Amongst genuine gemstones, one of the rarest, most valuable and highest priced is ALEXANDRITE. This gemstone has an unusual characteristic: it changes color, generally from a deep green/blue to purple. Because the real gemstone is so rare & expensive, vintage costume jewelry designers would not have used the real thing in their lovely pieces as that would have made them unaffordable. What they did use was a variation, synthetic or imitation alexandrite, possibly even color-change sapphire crystals that acted similarly to genuine alexandrite. In this album, we showcase some beautiful costume jewelry which used what I call "faux alexandrite" stones from designers like Sherman, Weiss and Kramer. With the exception of photos 1/2, all these pieces have already been sold from our SHOP AT RUBY LANE but we are continue to add as we come across new pieces. The photos below generally show the same piece in 2 different pictures, once in the blue/green state, once in lavender/mauve. Enjoy!
Date(s): April 17, 2009. Album by Viga Boland. Photos by John Boland. 1 - 24 of 26 Total. 1725 Visits.
1 Outstanding faux alexandrite set of earrings and necklace by Sherman. Shown here in mauve. Next photo shows it in blue/green. Currently on sale in OUR SHOP AT RUBY LANE
2 Same set as in photo #1 but shown with the color change from mauve to blue/green. Currently on sale in OUR SHOP AT RUBY LANE
3 Brooch/earring set in blue/green by Sherman.
4 Brooch/earring set changed to mauve by Sherman.
5 Faux alexandrite & rhinestone necklace by Weiss in mauve. Recently SOLD from OUR SHOP AT RUBY LANE
6 Faux alexandrite & rhinestone necklace by Weiss in pale blue. Recently SOLD from OUR SHOP AT RUBY LANE
7 Sherman necklace has faux alexandrite stones in blue across top. Note these have turned mauve in next photo. Currently available from OUR SHOP AT RUBY LANE
8 Sherman necklace shown in previous photo but stones across top are now mauve as light changed. Currently available from OUR SHOP AT RUBY LANE
9 Gorgeous sautoir by Weiss features all faux alexandrite stones in mauve in this photo, blue/green in next photo. SORRY, IT'S SOLD!
10 Same necklace by Weiss as shown in previous photo but this time in blue/green. SORRY IT'S SOLD!
11 Traditional Weiss stylings in this lovely demi show the faux alexandrite stones as blue/green in this photo, and mauve in the next. SORRY IT'S SOLD!
12 Traditional Weiss stylings in this lovely demi show the faux alexandrite stones as mauve in this photo, and mauve in the next. SORRY IT'S SOLD!
13 Outstanding book piece grande parure by Kramer used faux alexandrite stones shown in blue in this photo and mauve in the next. SORRY IT'S SOLD!
14 Outstanding book piece grande parure by Kramer shown in previous photo in blue is now mauve in this photo. SORRY IT'S SOLD!
15 Gorgeous 3 pc set by Sherman shows natural state with blue/green and lavender stones in this photo but all have turned lavender in the next photo.
16 Same Sherman parure shown in previous photo has turned fully lavender/mauve as light changed in this picture. SORRY IT'S SOLD!
17 Gorgeous bracelet and earring set by WEISS shown in blue/green color in this photo and mauve in the next. SORRY IT'S SOLD!
18 Same faux alexandrite set by WEISS shown in previous photo has turned mauve/lavender in this photo. SORRY IT'S SOLD!
19 Magnificent demi by SHERMAN is all mauve/lavender in this photo but note the difference in the next photo of the same set. SORRY IT'S SOLD!
20 Same set by SHERMAN as shown in photo #17, but look carefully and you see the stones running around the neck are blue/green and not mauve as in other photo. SORRY IT'S SOLD!
21 Stunning SHERMAN Grande Parure shows faux alexandrite stones in blue/greens in this picture and mauve/purple in next photo. SORRY IT'S SOLD!
22 Same set by SHERMAN as shown in photo #19, but here the stones have turned mauve/purple from the blue/green of the previous picture. SORRY IT'S SOLD!
23 Fantastic demi parure by SCHIAPARELLI has faux alexandrite stones. Lavender/purple in this pic, blue in next ..
24 Same set but now the colors of the stones are blue/green.
