This rare and valuable gemstone was named after the Russian Tsar Alexandra 11when it was first discovered in the emerald mines near the Tokovaya River in 1834.
The stone’s most striking feature is its ability to change colour from green or bluish-green in daylight to a soft shade of red, purplish-red, or raspberry red in incandescent light.
Today the Russian supplies of alexandrite are thought to be exhausted but the stone is still sourced from Brazil, Sri Lanka, India, Myanmar Madagascar and Zimbabwe.

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