BERYL

BERYL	Perfect, prismatic hexagon crystals
Major Sources	Afghanistan, Brazil, Colombia, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa, Tanzania & Ukraine
Colors Found	Various
Family	Beryl: Be3Al2Si6O18
Hardness	7.5–8
Refractive Index	1.56–1.60; Uniaxial (–)
Specific Gravity	2.68–2.74
Crystal System	Hexagonal
Enhancements	May be enhanced

The name beryl is from the ancient Greek beryllos for the precious blue-green color of sea water. This was originally applied to all green gemstones, but later used only for beryl. Some scholars believe the word beryl is related to the ancient trading city of Belur or perhaps has ancient Indian origins (being derived from the old Hindi word velurya or the Sanskrit word vaidurya).

As an allochromatic gem, when absolutely pure, beryl is devoid of color. Small amounts of metallic elements can be present in the crystal structure, giving rise to many color variations. Aquamarine, emerald, red emerald, fire beryl™ (goshenite), morganite and heliodor are all members of the beryl family.

Just the facts

The most common beryl varieties are listed below.

Aquamarine	Pastel greenish blue to blue
Red Emerald (bixbite)	Red
Emerald	Green
Fire Beryl (Goshenite)	Colorless
Heliodor	Yellow to yellowish green
Morganite	Pastel pink to salmon

Beryl is famous for its perfect, hexagonal prismatic crystals that occur individually or in clusters. These range in size from the microscopic to enormous giants of 25 feet or more. Understandably, only very small amounts of these enormous crystals are of a sufficient quality to be used in jewelry.

All beryl varieties can be faceted into various gem cuts, and some beryls display phenomena such as asterism (star effect), chatoyancy (cat’s eye effect) and an unusual effect in emerald called the trapiche. Trapiche emeralds are found only in Colombia.