Family: Alluring Alexandrite belongs to the Chrysoberyl family of gemstones
Country Location: Alexandrite is a gem that can be found mostly in Russia, Sri Lanka, Burma, Brazil and Madagascar. The best quality and biggest sized Alexandrites are found in Russia
Rock Type: Alexandrite can be found in mica schists and gravels. The occurrence of Alexandrite is determined by specific geological conditions due to its chemical elements.
Hardness: Alexandrites hardness measures at 8.5 making it not only a perfect party piece, but an elegant everyday one too
Popular Cuts: Alexandrite is mostly found using the Brilliant Cut which emphasizes its amazing colour change optical property, the Cushion cut to increase its fire and the Cabochon cut to display intriguing inclusions
Colour: Alexandrite adopts the magical optical property of colour change. This is due to its chemical composition of beryllium (a colourless or yellow hue) and chromium (a blue like hue) alongside iron and titanium. This allows Alexandrite to appear as a greenish-blue gem in day light and a purplish-red gem in incandescent light. This property explains why Alexandrite is rare and expensive
Lustre: Alexandrite’s lustre is Vitreous (glass like appearance)
History: Alexandrite has a short, but intriguing history. This gemstone was discovered in Russia in 1834 during Tsar Alexander’s reign, hence the name Alexandrite. Its colours are said to represent those of Tsarist Russia. Alexandrite was used by gemmologist George Kunz in platinum rings during the 19th century and also used in British Victorian jewellery. Because of its rarity, Alexandrite is considered a collectors gemstone
Folklore: Alexandrite presents an interesting lore around it. Not only does it strengthen intuition, it increases one’s logic, creativity and imagination
Birthstone: Alexandrite is an alternative birthstone for June
Extra Info: According to the World Jewellery Confederation, any Chrysoberyl that could be named as Alexandrite has to pass stringent colour change tests
