the better photographer you'll be.

As I said before, you'll know you've nailed it when the color of your skin is the same in both pics.
 
LD said:
I need to just check myself here. I've just noticed the stone has an IGI report stating origin as Russia. I am very surprised but apologise that I hadn't noticed it before. I have therefore amended my post in the quote above and have asked Admin to remove my original post as I can't edit it now.
Click to expand...

So just clarifying, you believe it’s a poor colour change and not worth the money, even if the certificate is correct about the Russian origin? Was secretly thinking about going for it in few years (or win a lotto) after saving up if still available, lol.
 
kenny said:
Better, but if I may say so there's still much room for a closer match so your skin looks the same color.
I also tried color correcting with a software from Adobe called Elements, but failed.
I know I failed because it did not make the color of your skin match, not even close.

Doing white balance before taking the pics is vastly better.
Even better, is placing something pure white in the pic before you take the pic, like a little piece of white paper off in a corder that you'll crop out later.
Then after the pics are taken you can use software like Adobe elements (or maybe Lightroom) to do an effective color correction.

And, thanks for reacting kindly and open-minded to my post. :))
Many people would react differently, some quite differently.

I recommend taking new pics with a white piece of paper in the corner.

FWIW, there are various ways to white balance.
Some better than others.
Google around if you're interested.
The more you learn the better photographer you'll be.

As I said before, you'll know you've nailed it when the color of your skin is the same in both pics.
Click to expand...

I don’t know anything about photography, but I always like to learn new things so I take no offense to your suggestions. In the little bit that my wife has had her ring we’ve definitely noticed that light affects how it looks. I mean, that’s a given with Alexandrite, but we didn’t expect that different wattages, angles, etc. would affect how it appears, sometimes profoundly.
 
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