Royal treasure

The ‘shifty’ nature of the rare Alexandrite doesn’t go against it

The name Alexandrite comes from the stone’s professed discovery on April 22,1830,the day which coincides with boy Tsar Alexander Nicolajevitch’s “coming of age” birthday. The mesmerizing gemstone was discovered alongside the banks of Tokovaya River in the Ural Mountains of Russia. The old Russian imperial colours being red and green,it was mined just for the royal family. It’s the national stone of Tsarist Russia. This ultra-rare gemstone belongs to the Chrysoberyl species and is an exceptional occurrence in nature and forms only when aluminum/beryllium and chrome arrive mutually. Amongst all colour shifting gemstones like Tanzanite,Obsidian etc,Alexandrite is the most impressive and glamorous. Alexandrite emerges in beautiful greenish to green-blue tones in daylight and displays red,violet-red or purple in incandescent light. It is unrivaled and exceedingly rare,if genuine. This transparent to translucent gemstone was found only in Russia till 1850-60 and scored best in both colour and quality till 1990. Around 1950-60 new mining sites were in game in Sri Lanka,Ceylon,India,Madagascar,Burma and Brazil. Recently,excellent quality Alexandrite with all the colour,life and grandeur of an ideal Russian Alexandrite is mined in Sri Lanka,Tanduru region of Tanzania and in India,Narsipatnam and Vishakhapatnam mines,Andhra Pradesh and the Deobhog region in Chhattisgarh.

The stones from respective locales boast of solitary characteristics like Emerald colours having yellowish tones or some displaying distinct raspberry tones are from Brazil. Alexandrite with grayish undertones comes from Ceylon. Most Alexandrite in the market is synthetic. Enquire if Alexandrite is natural,lab created/lab grown or an imitation. Stay particularly alert from Zandrite,an artificial stone often confused to be Alexandrite. Utmost priority constitutes of the colour-change property. The more dramatic complete the shift from red to green,without the bleeding through of brown from one colour to the next the more valuable it is. This is followed by colour,cut and clarity in evaluation. The GIA grades the best at AAA. Tough and durable,it is available in a variety of cuts and displays its colour palette best in earrings. Do remember not to subject it to high temperature and that it is not resistive to alkalis. It can effortlessly offset most colours of attires showcased at the latest fashion week,so fashionistas invest,especially when the stock market is so unfathomable!

(The writer is a city-based researcher specialising in jewellery art and can be contacted at sameeraahaan02@gmail.com)