Beryl - The Colourful Gemstone Lots of people may think that they would not recognize a beryl, but

the fact is that beryl is a crystal that has a number of more famous types. Emeralds and Aqu amarines 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 called bixbi te. As far as we are aware, the first emeralds were mined near the Red Sea in Egypt at Cleopatra's Mines. This name was adopted later as the mines were first produc tive 2,000 years before Cleopatra was born. It is thought that the secret locati on of the mine was lost and only rediscovered in 1818. It is thought that most of the emeralds used in the ancient Middle East and Euro pe came from these mines. The Cleopatra Mines have in fact been exhausted of hig h quality emeralds and are not mined any more. Columbia and Russia are the most important sources of emeralds these days Australia and South Africa are also significant sources of emeralds. There are a dozen or so other sources of emeralds in the world, but they tend to be small o r of low quality and of virtually no commercial value. As stated above, beryls come in different colours under different names. In fact , the colours vary from peach to lavender, apart from the more valuable greens a nd 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 gem, so deceitful traders have tried to reb rand it as 'Pink Emerald' or 'Pink Aquamarine'. Do not be fooled by these half-t ruths. Morganite was first discovered in California, but there are also serious build-u ps of it in Africa, Brazil and Russia. In spite of its poor status and lack of p erceived value, morganite is quite scarce, which makes it a worthwhile present. Another beryl crystal of a beautiful hue is heliodor, which means 'gift of the s un' due to its beautiful, golden, sun-like colour. Heliodor was not discovered u ntil 1910 and was found near to a deposit of aquamarine in Namibia. Since then, deposits of heliodor have been found in Brazil and Madagascar. The l argest crystal of heliodor lies in the Hall of Gems at the Smithsonian Institut e, Washington DC. It weighs in at 2,054 carats or 410.8 grammes (just more than 14 ounces). It is faceted and so has been cut. Two of the rarest forms of beryl are only to be discovered in America. Red beryl is discovered in the Wah Wah Mountains of Utah, but the stones are tiny and usu ally 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 only f ound in Goshen, Massachusetts. However, it must have been found elsewhere in the Ancient World, because it is considered that the Ancients used clear beryl for lenses. The first spectacles were probably also manufactured out of polished clear beryl . Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on a number of topics, and is now concerned with <a href="http://jewellryandwatches.com/amber-in-poland/">Amber in Poland</a>. If you would like to know more, please visit our web site at <a

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