African Gemstones: The New Age Collection

It could be the driest place on the planet with average rainfall in most parts of the continent barely touching the three-figure mark! But in recent times since 1960’s, the gemstone market is raining big time in Africa. So extensive has been the rise of African gemstones that today, the continent is considered the empire of precious stones. You dig anywhere, and you probably would end up with the rarest of gemstones.
Don’t believe us? Read on...

It all started with Kimberley diamonds!

The capital of modern day diamond mining, Kimberly in South Africa is home to one of the world’s oldest known commercial diamond mining and dealing companies. The first diamond was discovered in 1866 along the banks of the River Orange, and since then it has remained a place of reverence and fortune making for many gemstone collectors and businessmen.

Between 1870 and 1914, close to 2000 kilograms of diamonds were mined! That volume exceeded every known diamond source at that time, including Golconda, Sri Lanka, and Arizona mines.

Famous diamonds that came from the Kimberley mines are The Cullinan, Eureka, Hope Diamond, The Excelsior, The Star of Sierra Leone and Centenary Diamond.

But wait, Africa has Zabargad too!

Much before the discovery of diamonds in Kimberley, African gemstones were already in the hitlist of European and Asian tradesmen. Zabargad is a prolific gemstone producing island in the Red Sea, now under the control of Egypt. It is the oldest known peridot producing region, and has been in the news since the rule of ancient Macedonians and Romans.

And then we have Tanzania!

Africa is one continent to have more than one gemstone named after its principal regions. For instance, Alexandrite, which is named after the city of Alexandria. Many gem collectors like to believe that it was named after the czar of Russia- Nicholas Alexander II. If that’s a controversy, how about Tanzanite!

Tanzanite is the remarkable blue-violet gemstone, first discovered in 1967 along the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro bordering the city of Arusha. It is one of the few gemstones to exhibit the rate optical property of trichroism. So prominent has been its rise that Tanzanite made it into the list of Birthstones in 2002. A change that was made to the list for the first time since the World War 1!

Other places of prominence and rising significance in the gemstone are Namibia, Mozambique, Madagascar, Nigeria and Congo.

Exclusive African gems:

Paraiba Tourmaline is one of the rarest and the costliest African gemstone if you consider the per carat pricing. First discovered in Brazil, Paraiba tourmaline from Mozambique is only the second known source of the gemstone.

African regions also lead in almandine garnet beads, pyrope, topaz gemstone beads, Spessarite, Apatite, Iolite gemstone, and Alusite, Rhodolite, Tsavorite and Kyanite Gemstones.

The future:

In the year 2014, world’s largest ruby was exhibited. The 40-odd carat ruby was mined from Montepuez, Mozambique. Emeralds from Zambia’s Kagem mine as big as 6100 carats are making the regular news. So the future is still shiny and bright as far as precious and semi-precious gemstones are concerned.

Top 4 Gemstone for Married Couples to Strengthen Relationship

The beautiful gemstones are not simply decorative gems but are known to have magical powers that benefit mankind from ages. Here we are going to discuss gemstones that are a boon for married couples. A time when a lot of divorces are taking plays these gemstones comes up as a blessing for couples. Let us take a look at top 5 gemstones for married couples to strengthen the relationship.

1.  Blue Lace Agate:

The blue lace agate brings soothing peace in the hectic life. It evokes a never ending feeling of attraction between the couples, something that is very important for the success of marriage. Further, it enhances the communication and understanding. It helps you to communicate with your better half in a way that he/she understands your feeling.  The blue lace agate helps them to pour their heart to each other and stay loyal. The gemstone is known for its calming quality, so whatever the situation is the lace agate ensures that you stay calm and confident.

2.  Lemon Quartz:

The Lemon Quartz is also popularly called yellow gold. The stone is known as a blessing for newlywed. It comes up as a perfect gift for them to start their life on an auspicious note. The good luck stone will bring abundant wealth and fortune in couple’s life. Keeping Lemon quartz beads in the home will ensure that you never face any financial problem in life. The stone keeps illness at a bay. If any of the couples is suffering from any prolonged illness then it will help them to come out of it soon.

Lemon Quartz Gemstones

3.  Amethyst:

The beautiful purple stone is known as heart stone. It is one of the perfect stones for couples. The Amethyst gemstone develops a deep understand between them. If they have parted ways because of some difference but still can come together if any of them wear Amethyst gemstone beads in a ring. It helps them to stay away from egos and tussles. The stone always helps couples to walk on the noble path of humanity and religion.

amethyst gemstones

4.  Green Jade:

Green Jade is one of the precious and powerful gemstones. The stone is considered to be ideal for couples and lovers. It strengthens the bond between two hearts and unites them forever. Most of the couples find that love just disappears from life after wedding due to work and responsibility. The green jade gemstone is known as “dream stone”, keeping it in the home will ensure that all your dreams are fulfilled. The stone fill the married couple’s life with abundant knowledge, intelligence and good luck. The stone helps the couple to get rid of negative thoughts. It helps them to strike a rapport and stabilizes personality. The stone makes the couples emotionally strong.

These are the top four gemstone four married couples. If you are facing any kind of problem in your married life then get any of these gemstones. You can wear them in jewelry or simply keep in your room. Soon you will see miracles happen.

9 Fascinating Facts about Gemstones

1.  Cleopatra’s Preferred Gemstone:

The gemstones were valued a lot in ancient Egypt. Although, they were not skilled enough to differentiate between similar colored stones. The best example of it is Peridot and Emerald, both having an enticing green tone. The Peridot gemstone was an all time favorite of Cleopatra but it is believed that she also adorned Emerald gemstone mistaking it for her favorite Peridot.

Peridot Gemstone beads

2.  Unique link between Garnets & Pomegranates:

Some of you may wonder at the link between a fruit and gemstone. The answer lies in its name, Garnet got its unique name from the seeds of Pomegranate which looked blood red in color. It is believed that the eye-catching shade of Garnet represents love, life and birth.

3.  Lightest Gemstone:

Do you have any clue about the lightest and softest gemstone? Well, sounds tricky right! Amber is considered as the softest and delicate rock in the world. It is believed that the stone is made from the resin sap of prehistoric tress, fossilized millions of years ago. For making jewellery Baltic amber is preferred by jewelers as it is the hardest type in Amber.

4.  Hardest Gemstone:

No point for guessing, it is none other than the stone known a girl’s best friend – Diamond. The stone measures a perfect 10 on Mohs scale making it the toughest stone found in the earth crust. The stone is expensive and comes up as the best option for daily wear. It can easily withstand wear and tear of daily life.

5.  Biggest Gemstone with Facets:

The biggest faceted gemstone is topaz. It weighs a whopping 37000 carats. The faceted topaz gemstone was found in Brazil.

6.  Sapphire that becomes a part of history:

Most of you might have seen the blockbuster movie Titanic. There is a scene in the movie where the ship meets with the accident then a beautiful sapphire necklace sinks to the bottom of the cold sea. Well, the scene is inspired from the true incident. A millionaire James Cameron gifted sapphire studded necklace to his sweetheart Kate Philips. Unfortunately, James died in the accident but Kate Philips survived to tell the story.

7.  Striped by Nature:

The agate has beautiful natural stripes on it. These stripes make agate gemstone look simply stunning. It seems like someone has artistically drawn designs on it. The real reason behind the stripes is presence of chalcedony, so when next times you see the stripes on it then don’t take it to be artificial.

8.  Colorful Gemstones:

The colorful gemstones have a charm of its own. They come up as a classy option for jewellery. Two most colorful rock include Opal and Tourmaline gemstone. In opal you will see flashes of color within its white or background.  The Tourmaline is famously called Rainbow Gemstone because it is available in every rainbow color.

Tourmaline gemstones

9.  The secret of Pearls:

The beauty of pearl will make you fall in love with it. In fact, it is one of the most loved gemstones. Well, have you ever thought how much time it takes to cultivate a small piece of bead? Well, the answer is it takes anywhere between one to four years.

A Look at Top 8 Super Benefits of Wearing an Emerald Gemstone

The beautiful emerald is counted among top three colored gemstones in the world. The other two being rubies and sapphire respectively. Emerald is a derivative of Beryl. The mineral Beryl is a blend of Beryllium and Aluminum. It is the reason the stone gets a bluish green color. The fact that it is very difficult to get perfect emerald stone makes it one of the most precious gemstone of all the time.  Its color green has a slight tint of yellow and blue which gives it an enticing look. It is birthstone of people born in the month of May.  Let us take a look at top 8 super benefits of wearing emerald gemstone.

Emerald Gemstones

1.  The stone is a boon for students as it helps them to enhance intelligence. Even weak students after wearing embedded studded rings have seen tremendous improvement in studies. It has significantly improved their grasping power and helped them do extremely well in exams.

2.  The emerald is perfect for people trying to make a mark in creative filed like music, painting, fashion designing, interior designing, etc. Emerald is related to planet Mercury hence it helps the wear to get new ideas. They will find themselves way ahead from the competition. 

3.  It is known as a stone of communication. It helps you to better articulate your thoughts in both written and oral form. The stone is nothing less than a miracle for leaders, public speakers, mangers, team leaders etc. It boosts the confidence of the speaker and helps to impress everyone with their words and thoughts.  Wearing emerald beads studded rings helps to clear interviews with ease.

Emerald Gemstones Bead

4.  Emerald is well known for its healing powers. It is quite helpful for people suffering from allergies, skin diseases, respiratory ailments and nervous disorders. It is considered to be a wonder stone for people suffering from speech difficulties.

5.  The stone is perfect for people working in field of movies, media and public platform. It helps them to gain name and fame in their respective field. The stone will bless the individual with abundant wealth.

6.  The stone is known to have the power of saving you from your enemies. Wearing them in ring or bracelet ensure that your enemies can never harm you in any way. If they try something like that then it will backfire on them. Isn’t that amazing!

7.  People have faced losses in business or have been cheated should go with emerald. The stone takes away emotional toxicity. It helps the wear to come out of difficult situation. It removes the emotional scars. It gives you strong intuition about the people, thus helps you take the right decision. Wearing emerald means you will never be cheated, betrayed or defrauded.
   
8.  The stone is miracle for people who find it tough to concentrate on one thing. A fickle mind will make you restless and bring instability in life. The emerald beads have magnificent therapeutic qualities. It improves concentration power and stops the mind from wondering from one object to other.

Top 10 Healing Properties of Aquamarine Gemstone

Aquamarine gemstone’s unique name is derived from the Latin word which means Water of Sea.  A look at it is enough to justify the name. Its bluish green color reminds you of the sea water. The stone from ages is known for its powerful healing qualities. Let us take a look at top 10 healing properties of Aquamarine.

1.  In the ancient times, sailors and voyagers used to keep the stone with them while going to sea as it is believed to save them from storms and show them way in hard times. It is also believed to bring good luck.

2.  Aquamarine gemstone is very effective in treating respiratory system related diseases like Asthma, Bronchitis, cough etc.

Aquamarine gemstone

3.  It is quite helpful in treating chronic allergies. It helps to get quick relief from fever, cold and severe sinus condition.

4.  It is considered as the finest healing stone. It is very effective in countering infection. It is successfully used in treating sore throat, teeth and gum related problems.  It regulates the growth of hormones keeping individual healthy.

5.  It is effective in treating skin related diseases. It not only cures the skin related problems but also makes sure that it doesn’t reoccur. It is believed to prevent eruption of herpes. It supports in the healing of inflammatory disease like pimples, acne, psoriasis, dermatitis, shingles etc. 

6.  Placing Aquamarine beads on eyelids for 15 minutes before going to bed, soothes the tiring eyes. It also helps the person to get a very good sleep. If a person is facing problem with vision, keeping it on eyelids for 25 minutes every day will restore the vision.

7.  The stone helps in emotional cleansing. It helps people to get rid of negative thinking pattern that held them back from moving forward in life. The aquamarine gemstone helps people to get complete rid of this old habit and move forward in life. Its powerful energy also helps the person to understand the reason of negative thought patterns.

8.  The stone is considered to be very useful for couples. Most relationship break-up because of lack of trust, infidelity and ego. The Aquamarine gemstone bead if worn in jewelry by both the couples ensures that there is never an ego tussle in the couples. It helps them to stay loyal to each other. The gentle energy of stone ensures that there is a strong level of understanding, commitment and love between them.

9.  The stone is very good for parents. It helps them to better understand the need of kids. It ensures that parents don’t overburden the kid with their expectations. The burden of exception and over judgmental attitude of parents results in children getting into depression. The Aquamarine Gemstone saves from such situation. It ensures children’s have a normal happy childhood.

10.  It is one of the few stones that are perfect for everyone. You don’t need to consult an astrologer to adorn it. If you are looking for good luck, peace, love and security in life then get aquamarine gemstone without a second thought.

Top 4 Gemstones for Couples to Bring Love, Happiness & Wealth in Life

Gemstones are god’s own way of bringing luck, happiness, wealth and prosperity in life. Why curse life or situation, when your luck is in your own hand. All you need is just choose the right gemstone and see how your life is filled with fortune and love. Here, we are going to tell you top four gemstones for couples to bring love happiness and wealth in life.

1.  Pearl:

The stunning Pearl symbolizes beauty, love, compassion and purity. It is one of the rarest gemstone found on the earth. Although, you can get artificial pearl but the power that natural pearl has is amazing. The pearl beads are perfect for married couples. It helps them to strengthen the relationship. A lot of fight happens between the couples because of difference and easily loosing of temper, wearing pearl in a bracelet or ring helps to keep temper in control. It helps to strike a harmony between husband and wife. It neutralizes the negative planetary influences on the couples. The pearl brings good fortune in life. 

2.  Garnet:

The garnet is stone that symbolizes fidelity, love, friendship and passion. In short, it has all the qualities that are need for a successful relationship. The stones also make the couple aware about their own perception and helps to understand others thoughts easily. The mesmerizing stone is very popular with married couples. It is known as the most powerful medium to stimulate sex drive. It helps to strike a beautiful balance between love and sex. The stone moves couples deeper into sensual and passionate exploration. The garnet inspires commitment, loyalty and devotion.  Garnet gemstone is one of the best stone for couples.

Garnet Gemstones

3.  Kunzite Gemstones:

Kunzite is known as heart stone. It encourages abundant energy of love. The Kunzite bead worn in jewellery fills life of the wearer with love, peace and harmony. The gemstone is very useful for married couples as it helps them to stay true to each other. Individual who are not able to get there perfect match or true love should wear the Kunzite beads in rings, soon it will help you get your love in life. The stone is also known to have powerful healing properties. It helps the wearer to come out of depression, anxiety and stress. It helps one to get rid of negative feeling and fear of failure.

Kunzite Gemstones

4.  Opal Beads:

The Opal comes up as a classify gemstone for married couples. It is a powerful symbol of divine power, ultimate bliss, good luck and grace.  It fulfills all the dreams of wearer. It brings financial prosperity in life. It is considered to be a great stone for lovers and newlywed. The stone is known for its unique ability to attract true love in life. It helps lovers to unite. The stone is associated with beauty, intelligence and good fortune. The unique thing about opal beads is that anybody can wear it without matching horoscope. The stone is known to have good healing properties. It strengths the immune system and also helps the wearer come out of depression.

Guide to Gem Cutting Terms Every Buyer Should Know

Lapidary is the science and art of cutting stone, creating beautiful items of collection from them. It is often used to describe the cutting of gemstones but now used to signify the entire process of gemstone manufacturing, from cutting to polishing and colour enhancements. Here are some important terms every buyer and gemstone collector should know about lapidary.

Tumbling:

It is the simplest process of cutting gemstones. It is similar to the action of the river water on the pebbles lying on the bed. Tumbler is an abrasive process, where rough gemstones are put into a tumbling well fitted with abrasives. The rough surface is instantly smoothened without fracturing the gems. Semi-precious rocks are tumbled for high lustre, and preferred because of its low-cost technique. However, it is not recommended for gemstone with hardness less than 5.

Cabbing:

It is better known as Cabochon cutting, and remains the best procedure to cut precious gemstones. Diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires before 19th century were cut in the cabochon. How is cabbing done?

Cabochon gemstones are cut with a flat bottom and curved or pyramid/domed top. Cabbing is done to enhance the resale value of the gems, especially opal gemstone and turquoise gemstones. Cabbing is more sophisticated than tumbling.

turquoise gemstones

Polishing cabochons:

There are hundreds of gemstone polishing techniques, but cabochon polishing is very unique. It involves the use of aluminium oxide and cerium oxide. Stones that are susceptible to heat treatments are cut and polished in cabochons. Opals and quartz are cut using cerium oxide, while jade is polished using chromium oxide.

Ruby and sapphires are polished using Diamond Polish, fitted on leather pads. It is a costly process.

Faceting:

Faceting, undoubtedly, is the most economical lapidary technique in the list. Most diamonds gemstone and sapphire beads set on engagement rings are cut in facets. Faceting is the cutting of gemstones in polygon, polyhedron, and polytope, without adding any new vertices.

sapphire beads

The faceting methodology involves the mounting of the crystal on a metallic dowel/dipstick and then fed to the faceting machine. The faceting machine works on the crystal in two sequences—cutting the Crown, and then Pavilion simultaneously. Lapidary artists work with HAI factors, where H is Height, A is Angle and I is Index.

Faceting quality is established by studying the 5 Ps of analysis—
 
•  Points
•  Proportions
•  Polish
•  Positioning
•  Performance

Carving:

Next most important gem cutting technique is the carving. All faceted and cabochon cut gems feature disciplined shapes such as domes, ovals, circles, and squares. Carving involves cutting a gemstone in such a way that they reveal peculiar tunnels, inclusions, and channels with deep plateaus and trenches. It is the mother technique associated with modern-day Fantasy cuts.

•  Fancy Cabochon Shapes:

Carving of cabochon cut gems gives a fancy feature like Emerald cut, tear drops, ovals, hearts and pears and Marquis cut.

•  Cushion Cut:

They are cut and carved in square and rectangular shapes like a cushion. Shield cut, Ceylon cut, Brilliant cut and Barion cut, all owe their existence to the carving techniques.

Zultanite: The New-Age Gemstone

Zultanite is the new luxury on the gemstone block, rocking the collector’s box in style. It was first cut in the 70s, but continued to lay low in the gemstone market, owing to its rarity and high cost of manufacturing. Zultanite gemstone is now manufactured and marketed through Zultanite Gems LLC, which has the sole right over the only known mine in the world. It is located in the Turkish valley at a height of 1000 metres.
Zultanite is now a registered trade name given to the new-age colour changing gemstone similar to diaspore.

Why is it called Zultanite?

Owing to its origin, Zultanite is named to commemorate the rich history of the Ottoman Turks. The name is derived from the word “Sultan”, meaning king in Persian language.  It is the trade name for Diaspore mineral.

What is diaspora?

Diaspore, also called diasporite, tanatarite and kayserite in the market, is the only related mineral to Zultanite. In terms of composition, diaspore is an orthorhombic crystal made of aluminium oxide hydroxide with lamellar and scaly inclusions. Gem-quality diasporite is mined from Slovakia. It is a relatively hard structure with Mohs Scal value of 6.5.  It is identified from its pearly lustre that turns into white scales on being exposed to high temperature. It is mined from limestone quarries, where it occurs as isomorphic form of emery and corundum. It is often considered as a suitable ore of aluminium, but reserved instead exclusively for gemstones manufacturing.

Zultanite pricing:

In top-grade markets, zultanite is priced at $600 and above per carat. Bigger crystals are priced at $5000 per carat and above. The pricing differs based on the intensity of colour variation and the way it is cut. Cabochon and Princess-cut diasporite zultanite fetch the highest bidding price from the market.

Speciality of zultanite:

Why is zultanite considered the best gemstone in the market? For one reason for sure… it is tagged as the Gemstone chameleon by leading sellers. It is available in more than 10 contrasting varieties, ranging from olive green to flashes of canary yellow. When it comes to choosing a colour, you have your hands full. There is one zultanite for every occasion—a candle light dinner, a cave escapade, a swimming pool party, and even your anniversary!

1.  Colour changing gemstone:

Like Alexandrite, garnet, fluorite and sapphire, zultanite gemstone is known for its multiple colour varieties, appearing casually in a single crystal. Darker the tone, higher will be the price. Larger Zultanites have darker play of colours, with intense, contrasting varieties.

2.  Usability and assurance:

Zultanite is a daily-wear gemstone, hardly affected by the corrosive action of the environment, acid and work. However, it could get scratched or fractured under intense pressure. Steaming and ultrasonic cleaning of the gemstone are not recommended.

Every zultanite comes with a guarantee card carrying every detail related to its origin, the date of mining, enhancement done and colour statistics.

Today, zultanite is rapidly turning into a celebrity gemstone owing to its compatibility with every complexion, personality and styling.

A Look at 6 Scintillating Facts About Rubellite Gemstone

Confusion in names can led to significant damage in gemstone reputation and market share. Rubellite is one such gemstone that faced the poor marketing, as it was often sold as a ruby gemstone early in part of the 20st century. Even today, not many gemstone buyers and collectors are aware about the value of rubellite.

ruby gemstones

Here are 6 scintillating facts about Rubellite gemstone that one must know about.

1.  Rubellite: The family:

Rubellite is a colourful, pink-red gemstone belonging to the family of tourmalines. They are created under intense pressure, showcased through the variety of colours they exhibit, ranging from shocking pink to ruby red.

2.  Rarity quotient:

Rubellite, unlike rubies, is a very rare gemstone, and is adored for its purity and clarity. Its name is derived from the Latin word for red, “rubellus”. Every year, 100,000 carats of rubellites are mined from different parts of the world. Unlike Burma Rubies, the rubellites are hardly found in Asia, except for in Paksitan, Afghanistan and Kirghizstan. Top producers of rubellites are Brazil, Madagascar and Nigeria.

Its rarity quotient drives the price tag in the market.

3.  Qualities that make it special:

Rubellite is a pyro-electric gemstone. It is capable of generating an electric potential when heated or cooled. The crystalline structure is polarized when exposed to a differential temperature, resulting in generation of a voltage. In that sense, rubellite shares its property of pyro-electricity with quartz, elbaite, leucophanite, and mellite.

4.  Different names in the market:

Rubellite is referred to as a tourmaline gemstone with sparkling pink colour. However, there are other shades too, and they are known by different names. For instance, blue rubellite is called indicolite, and the green ones are called verdelite. Ruby colour is the most valuable, and that’s why
it is competing for attention with the rubies.

tourmaline gemstone

It is called red tourmaline, but rubellite sounds all the more catchy.

5.  Uses and purpose:

Rubellite, owing to its pyro-electric properties, helps in preventing body shocks. It neutralises the harmful effect of microwave, UV rays and visible radiation from the electronic gadgets. Scientists working in nuclear field are advised to use rubellite gemstone bracelets to keep the radiation exposure within limits.

According to the gemstone experts, rubellites are an excellent source of optimism and energy, used by professionals to stay on track of success. It also empowers the students to score better in competitive examinations.

It is referred to as the Emotional Healer, owing to its effect on the Heart Chakra. It helps in overcoming fears of accident, darkness, instability and mental sickness. Mediation with rubellite is now catching up with the spiritual leaders. It rebuilds confidence and self-esteem in the person wearing rubellite.

6.  Rubellite enhancements:

Irradiation is the common enhancement treatment done on rubellites. It is done to produce clear and consistent red pink shade. It is undetectable and does not change the overall beauty of the stone. Only Fourier Transform IR Spectroscopy can manage to detect the enhancements made on them.
Due to its hardness of 7.5, it is great for long-term use.

Top 5 Interesting Facts about Red Beryl Gemstone

In 2006, red beryl gemstone made it to the top of the rarest of rare gemstones in the market, selling at $75,000 per carat, with only 100 stones cut in a month! Laying hands on them is indeed nothing short of a blessing, considering its impeccable beauty, seductive lustre and pristine surface. However, there are some scintillating facts that you should know about the red beryls.

1.  Family of winners:

Red beryl, as the name suggests, belongs to the beryl family. Its rarity can be gauged from its pricing and availability. For every 150,000 diamonds registered as gem, only one crystal of red beryl makes it to the market. Called as Red Emerald gemstone, the history of the stone is very recent, and clouded in disputes.Red Beryl Gemstone, Red Emerald gemstones, Wholesale gemstone Beads   


When it was discovered in 1904, it was named as bixbite, but subsequently changed to its present name after clashing in interest with Bixbyite sellers.

2.  What is it made of?

Red beryl is a silicate mineral with Manganese ions. The intensity of the colour can be measured from its Mn+3 ion. To be precise, it is a beryllium aluminium cyclo-silicate found in volcanic vents of Wah Wah Mountains in Utah. The geochemical transformation in the earth’s crust resulted in crystallization of the gemstone at a temperature above 650o Celsius.

The red beryl is so rare on account of its formation. It can’t be recreated in lab conditions either, resulting in limited availability in the market. Beryllium is not found in large quantities, and it requires presence of dissolved manganese at lava temperatures to create this crystals.

3.  Where is it mined from?

Ruby-Violet Claims is the only known source of the red beryls. Located in Utah, the site is known for other gemstones as well. Morganite, aquamarine, golden beryl and goshenite are other significantly high-priced gemstones extracted from the region.

4.  Is it hard?

Red beryl is a durable gemstone with a hardness ranging between 7.6 and 8. It is usually given a Princess Cut in engagement rings. It is very difficult to cut them owing to the elongated hexagonal crystalline structure, generally measuring only about 10 mm, with a thickness less than 5mm. They are not given modern faceting.

The largest gemstone in red beryl family is a 54 carat item. Faceted gemstone weighed only 8 carats.

5.  Pricing and value:

By weight alone, red beryls are priced 1000 times more than gold! Top grade crystals sell for above $75,000. Even the average quality gemstones fetch a prize of $10,000 per carat.

Artificial intruders:

In late 90s, Russian gemstone makers flooded the market with artificial red beryls. However, by July 2016, all labs producing such red beryls ceased to exist. Apart from the colour and clarity, the artificial gemstone hardly bears any resemblance to the original stones.
Red beryl clusters are the most pronounced formation in gemstone industry, found extensively in Harris Claim in Wah Wah Mountains in Utah. As a buyer, stay clear of the emeralds that are tagged as red beryls to mislead novice collectors.