Beryl var. goshenite rough and cut
sold- Locality
- Africa
- Minerals
- Beryl
- Dimensions
- 5.9 x 4.5 x 2.1 cm
- Size class
- Small Cabinet
- SID
- BERYL9
I acquired about 1,000 pounds of beryl from a family who's father had worked in a northern ohio factory from the mid 1950's to the early 1990's. The company imported Beryl ore from Africa, and smelted the ore in large furnaces (1400 C). They sold the refined Beryllium ingots to NASA for use in constructing heat shields for space craft. The father of the family was a rock hound who would pick pretty pieces off the ore piles during his lunch breaks. I was happy to get his "stash," of beryl and spent weeks screening and sorting the rough to find gems like this one.
The rough is a damage-free, lightly etched, goshenite crystal that weighs 92 grams and has large areas inside that could be facetted. The stone was cut by American cutter Jay Medici. It is a nine sided cut that weighs a whopping 136 carats! I used different lighting methods to show the range of brilliance of both pieces. The siblings of these two pieces were smashed, melted and shot into space.
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