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The use of natural alexandrite in jewelry is limited by its rarity as well as its lack of availability in specific sizes and shapes. It is a unique and special gemstone that few jewelers ever even have the opportunity to stock. And because of its obscure and esoteric nature, fine alexandrites can rival or exceed the prices of similar sized diamonds, like this exceptional 1.62-carat certified Brazilian alexandrite.

Taaffeite was first discovered already cut and polished in Ireland in 1945. At the time it was mislabeled as a spinel, but upon further inspection it was determined that the mineral was actually a new and yet to be identified gemstone. It was eventually named after Count Taaffe, the Dublin gemologist that discovered it.

Formerly known as pink beryl, the name Morganite was suggested by gemologist George F. Kunz the namesake of kunzite, and renamed as a separate gemstone in 1911 after J. Pierpont Morgan, an American banker and collector. This pretty, peachy-pink variety of beryl, like this 14.20-carat portuguese cut gem, is found chiefly in Brazil and Madagascar. Intense colors are hard to find and even light colors may command high prices. The pastel pink colors are a result of the presence of manganese or cesium. 

This large Jeremejevite crystal is from a yet to be disclosed locality in Madagascar. The color appears to be very slightly yellowish but from our experience, most of these stones look white after faceting. This piece weighs 54.91cts and measures 24.1 x 21.6 x 14.9mm. It will probably yield a 16 carat plus stone if handled by an experienced cutter. Large near clean crystals like this are quite unusual and few labs were even willing to commit to the identification of this one. A window was polished to aid in identification by refractive index and also to help the lapidary with orientation. Meanwhile, check out faceted Jeremejevites : https://goo.gl/sMwT1Y

This sapphire was graded as dark blue with moderately strong color saturation. The color is prized in the world of sapphires and darker stones like this will benefit from some windowing, and while some windowing may be apparent in this  image that is enlarged some 15 times depending on your screen size, it is not distractive and the thing that stands out about that stone is the beautiful Burmese blue color.

Brazilian alexandrites appear reddish purple-to-purple red under incandescent light while their daylight colors are often more blue than green. The incandescent colors of Brazilian stones usually possess a strongly purplish secondary hue and the best colors are considered to be purplish red or raspberry red.

Trying to come up with an original idea for your jewelry designs? Here are three fancy tourmaline slices, which could help you unleash your creative side.

Phantom amethysts contain ghost like images of another crystal within it that are aligned with the outer crystal. These beautiful amethyst slices were prepared to display the unusual patterning. Zoning in Amethyst is also known as the Chevron effect and we can look at the Chevron logo to see the similarity. In this case, the phantoms clearly align with the hexagonal crystal faces to create the arrangement.