The deposit

Indian alexandrite refers principally to alexandrite produced from the deposits in the Araku Valley region of Andhra Pradesh state, with smaller production from related deposits in adjoining Odisha. The deposit was developed commercially from approximately the 1990s onward, supplementing the historical Russian Ural alexandrite production and the Brazilian Hematita production that had dominated supply since their respective developments. Indian alexandrite is now a secondary but meaningful source in the world supply.

Colour and quality

Indian alexandrite shows the characteristic colour-change phenomenon of all alexandrite, shifting from green or blue-green in daylight to red, raspberry red or purplish red in incandescent illumination. The strength of the colour change varies across the production: top stones show shifts of fifty to seventy percent in colour, comparable to fine Brazilian and approaching the legendary Russian Ural material. Lower-grade Indian production shows weaker colour change of twenty to thirty percent, putting it in the category of colour-change chrysoberyl rather than the higher-grade alexandrite designation.

The Indian production tends to a slightly cooler daylight colour than Brazilian, with greens reading more blue-green than the warmer yellowish-green typical of Brazilian Hematita. The incandescent reading is comparable across the sources, with reds shifting toward raspberry or purplish red.

Sizes and supply

Indian alexandrite production includes meaningful numbers of stones above three carats, occasionally reaching ten to twenty carats at gem grade. The production is artisanal in character, with small-scale mining following the host pegmatite veins. Annual production at gem grade is estimated in the low tens of kilograms, smaller than Brazilian production at peak but not negligible.

Market position

Indian alexandrite trades at prices comparable to lower-grade Brazilian and below the legendary Russian material at equivalent quality. Top Indian stones with strong colour change above five carats might sell at five thousand to fifteen thousand US dollars per carat at retail; lower-grade material trades in the hundreds to low thousands per carat. The price ceiling is set by the broader alexandrite market, in which Russian Ural material with documented provenance commands the highest premiums.

For the working trade, Indian alexandrite represents a useful supply source for buyers who cannot reach Russian or top Brazilian price points but who want documented colour-change material. The buyer's discipline is laboratory verification of the colour change, origin determination, and confirmation that the material is alexandrite rather than the broader colour-change chrysoberyl category.