Beryl var. Aquamarine (treated) ex James Carter Coll

Item Description

An intense, saturated blue crystal of stunning gem aquamarine, that was created by taking a natural heliodor crystal from this famous locality and heating it enough to change the electron state of the iron inside, and turn it from yellow to blue. The change is permanent, and was often done in the early days of mining here to enhance the gem value of the Ukrainian gemstone production of beryls (aquamarine blue being more valuable than heliodor color, on the worldwide market for cut stones). So, this is 60 grams of gem-quality, totally transparent, cuttable aquamarine - but not in its natural color state. It has a fancy sharp termination and is sawed at the base, so it sits nicely and displays with sparkle in a case. However, it is important to note that these Ukrainian aquamarines are actually really Ukrainian heliodors, that have been heat-treated in the laboratory to turn them blue: This changes how light goes through, and how the human eye sees the color. It is a permanent change and widely practiced within the gemstone industry to enhance color of greenish or yellow beryls and add value. However, as a mineral collector, this is rather frowned upon in a general sense. In this case, it creates an interesting color and mineralogical artifact for the collector to complement a heliodor, perhaps, and educate about how these form. In the past, I have valued and sold these simply for their underlying rough value as aquamarine cutting rough, which is real enough, and varies over time but has yielded $50-100 per gram depending on the quality of the crystal itself and the time of sale. Again, this is heat-treated material, although the natural crystal shape of the beryl.