Emeralds, aquamarines, and the charming pink of morganite have left gemstone-lovers spellbound for years. They are famous for their variety of color, sparkling brilliance, and suitability for jewelry. What many don’t realize is that they belong to a single family – they are all beryls. There is the rare red beryl, the golden beryl, the yellowish-green heliodor, the pink, or the colorless goshenite beryl all different but all from the same family of gemstones with similar chemical and physical properties.
Skilled gemstone cutters are capable of creating a vast array of shapes from beryls although they are best suited for rectangular or square step cuts that amplify their transparent beauty.
Beryl is found in the gemstone deposits of South America and those of Central and West Africa. However, they also occur on Madagascar, in Russia and the Ukraine, and in Goshen, Massachusetts where goshenite berly is mined.
The skilled hands of gemstone cutters turn them into a multitude of many-faceted shapes. In particular, beryls are well suited to rectangular or square step cuts, since it takes a clear design to bring out to the full the transparent beauty of this colorful gemstone family.
Beryl
