Beryl var. Heliodor on Muscovite

Conselheiro Pena, Doce valley, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Large Cabinet, 16.0 x 13.8 x 11.9 cm
Start Time: 05/23/2010 6:30:00 pm (CDT)
End Time: 06/01/2010 6:30:00 pm (CDT)
Auction Closed

Item Description

Heliodor and aquamarine from this locale have trickled to the market for a number o fyears now. The beryls here seem to run the spectrum - this one properly being something like a "yellow-green-blyue beryl" rather than either heliodor or aquamarine per se. This crystal is 12 x 9 x 3 cm, approximately. it is big, fat, lustrous, VERY glassy, and very translucent to transparent (fully transparent in spots, as you can see). The crystal is large for the locale and like many large beryls intergrown with matrix, shows natural stress cracks induced in the beryl. However, none are really as bad in person as the camera makes them out to be. the crystal is complete, except only on the bottom-right where it contacted matrix and browk away. It is perched, literally hanging in, shiny muscovite matrix. Overall, it is a fairly good example from the finds here, and should be valued at least $1500-2500 as a guideline. I have seen several only slightly better (usually smaller), priced above $10,000. This hefty 2.1-kilo matrix specimen is difficult to convey in photos, which seem to accentuate slight cracking in the crystal and make the color look a little bit bluer than it really is, in person.

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