Detailed Description

This specimen features a sharp cyclic twin of alexandrite on mica schist. There are smaller associated twinned alexandrite crystals in behind it (oriented as I’d display it). In excellent condition, no damage. The crystals are quite dark, nearly black in appearance, and need very strong light to discern colour and colour change – they are a dark green hue in sunlight or LED illumination and dark reddish black hue under incandescent/halogen. This main crystal is a super cyclic twin of alexandrite.

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About these Alexandrite Specimens

Specimens of chrysoberyl var. alexandrite have been known from the mines of the Carnaíba district since the early 1980s, and have been found intermittently since that time. The crystals are usually very dark – it is often a challenge to spot the  colour, even with strong light right against the crystals themselves. Carnaíba alexandrites are remarkable for their sharpness, and in particular for their excellent cyclic twinning.