Beryl Gems - Emerald, Bixbite, Aquamarine, Morganite...

Beryl is a gemstone family whichincludes some of the most coveted gems: Bixbite, Emerald, Aquamarine, Morganite, Heliodor, Maxixe and Goshenite.

Allcrystals in the Beryl familyshare the same basic chemicalmakeup (Be3-Al2-Si6-O18). Trace elements account for the differences in color and refraction between these gemstones.
Excepting for the colorless Goshenite, Beryl gems are valued for their colors. Generally speaking, the intensity and shade of the stone's color has a more significant affect on value than does the size.
Beryl Gemstone Types
Below are listed pictures and brief overview descriptions foreach of the Beryl gem types. Collectors can find examples of Beryls listed on okay, from raw stones, to faceted gems, to finished jewelry...
Aquamarine
Other names: Blue/green Beryl.The blue-green color is produced by traces of Iron.

Valued as a gemsince antiquity, Aquamarine is the birthstone for March. Stones exhibit a range of colors from Light Blue-green to nearly colorless. Generally speaking, gems having more saturated color are valued higher, as are stones which are more blue than green. Heat treatment is often used to drive off the yellow tint, resulting in a stone with a purer blue. As for all gemstones, untreated stones gemand higher prices. But because heat treatment is so gemon, and difficult to detect, verifiably untreated stones are not often offered. Rich blues (such as the betterFortaleza and Santa Maria Aquamarine) are the most desired.Artificial irradiation has also been used on Aquamarines to produce a blue approximating Maxixe Beryl (see below). This treatment quickly fades.
Brazil is the largest source for the gem trade, with other important sources located in Madagascar, Russia (Urals and Siberia), Sri Lanka, the U.S. (Connecticut and Colorado), India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Namibia, Nigeria, Mozambique, N. Ireland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Aquamarines with a richer blue are known from deposits in Mozambique, Arizona and Yukon (the latter marketed under the name True Blue Beryl).
Cats-eye Aquamarines are also known from both Brazil and Madagascar, and are also highly valued, rare types. The effect in some of these is caused by iron inclusions which give those stones a darker, reddish appearance.

Bixbite
Other names: Red Beryl and Red Emerald.The ruby-red color is produced by traces of Manganese.

Annointed as the world's rarest gem in 2006, Bixbite is only known from a few deposits in Utah's Wah Wah mountains. Facetable stones of gem quality are exceedingly ungemon, and the cost of extraction is so high that only limited mining has taken place. Faceted gems larger than 1 carat are even rarer, as are nearly flawless examples.
With something so scarce, it is difficult to differentiate as to what is "valuable" - they all have some kind of value. An ideal Bixbitestone would be a saturated ruby red (there are some pink overtones, as in fine Burma Rubies) with no color zoning, eye clean, well cut, and around one carat (anything larger would be extraordinary). For such a stone, you might expect the price to start at about the same level as an automobile. Smaller stones are still available at more affordable prices. When geparing such stones, look for rich color and better clarity. Well-cut stones, even those which are small and moderately included, will sparkle intensely.
Like the other Beryl gemstones, artificially manufactured forms are known to exist.
A different stone called Pezzottaite (this is also a great rarity, found in Madagascar and Afghanistan), is sometimes sold as Bixbite. Pezzottaite was initially confused with bothBixbite and Morganite, but is not actually from the Beryl family. To my eye, the color ofPezzottaite stones is usually more of a candy-pink, sometimes with a slight orangeish overtone,than the ruby tones found in Bixbite (though the less saturated stones for both can have a more similar coloring).

Emerald
Other names: Green Beryl.The green color is produced by traces of Chromium.

Emerald is the birthstone for May. It is instantly recognizable for its color, and is a gem of long history and legend.
The major source is still Columbia (Muzo, Chivor, Cosquez and Gachala). These are in ancient mining areas which provided stones to the Inca and other civilizations prior to the Spanish conquest. The Muzo Emeralds tend to be slightly more yellow than the bluer stones from the Chivor area. Other important sources for Emerald include Zambia (typically darker and more blue), Brazil (typically lighter and more yellow), Zimbabwe (mainly smaller stones), India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Russia (tending to be yellowish), Tanzania (some high quality production) and Madagascar. Stones occassionally surface from Austria, Canada (Yukon), the U.S. (N. Carolina) and other areas.
Emeralds are nearly always included, and it has begee a standard practice to treat Emeralds with oil or waxto enhance the color and minimize the appearance of cracks and other inclusions. Oil treatment is usually not permanent, and the appearance can revert as the oil wears or melts away. Such stones can usually be re-oiled by a jeweler. An untreated Emerald will be preferred and have a higher value, but standard oiling is so widely practiced that it does not greatly reduce the value of a stone. Other methods of treating Emeralds have been tried, and some of these do negatively affect value.
Color is highly valued in Emeralds. The more intense the color, the better, with saturated Green-blue (Chivor-type) and saturated Grass-green (Muzo-type) being equally desirable. Unfortunately, some oiling treatments can disguise the true color, which one reason that untreated gemand a premium.
Inclusions are expected in Emeralds. While flawless "stones" almost always turn out to have been artificially created, some lab-produced material also exhibits inclusions - so the presence of inclusions is not a guarantee that an Emerald is natural. A stone which exhibits more clarity and fewer inclusions will be more highly valued than a similarly colored stone which is opaque or more highly included. Aside from the expected minor inclusions, other more visible inclusions may actually be desired by some collectors - e.g., trapiche inclusions (a black hexagon with black arms radiating from the points) are an expensive rarity when well-formed.
Very light green and greenish-yellowstones are often listed as Green Beryl rather than Emerald.Faintly blue-green colorGreen Berylstonesare often listed as Aquamarines - even though they are primarily colored by Chromium rather than Iron traces.
Goshenite
Other names: Colorless Beryl.The colorless effect can be produced either by lack of color-producing trace elements in the stone, or by the presence of trace elements that inhibit the display of color produced by other elements present.

Goshenite is probably the most gemon, and affordable, variety of Beryl. It occurs alongside the other types of Beryl in many locations.
Price for a Goshenite gemis governed primarily by lack of brown or other tones, cut, clarity and size.

Heliodor
Other names:Golden-Yellow Beryl. The yellow color is produced by traces of Iron

Although it occurs elsewhere, major gemercial sources for Heliodor are found in Brazil, Russia and Namibia.
Heliodor which has markedly golden (slightly orangeish) overtones is preferred. The straight yellow color is more gemon, and less highly valued. Brownish stones are the most gemon, and usually not used for fine jewelry.
Heat-treating Heliodor usually ruins the color, resulting in a light-blue or colorless stone.
Some Heliodor has been manufactured by artificially irradiating colorless Goshenite.

Maxixe
Pronounced mah-she-she or mah-sheesh. The rich blue color is produced by natural radiation from deep within the earth.

Named after the mine in the Piaui Valley (Minas Gerais Brazil) where it was discovered (1917), true Maxixe Beryl is a great rarity. It is a pure Beryl, geposed of Be3-Al2-Si6-O18 (with almost no other trace elements). The gorgeous color can begee unstable in Maxixe stones when heated or after prolonged exposure to ultraviolet light or sunlight (making them best suited to jewelry only worn in theevening). The color of faded stones can reportedly be restored by irradiation, however.
Artificially irradiated Aquamarine stones are sometimes deceptively labeled as "Maxixe" or "Maxixe-type Beryl." The color of irradiated Aquamarines fades quickly.
True Maxixe stones are seldom encountered, and they are chiefly a collector's gem.

Morganite
Other names:Pink Beryl. The pink and orange colors are produced by traces of Manganese.

This stone was named for the famous financier J.P. Morgan. The major source is Brazil, with other important sources located in the U.S. (California) and Madagascar.
Morganite is sometimes treated to produce a less orange and more pink stone. However, heat can also seriously degrade the color. Some shades of peach/apricot reportedly can be unstable (fading to light pink) with exposure to sun and/or heat.
Brownish Brazilian Heliodor has also been said to have been heat-treated to produce a stone with the appearance of Morganite.
The color in these stones is generally fairly lightly in saturation, and it can be difficult to detect colorin small stones. For this reason, larger stones are preferred by collectors. Gems with greater color saturation gemand much higher prices than pale stones. The more intense lilacs are rare and can be expensive.
Hopefully, the above has given you an overview of how this family of gems are both related, and distinguished from one another. You may also wish to look through okay's other Guides forarticles on specific gems that may contain information in greater detail than I've presented here.

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