Several other well known gemstones, including diaspore, sapphire, garnet and spinel may also change color as a function of the light source but the color change of top alexandrites is distinctive and attractive under any light conditions.
Along with diamonds, rubies, and emeralds, top quality alexandrites are among the most expensive gemstones in the world. In larger sizes over 4.00 or 5.00cts., Burmese rubies are more rare and expensive than alexandrites but in sizes below 1.00cts., alexa
A craftsman who cuts, polishes, and engraves colored gemstones, other than diamonds. A worker who cuts, and polishes diamonds is known as a diamond cutter.
The emission of certain visible wavelengths of light from a substance other than thermal process, which are used as diagnostic determination of gemstones. It is caused by the emission of photons, when an exited atom within the substance returns to the gro
A unit employed in weighing diamonds, pearls, and other gemstones, which formerly ranged from 185.5 to 205.3 milligrams. Now the International metric carat is equal to 0.2 gram, or 200 milligrams and this is the standard in a majority of countries. Abbrev
Gemstone transmits light but no object can be seen clearly through it such as moonstone. Translucent gemstones are not suitable for brilliant cutting but cut cabochon.
Artificially made substance that has the same appearance, physical properties and chemical compound as its natural counterpart mineral. Some synthetic stones have no counterpart in nature they are synthetic gemstones except if they used as an imitation fo
Any array of electromagnetic visible light ordered according to its constituent wavelengths or colors, when the white light is dispersed by a prism or diffraction grating, ranging from about 750 to about 400 nm. The spectra can obtained by means of spectr
Alexandrite is an expensive gemstone because it so rare and production has always been limited. For years, the only source for alexandrite was Russia. In the last 20 or 30 years several new discoveries of alexandrite have been reported but production of s
The museum features four main galleries: The Weinman Mineral Gallery, The Fossil Gallery, Science in Motion and The Collins Family My Big Backyard. A 120-seat digital planetarium and an observatory with a state-of-the-art 20-inch telescope will also be lo
A small hand optical device for obtaining and visually observing spectrum, in which collimated light passes through a narrow slit onto either a prism or diffraction grating, its spectrum being viewed by a lens system or telescope. The angle between the c
Physical properties of gemstones are extremely important in understanding geological phenomena in synthesizing new materials, and identification of minerals. Physical properties and chemical composition of minerals change with temperature and pressure. P
Natural alexandrite is not better than synthetic alexandrite but natural alexandrite is very rare and uncommon in modern jewelry because it is hardly ever available and because it is too expensive for the general public to buy. Even lower quality more inc