Wow! I’m 63 and when I was probably 15 or 16 my parents bought me an Alexandrite ring. I haven’t worn it in probably 40 years but still have it. I dug it out and will be looking at it under different lighting tomorrow.
Did your ring have any color change? Apparently, all natural alexandrites do not all have a dramatic color change. The color varies from very light to a darker color. I’ve seen a natural light alexandrite that was a very light green in sunlight but a light lavender color indoors.
Your husband is one lucky guy. His wife is super smart, loves science, super cute. Congrats to him, and to you. And, your enthusiasm makes watching your videos so much fun.
Congratulations on your engagement/marriage! I love how much your passion for science and cool facts and just like... stuff comes through in your videos. It really makes me smile every time I see a video from you!
Thanks so much! It's been a wonderful nine-ish months of marriage so far. :) And thanks as always! I really appreciate how you go out of your way to leave kind comments and watch the things I post here - it's way more fun making content knowing I'm not JUST talking to an empty room, ha ha.
@@AlexisDahl your content has always been great and so much fun to watch! I'm so thankful that you've shared so much of your passion and energy throughout the years. I still remember the first video of yours I saw all those years ago. It was on Happy Prime numbers!
Love love love your video!! I have an Alexandrite engagement ring as well! My bday is June and my name is Alexandra! Not the reason I got it other than it was beautiful. I also didn’t realize it changed colors until I got it 💚💙💜
I think your gem/ring is incredibly cool! Im also astounded to be served this video after watching your channel for perhaps two years. You have come so far and yet you still have the same infectious enthusiasm and geekiness that you did when you recorded this. 😁
I got one a few years ago for my anniversary in Cancun and it’s gorgeous!!!! I have seen it change to all sorts of colors, pink, red, orange, yellow, brown, clear, green, gray, blue, and purple in different lights of course. I LOVE IT!!!
@@diamondstandard7794 It's been under a black light before (at a laser tag event a while back), and it's a VERY bright pink! I haven't exposed to an IR laser, though!
I thoroughly enjoy your videos. You make them so entertaining that I find my self looking for new ones to view. You are one very lovely young lady who makes an 80+ year old man wish he had met you long ago.
My name is Alexandra, and you have just convinced me to purchase a gem named after myself as a birthday present from me to me. I've only seen pictures of the color change online, but I've never seen an actual video of the effect take place! I can't wait to finally see whichever ring I purchase in person. Your stone is gorgeous!
@@AlexisDahl it is an amazing stone and you should be proud. I have a ring from my grandmother with an original Russian Alexandrite. It is outstanding.
The Alexdranite is the 3rd hardest gemstone. Diamonds are first and Sapphire & Rubies are second. Your engagement ring is beautiful the stone & the style of the band and congrats on your marriage.😊
@@todorkolev7565no, they aren't. They're called different names but they're the exact same gemstone. Sapphires come in all colors under the sun; people simply decided to call the red ones "ruby". They're both corundum.
@@hathawyn you don't need to teach me about Corundum... In terms of "gemstones" (which is what I wrote - have another look), they are different GEMSTONES
How fascinating! I would also suggest, if someone hasn't already, that you experiment with UV lights (you must have one for searching for Yooperlites) and other light forms, fluorescent, LED, etc. I've been looking over your list of videos and I'm so excited about watching them all!
my birthstone, my middle name is alexis.. lol and i have an alexandrite engagement ring too… i say do you want a stone that sparkles or a stone that changes color lol … i think color change is way cooler to me lol
I have a natural stone in a ring that belonged to my grandmother. The natural one is called the “stone that is an emerald by day and ruby by night”. And yes, mine is green by day and ruby/purplish by night.
my wife has the same type of stone in her wedding ring! thank you for the explanation! we both enjoy your content and detail into all of your topics. thank you from the u.p.
I have a real alexandrite and your stone should be the same. I was sold my ring as a sapphire and as I drove home the stone turned purple and as a crystal collector I knew that I had found alexandrite. When I have my nails done at the salon I have to put my nails into a blue light box and when I looked at my beloved ring the stone was bright red, like a very expensive ruby. Have a look at your ring under blue light and be amazed at the rich blood red ruby as there is another colour that you are yet to see. Amazing. Much love & *virtual hugs* from Australia xxx❤
I have a colour changing stone in a ring my MIL left me. It is too large to be Alexandrite and I think it may be a Garnet. It changes from a deep red/purple to a beautiful clear sky blue with red undertones. I love it.❤
Alexandrite is so very neat and good! My long-term girlfriend and I have been talking about engagement rings and alexandrite is VERY much high on my list for stones.
I've found it's difficult to capture what my eyes see in my color-change sapphires, garnet (a cool one, it was mined in the 80s but no one realized it was color-change till like the late 2010s cause pink garnet is so common no one bothered actually looking at it till someone bought a bunch of the pink rough to practice cutting, and cut it. The GIA confirmed they had never seen another garnet with that change before. Mine is NOT the only example of that color-change, thank the stars, but I keep hoping they'll find another deposit of this garnet type cause the purple it goes is really pretty), and Chatham alexandrite. (I don't sell gemstones or anything, I just have a thing for color-change gems. Can't help but help myself 😂) I've seen elsewhere people selling stones saying "the stone is more green/purple/whatever than in the photos." Apparently our eyes see more of the teal-greens in Alexandrite than typical camera lenses do, cause of the rods and cones etc I have a lab color-change sapphire that changes to greenish in the sunlight but I've ONLY been able to photograph it as purple. It's bizarre! If you wanna get really into it, admire your stone somewhere and then try to photograph it where you are. Note the differences :)
@@AlexisDahlmy pleasure. I just got a Chatham Alexandrite myself. It goes a REALLY vibrant emerald green, and my camera can't see the green either! It's so trippy. Hope you're well
My lab Alex is bright red under uv light . In the day my ring looks like an amethyst, At night, it looks dark purple with a green haze inside, but it always photographs reddish purple on my cellphone.
That is soo cool!!! Absolutely love learning things like this! I was super intrigued by a tangentially similar thing I learned from an intro lecture of a computer vision class learning about how eyes work with the different cone wavelengths that they can detect and looking at graphs like these to explain things like colorblindness and vision in different animals. Thank you for the awesome new knowledge :)
Thank you for sharing your story. Your ring is lovely, good on you for choosing different 👍 I absolutely adore colour change gemstones, I have two types an amethyst and a spinel. They never cease to amaze me, their pleochroism enables the alexandrite effect. The amethyst is of the deep purple variety, but it can also look like a deep blue sapphire or a deep red garnet just depending on the light. The spinel is a lavender blue, it can be violet, lavender, blue or almost a titanium steel grey. Much like yourself, I think they are far more interesting because of this fact, both are rings and I let diamonds play second fiddle to the main event, not a diamond girl, even though I am born in April, for me coloured gemstones win every time.
Thank you so much! And those gems sound wonderful! I totally see what you mean about diamonds, too. They're lovely! But I am also Team Colored Gemstones, ha.
Kinda like how blue eyes appear different colours in different lighting conditions. Except you know, a totally different effect and way more prominent.
I’m going to propose in just a few days, I bought my Girlfriend Holly an Alexandrite ring similar to this and I’m very excited/scared haha! Love your video
Well I will keep this short but it was the title that caught my attention going through your videos. BTW born and raised Michigan thats how I ran across your videos. Anyway me and my wife were both born in June, actually 1 year 2 days apart. I wanted to get her something different and special after we had been dating. Tada I learned about Alexandrite. Just like you have it was synthetic stone surrounded by white gold and diamonds. Jump forward few years I decide to ask her to marry. It took a lot of searching to find a real Alexandrite and I wanted a Brazilian Alexandrite as Russian (I think originally found 1st) is mainly private collections and museums. Real Brazilian hard to find and $$ but available. Mainly I think India is the only real mine finding these stones. However they are more brownish. Thankfully to a friend in jewelry business and connections I found one at Miners den, MI. Anyway she aalways gets complements on her Brazilian Alexandrite. Most ppl do not know about this "Hidden" gem. Oh Alexandrite was the original birth stone for June but they changed because of scarcity, from what I remember and understand.
Congrats!! Have you tried shining different coloured lasers on the stone? How singular wavelengths might effects the Color may be interesting. Fan from India by the way.
Hey, Ekansh! Thanks for watching! I haven't tried that yet - mostly because of a lack of lasers, ha ha. But I'd love to try that sometime. Thanks for the idea!
As always, a fantastic video Alexis! :D This is one of those things that I find way too cool as well! Keep up the awesome work, cause you ARE awesome! ;)
Hey I'm going to get my girlfriend the same stone whats the difference between the lab created ones and the natural ones . and where can I shop for both?
That's so exciting! I'm not sure where you can shop for natural stones, but my ring came from Mia Donna. I know that the natural stones are significantly more expensive and may have a more profound color change, but beyond that, a professional jeweler could likely share more!
Some of the differences don't seem as big as you are describing, but that could easily be camera white balance, and/or my laptop's screen, that or I am starting to oddly loose color definitions in my vision (T1D does weird things, but I've not heard of that as a side effect) Either way neat thing to observe, and go blue!
Hey, thanks for watching! 🙂 Yeah, none of the color differences are aggressively dramatic (or at least, not as dramatic as I think you see in real alexandrite), but they’ve definitely been enough for me to notice and be excited about, ha. The strength of color seems to be pretty similar across the board, which might lead to some of them looking similar overall.
@@AlexisDahl I think it also would be interesting to see how it reacts to color changing LED bulbs (such as the Philips Hue system), don't know if it would generate larger color shifts or not. I am somewhat surprised that you're seeing more incandescent bulbs than LEDs, or at lest one that appear to be incandescent vs LEDs, granted, easy to make incandescent balanced LEDs now a days.
@@elh93 Ooh, interesting! If I ever invest in some of those, I'd also be really curious to see what happens. I wonder if you'd be able to manipulate the colors more with something like that... Thanks for the idea! (And ha, I think we just happen to have a decent number of old light bulbs in our apartment!)
@@AlexisDahl I got the hue system to work both as an alarm for grad school, and two try and connect it to a CGM and wake me up if I need to adjust my blood sugar. But they are a really neat system overall. A pretty decent color range on them. my apartment building is pretty new, so the built in stuff is all LED, thus I'm use to them...
Hello Alexis, (sorry for my english, i'm french) I'm very interested in Alexandrite and i am searching for a "good" way of purchasing one, i am intrigued about what you said about ethical reasons that made you buy a synthetical one and would like to know more about it , if you have websites or anything that could help me learn. Also, do you know how i can try to buy an Alexandrite without the risk of being huslted (scamed?) ? Anyway, congratulations for you wedding and your beautiful ring ! :) Thank you very much, very cool video!! Have a nice day :)
Hi, Gaby! No worries at all - your English is great. If you're looking for actual alexandrite (as opposed to synthetic), I unfortunately don't have any recommendations for sellers. But good question about ethics! I was always interested in synthetic alexandrite, so didn't do a deep study of ethical alexandrite mining. But I knew that the ring I wanted also had some diamond on the band, and that diamond mining can be full of conflict.* I also read a little bit about how there are alexandrite mines in Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe, which may not have great, ethical mining practices. So ultimately, I decided to steer clear of all of that to be safe. (And also, the price of synthetic alexandrite was a huge selling point!) *One source: www.nytimes.com/2019/01/08/business/diamonds-origin-tiffany-consumers.html
If you’re looking for natural Alexandrite there’s a site called multicolour that deals in a variety of gemstones and is reputable. Looking at seller reviews on pricescope is recommended due to the large amount of scams involving natural Alexandrite. It’s an extremely rare stone and the demand is high so be prepared to pay a higher price for good quality natural Alexandrite than you would for diamond. Also, anyone claiming to sell natural Russian Alexandrite is likely scamming you.
LED lightbulbs are much better now than they used to be. I like them better than CFL's. But both CFLs and LED bulbs use a lot less energy than incandescents.
That is one beautiful composite rock! Congrats on the engagement and marriage. May you forever be happy :D If you want even more ideas for experiments: Point a laser through it and watch its' light spectrum! I had other ideas, but I think heating or testing its' hardness might damage it :p
Thanks so much! And oh, thanks for asking! Conveniently, I have a UV penlight sitting in the drawer in front of me, which should get the same effect - I didn't think to check it on my ring until you mentioned this. The stone is an AGGRESSIVE pinkish red! It looks borderline fluorescent!
Hope u have it insured. Have u had it properly appraised? You should expect a detailed report stating where it came from, carat weight, quality, cut and other bits of info that make your stone unique. Do you know the #1 mistake that gets robbers caught by police? Making the error of stealing jewellery due to its uniqueness. So, know your stone and even the style of your ring. Details matter in the gem world. So, I doubt it's from Russia. If so, that would be auspicious. Probably from Africa, India or Brazil. Each area would make your stone different. What seems like a simple thing is actually very complex.
I stumbled on this. Nice video. Nicer ring. Congratulations on your engagement. My wife carries a synthetic blue diamond ring with boron forced into the carbon. (Influenced by Michael Crichton's Congo, which betrays our age). Am mulling on synthetic Alexandrite for our anniversary.
Alexis Dahl Your welcome also thank you for giving me a new gem to study but as a kid I can’t get this gem so please tell me or make a another video on this gem!
Thanks for the suggestion! I actually already have a script written about Yooperlites, ha ha. My hesitation with moving forward with it is that the name "Yooperlite" is trademarked (and my sense is that the owner of the trademark is pretty serious about that) - so I'm not sure if I could actually use that name in the video without getting in legal trouble. I've considered moving forward with the video and just not using the actual name, but haven't fully committed to that yet!
Are you certain that your ring is a lab-grown alexandrite? Does it test as an alexandrite or sapphire? As you know, they no longer mine it since alexanderite can no longer be found. JTV offers lab alexandrites with color change but they disclose that they are actually selling color change lab-grown sapphires that test as sapphires since they have the same chemical properties as their natural, earth-mined counterparts. So, just curious if your ring tests as an alexandrite or sapphire since most lab alexandrites are actually lab-grown color change sapphires.
Alexis, is the only reason you wanted Alexandrite for your ring is because of the color change? The name wouldn't have anything to do with it, would it?🤔🤔🤔
I ordered alexandrite earrings, but I’m afraid it’ll kill me. I have a problem with shiny things, I can’t stop staring at them… I think I may cross the street sometime and the color would change and I would get hit by a car or something... also, who knows, maybe there will be a meteor falling on earth, and they’ll tell us to hide in a bunker, and I’ll go outside to see what color the alexandrite will be…. I have problems.
I mean, earrings seem like a safe bet, at least! Depending on how long they are, they might be hard to see unless you're looking in a mirror/phone camera. So... there's that!
Okay, the science here is "mostly" correct. As for the alexandrite effect, the problem is that no one uses the expression "alexandrite effect", that just dosen't exist. Professionals in the gemstone industry use the word "pleochroism" for this optical phenomenon.
Thanks for the feedback, Malik! I know pleochroism is the more technical term here, but I chose to go with "the alexandrite effect" since it felt a bit more palatable for a general audience, and I've seen several sources refer to it as that (ex. GIA.edu, many research papers). Thanks for giving me some insight into the professional side of things!
The pen light might make it green if it only uses red and green LED diodes. It is not that many years since they started being able to make blue diodes for LED lights. Before that they faked white light using only red and green diodes. Also, i have to get a little environmental on you(#sorry, #personwhossellsledbulbs), you should stop using CFLs and switch to LEDs as the CFL bulbs get burned out in your house, They are full of mercury and don't live as long as LEDs. ;)
Ah, interesting! That would totally make sense. Thanks for the info! (And good to know, thanks! We haven't had lights burn out in a while, which is why most of our bulbs are still incandescent, but I'll keep that in mind as the bulbs go out!)
Can confirm, we started switching out our old bulbs for LEDs. I think I only know of one incandescent left in our house. Lord has our power bill gone down a surprising amount. My chatham alexandrite goes a purpley teal in LED light.
Alexis Dahl most synethetic or lab created alexandrite on the market are actually lab created color-change sapphire. True lab created alexadrite should change from green to red while color change sapphires changes from violetish blue to purple.
I really love seeing the passion and joy beaming from your eyes and how often you smile.😊 It really makes me happy in these times and reminds me that hope still exists in the world, that God’s Creation is so magnificent and marvelous even in the littlest of places. I hope you and your husband are doing alright in your isolation, and I’ll keep supporting any videos you decide to make because your passion and love really does shine through. So thanks!😄
Thanks, Patton! That's so kind of you. :) And my husband and I are doing alright! We're keeping busy and are finding ways to settle into a little bit of a new normal. Hope you're doing well also!
Wow! I’m 63 and when I was probably 15 or 16 my parents bought me an Alexandrite ring. I haven’t worn it in probably 40 years but still have it. I dug it out and will be looking at it under different lighting tomorrow.
Tenho muitas pedras de alexandrita gostaria de vende las
Did your ring have any color change? Apparently, all natural alexandrites do not all have a dramatic color change. The color varies from very light to a darker color. I’ve seen a natural light alexandrite that was a very light green in sunlight but a light lavender color indoors.
Of all the videos I watched about alexandrite, this one explains it well
That's a really cool stone. You should check it out under black light.
Your husband is one lucky guy. His wife is super smart, loves science, super cute. Congrats to him, and to you. And, your enthusiasm makes watching your videos so much fun.
Congratulations on your engagement/marriage! I love how much your passion for science and cool facts and just like... stuff comes through in your videos. It really makes me smile every time I see a video from you!
Thanks so much! It's been a wonderful nine-ish months of marriage so far. :) And thanks as always! I really appreciate how you go out of your way to leave kind comments and watch the things I post here - it's way more fun making content knowing I'm not JUST talking to an empty room, ha ha.
@@AlexisDahl your content has always been great and so much fun to watch! I'm so thankful that you've shared so much of your passion and energy throughout the years. I still remember the first video of yours I saw all those years ago. It was on Happy Prime numbers!
@@C.Schmidt Aw, thanks! And oh, goshh - that was SO long ago! I'm so glad you stuck around while I got better at all of this, ha ha!
Love love love your video!! I have an Alexandrite engagement ring as well! My bday is June and my name is Alexandra! Not the reason I got it other than it was beautiful. I also didn’t realize it changed colors until I got it 💚💙💜
When all is said and done it’s ONE ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS stone and ring!!! Great video!!! Aunt Kathy
ALEXandrite for ALEXis, perfect haha
Your enthusiasm over the stone is so cool! Thanks for sharing, and it is an awesome engagement ring!
I think your gem/ring is incredibly cool!
Im also astounded to be served this video after watching your channel for perhaps two years.
You have come so far and yet you still have the same infectious enthusiasm and geekiness that you did when you recorded this. 😁
I got one a few years ago for my anniversary in Cancun and it’s gorgeous!!!! I have seen it change to all sorts of colors, pink, red, orange, yellow, brown, clear, green, gray, blue, and purple in different lights of course. I LOVE IT!!!
I've always loved and supported lab grown gemstones. Not only because of the price difference but mostly because of my love of science ☺️
They're so fascinating! I feel like there's a lot I don't know about them in terms of how they're grown, but I'm still extremely impressed by it. :)
@@AlexisDahl have you tried to shine a black light on it? Or an IR laser?
@@diamondstandard7794 It's been under a black light before (at a laser tag event a while back), and it's a VERY bright pink! I haven't exposed to an IR laser, though!
@@AlexisDahl nice!
I thoroughly enjoy your videos. You make them so entertaining that I find my self looking for new ones to view. You are one very lovely young lady who makes an 80+ year old man wish he had met you long ago.
My name is Alexandra, and you have just convinced me to purchase a gem named after myself as a birthday present from me to me. I've only seen pictures of the color change online, but I've never seen an actual video of the effect take place! I can't wait to finally see whichever ring I purchase in person. Your stone is gorgeous!
That’s amazing! Happy Birthday to you! ☺️🎈 I hope you love it when it comes. And thank you so much! So glad you enjoyed the footage!
Thank you for explaining the science behind this! I just got an alexandrite engagement ring myself and love watching it change color.
My pleasure! And that's so exciting - congratulations all around!
2:10 Ahhhhhhhh! Reverse rainbow order!
I beg you to try ultra violet light. You will be amazed. Excellent choice for engagement ring. Well done.
Ooh! That's an excellent idea. I'll have to get myself a UV light and try that out! And thanks so much! A year+ later, and I'm still a huge fan of it.
@@AlexisDahl it is an amazing stone and you should be proud. I have a ring from my grandmother with an original Russian Alexandrite. It is outstanding.
@@christoskes That sounds beautiful! I know synthetic alexandrite can pale in comparison to the real thing. What a lovely thing to have!
I just asked something similar lol
i love alexandrite. now im an adult i bought a made to order alexandrite ring on etsy and cant wait for it to arrive!
The Alexdranite is the 3rd hardest gemstone. Diamonds are first and Sapphire & Rubies are second. Your engagement ring is beautiful the stone & the style of the band and congrats on your marriage.😊
Thank you very much! 😊
that would make them 4'th. Sapphires and Ruby are different "gemstones". Actually 5'th, since Moissanite is also harder :)
@@todorkolev7565no, they aren't. They're called different names but they're the exact same gemstone. Sapphires come in all colors under the sun; people simply decided to call the red ones "ruby". They're both corundum.
@@hathawyn you don't need to teach me about Corundum...
In terms of "gemstones" (which is what I wrote - have another look), they are different GEMSTONES
@@todorkolev7565 Ah, semantics. Some experts think pink sapphires are a thing, some experts say they are just on the spectrum of what we call ruby.
How fascinating! I would also suggest, if someone hasn't already, that you experiment with UV lights (you must have one for searching for Yooperlites) and other light forms, fluorescent, LED, etc. I've been looking over your list of videos and I'm so excited about watching them all!
Yep, was just about to say this.....what about a blacklight or LED or HID lights. I bet even a laser makes it turn a certain color
my birthstone, my middle name is alexis.. lol and i have an alexandrite engagement ring too… i say do you want a stone that sparkles or a stone that changes color lol … i think color change is way cooler to me lol
I have a natural stone in a ring that belonged to my grandmother. The natural one is called the “stone that is an emerald by day and ruby by night”. And yes, mine is green by day and ruby/purplish by night.
Interesting cause mine is a lab Alex and it’s also green sometimes blue by day(sunlight) and purplish at night! Guess they’re very similar.
my wife has the same type of stone in her wedding ring! thank you for the explanation! we both enjoy your content and detail into all of your topics. thank you from the u.p.
I have a real alexandrite and your stone should be the same. I was sold my ring as a sapphire and as I drove home the stone turned purple and as a crystal collector I knew that I had found alexandrite. When I have my nails done at the salon I have to put my nails into a blue light box and when I looked at my beloved ring the stone was bright red, like a very expensive ruby. Have a look at your ring under blue light and be amazed at the rich blood red ruby as there is another colour that you are yet to see. Amazing. Much love & *virtual hugs* from Australia xxx❤
This is my favorite ring review video I’ve seen, thanks for sharing. You’re definitely increasing my preference for this as a center stone.
I'm glad it was helpful! Mostly, I'm super excited about the stone, ha. Appreciate you watching!
I have a colour changing stone in a ring my MIL left me. It is too large to be Alexandrite and I think it may be a Garnet. It changes from a deep red/purple to a beautiful clear sky blue with red undertones. I love it.❤
Opals are really cool.
Hey that is a pretty cool ring 💍!
This is my new favourite video on the net. Thanks for sharing. That is really cool!
Thanks, Dan! I appreciate that! This was a huge project for me when I made it, so I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Aside from the fun facts about Alexandrite, your Husband is one lucky young man. Congratulations Alexis.
That is a lovely rock! The greenish color from the pen light was really surprising! =)
Thanks, Zack! I was also very surprised by it, ha ha. Was a fun discovery!
Thanks for the smile today!!!
My favorite rock is a Tektite! You should check them out, I think you'll appreciate them like I do!
Alexandrite is so very neat and good! My long-term girlfriend and I have been talking about engagement rings and alexandrite is VERY much high on my list for stones.
Ah, that's amazing! An early congratulations to you both! :) I'm definitely biased at this point but would highly recommend it, ha ha.
I just bought an alexandrite ring for my girlfriend, thanks for clarifying some stuff
My pleasure! Hope she really enjoys it!
What a great video! Thank you so much for sharing this!
A yooperlite would be a cool video to see. @Alexis Dahl
It is in the works! 🙂
I've found it's difficult to capture what my eyes see in my color-change sapphires, garnet (a cool one, it was mined in the 80s but no one realized it was color-change till like the late 2010s cause pink garnet is so common no one bothered actually looking at it till someone bought a bunch of the pink rough to practice cutting, and cut it. The GIA confirmed they had never seen another garnet with that change before. Mine is NOT the only example of that color-change, thank the stars, but I keep hoping they'll find another deposit of this garnet type cause the purple it goes is really pretty), and Chatham alexandrite.
(I don't sell gemstones or anything, I just have a thing for color-change gems. Can't help but help myself 😂)
I've seen elsewhere people selling stones saying "the stone is more green/purple/whatever than in the photos."
Apparently our eyes see more of the teal-greens in Alexandrite than typical camera lenses do, cause of the rods and cones etc
I have a lab color-change sapphire that changes to greenish in the sunlight but I've ONLY been able to photograph it as purple. It's bizarre!
If you wanna get really into it, admire your stone somewhere and then try to photograph it where you are. Note the differences :)
Whoa, cool! Thanks for all the info and story here, Anne. Appreciate you stopping by!
@@AlexisDahlmy pleasure. I just got a Chatham Alexandrite myself. It goes a REALLY vibrant emerald green, and my camera can't see the green either! It's so trippy.
Hope you're well
@@annedavis3340 Ooh, neat! That sounds really fun.
And thanks so much! Hope you are as well. :)
My lab Alex is bright red under uv light . In the day my ring looks like an amethyst, At night, it looks dark purple with a green haze inside, but it always photographs reddish purple on my cellphone.
Great presentation and easy to digest information! Great video and I dig the personal and informative parts
Thanks so much! I really appreciate that.
@@AlexisDahl your very very welcome! Don’t lose your fire
That is soo cool!!! Absolutely love learning things like this! I was super intrigued by a tangentially similar thing I learned from an intro lecture of a computer vision class learning about how eyes work with the different cone wavelengths that they can detect and looking at graphs like these to explain things like colorblindness and vision in different animals. Thank you for the awesome new knowledge :)
Thank you for sharing your story. Your ring is lovely, good on you for choosing different 👍
I absolutely adore colour change gemstones, I have two types an amethyst and a spinel.
They never cease to amaze me, their pleochroism enables the alexandrite effect. The amethyst is of the deep purple variety, but it can also look like a deep blue sapphire or a deep red garnet just depending on the light. The spinel is a lavender blue, it can be violet, lavender, blue or almost a titanium steel grey.
Much like yourself, I think they are far more interesting because of this fact, both are rings and I let diamonds play second fiddle to the main event, not a diamond girl, even though I am born in April, for me coloured gemstones win every time.
Thank you so much! And those gems sound wonderful! I totally see what you mean about diamonds, too. They're lovely! But I am also Team Colored Gemstones, ha.
Kinda like how blue eyes appear different colours in different lighting conditions. Except you know, a totally different effect and way more prominent.
We have exactly just like that changing color gem,and it's beautiful and it's big
Oh, that's awesome! Thanks for sharing that!
Have you done anything on yuperlites?
I’m going to propose in just a few days, I bought my Girlfriend Holly an Alexandrite ring similar to this and I’m very excited/scared haha! Love your video
Aw, congrats, Joel! That's so exciting! I bet she'll love it - and you'll be great! 🙂 Glad you enjoyed the video, too!
Try UV and black light, too.
May I ask where ur husband got the ring? I’m looking online and having trouble finding site with alexandrite engagement rings. Thank u
I believe it came from the company MiaDonna!
nice Yooper
Good video, thanks
Mega congrats, and that's a beautiful ring. Thanks for the super interesting experiments!
Thanks, Josh! :) Also, glad you enjoyed them! (I had way too much fun playing around, ha ha.)
Well I will keep this short but it was the title that caught my attention going through your videos. BTW born and raised Michigan thats how I ran across your videos. Anyway me and my wife were both born in June, actually 1 year 2 days apart. I wanted to get her something different and special after we had been dating. Tada I learned about Alexandrite. Just like you have it was synthetic stone surrounded by white gold and diamonds. Jump forward few years I decide to ask her to marry. It took a lot of searching to find a real Alexandrite and I wanted a Brazilian Alexandrite as Russian (I think originally found 1st) is mainly private collections and museums. Real Brazilian hard to find and $$ but available. Mainly I think India is the only real mine finding these stones. However they are more brownish. Thankfully to a friend in jewelry business and connections I found one at Miners den, MI. Anyway she aalways gets complements on her Brazilian Alexandrite. Most ppl do not know about this "Hidden" gem. Oh Alexandrite was the original birth stone for June but they changed because of scarcity, from what I remember and understand.
Soo beautiful 😍 where did you get your ring? I'm also looking for one as my wedding ring 💍
What a fun and informational video! Looking forward to checking out the rest of your insightful videos (:
Aw, thanks, Laura! That's so kind of you. Hope you enjoy them!
Congrats!! Have you tried shining different coloured lasers on the stone? How singular wavelengths might effects the Color may be interesting. Fan from India by the way.
Hey, Ekansh! Thanks for watching! I haven't tried that yet - mostly because of a lack of lasers, ha ha. But I'd love to try that sometime. Thanks for the idea!
As always, a fantastic video Alexis! :D This is one of those things that I find way too cool as well!
Keep up the awesome work, cause you ARE awesome! ;)
Aw, thank you so much! I really appreciate all of that!
@@AlexisDahl No problem!
Besides changing colors did you get all the benefits associated with the natural Alexandrite stone.
❤❤❤❤ congratulazions nice ring
Have you tried a black light on the stone ?
Hey I'm going to get my girlfriend the same stone whats the difference between the lab created ones and the natural ones . and where can I shop for both?
That's so exciting! I'm not sure where you can shop for natural stones, but my ring came from Mia Donna. I know that the natural stones are significantly more expensive and may have a more profound color change, but beyond that, a professional jeweler could likely share more!
Its awsum i hav also one can u plz tell is it real or not? It also changes it colr according to light
Hi! Unfortunately, I don't have the skillet to tell real gems from synthetic ones. But whatever you have, it sounds lovely!
@@AlexisDahl yes its amazing i can snd u pictures of gem as well would u like to see?
very neat
You should try UV light.
Some of the differences don't seem as big as you are describing, but that could easily be camera white balance, and/or my laptop's screen, that or I am starting to oddly loose color definitions in my vision (T1D does weird things, but I've not heard of that as a side effect)
Either way neat thing to observe, and go blue!
Hey, thanks for watching! 🙂 Yeah, none of the color differences are aggressively dramatic (or at least, not as dramatic as I think you see in real alexandrite), but they’ve definitely been enough for me to notice and be excited about, ha. The strength of color seems to be pretty similar across the board, which might lead to some of them looking similar overall.
@@AlexisDahl I think it also would be interesting to see how it reacts to color changing LED bulbs (such as the Philips Hue system), don't know if it would generate larger color shifts or not. I am somewhat surprised that you're seeing more incandescent bulbs than LEDs, or at lest one that appear to be incandescent vs LEDs, granted, easy to make incandescent balanced LEDs now a days.
@@elh93 Ooh, interesting! If I ever invest in some of those, I'd also be really curious to see what happens. I wonder if you'd be able to manipulate the colors more with something like that... Thanks for the idea! (And ha, I think we just happen to have a decent number of old light bulbs in our apartment!)
@@AlexisDahl I got the hue system to work both as an alarm for grad school, and two try and connect it to a CGM and wake me up if I need to adjust my blood sugar. But they are a really neat system overall. A pretty decent color range on them. my apartment building is pretty new, so the built in stuff is all LED, thus I'm use to them...
@@elh93 Oh, awesome! That's a great idea. Will keep that in mind! :)
Hello Alexis,
(sorry for my english, i'm french)
I'm very interested in Alexandrite and i am searching for a "good" way of purchasing one, i am intrigued about what you said about ethical reasons that made you buy a synthetical one and would like to know more about it , if you have websites or anything that could help me learn. Also, do you know how i can try to buy an Alexandrite without the risk of being huslted (scamed?) ?
Anyway, congratulations for you wedding and your beautiful ring ! :)
Thank you very much, very cool video!!
Have a nice day :)
Hi, Gaby! No worries at all - your English is great.
If you're looking for actual alexandrite (as opposed to synthetic), I unfortunately don't have any recommendations for sellers. But good question about ethics! I was always interested in synthetic alexandrite, so didn't do a deep study of ethical alexandrite mining. But I knew that the ring I wanted also had some diamond on the band, and that diamond mining can be full of conflict.* I also read a little bit about how there are alexandrite mines in Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe, which may not have great, ethical mining practices. So ultimately, I decided to steer clear of all of that to be safe. (And also, the price of synthetic alexandrite was a huge selling point!)
*One source: www.nytimes.com/2019/01/08/business/diamonds-origin-tiffany-consumers.html
If you’re looking for natural Alexandrite there’s a site called multicolour that deals in a variety of gemstones and is reputable. Looking at seller reviews on pricescope is recommended due to the large amount of scams involving natural Alexandrite. It’s an extremely rare stone and the demand is high so be prepared to pay a higher price for good quality natural Alexandrite than you would for diamond. Also, anyone claiming to sell natural Russian Alexandrite is likely scamming you.
Green is a nicer color than blue!
Do you know what the difference is as far as lab and natural?
LED lightbulbs are much better now than they used to be. I like them better than CFL's. But both CFLs and LED bulbs use a lot less energy than incandescents.
Very cool!
MY DREAM RING STONE 😭😭😭
It's such a good one! I hope you're able to have one someday!
That is one beautiful composite rock! Congrats on the engagement and marriage. May you forever be happy :D If you want even more ideas for experiments: Point a laser through it and watch its' light spectrum! I had other ideas, but I think heating or testing its' hardness might damage it :p
Thanks so much! 🙂 And ha ha, I might have to try that sometime. Definitely want to keep it from getting damaged, though! 😂
Nicely done! I wonder what it would look like in black light?
Thanks so much! And oh, thanks for asking! Conveniently, I have a UV penlight sitting in the drawer in front of me, which should get the same effect - I didn't think to check it on my ring until you mentioned this. The stone is an AGGRESSIVE pinkish red! It looks borderline fluorescent!
@@AlexisDahl that’s interesting! Thanks for sharing.
What happens when exposed to UV?
I have alixandrite platinum ring
Wonderful video
Thanks so much!
Hope u have it insured. Have u had it properly appraised? You should expect a detailed report stating where it came from, carat weight, quality, cut and other bits of info that make your stone unique. Do you know the #1 mistake that gets robbers caught by police? Making the error of stealing jewellery due to its uniqueness. So, know your stone and even the style of your ring. Details matter in the gem world. So, I doubt it's from Russia. If so, that would be auspicious. Probably from Africa, India or Brazil. Each area would make your stone different. What seems like a simple thing is actually very complex.
Just got my girlfriend pretty much the same ring and we have been gawking over it for days
That's awesome!! Enjoy the gawking! :)
Have you ever checked out the sinkholes in the alpena area?
I haven't yet! I have had a few folks suggest I look into them, though, so they're on my list of ideas!
I stumbled on this. Nice video. Nicer ring. Congratulations on your engagement. My wife carries a synthetic blue diamond ring with boron forced into the carbon. (Influenced by Michael Crichton's Congo, which betrays our age). Am mulling on synthetic Alexandrite for our anniversary.
Thank you, Clarence! That's so kind of you. The synthetic blue diamond also sounds beautiful!
Try and put it next to a fire test that out It should turn to a ruby like color! Not candle like a campfire!
Thanks for the suggestion! That’s definitely on my list to try. Just gotta get access to a campfire! 🔥👀
Alexis Dahl Your welcome also thank you for giving me a new gem to study but as a kid I can’t get this gem so please tell me or make a another video on this gem!
What about LED? Go to Lowe’s and buy the 4 different spectrum bulbs and see the changes. Beautiful ring
Thanks, Jim! There are definitely still a lot of possibilities to test here. I might have to do a follow-up video someday!
Lab grown gems are not technically synthetic-- they have the exact same composition as natural stones.
Until recently blue led has been very hard to produce on a production lvl...
STFD. I got my wife an engagement ring with an iolite stone.
Could you do a video on Yooperlites?
Thanks for the suggestion! I actually already have a script written about Yooperlites, ha ha. My hesitation with moving forward with it is that the name "Yooperlite" is trademarked (and my sense is that the owner of the trademark is pretty serious about that) - so I'm not sure if I could actually use that name in the video without getting in legal trouble. I've considered moving forward with the video and just not using the actual name, but haven't fully committed to that yet!
@@AlexisDahl "UV reactive rocks."
So you get to do a little science every time you go to a new place with different lighting. Sweeet
I went to a skating rink under black lights and it turned red! Try it!
That sounds awesome! Thanks for sharing! The next time I'm around a blacklight, I'm super excited to check it out.
Fun fact: the change of color phenomena is because of the titanium present element :)
Are you certain that your ring is a lab-grown alexandrite? Does it test as an alexandrite or sapphire? As you know, they no longer mine it since alexanderite can no longer be found. JTV offers lab alexandrites with color change but they disclose that they are actually selling color change lab-grown sapphires that test as sapphires since they have the same chemical properties as their natural, earth-mined counterparts. So, just curious if your ring tests as an alexandrite or sapphire since most lab alexandrites are actually lab-grown color change sapphires.
I’m trying to find a nice alexandrite engagement ring and I’m not having much luck
If you're okay with a synthetic one, mine came from the company MiaDonna!
Alexis, is the only reason you wanted Alexandrite for your ring is because of the color change? The name wouldn't have anything to do with it, would it?🤔🤔🤔
I ordered alexandrite earrings, but I’m afraid it’ll kill me. I have a problem with shiny things, I can’t stop staring at them… I think I may cross the street sometime and the color would change and I would get hit by a car or something...
also, who knows, maybe there will be a meteor falling on earth, and they’ll tell us to hide in a bunker, and I’ll go outside to see what color the alexandrite will be….
I have problems.
I mean, earrings seem like a safe bet, at least! Depending on how long they are, they might be hard to see unless you're looking in a mirror/phone camera. So... there's that!
Alexandrite will glow red in UV light.
"Clolour"
Do you believe that gemstones put effect on your personality ?
Thanks for asking! I don't believe that. They can be fun to admire, though!
ye a girl like this he had to of gotten and ring with something special in it
Okay, the science here is "mostly" correct. As for the alexandrite effect, the problem is that no one uses the expression "alexandrite effect", that just dosen't exist. Professionals in the gemstone industry use the word "pleochroism" for this optical phenomenon.
Thanks for the feedback, Malik! I know pleochroism is the more technical term here, but I chose to go with "the alexandrite effect" since it felt a bit more palatable for a general audience, and I've seen several sources refer to it as that (ex. GIA.edu, many research papers). Thanks for giving me some insight into the professional side of things!
LEDs? Do they have a cool effect? Lovely ring and may your marriage be longer and happier than my parents'. They made it 67 years.
The pen light might make it green if it only uses red and green LED diodes. It is not that many years since they started being able to make blue diodes for LED lights. Before that they faked white light using only red and green diodes. Also, i have to get a little environmental on you(#sorry, #personwhossellsledbulbs), you should stop using CFLs and switch to LEDs as the CFL bulbs get burned out in your house, They are full of mercury and don't live as long as LEDs. ;)
Ah, interesting! That would totally make sense. Thanks for the info! (And good to know, thanks! We haven't had lights burn out in a while, which is why most of our bulbs are still incandescent, but I'll keep that in mind as the bulbs go out!)
Can confirm, we started switching out our old bulbs for LEDs. I think I only know of one incandescent left in our house. Lord has our power bill gone down a surprising amount.
My chatham alexandrite goes a purpley teal in LED light.
what you have is not a lab created alexandrite but a lab created color change-sapphire,
Could you say more about why you think so?
Alexis Dahl most synethetic or lab created alexandrite on the market are actually lab created color-change sapphire. True lab created alexadrite should change from green to red while color change sapphires changes from violetish blue to purple.
THE STUD Interesting - thanks! I’ll have to look into this.
@@thestud1881 can you explain with details? I have a facetated gem that changes color but I haven't found what it could be yet 😢
I really love seeing the passion and joy beaming from your eyes and how often you smile.😊 It really makes me happy in these times and reminds me that hope still exists in the world, that God’s Creation is so magnificent and marvelous even in the littlest of places. I hope you and your husband are doing alright in your isolation, and I’ll keep supporting any videos you decide to make because your passion and love really does shine through. So thanks!😄
Thanks, Patton! That's so kind of you. :) And my husband and I are doing alright! We're keeping busy and are finding ways to settle into a little bit of a new normal. Hope you're doing well also!