Alexandrite Value, Price, and Jewelry Informa on

Three-stone ring, 4 mm mined alexandrite and 3 mm emerald side stones. Set in a delicate 14k white gold band with trinity knot accents. © CustomMade. Used with
permission.

“Emerald by day, ruby by night,” alexandrite is well known for displaying one of the most remarkable color changes in the gem world — green in sunlight and
incandescent light. However, the modern June birthstone is so rare and expensive few people have seen a natural alexandrite. This variety of gem-quality
chrysoberyl makes an excellent jewelry stone (if you can acquire one).

Alexandrite Value
 Alexandrite Value
Maximum: Over $70K per carat

Clean, Top-Color Retail: $2,500 USD - $15,000 USD per carat (where total size is 0.5 - 1 carat)

Valua on Criteria: The 4 C's: Color, Clarity, Cut and Carat weight all have major impact on the value of Alexandrite

How To Determine Value Of A Par cular Alexandrite: Use our pricing tables and detailed buying guides to help determine the value of your Alexan
or other gemstone

 Access In-Depth Alexandrite Pricing Content

If you'd like a professional opinion of your gemstone we offer a list of businesses who provide gemstone appraisal services

Alexandrites have two primary value drivers. First, the closer the colors to pure green and red, the higher the value. Second, the more dis nct the color cha
higher the value. Alexandrites can exhibit everything from 100% to just 5% color change. Thus, the most valuable gems would have a 100% color shi from
green to pure red. Blue-greens and purplish or brownish reds hold less value.

A natural alexandrite from the Ural Mountains of Russia. On the le , it shows a dark crimson color in the evening, under incandescent light. On the
right, it shows a light green color in the daylight. Photo by Salexmccoy. Licensed under CC By-SA 3.0.

Clarity also plays a significant role in grading. As is the case with a majority of gems, most naturally occurring alexandrite isn’t clean, facetable material. Mos
suited for cabbing. However, an alexandrite's color change has more effect on its value than its clarity. For example, take two alexandrites of equal size. One
eye clean, with a 50% greenish blue to brownish red color change. The other is an opaque cabochon with a 100% green to red color change. The opaque ca
would be considered more valuable.

Size always affects alexandrite value. You can see this reflected in our Price Guide below. In sizes up to one carat, top-quality natural gems can sell for up to
$15,000 per carat. Over one carat, the prices range from $50,000 to $70,000 per carat!

For more detailed value informa on, see our alexandrite buying guide.
This oval-cut alexandrite has a 100% color change, from a strong blue-green in sunlight to a purple “plum” red in incandescent light. 0.35 cts, 5.1 x 4.2 mm, Russia. F
alexandrites, this is a large gem. © Rob Lavinsky, www.iRocks.com. Used with permission.

The Interna onal Gem Society (IGS) has a list of businesses offering gemstone appraisal services.

Alexandrite Informa on
DATA VALUE

Name Alexandrite

DATA VALUE

Is a Variety of Chrysoberyl

Crystallography  Orthorhombic

Refrac ve Index  1.745–1.759

Colors  Varies in color with incident light: green, blue-green, or pale green in daylight; mauve, violet to red, purplish in incandescent light.

Luster  Vitreous.

Fracture  Weak conchoidal to uneven.

Hardness  8.5

Specific Gravity  3.68–3.80

Birefringence  0.009–0.010

Cleavage  Dis nct to poor, 1 direc on.

Dispersion  0.015

Heat Sensi vity Yes.

Luminescence  Weak red in SW and LW.

Wearability  Excellent

Special Care None

Instruc ons

Transparency  Opaque to transparent.

Absorp on Narrow doublet at 6805/6875, with weak, narrow lines at 6650, 6550, and 6490 and broad band at 6400-5550. Total absorp on below 4700.
Spectrum 

Phenomena  Color change, chatoyancy (very rare).

Birthstone  June

Formula BeAl2O4 + Cr

Pleochroism  Deep red/orange-yellow/green. (Myanmar gems anomalous: purple/grass-green/blue-green).

Op cs  See “Iden fying Characteris cs” below. Biaxial (+), may also be (–), 2V = 70°.

Etymology Named a er Czar Alexander II of Russia.

Occurrence Occurs in pegma tes, gneiss, mica schist, dolomi c marbles; also found as stream pebbles and detrital grains.
An alexandrite crystal on micaceous schist, displaying green to red color shi . 3.7 x 2.7 x 1.5 cm, Malashova Mine, Ural Mountains, Russia. © Rob
Lavinsky, www.iRocks.com. Used with permission.

Comments
Alexandrite was discovered in the Ural Mountains of Russia in the 1830s. Noted mineralogist Nils Gustaf Nordenskiöld was the first to rea
unusual green, color-changing gemstone was something new. In 1834, Count Lev Alekseevich Perovskii named the stone in honor of the t
future Czar of Russia, Alexander II.

This connec on to the Czars likely helped the gem gain pres ge by associa on. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, as historian David Can
notes, the Czars were widely considered the standard for royal pomp. (More recently, the Bri sh Royal Family has enjoyed this posi on). A
combina on of beauty, celebrity, and rarity helped create a mys que around this gem in the public imagina on.

By the 1950s, alexandrite joined the list of birthstones as the modern alterna ve to June’s tradi onal pearl.
 Two Russian alexandrites, combined gem weight 9.8 carats. Photo by
Salexmccoy. Licensed under CC By-SA 3.0

How Rare is Alexandrite?

If not for alexandrite’s popular associa ons, the circumstances necessary for its forma on, combined with its mining history, might have ensured the gem w
li le known as well as extremely rare. To form, alexandrite requires both beryllium (Be), one of the rarest elements on Earth, and chromium (Cr). (Emerald al
requires these two elements). However, Be and Cr rarely occur in the same rocks or in geological condi ons where they interact. Furthermore, the original s
of alexandrites was almost exhausted a er only a few decades of mining.

Since the 1980s, more sources have emerged. Nevertheless, alexandrite remains one of the rarest gemstones.

Cat’s Eye Alexandrites

Alexandrite is a variety of the gem species chrysoberyl, well-known for its chatoyancy or “cat’s eye” effect when cabbed. As members of this species, alexan
can also show a cat’s eye effect. However, such gems are quite rare.

This oval cabochon alexandrite shows both excep onal color change and a sharp cat’s eye across its en re surface. The dark
green to purple color change covers about 80-85% of the gem. (Look at the reflec ons carefully and you can see sunlight ca
the blue-green color and incandescent light causing the purple color). 1.20 cts, 6 x 4.8 mm, Andhra Pradesh, India. © The G
Trader. Used with permission.

Iden fying Characteris cs

Color Change
The color change gemstone phenomenon can occur under a variety of ligh ng types. When grading an alexandrite’s
change, gemologists consider the stone’s color in natural sunlight as the baseline. Thus, the classic alexandrite color c
is green in sunlight and red in incandescent light. However, other types of lights can produce other colors, as shown
 Alexandrite color changes. Photo: J. Weyer.

Regional Varia ons in Alexandrites

Brazilian alexandrites tend to have pale colors, pale blue-green to pale mauve. However, finer gems have been found recently in limited quan ty. Gemologi
detected substan al amounts (1,200 ppm) of the element gallium (Ga) replacing aluminum (Al) in some Brazilian material.

These alexandrites on bio te schist matrix from Brazil show a green to “amethys ne” color change. 5.3 x 4.0 x 2.3 cm, Carnaiba mining
Pindobacu, Campo Formoso ultramafic complex, Bahia, Brazil. © Rob Lavinsky, www.iRocks.com. Used with permission.

Sri Lankan alexandrite o en appears deep olive-green in sunlight, whereas Russian stones appear bluish green in sunlight.

Zimbabwean gems show a fine, emerald-green color in sunlight but are usually ny. If clean, they weigh under 1 carat. The colo
change in Zimbabwean gems is among the best known, but large, clean stones are virtually unobtainable from the rough from t
locality.

Other physical and op cal proper es of alexandrites vary according to their source.

Urals Sri Lanka Myanmar Brazil Zimbabwe

Specific Gravity – – 3.71 3.68 3.64 – 3.80

Op cs

a 1.749 1.745 1.746 1.747 1.749

β 1.753 1.749 1.748 1.748 1.752

γ 1.759 1.755 1.755 1.756 1.758

Birefringence 0.01 0.01 0.009 0.009 0.009

 Natural alexandrite crystal, Zimbabwe. Photo by Géry Parent. Public domain.

Synthe cs
A considerable market exists for lab-created alexandrite, first synthesized in the 1960s. Manufacturers can grow alexandrites through melt, hydrothermal, o
methods. These synthe c stones have the same chemical and physical proper es as natural alexandrites. They are real alexandrites but not natural. Althoug
synthe cs cost far less than their natural counterparts, they s ll rank among the most expensive synthe c gemstones available.
 10k white gold se ng for a 6 mm lab-created alexandrite. © CustomMade. Used with permission.

Gemologists can some mes iden fy synthe c alexandrites by inclusions caused by various growth procedures. Melt techniques, like the Czochralski metho
create curved striae. Hydrothermal growth can create bubbles and liquid inclusions. Flux methods can leave inclusions of pla num or other seed materials.

Synthe c alexandrites, concave facets, elongated emerald cut (4.45 cts), fan cut (4.51 cts), pear cut (2.57 cts). © All That Gli ers. Used with permission.

A considerable market also exists for lookalikes or simulants. These can range from synthe c corundum with alexandrite-like color change (produced very
inexpensively) to actual, natural color-change chrysoberyl stones. Although alexandrite is a variety of chrysoberyl, not all color-change chrysoberyls are
alexandrites. These gems also command a high price, but, again, not nearly as high as alexandrites. (Editor’s note: No gemological consensus exists for restric n
defini on of alexandrite to color-change chrysoberyl gems with a limited, “classic” range of color shi ).

Buyer beware. If you find an alexandrite at a rela vely bargain price, it’s likely not natural and possibly not an alexandrite. A professional gemological labora
make a determina on.

Enhancements
Natural alexandrites usually don’t receive any treatments.
 “Eye of Alexandrite,” Deer Creek fire agate with trillion-cut alexandrite.
Photo by Jessa and Mark Anderson. Licensed under CC By 2.0.

Sources
Mines in the Urals have re-opened but only produce a few carats of gem-quality material each year. In 1987, alexandrite was discovered in Brazil and later i
Madagascar, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe. However, none of these sites produce as rich and vivid a color change as the original Russian source.

The main source of large, natural alexandrite gems today is actually an que jewelry.

Although an que jewelry can be “mined” for natural alexandrites, their designs can also inspire custom se ngs for new gems. This
vintage-inspired statement ring features a 4 x 6 mm lab-created alexandrite surrounded by marquise-cut sapphires. © CustomMade. Used
with permission.

Stones Sizes
The largest known faceted alexandrite, a 65.7-ct green/red color change stone from Sri Lanka, resides at the Smithsonian Ins tu on. The largest Russian ge
weigh about 30 carats. However, the vast majority of alexandrites weigh under one carat. Stones over five carats are very rare, especially with good color c

Other alexandrites of notable size include in the following:

 Bri sh Museum of Natural History (London): 43 and 27.5 cts (Sri Lanka).

Ins tute of Mines (St. Petersburg, Russia): cluster of three crystals, 6 x 3 cm (Urals).

Fersman Museum (Moscow, Russia): crystal group, 25 x 15 cm, crystals up to 6 x 3 cm (Urals).

Private Collec ons: stones up to 50 cts have been reported.

A very large, oval-cut Russian alexandrite, 4.85 cts.

Care
With a hardness of 8.5, alexandrite makes a very durable stone suitable for any jewelry se ng. Nevertheless, take care when face ng the stone. Alexandrit
 sensi ve to knocks and extreme heat.

These gems have no special care requirements. You can clean them mechanically, per the instruc ons of the system used. Of course, you can also wash the
warm, soapy water and a brush. Consult our gemstone jewelry cleaning guide for more informa on.

A 0.5-ct, AA quality alexandrite on a white gold band with pavé diamonds. Photo by ichibakasama. Licensed under CC By 2.0.

by Joel E. Arem, Ph.D., FGA, Donald Clark, CSM IMG, Interna onal Gem Society

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