From being discovered in the 1930s in Russia to date, alexandrite has a rich history. Because of its color-changing property, alexandrite became the first choice for making jewelry pieces such as engagement rings, earrings, pendants, etc. If you are also planning to buy an alexandrite jewelry piece or a loose alexandrite stone for investment purposes, then there are two options. You can either go for a lab-created alexandrite or buy a natural alexandrite. Before taking a call on any of them, you should know their difference clearly and understand relevant facts and minute details that are going to help you.
What are Lab-created Alexandrites and How They are Created?
Before diving into the core differences, let’s begin with understanding the technicalities of lab-created alexandrite. These days many gemstones can be created in laboratories. The core concept is growing a natural gemstone seed in certain physical and chemical conditions into a relatively big size gemstone. In the case of lab-grown alexandrites, Czochralski pulled-growth method is used. Ingredient powders are melted in a ceramic cubicle, a seed crystal is attached to one end of a rotating rod and the rod is lowered into the cubicle until the seed touches the melt. The rod is then slowly withdrawn. The crystal seed starts growing as it pulls materials from the melt. The material later cools and solidifies. Because of surface tension, minerals get attached to the seed crystal and result in a lab-grown alexandrite.
Can a Lab-created Alexandrite Change Its Color?
A natural alexandrite changes its color in different lights because of chromium impurities present in it. The color change is the core property of alexandrite; without this property, a lab-created alexandrite will be of no use. So we can say an alexandrite has color-changing properties, whether it is natural or grown in the lab. However, there are some notable differences in the color shift of alexandrite. A natural alexandrite goes from bluish-green in the daylight to reddish-purple at night; on the other hand, a lab-created alexandrite has brighter shades of green and red.
Key Differences
The major differences between a lab-created and a natural alexandrite are inclusions. In a natural alexandrite, you may find needle inclusions, spots of foreign particles, or some cracks and imperfections. A lab-created alexandrite is almost perfect; even if there are some inclusions, they are air bubbles. Also, there are some differences in the color shift. As we have already discussed, a lab-created alexandrite shows you brighter shades of green and red whereas in natural alexandrite, you will see bluish-green in the daylight to reddish-purple at night.
The bottom line
To conclude, we can say that it is hard to notice differences between a lab-created and a natural alexandrite with the naked eye. If you are going to buy loose alexandrite gemstone, you should always buy it with authenticating certificates from a reputed seller. If you are choosing alexandrite for your engagement ring, make sure that you get a natural alexandrite ring that is not overpriced and has a good quality stone.
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