Beryl var. Heliodor

Item Description

These Ukrainian Heliodors are generally considered to set the highest standard for this Beryl varietal, and they certainly look gorgeous in a display case with their unique combination of color and style: a machined, sharply detailed look combined with a rich yellow-green color, brilliant luster and shocking gemminess. What really puts them to another level, to most of us, is the intricate surface features you see, mesmerizing in detail the closer you look. This gorgeous cabinet piece is nearly four and half inches tall and an inch and a quarter wide, with beautiful green-yellow color and is nearly a total gem from top to bottom. It is internally mostly clean except only for a planar inclusion near the center; and a lighter, turbid area at the bottom. This means that it can be irradiated to aquamarine and sold in the gem trade as aquamarine gem material, at a bottom price that still makes this quite valuable as an asset in the way some mineral crystals are not, simply by weight. It also displays those classic gorgeous, geometric 'etch patterns' along its entire length! We put that in quotes because, I am told, technically this is not a later etching process that creates the pattern, but came from a quick and partial dissolution in the pocket, just after the crystals formed (hundreds of millions of years ago!!!). The handsome crystal also, it is important to note, has a really sharp termination that is almost unheard of in Heliodors from this deposit. This puts it to another level. Many are heavily etched and the terminations look worn. This preserves a sharp pyramidal termination with some faces and that makes it a whole other level, and a competitive exhibit quality of specimens in the size range. This completely gem crystal has intricate and captivating, yet not overdone, etch patterns with few negative faces. It has a mass of 158.21 grams. This particular specimen was mined from an anomalous gem crystal pod in this old mine, in the 1980s when they were looking for topaz; and are now hard to find classics. These heliodors, when of this size, simply glow with brilliant and juicy color. It has been in the collection of Dr. Vasco Trancoso of Portugal since the 1990s. Custom base included. Valued $20,000-plus.