Beryl – The Multi-Hued Gemstone

By Owen Jones

Many people may think that they would not recognize a beryl, but the fact is that beryl is a crystal that has several more well-known forms. Emeralds and Aquamarines are examples of more well-known beryl crystals. Emeralds are dark green, aquamarine is the colour of the sea and there is also a red beryl known as bixbite.

As far as we know, the first emeralds were mined near the Red Sea in Egypt at Cleopatra’s Mines. This name was applied later as the mines were first productive 2,000 years before Cleopatra was born. It is considered that the secret location of the mine was lost and only rediscovered in 1818.

It is imagined that most of the emeralds worn in the ancient Middle East and Europe came from these mines. The Cleopatra Mines have apparently been exhausted of high quality emeralds and are not mined any more. Columbia and Russia are the most important sources of emeralds nowadays

Australia and South Africa are also serious sources of emeralds. There are ten or so other sources of emeralds around the world, but they tend to be small or of low quality and of virtually no commercial value.

As stated above, beryls come in various colours under different names. In fact, the colours vary from peach to lavender, besides the more valuable greens and greeny-blues. The beryl that is most used in these other colours is morganite, which can vary from peach to lavender.

Morganite is not a valuable-sounding precious stone, so deceitful traders have tried to rebrand it as ‘Pink Emerald’ or ‘Pink Aquamarine’. Do not get fooled by these half-truths.

Morganite was first discovered in California, but there are also serious build-ups of it in Africa, Brazil and Russia. In spite of its poor status and lack of perceived value, morganite is fairly scarce, which makes it a worthwhile gift.

A different beryl crystal of a beautiful colour is heliodor, which translates as ‘gift of the sun’ due to its beautiful, golden, sun-like colour. Heliodor was not discovered until 1910 and was found near to a deposit of aquamarine in Namibia.

Since then, deposits of heliodor have been discovered in Brazil and Madagascar. The largest crystal of heliodor lies in the Hall of Gems at the Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC. It weighs in at 2,054 carats or 410.8 grammes (just over 14 ounces). It is faceted and so has been cut.

Two of the rarest variations of beryl are only to be found in America. Red beryl is found in the Wah Wah Mountains of Utah, but the stones are tiny and usually flawed with inclusions. Nevertheless, red beryl is a gorgeous deep shade of red.

There is also a colourless, clear beryl known as Goshenite, because it is just known in Goshen, Massachusetts. However, it must have been discovered elsewhere in the Ancient World, because it is considered that the Ancients used clear beryl for lenses.

The first spectacles were almost certainly also made out of polished clear beryl.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on a variety of subjects, and is now concerned with baby birthstones. If you would like to know more, please visit our web site at Jewellry and Watches.

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