Buying Tips for Chrysoberyl


Valuation

Intense, slightly greenish yellow or brownish yellow (honey yellow) are the most valuable colors of cat's-eye. Fine greens are a step lower in price than honey yellows. Darker brown body colors are slightly less valuable, and very pale yellow and very pale greenish yellow are even less valuable. Green stones are usually priced the same as the light brown colors. Opaque gray stones have relatively little value.

A narrow, well-defined chatoyant band exactly in the center of the stone is the most desirable. Silvery-white bands are preferred by some; others are partial to a golden-yellow eye. Less desirable are greenish or bluish-white eyes. The opaque gray stones usually have a bluish or bluish-gray eye. Whatever its color, however, it is important that the eye contrast sharply with the background color. For top value, the eye must open widely and close sharply; in addition, the milk-and-honey effect mentioned previously must be present. Fine qualities of alexandrite cat's-eye are rare and highly prized; even if they show only a fair color change, they are usually valued above other cat's-eyes.

Proportioning must also be considered before the relative quality of a cat's-eye can be determined. In an effort to conserve as much of the rough material as possible, lapidaries frequently cut cat's-eyes with such deep bases that they are difficult to set in a mounting properly. Conserving weight may be done in an attempt to increase the beauty of a stone; more often, however, it is done only to obtain a higher price, by multiplying the total weight by the per carat figure that the quality in the upper portion of the stone merits. Since most cat's-eyes are translucent to semitransparent, the depth of a stone is often of little importance, as far as the quality of the color or eye is concerned. Therefore, it is usually only necessary to retain enough weight below the girdle to give the stone a slightly rounded base that joins the girdle edges at a rather low angle, thus making it possible to secure the stone in a well-fitting bezel. The girdle of a stone with a deep base is usually too wide and rounded, to permit easy setting. Since weight retention is such a common practice, the method used by many dealers to establish a more realistic value is to consider the approximate weight of the stone as if it were to be re-cut to eliminate the excess pavilion weight. This figure, plus the per carat value based on the apparent quality of the crown, is then used to arrive at the more correct figure. However, there are some stones that are too transparent to have the body required for the milk-and-honey effect or the opening and closing of the eye. Such stones need the bulk below the girdle and merit a substantially lower price per carat.

The value of alexandrite is affected by imperfections and quality of cutting, of course, but primarily by the beauty of its change of color. It is usually implied that the closer the daylight color approaches the slightly bluish or yellowish green of fine quality emeralds and the more nearly the color under artificial light approaches red to purplish red of ruby, the more valuable the stone. However, neither color really should be likened to emerald or ruby, for the finest alexandrites bear little resemblance to either. The finest red (sometimes described as "columbine" or "raspberry"), is more comparable to that of a very fine garnet, and the green to an unusually intense tourmaline green. The variations from these perfection colors are wide and rarely are two stones similar, either in quality of the color change or in value. Although stones that have a dark grayish-green daylight color are less valuable, all alexandrites with a good change are rated among the more valuable gems. Large flawless crystals are rare; usually, they are so stratified and flawed that only small stones can be recovered. Ceylon stones are generally less flawed and often display a better artificial-light color, although beautiful stones have come from Russia. Compared with other gems, there is only a small quantity of alexandrites available at the present time.

Transparent chrysoberyl, other than alexandrite, is not frequently seen in jewelers, stocks, but it is hard, durable, and sometimes furnishes attractive stones. Green stones are particularly attractive. Price is related directly to the appeal of their color.

Buying Tips

Although chrysoberyl is not well known to the public, it enjoys a strong and seemingly growing demand among those who know and appreciate colored stones. Many retail firms have found that cat's-eyes "move" rather well, particularly to men; as a consequence, in recent years an increasing number of jewelers have stocked them. Some have found that one of the best means of selling this intriguing stone is to wear a ring themselves. One jeweler told that be had sold four from his hand within a period of a year, all sales of significant size. A glance at the price chart for chrysoberyl will show that a size able stone of fine quality can represent a sale of consequence. When an exceedingly fine cat's-eye can bring as much as $1000 per carat on the wholesale market, it is obvious that fifteen or twenty-carat stone mounted in platinum can command a very high figure. A growing demand and a limited supply is likely to continue to boost its value. In recent years, even medium grades have risen markedly in value as the demand has increased.

The prevalence of synthetic alexandrite like sapphire has called attention to the genuine alexandrite; as a result, its value has also increased materially in recent years. In chrysoberyl and all of its varieties, the jeweler has stone that is hard, beautiful and sufficiently rare to he highly desirable and worth promoting. This is not to suggest that alexandrites in any size and quality can be obtained at a moment's notice, but merely that they (as well as cat's-eyes) are available to a retailer who seeks them. Stones can be obtained on memo from most of the larger colored-stone houses. A jeweler who has a stone or two in stock and seeks a larger and finer stone for a customer or a smaller and poorer stone would thus be in a position to obtain a small selection within a reasonably short time.

Both alexandrite and cat's-eye are intriguing to most persons. A description by an alexandrite owner of his stone is often amusing, since it suggests that the stone has the ability to display almost every color of the spectrum. Although this is not true, it seems to leave that impression with its owner. Even synthetic alexandrite like sapphire, which is so often purchased overseas as a natural stone, seems to fascinate its owners with its unusual appearance and its property of changing color under different light sources. The opening and closing of the eye and the milk-and-honey effect are also a source of fascination to its owner. This is one of the reasons that either of these phenomenal varieties of chrysoberyl can be sold very effectively from.

 

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