Brazilian Golden Beryl hails from the famous Xia Mine (also Chiá, pronounced: Jee-Arr) in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais (General Mines), an esteemed location renowned internationally for its fine gemstones. With sun-kissed hues and fine transparency, Brazilian Golden Beryl displays an attractive even color, high-clarity, optimal lapidary, excellent brilliance, and wonderful light play; key quality considerations for this prized rare Beryl. While the Xia Mine is a traditional and coveted Golden Beryl source, it’s ostensibly long closed, with our fine-quality old mining from 2006.
Hardness 7.5 – 8
Refractive Index 1.562 – 1.602
Relative Density 2.66 – 2.87
Enhancement Irradiated
Beauty
With blues, greens and reds accounting for nearly 90 percent of all gemstones, beautiful golden hues reminiscent of the color of metal gold are extremely limited. Due to its high-clarity and transparency, Golden Beryl’s most important value determinant is color. Brazilian Golden Beryl’s radiant beauty comes from its bright, transparent orangish-yellows, in a highly-desirable medium saturation and tone, the marketplace ideal.
With deft lapidary accentuating its innate beauty and color, Brazilian Golden Beryl is optimally faceted by experienced lapidaries who carefully orientate each crystal to maximize its colorful brilliance, maintaining a high-polish/luster, attractive overall appearance (outline, profile and proportions), and an eye-clean clarity, the highest quality clarity grade for colored gemstones as determined by the world’s leading gemological laboratories.
Sister gem to Aquamarine, Golden Beryl is a member of the Beryl mineral family (from the ancient Greek ‘beryllos’, meaning blue-green stone), commonly known as the ‘mother of gemstones’ because of its highly regarded gem varieties. Pure Beryl is colorless with trace elements responsible for Beryl’s wonderful colors. Ranging from pastel yellow to brilliant gold, Golden Beryl’s hues are due to trace amounts of ferric iron, similar to Aquamarine. Often found in the same deposits, Golden Beryl and Aquamarine possess many of the same characteristics. Golden Beryl is sometimes synonymous with Heliodor (‘gift from the sun’ from the Greek ‘helios’ sun and ‘doron’ gift), but correctly, Golden Beryl and Heliodor are differentiated by their color; Golden Beryl is a warm, purer, bright yellow to orange-yellow, while Heliodor is greenish-yellow, similar to olive oil in color. Golden Beryl is also sometimes called ‘Yellow Beryl’, as well as being deceptively marketed as ‘Yellow Emerald’, inappropriate as it incorrectly applies the ‘Emerald’ varietal name. Apart from Golden Beryl’s yellows, other Beryl gemstones include Aquamarine blues, Emerald greens, Goshenite whites (colorless), Heliodor greenish-yellows, Morganite pinks, and Red Beryl reds.
Rarity
Golden Beryl was first discovered in Namibia in 1913 in a pegmatite (a coarsely crystalline igneous rock) that not surprisingly, also yielded Aquamarine. Brazilian Golden Beryl comes from the famed Xia Mine in the Brazilian municipality of São José da Safira.
While Golden Beryl is found in Madagascar, Namibia, Russia and Ukraine, Brazil and Madagascar are the main sources with fine examples commanding higher prices due to their comparative rarity. Brazilian Golden Beryl’s colorful brilliance and durability makes them an excellent jewelry gemstone, but this is unfortunately restricted by the marketplace scarcity of historic gemmy-quality.
Durability & Care
Brazilian Golden Beryl (Mohs’ Hardness: 7.5 – 8) is an excellent choice for everyday jewelry. Always store Brazilian Golden Beryl carefully to avoid scuffs and scratches. Clean with gentle soap and lukewarm water, scrubbing behind the gem with a very soft toothbrush as necessary. After cleaning, pat dry with a soft towel or chamois cloth.
Map Location
Click map to enlarge
