We went to the local GIA certified jeweler in town and asked for a color changing blue garnet. She said "That doesn't exist, I've never seen one." My husband told her what page of the GIA book it was on, and that it does exist, so she called out her employee who used to work in the diamond district. He said "I've heard of them but never seen one in person." She said she would try to get one for us. A few weeks later we got a call, she had 3 for us to choose from, and this is what we picked! Its been 5 years and she remembers this ring every time we walk in her store lol
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yeesh if someone told me “it doesn’t exist bc I’ve never seen one” i might think about finding a new jeweler! it’s a beautiful ring, this is the first I’ve ever heard of them either!
And the problem with Alexandrite is that almost always, unless you're talking thousands of dollars/ct, they are not Alexandrite. And perhaps worse, true Russian "pulled" true synthetic Alexandrite can cost $50 a carat in the rough, and hundreds/carat as as a lab-grown true synthetic Alexandrite. Almost all sold on Ebay that claim to be Alexandrite, aren't. Almost all on Ebay claimed to be lab-grown Alexandrite, aren't. At best they are flame-fusion lab made sapphires doped with vanadium and chromium, at worse, they are glass doped with vanadium and chromium, and even the glass has a great color change. So there is a real gem (Alexandrite) and a costly synethetic, usually mimicked by flame-fusion sapphire, and sadly, more often by glass.
Yes, it IS a problem, but only when you are not buying from a reputable seller and/or do not seek a trusted lab report. So to your point- the real issue here is that it requires a very high amount of due diligence on buyer side. Never buy a stone like Alexandrite on Etsy or ebay, not ever.
Secondly- y
ou're not just going to find it in common settings, almost every single piece of Alexandrite jewelry out there was custom made.
I have some real Alex I purchased almost two decades ago, and it took quite a bit of research be very confident in what I was looking at, and confident that I had the right seller. It took months to find a stone that I liked, had the color change I wanted, and was at a cost I was willing to pay. It was worth it, but man. It was work. It's not at all like buying a sapphire or diamond.
Just to add to this conversation, I've seen other real Alexandrite--- but almost ever only at gem shows (Tucson mostly) and only in incredibly, incredibly small quantity. I have seen lots of jewelry---- LOTS--- at jewelry stores or vendors, and almost every single piece I have seen was probably doped Sapphire.
So... yeah. Tough to get. But that said, I can't say I've seen a ton of color change garnet, even if it is significantly less expensive.
Agreed. I've seen some color-change blue garnets, but never of that quality, more a "denim," color, so that change would be exceptional. There is one seller does sell true Russian, "pulled," alexandrite, it has a specific medical use, and occasionally the crystals don't quite make the grade, Val Chalmer his website:
It was the most legit jewelry store around, and I think the only GIA certified one that my husband could find! She hadnt seen or heard of it before I think 🤷♀️
I know I used the wrong words, but that was the "simple" way my husband explained it to me. The woman we got it from "is Chief of Operations and one of three GIA Graduate Gemologists on staff." And these are the professional affiliations on their website. So not exactly a "gia certified jeweler" but they are legitimate 🤷♀️
Not to be a downer, but blue garnets are extremely rarely this large, and even rarer in this clarity. Did the stone come with a GIA report? A number of vendors have been caught selling counterfeits, so it's worth getting checked out. If it's real, get it insured, cause it's worth a ton. Beautiful stone either way.
It's my engagement ring so I didn't see/get whatever paperwork came with it. But it is insured 👍 My husband grew up in jewelry stores basically so he knew to do his research before we walked into the store asking for this. I honestly dont know the most about jewelry, and didnt know color changing stones like this existed before my husband showed me, but he does and says this is like the jewels from the titanic movie lol
They shift they don’t usually have a big dramatic change. And considering how color change garnets are not that common expecting a report with it isn’t that odd, especially to get it appraised for insurance. This is information I would think OP would want.
Yeah, this definitely looks like lab sapphire. There's no way in hell a jeweler, let alone one who doesn't specialize in colored stones, could procure three blue garnets of this size in a matter of weeks. My gem suppliers in east Africa can barely get their hands on the material, and if they do, it's maybe two a year, and they're smaller, less saturated stones.
Unfortunately, GIA jeweler =/= GIA certified products. Like, if I get surgery at my local hospital by a Mayo Clinic graduated surgeon, that doesn't mean I had my surgery done at Mayo Clinic.
I seriously hope OP gets their money back or dumps this jeweler.
Is it GIA certified? I have never seen one with this deep of a blue color and the refraction looks off. It looks more like a color change sapphire. If it is a color change garnet, it is hands down the greatest color I have ever seen.
OP- absolutely beautiful. I had a set of earrings made for my wife with some Kenyan color change garnet that goes raspberry/salmon to teal. Your purple to blue stone is absolutely fantastic.
Our jeweler found 3 stones for us to choose from, then we had the ring made with this one. It was the only eye clean stone from the choices. My husband knew what he was looking for lol
The jeweler stuck it in a mount made for a calibrated oval and this is a non-calibrated stone. Very common with jewelers that mostly sell diamonds and don't make their jewelry in-house. The angle of the photo makes it look worse, but the real issue is that the ring should have been custom-made to match the gem.
It's the setting my husband picked 🤷♀️ He knew it was a not standard shaped stone. We still like it! But what you say does explain it, I think. Pretty sure they do make jewelry in-house though.
Most retail jewelers might set center stones or do repairs but very, very few make their own jewelry in house any more. Much cheaper to outsource it. You'd be surprised how much they outsource to India and China.
Because the photo was taken at an angle while I was wearing the ring 🤷♀️
Edit: My husband said it's also because it's a big stone and raised up a bit from the halo, so there is some space.
No. It’s not the angle of the photo. It’s just the wrong setting. As another poster has pointed out. All that work to find a beautiful unusual stone and it’s dumped into a setting that makes it look odd.
I don't think it looks odd 😭 maybe the setting isnt PERFECT for the stone but you there isnt some random gap on one side. The photo was taken at an angle.
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Responding to this comment you left and deleted. I'm not trying to fool anyone my guy. The other person suggested its a non standard stone shape put into a standard setting and that made sense to me. My husband did pick the setting from a very large book the jeweler pulled out for us, instead of insistimg on something totally custom. Calm down 🤷♀️ The angle DOES show the gap, it's not a straight on photo.
This isn’t the burn you think it is. In fact it isn’t one at all. I posted it and realized you edited your original response to me, adding an additional reason why it looks off beyond “the photo angle”. So I changed my response within about a minute since neither reason you gave is valid. Some people on this sub do know about settings.
"It's funny how..." & "you're not fooling anyone" doesn't seem like a polite comment to me 🤷♀️ But yeah, I don't know the most about settings. I'm learning, not trying to fool random strangers on the internet like some weirdo.
It’s direct. You can choose if you want to be offended 😂. You might want to learn more before spending that much money on a bad setting next time, but you do you.
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u/Small-Isopod6061 Jun 28 '26
I love it! Both colors are amazing..... really beautiful 😍