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Green beryl1/17/2024 ![]() The word “beryl” is derived from the Latin “beryllus,” which means “precious blue-green stone of the seawater.” Beryl comes in many intense colors and there are many transparent varieties in this family of stones. These gemstones are often found in igneous and metamorphic rocks all around the globe. The popular gems emerald, aquamarine, and morganite are all part of this family. The mineral beryl is made up of beryllium aluminum silicate and comes in multiple colors. Depending on the angle and base coloration of the beryl, faceting it in the wrong direction could show a purplish red or orangish red instead of a pure, vivid red.Many of the stones within the Beryl family are popular in jewelry and are very treasured. The greater saturation also makes the pleochroism, or the way beryl splits light more obvious. Thanks to higher concentration of manganese, red beryl manages to reach the deep red saturation that morganite crystals never achieve. Despite their high appeal, the compounded scarcity of red beryl restricts them almost exclusively to being a collector’s gem. Furthermore, the amounts mined are sporadic and unstable. They have only been found in the area around the Wah Wah mountains in Utah to-date, usually in small sizes yielding around 0.2 carats. As a result the gemological community officially refers to it as red beryl. This name has led the gem to be confused with Bixbyte, also named after Bixby. It is also known under the name Bixbite, named after Maynard Bixby for discovering it 1897. It displays deep, vivid reds unlike most of its mineral cousins except for emeralds. Red beryl is the rarest variety of beryl. The yellow can look washed-out in smaller specimens otherwise.įaceted red beryl, and rough, uncut red beryl ![]() This low saturation also makes larger sizes of this gem ideal to display color. Like morganite, they only display light to medium tones and saturations, rarely if ever reaching highly vivid lemon-yellow colors. ![]() While the examples below display ideal color, heliodor can also be a greenish yellow, orangish yellow, or brownish yellow. The yellow color comes from traces of iron. The trade name of yellow beryl is heliodor, translating from Greek as “Gift from the Sun”. Upon exposure to light or heat the dark blue will fade again. When other varieties of beryl such as goshenite (colorless beryl), morganite, and aquamarines are irradiated, they will reach the deep blue maxixe colors. The color in maxixe beryl can be restored with irradiation, but this treatment is not permanent. Initially enthralled with the color, gem dealers became disenchanted with it when they learned how quickly the color fades. The dark blue colors of maxixe were originally discovered in 1917 in a mine of the same name in Brazil. However, most gem vendors do not bother with gems that are not vividly colored, regardless of whether they are emeralds or sapphires. Saturation, or how rich and vivid the color is, plays a role too. The precise distinction between the two is not universally recognized between different countries, despite the available guidelines. What officially distinguishes emeralds and green beryl is usually their tone, with light green being green beryl, and vivid to dark greens being emeralds. Green beryl is not to be confused with emeralds since they are the same gem material colored by the same trace elements (chromium and vanadium). Aquamarines cannot heal their fractures the way rubies and sapphires can. The specific absence of liquid inclusions is important, because otherwise the liquid will cause fractures to rupture inside the aquamarine and damage it instead. Their clear nature also makes aquamarines ideal for heat-treating to display improved colors. It also makes them ideal gems for carving, like with Dom Pedro aquamarine, or this carved aquamarine of Poseidon (Greek god of the ocean) fighting an octopus. Since they often only show a lighter blue color, larger pieces are more desirable to display deeper blues. These sea-blue gems often grow large and clear, making them ideal for faceting.
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