Grandidierite is one of the rarest minerals on earth. It was first discovered in 1902 in southern Madagascar and named in honor of French explorer Alfred Grandidier (1836–1912) who studied the natural history of Madagascar. The original discovery of the stone was located in a small pegmatite outcrop in the cliffs of Andrahomana, which is on the southern coast of Madagascar. Since its initial discovery, specimens of grandidierite have been found in select locations around the world, including Malawi, Namibia and Sri Lanka. In 2014, about 35 miles northwest of the original deposit find, in the Amboasary district of southern Madagascar’s Anosy region gem quality rough was discovered. With very few exceptions, the only location where gem quality material has been discovered is Southern Madagascar. Most faceted stones have been under 1 carat in size with obvious inclusions; in very rare finds 3 to 5 carats or slightly larger have been produced. It is strongly trichroic, meaning it appears as different shades of color from different angles, but it is often cut so that when facing up it has a blue to bluish green color.
Something we value here at Omi Privé is process. We have close relationships with miners and generations of industry partnerships in the loose colored gemstone business. These partnerships allow us to acquire gemstones that others don’t have access to. We specialize in sourcing because we see each gemstone as true artistic works of nature. For this three-stone ring, we combined another favorite gemstone of ours; alexandrite. Alexandrite is one of the most unique and rare gemstones ever discovered. Naturally, it changes colors in different lighting, from hues of greens and blues in daylight to reds and purples in incandescent light. Alexandrite was discovered in April of 1834 in the Ural Mountains of Russia. It was named after Tsar Alexander II since it was discovered around the time of the future Tsar’s coming of age. Since red and green were the colors of Imperial Russia it quickly became the national stone of Russia, worn by royalty and nobility. We felt alexandrite was the perfect compliment to the center grandidierite of this ring. An exceptionally rare combination of gemstones, both grandidierite and alexandrite are two of the rarest gemstones in the world making this ring a true one-of-a-kind collector’s piece.
Grandidierites over 1 carat are highly valuable and coveted, particularly one like the center stone of this ring displaying characteristic blue-green color with little to no eye visible inclusions.
Grandidierite is strongly trichroic so its colors appear to shift when looking at it under different lighting or angles; this characteristic plays off the naturally color changing alexandrites set on the sides and outer halo of the ring.
The lovely side details and black rhodium surrounding the alexandrite melee down the shank and around the crown make the ring gorgeous from all angles.
The platinum ring accented with black rhodium features over a 2 carat oval grandidierite stone and two oval alexandrites on each side. The ring is further complimented by round alexandrites and diamonds.
Watch the color change phenomena of this ring!
