Beryl - image 1

Beryl

Unknown Owner
This is a balanced, aesthetic small cab, with a fat central crystal measuring 1 inch across the termination. The termination is heliodor for a depth of 12 mm, and then beryl. There is no gradation! The change is sharp and sudden, and very striking. This is a very bizarre beryl specimen, of a style that seemed to trickle out of the Erongo in 2007-2009. I am not sure how many pockets there were, but I AM sure that Charlie Key, who is based over there, acquired two of the finer examples for his collection just before he sold it to myself and a partner in 2007. Both sidecar crystals are complete, though there are a few very minor dings here and there (as is typical with Erongo material). The major crystal is freestanding and complete all around. Joe Budd photo (I had this shot at Tucson, for the Whats New report in MR)

Product details

Species
BerylAbout Beryl →
SizeSmall Cabinet
Dimensions7.1 x 4.7 x 4.6 cm
Added on10/23/2024
Locality
Namibia, Erongo Region, Erongo MountainsRegional guide →

Known provenance

DateCollectorAcquisition price
08/2024Unknown OwnerNot disclosed
—The ArkenstoneNot disclosed

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Beryl
Mineral guide
Learn about Beryl
iconic mineral with prisms and vivid color varieties (aquamarine, emerald, morganite); prized for crystal form, striking matrix, and collector appeal.
Beryl
Regional guide
Beryl from Erongo Mountains, Namibia
from the Erongo Mountains is one of the modern classics of African mineral collecting: blue to blue-green aquamarine, colorless goshenite, yellow heliodor-like beryl, green beryl, and sharply zoned combinations of these colors, commonly staged against black schorl and pale feldspar. The best specimens have a look that is unmistakably Erongo—hexagonal beryl prisms with glassy terminations, milky or included bases, and dramatic contrast with glossy black tourmaline sprays, orthoclase, albite, smoky quartz, fluorite, muscovite, and occasional hyalite opal.