Worldwide Beryls from the Bill Larson Collection

This week we are pleased to offer a selection of worldwide Beryl specimens from the collection of William ("Bill"/"Burma Bill") F. Larson of Fallbrook, California. Bill is a well-known gem and mineral dealer (Pala International) as well as a miner and collector. Bill traveled the world for decades in search of fine gems and minerals and was directly involved in the in-person acquisition and importation of superb specimens from many important gem-producing localities.

This collection was built since the late 1970s, starting when Peter Bancroft and David Wilber came back from travels with an incredible variety of aquamarines; and Bill Larson had the idea to assemble a company collection in the Pala International store in San Diego, that would be both fun and educational for growing customers. This company collection became part of his private collection of beryls, mostly complete by the early 1990s, and kept on display for educational purposes through all of those years until we purchased it in 2022. 

Peter came back from Brazil in the 1970s with the core of what later became a showcase full of 300 specimens over the years. The goal was to build a collection that was beautiful to look at and showcase a variety of one group of minerals, for both form and color. Stay tuned and you will see most of that collection turn up on our website and auctions over the next year.