Articles

The Beryl Family

Beryl has six gemstones in its group, and is not to be confused with Chrysoberyl, which has three.

Aquamarine, emerald and morganite are the three most common beryls; the others are bixbite, yellow beryl (heliodor) and clear beryl (goshenite).

Different beryls obtain their differing colours from the presence of metallic elements, mixing with their basic beryllium and aluminium elements combined with varying amounts of
silicone and oxygen (silicates.) Aquamarine has iron, morganite has manganese and emerald is greedy having chromium, vanadium and iron. Some aquamarines have been heat treated to
take them from a green- blue colour to a clear sea blue. Deeper blues do occur naturally, such as the beautiful stones found in the Santa Maria mines in Brazil, and their clarity is also prized. Aquamarines register between 7.5 and 8 out of 10 and are good for all jewellery.

In gemology, clarity is a must for the connoisseur but not so with emeralds. Why, I have no idea, as there are rarer gems with much greater clarity and beauty that do not get the recognition (or price!) of emeralds? In fact, with emeralds, an included deep coloured gem will command a greater price than a paler one of great clarity, and carat-for-carat emeralds can command higher prices than diamonds.

But that’s not all, as they say! Most emeralds have been treated with waxes, oils and resins when being cut (cutting is a difficult and very slow process), and these treatments are not permanent. Most decent suppliers will disclose treatments, as it is frowned upon not to do so. However, if you want a beautiful, green, clear, hassle-free stone, look at garnets, such as demantoid or Tsavorite, green tourmalines, chrome diopside, chrysoberyl… the list goes on and on.

Morganite is a fantastic gemstone and has gained rapidly in popularity and deservedly so.
First mined in California in the early 1900s, it was named morganite after the famous banker J. P. Morgan, who was a big customer of the famous jeweller of the time Frederick Kunz of kunzite fame. When in the rough, before cutting and faceting, the gem is a pale brownish colour but when heat treated, which is perfectly acceptable, it becomes a beautiful peachy pink. Once again, with a hardness of 7.5 to 8 out of 10, it is suitable for all types of jewellery.

And the others? Bixbite is known as a red emerald. It is usually heavily included, making
it translucent rather than having any clarity, but its rarity make it a collector’s prize greater than ruby. Heliodor, or yellow beryl, is a truly magnificent gem and an easy rival in looks to acanary diamond. Goshenite, or clear beryl, is not clear because it has no impurities, but because it does, and these impurities suppress any colour showing!

This gem deserves attention; it is hard enough for all jewellery and has a fantastic brilliance and fire - a scintillating gem.

If you have any queries on gemstones or have any jewellery to be designed or made or refashioned, please call me.

StrawberryWood
0800 917 8684
P.O. Box 7491, Kettering, N16 6HU
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www.strawberrywood.co.uk

StrawberryWood
0800 917 8684
P.O. Box 7491, Kettering, N16 6HU
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.strawberrywood.co.uk