Beryl (var: Aquamarine) (unusual habit and coloring)

Item Description

These specimens hit the market back in 2012 where they were labeled as "Vorobyevite" (a term used for alkali-beryl, which has been also used for colorless cesium-bearing beryls from the Urals and alkali-rich beryls from Madagascar). The pieces from Afghanistan have since been analyzed, and show no cesium content, so they are now all labeled often as Aquamarine, but to be honest that term isn't quite descriptive enough, because Aquamarine refers often to lighter blue and blue-green shades of Beryl, but the pieces from Deo Darrah are what I would truly call "Blue Beryl" because of the intensity of the color. Additionally, the crystals on these specimens are unlike anything from Afghanistan or Pakistan in terms of the oddly tabular habit and the unique color zoning which features a rich blue "band" in the center, surrounded by softer blue colored zones on the exterior faces. This piece is a very nice example of this material as it's loaded with dozens of sharp, lustrous, oddly tabular crystals of Aquamarine / Blue Beryl measuring up to 1.4 cm across sitting atop minor matrix. As mentioned, the crystals have very distinct color zoning with a rich blue hue in the center that is sandwiched between lighter blue color bands on the outside. Some of the smaller crystals are very pale in their color saturation, so the center is a soft baby blue tone, and the exterior faces are essentially colorless ("Goshenite") Beryl. Overall, the majority of the crystals are undamaged, though the front side of the piece has some areas of interrupted growth where the piece was intergrown with the pocket wall. If you missed out on these back when they came out, don't pass up the chance to get your hands on one now for a great price.