Beryl var. Emerald

$3,500.00

$40.00 shipping
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Ships from USA

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Tucson, Arizona, USA

7,543 for sale·132 sold

Emerald, the green variety of the species Beryl, has attracted human interest from prehistory as a precious stone. This is in part due to its rich colour, but also because of its rarity in gem quality crystals. The number of sources of green Beryl are few worldwide, but those where 'gem' crystals are to be found are even less, with Colombia in South America holding the most important localities. Of those, Muzo mine is perhaps the most famous for its history - with records dating back to the earliest years of the 20th century - and for the quality of its best crystals. Compared with Aquamarine, similar sized Emerald crystals simply do no exist in the same quality, with even small gemmy Emerald crystals holding a premium. This miniature specimen features a stocky, 7 mm long, deep emerald green flat-topped, terminated prism of gemmy Emerald rising up from a mottled white Calcite and orange (iron oxides) matrix. A second, similarly wide, but fractured prismatic Emerald crystal shoots off from the base of the other crystal. Both crystals are inclusion-rich, but well-coloured and translucent to transparent. The terminated crystal presents an extremely glassy flat, pinacoid termination face and glassy prism sides. Not perfectly hexagonal in form, the prism shows the development of additional smaller faces, giving it a slightly rounded, or cylindrical outline. The Calcite within the iron-rich matrix can be seen with rhombic cleavage surfaces, but it is the Emerald crystal that draws everyone's attention.