The Lab Gem Supplier

A variety of the mineral chrysoberyl, natural alexandrite is a chameleon gem, changing color with the light. In bright daylight, alexandrite appears green, but turns a rich wine red under incandescent lighting. Chrysoberyl gets it usual yellow to yellow-green color from the presence of iron. It is the presence of chromium in the chemical mix that creates the distinctive color change that makes natural alexandrite such a rare and unique gem. Simulated alexandrite is created in the more desirable wine red color. Unlike most lab created gems that exhibit the same chemical structures as their natural counterparts, simulated alexandrite can be created from a number of natural or man-made compositions. The loose lab alexandrite sold by lab gem wholesaler PehnecGems is created from corundum.

Alexandrite was first discovered in the Ural Mountains of Russia in April 1834 on the day the country’s Crown Prince, Alexander II, came of age. The unusual gem, which mimics the imperial colors of green and red, was named in honor of the young czar and became the national gemstone of Imperial Russia. Quite rare in nature, alexandrite was little used in jewelry over the centuries because of its extreme rarity. In czarist Russia, its use was reserved for royal jewelry and adornments. The ability to simulate alexandrite in the laboratory has allowed jewelers and artisans around the world to have the opportunity to use this rich wine red-colored gem in their designs.

In the late 1800s Tiffany master gemologist George Kunz recognized the unique properties of alexandrite and was able to obtain a quantity of the gem. Tiffany’s jewelers were among the few outside Imperial Russia to fashion alexandrite into jewelry. From the late 1800s into the early 1900s, Tiffany created a series of rings and platinum ensemble settings that featured natural alexandrite. Alexandrite also found its way into Victorian jewelry created in England, but stones used in those pieces were quite small. It was not until the development of lab created alexandrite that this beautiful stone became a jewelry staple.

Visit the PehnecGems website at www.Pehnec.com to order loose lab created alexandrite at below wholesale prices.