Our love for jewellery has led us to the discovery of new and wonderful stones, elements and materials that have enabled us to make astonishing and beautiful jewellery. We have used rocks and minerals of different sorts to make ornaments or jewels. We have used them as pendants and centre pieces in the ornaments to make the ornaments look good. And Mother Earth has bestowed us with different rocks and materials that have different characteristics which we can use in the best way possible by highlighting their power and shine in our jewellery.

One such mineral is Alexandrite. Alexandrite is a type of chrysoberyl which seems to be of different colours. It has different reflections under the effect of different kinds of light. For example, in a candle light, Alexandrite appears to be red in colour and in fluorescent lights, the same mineral appears to be blue and green in colour. Lights can be natural or artificial lights. This mineral, when worn in jewellery, can make a very fashionable ornament that can be worn in parties or social functions.

Alexandrite was named after Alexander II, the Russian Czar. This mineral was discovered on his birthday, hence the name. Alexandrite is chiefly found in Russia, Ceylon, Burma, Rhodesia and Brazil. However, it is often produced in laboratories and sold as natural Alexandrite. It has a specific gravity of 3.6 - 3.7 and hardness which is measured as 8.5.

The Alexandrite Effect

The Alexandrite effect is often used in modern-day . This effect is a phenomenon where the stone changes colour when there is a change in light. It has a different reflection which gives a different colour when it is put under different sources of light with different colours. There are many stones, like garnet and sapphire, that has the Alexandrite Effect and, therefore, they are used in jewellery quite frequently.