Discovered in 1830 in Russia and named after Czar Alexander II, who was then Crown Prince of Russia, Alexandrite appears to change color under different forms of light. It can look red when viewed in candle light, green when viewed in fluorescent light and blue green in sunlight. It appears reddish purple in standard electric, tungsten light, and in daylight it appears blue green. In artificial light Alexandrite will change to reddish purple or deep purple.

In the year 1987 Alexandrites were discovered in a place called Hematita in Brazil. The Brazilian Alexandrite contained a distinctive color change with good clarity and color. Brazilian Alexandrites have a green to orange red color change that is not as crisp as the color change in a Russian Alexandrite.

With its good hardness of 8.5, Alexandrite is an uncomplicated stone to wear. The more intensive the change of color, the more valuable the stone. Fine Alexandrite, especially in qualities of over one carat, thus belongs to the most expensive gemstones in the world. It is rarer than fine Ruby, Sapphire or Emerald. Its value does mainly depend on the depth of the color change: a really fine Alexandrite should show a vivid green in daylight, and change to purple-red or deep purple in artificial light, without any trace of undesired brown.

Alexandrite is used as a gemstone. Faceted alexandrite gemstones with good color change are considered very valuable, even when visible inclusions are present.

Not all Alexandrites change color. Some just stay a nice green or sea foam green color. These Gems are not as desirable as color changing Alexandrites and therefore are much more affordable.

Alexandrite is the traditional Birthstone for the month of June, but do to its rarity, the Birthstone for June was changed to Pearl.

Now with a new source of Alexandrite available, thousands of June babies like myself are clamoring to get our hands on one of these rare Beauties.

Gems and semi-precious stones are essential elements of rings, earrings, pedants, pins and cuff-links. The gem or semi-precious stone is often the focal point of the jewelry; the silver or gold serve as a structure to present the stone.

Gems include the diamond, ruby, sapphire and emerald. These stones are considered the most beautiful, durible and rare giving them greater value.

All other stones are semi-precious including those commonly called birth stones and others such as agates, jaspar, topaz, and aquamarine. Semi-precious stones exist in a variety of shapes, cabachons, a stone with a domed face, faceted stones, transparent stones cut into planes to better reflect light, and beads in numerous shapes and sizes. Opaque stones are usually polished to a high sheen. Semi-precious stones are valued for color, pattern and transparency.

Modern technology has produced synthetic gems,such as cubic zerconium, and semi-precious stones such amethyst and tourmaline. Synthetic stones lack the variety of color and veining found in natural stones. Other stones such as turquoise are stabalized or treated to make the color more uniform.

Most cases of fraud or counterfeit items being sold are filed against foreign companies. There is also a language barrier that can cause problems when trying to resolve any issues thay may arise.

2. Know what you are buying.

Try to do some research on the gemstone species you are buying.

– Find out the hardness and durability of what you are looking for.

– Make sure the item you are buying is not being sold under a deceitful trade name.

– Be sure to ask the seller questions, anybody selling loose gemstones should have them tested by a trained gemologist. This will also give you the oppertunity to see the sellers response time and knowledge of stones. Many people selling gemstones do not know enough about gemstones to even determine what species they are. Good questions to ask would be; How has this item been tested? Was this item purchased in this country? Was this gemstone removed from a piece of jewelry or has it ever been set before (stones are often damaged during the setting process).

– Do not have your purchases tested by jewelers. Jewelers are not gemologists. Gemstones should only be tested by trained gemologists. Ask to see their credintials. Experiance doesn’t mean anything if the person does not have a certification. I recently did an expirement with 6 local jewelry stores. I took GIA lab certified gemstones into the showroom. 5 of the jewelers simply looked at the stone as said it was fake. I then pulled out the lab certificate and they they all said the stone looked fake because it was too “nice”.” The first thing a real gemologist is tought is to never determine a stones authenticity without doing at least 3 tests to confirm it. If somebody claims they can tell if a stone is real or not by looking at it is simply ignorant. Tests such as specific gravity, refractive index, thermal conductivity, crystal structure analysis, and pleochroism should confirm a stones identity, not a guess.

– Reading a book or a couple paragraphs from a website does not make you a gemologist. I have had people in the past accuse me of fraud or ” ripping them off” because they thought they knew more about gemstones than my GIA certified Graduate Gemologist with 30 years of experiance. If you are not formaly trained have a second opinion done by a third party gemologist. Then bring that report to the seller if their is a problem.

– Do not buy from sellers that use diamond clarity grades for colored gemstones. This is a dead give away that the person or company selling the stones does not have the appropriate skills to grade gemstones. Gem labs will never grade colored stones using a diamond grading scale (example: vvs, si, i-1). Colored gemstones should be graded using decriptive terms (example: eye clean, minor inclusions barely visible to the naked eye, etc) GIA’s grading scale is barely ever used because it is very difficult for a regular person to understand. They use multiple classifications for certain species and letter or number coding.

The most common moonstone is of the mineral adularia. The plagioclase feldspar oligoclase also produces moonstone specimens. Its name is derived from a visual effect, or sheen, caused by light reflecting internally in the moonstone from layer inclusion of different feldspars.

Moonstone is composed of two feldspar species, orthoclase and albite. The two species are intermingled. Then, as the newly formed mineral cools, the intergrowth of orthoclase and albite separates into stacked, alternating layers. When light falls between these thin, flat layers, it scatters in many directions producing the phenomenon called adularescence.

Deposits of moonstone are found in many countries and places:

the European Alps
Brazil
India
Mexico
Myanmar
Madagascar
Sri Lanka
the USA, specifically
Pennsylvania and Virginia
Tanzania
Sri Lanka produces the highest quality moonstones.

SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonstone_(gemstone)

Since the earliest of times, lapis lazuli has been associated with strength and courage. The Sumerians believed that the spirit of their gods lived within the stone. That theme was adopted by the ancient Egyptians, who drew a connection between the speckling of the stone and the glittering stars in the night sky. One of the most famous uses of the stone is in the mask of King Tutankhamen, where it is inlaid with turquoise and carnelian in bright gold. It was used by European artists during the Middle Ages, ground as pigment for producing the color aquamarine.

Lapis lazuli is found with limestone or as separate boulders. It was well-known to the ancient world because it was first found in Afghanistan. Stones from that region are still considered to be of the best quality. Argentina also produces a premium deep blue variety. Lapis lazuli is found in the USA and Canada and less intense blue examples are found in Chile and in the former USSR.