What do folks think of this Alexandrite?

[Voodoo Child]

That is such a beautiful stone @LilAlex! I second everything you’ve already said. Alexandrite is such a pain in the ass to accurately photograph. There’s so many variables! I’ve taken a bazillion photos of my wife’s Alexandrite and rarely does the image match what my eyes see. when you get it right though….

 

[Bron357]

I love my Alex bracelet. However most people comment on the “lovely emeralds”. Most people only know Emeralds are green gems! If I say, no they are Alexandrite, they change colour in incandescent light, I get the “oh o crazy lady alert” look. Unfortunately if I suggest that they join me in a dark corner with a candle to see the purple/ red colour, the authorities will be called.

 

[Gemstonesrock]

Thanks for the too-kind words above, @Pinkmartini87! What I lack in expertise I need to compensate for in distraction!

Here is mine, immortalized in my very first post. I think this is my single least-impressive gem or jewelry purchase and surely the fewest smiles per dollar. There was a good return policy but the "coolness" of it won over this childhood rock collector even if the beauty was disappointing.

My son still teases me about it. Much as the school bus is the standard unit of dinosaur length in kids' picture-books ("[Something]saurus was longer than three school buses"), this alex became our large unit of currency. If his friend's (big-spending) Dad got a new sports car and I casually asked what it cost, I might get the answer in alexandrites...

First the vendor shots (actually, the online wholesaler -- whom many will recognize -- so not really the vendor's fault):



You will be shocked (shocked!) to learn that it does not look like this IRL.

This is the Gubelin report -- retrieved online since this lives only in my memory and safe deposit box.



These are the IRL photos. The color-change is insane, as is the incandescent color. The cool-daylight color is so-so and I have to almost use averted vision to see the teal. These are quick-and-dirty photos; I did not go out of my way to achieve glamour-shot standards (so apologies for the low-res, smudgy stone, imperfect white-balance, etc., etc.)

This Alex is just the most jaw dropping in terms of colors and dramatic color change!