
The Sea-Blue Variety of Beryl
Aquamarine
Blue to blue-green beryl.
Aquamarine ranges from delicate greenish blue to a more concentrated blue.
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The mineral atlas
Explore beryl, corundum, spodumene and other gem minerals through their composition, growth settings and color varieties. The moissanite guide separates rare natural silicon carbide from the laboratory-created gems ordinarily sold in jewelry.
14 specimens · Geology, history, and spiritual attributes
14 specimens

The Sea-Blue Variety of Beryl
Blue to blue-green beryl.
Aquamarine ranges from delicate greenish blue to a more concentrated blue.
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Green Beryl, Revealed Within
Green beryl in the gemological emerald range.
Emerald is the green to bluish-green variety of beryl.
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Pink Beryl, from Crystal to Jewel
Pink to orange-pink beryl.
Morganite is beryl in shades of pink, rose, peach and pale violet.
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Goshenite, heliodor and the mineral behind a spectrum of gems
Beryl family material outside the dedicated aquamarine, emerald and morganite pages.
Beryl is the mineral species; emerald, aquamarine, morganite, heliodor and goshenite are names used for particular appearances within it.
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Pink and green spodumene, with color that deserves a precise name
Colored varieties of spodumene.
Spodumene is a monoclinic pyroxene, commonly forming flattened, elongated crystals with lengthwise striations.
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Blue blades that reveal the importance of direction
Aluminium silicate mineral, polymorphous with andalusite and sillimanite.
Kyanite is triclinic and frequently grows as flattened blades, sometimes bent or intergrown.
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Violet-blue cordierite and the art of changing perspective
Gem-quality cordierite, often violet-blue and strongly pleochroic.
Iolite is gem-quality cordierite, an orthorhombic mineral that often occurs as granular or compact masses rather than conspicuous free-standing crystals.
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Color in three directions; a cross within the crystal
Andalusite; chiastolite is the cross-patterned inclusion variety.
Andalusite shares the composition Al2SiO5 with kyanite and sillimanite, but their atoms occupy different structures.
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Pale green growth within the spaces of older rock
Calcium aluminium silicate, often pale green and botryoidal.
Prehnite is a distinct mineral, not a pale kind of jade or quartz.
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Dark prisms, green interiors and the evidence of alteration
Calcium aluminium iron silicate in the epidote group.
Epidote contains calcium, aluminum, ferric iron, silicon, oxygen and hydroxyl.
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One mineral species, several distinctive expressions
Zoisite mineral; tanzanite is blue-violet gem zoisite.
Zoisite is an orthorhombic calcium–aluminum silicate containing hydroxyl.
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Corundum's colors, histories and hidden distinctions
Red and other colored gem varieties of corundum.
Corundum is aluminum oxide.
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More than a familiar blue
Aluminium fluorine/hydroxyl silicate mineral.
Topaz is an aluminium silicate containing fluorine and hydroxyl.
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Silicon Carbide, Natural Rarity and a Grown Gem's Fire
Silicon carbide (SiC); rare natural mineral, with laboratory-created material supplying the gem trade.
Moissanite brings together two different stories: rare natural silicon carbide and deliberately grown crystals made into brilliant jewelry.
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