Ivory is a hard, white, opaque substance that is the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals such as the elephant, hippopotamus, walrus, mammoth and narwhal. It is found in Brazil, Pakistan, Russia, East Africa, India, Madagascar and Columbia, at this point in time the best emeralds come from Colombia. Clear stones with vibrant colour command the highest prices. The value of an emerald depends on cut, colour, clarity and carat. Emeralds can have many inclusions and flaws so can be brittle and liable to break. Origin of name emerald is said to be a Sanskrit word meaning green (Sanskrit is a classical language of India). The GIA fancy colour grading scale is: Faint, Very Light, Light, Fancy Light, Fancy, Fancy Intense, Fancy Vivid, Fancy Deep and Fancy Dark.Įmerald is a valuable Beryl that owes its colour to chromium or vanadium, which make it the bright green. The grading scale is based on the intensity of the colour. The colour of a fancy coloured diamond is measured differently to a normal diamonds. One out of 10,000 normal diamonds is a fancy colour diamond. Today, small quantities of Alexandrite are mined in Brazil, Sri Lanka, India, Myanmar, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.ĭiamonds come in all colours but these natural Fancy Colour Diamonds are rare and can be very expensive.
That area was mined for over 60 years and still today Russian Alexandrite is considered the best quality. Alexandrite was discovered in the Ural Mountains of Russia in the 1830's, and named after tsaravitch Alexander, the future tsar. To make an enquiry about purchasing gemstones please contactĪlexandrite is a variety of chrysoberyl that displays a colour change depending on light conditions and the angle it is view from (pleochroism).The ideal colour change would be fine emerald green to fine purplish red, but this is rare and expensive. We can also supply and cut stones to fit settings if they are not stock sizes. If necessary we can supply stones on approbation (appro) for you to show your customer under no obligation to buy. We have suppliers who can provide the more unusual stones. Supply- we stock a large range of the most common gem stones including diamonds and can supply a variety of grades and sizes.