Beryl var. Aquamarine (treated) ex James Carter Coll

Item Description

59 grams of gem-quality, totally transparent, cuttable aquamarine from this classic Ukrainian locality, makes for a stunning display specimen. This crystal is perfect and complete all around. It has a fancy sharp termination atop (with just a little cloudiness at the tip) and a flattish termination at the base. 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 by changing the electron state of the iron inside from +3 to +2. 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 wholesale, depending on the quality of the crystal itself and the time of sale.