Post subject: Re: Alexandrite as per AIGS but only Chrysoberyl as per GRS
Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 7:33 am
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Joined: Fri May 28, 2010 11:39 am Posts: 8
yes, Some of the labs need color change + chromium and some labs say that they do not check for chromium if color change is there.(As they assume chromium is there already and its chromium which causing the color change)
I think part of the problem is the idea of it being "just chrysoberyl." Chrysoberyl is an excellent gem--it has great durability and optical properties, rich coloration and a delightfully marketable name. Why treat it as an ugly consolation prize of a gem? It seems a bit perverse to me to try and cram a stone into a varietal name that doesn't fit (and in the process making promises the stone can't deliver on) when there's a perfectly good one right there.
Post subject: Re: Alexandrite as per AIGS but only Chrysoberyl as per GRS
Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2015 4:37 pm
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Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 1:10 pm Posts: 850
Stephen Challener wrote:
I think part of the problem is the idea of it being "just chrysoberyl." Chrysoberyl is an excellent gem--it has great durability and optical properties, rich coloration and a delightfully marketable name. Why treat it as an ugly consolation prize of a gem? It seems a bit perverse to me to try and cram a stone into a varietal name that doesn't fit (and in the process making promises the stone can't deliver on) when there's a perfectly good one right there.
THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!!
I love and collect chrysoberyl. An underrated fantastic gem material!!
Post subject: Re: Alexandrite as per AIGS but only Chrysoberyl as per GRS
Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2015 12:26 pm
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Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 1:10 pm Posts: 850
Isi wrote:
Especially the vanadium chrysoberyls Marlow !
YES!
But you don't see many which have the right bluishgreen color.
But I need def. more!!!
In Munichshow only two - one which a grayish color - interesting but to expensive...
John Bradshaw ( www.rarestone.com ) showed me a nice one - not exactly the color but much better then on the picture - still thinking but empty piggy bank - I bought my first Musgravite and maybe a second one ( a taaffeite but with a suspicious color - light to medium grayish green - worth a Raman check). By the way - the stone has the same kind of inclusions like the iridescent Musgravite Mr. Renfro wrote about in GG this year. Fine iridescent tubes in the pavillion if you use a stronger LED light. But the stone is very small ( 0,15 ct) .
Post subject: Re: Alexandrite as per AIGS but only Chrysoberyl as per GRS
Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2016 1:10 pm
Site Admin
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:22 pm Posts: 21602 Location: San Francisco
We've tried climbing this tree before. I can certainly see the GIA's point as Nathan Renfro has eloquently presented it in the past. To paraphrase "The GIA identifies an unknown, they do not make a quality determination. Alexandrite is defined as color changing chrysoberyl"
And yes, a shift from brownish bug juice to yellowish bug juice qualifies as a color change......to the GIA.
Do I agree with the criteria, of course not. But it is not up to me. Clearly if a stone of the quality above was discovered in Russia in the 1830's it would have been thrown back where it was found. That is, if anyone even bothered to pick it up in the first place.
Clearly if a stone of the quality above was discovered in Russia in the 1830's it would have been thrown back where it was found. That is, if anyone even bothered to pick it up in the first place.
Awwwww, it's a perfectly nice brown chrysoberyl. Just because it isn't an alexandrite doesn't mean the poor thing is worthless. It just means it's overpriced.
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