Wise words from 30 years ago

When I got my first paycheck, like many other twentysomethings in those days, I wanted to spend it on some jewelry for my then girlfriend.

My mother advised me otherwise and this is what she said.

“Whatever you decide to buy, make sure it’s the best and it’s genuine.

Because if it’s not, sooner or later, it will break or fall apart or she’ll discover it’s not the real deal and she’ll think a lot less of you. As will everyone else”.

Thankfully, I followed her advice and didn’t buy the cheap jewelry I was thinking of.

30 odd years later I recalled her words when a good friend showed me a ring he had bought as an anniversary gift for his lovely wife. 

He took me aside and quietly boasted about the low price he’d paid.

I asked him how he’d managed to get such a large stone for such a low price.

“Oh, it’s not real. It’s synthetic. Made to look like the real thing though.”

Later that evening his wife was showing me the ring and said that she was going to get it appraised for insurance.

I knew at that moment it would end in tears

And felt immensely sad for both of them.

It felt like he’d given her a bunch of artificial flowers instead of the real ones.

And it’s the same with Alexandrite.

There’s a lot of synthetic stones in the market that may look like the real thing – only they’re not.

They’re made in a pressure cooker oven in a lab in a few hours.

Whereas true alexandrite was created by aeons of natural pressure deep in the bowels of the earth.

In fact, there’s a lab in Thailand that produces over 100Kg a year of synthetic alexandrite.

Conversely, the single mine in Brazil we buy our stones from in Hematita - produces very few high quality natural gems. 

We should know because we buy only the best direct from them.

And Safiya ONLY sells natural stones.

Alexandrite was originally mined in the Ural Mountains in Russia from the 1830’s onwards but those rich seams were depleted long ago. Today, the best stones come from the single mine in Brazil we buy from.

Of course, when there’s an extremely limited amount of natural gems being mined world-wide, their price inevitably rises. The Brazilian gems we purchase direct from the mine tend to be under 1ct and any much rarer, larger stones tend to be incredibly expensive.  

Because of the rarity of natural alexandrite, people often ask if there’s any real difference between a natural alexandrite and one that’s created in a lab?

From a color change viewpoint, the answer is not really. Natural alexandrite changes from its natural glamorous bluish green in daylight to a rich, plum purple at night or under artificial light – as does one created in a lab. But, a trained eye can see the difference immediately between natural and artificial.

Whilst all our crafted jewelry pieces are accompanied by a Guarantee of Authenticity that our gems are pure and natural, we always advise customers to take any alexandrite ‘gem’ they have bought elsewhere to a reputed GIA lab to determine its authenticity. 

A natural gem expresses so much more than love that it’s almost impossible to put into words. It’s a feeling that you value that love so much that you will gift something of great rarity to express it.