11/27/2022 0 Comments Red alert 1 gems![]() ![]() collectors-especially those from Utah-“are doing their best to keep some of it here … as they feel an extra attraction to the stone for being from their home state.” He, too, noted a rising demand from the Asian market interested in the gemstone’s intense red color but added that some U.S. “As the public becomes more aware of this mineral, the need to have a piece in their collection goes through the roof,” he said. ![]() Gemstone and mineral seller Kyle Hunter added demand has increased “a decent amount” over the last four to six years as old collections recirculate on the market. RELATED CONTENT: 5 Things to Know About … American Gemsīut, he also noted, most demand for red beryl is coming from Japan, with a growing demand from Asian countries overall. High demand for red beryl stems from several factors, the first being its rarity.Īccording to Equatorian Imports’ Zajicek, the gemstone is also benefiting from a demand for American-mined goods. There’s always a market for red beryl, faceted or otherwise. Luckily, most pieces of red beryl from the Ruby Violet area have a rich, saturated red hue, providing a great pop of color even when it’s only melee.ģ. ![]() In addition to being small, there’s a good amount of red beryl production not of gem quality.Īccording to GIA, only about 10 percent of the goods coming from Wah Wah were of a quality that could be faceted, while gemstone and mineral seller Hunter estimated the amount of gem-quality material is below 5 percent, even with taking into account stones that have been clarity-enhanced to become gem quality.Īll of this is to say: Red beryl is the rarest of the beryl family and one of the rarest gemstones overall. He said most gemstones are 1 to 4 mm and “anything larger is a treat.” The average faceted stone size Hunter sees isn’t far off: 0.10 carats. A 0.40-carat stone is large, and 1 carat is “exceptional,” he added. Resource website says the largest red beryl crystals found at the Ruby Violet claim are about 2 cm wide and 5 cm long but added that most gem-quality crystals are under 1 cm long and most faceted beryl stones are 0.25 carats or less.įor gemstone wholesaler Equatorian Imports, the average size is around 0.08 carats, Monte Zajicek said. This can be said for many colored gemstones, especially when you reach the higher-quality tiers.īut according to Gem-A, a 2-carat red beryl is considered as rare as a 40-carat diamond, and the largest known faceted red beryl is 8 carats. Not surprisingly, big sizes and fine quality stones are hard to find. The owner of the Red Beryl Mine in Utah confirmed there is no production at the site and that they do not allow anyone on the premises to dig.Ģ. Red beryl has been found at a few other locations in the United States as well as Mexico, but at these locations, the crystals are generally too small, short or imperfect to facet.Ĭurrently, there is no commercial production of gem-quality red beryl, according to several sources. According to an article from the Gemological Institute of America, as of 2003 only about 60,000 carats had been mined. Wah Wah is the only locality in the world known to have produced gem-quality red beryl. Gem-quality material comes from only one place.īixby found this member of the beryl family more than a century ago, in 1904, at his claim in the Thomas Range in Utah.Īccording to the Gemmological Association of Great Britain, after Bixby’s early discovery, prospector Lamar Hodges found a second deposit of red beryl at what came to be known as the “Ruby Violet” mine in the Wah Wah Mountains of Utah. Here are five things to know about this gorgeous red gemstone.ġ. Red beryl is also known as bixbite after its discoverer, mineralogist Maynard Bixby, but that label has been discredited by various gem experts and trade associations, like CIBJO, because it’s easily confused with another mineral named after the same man-bixbyite. The gemstone gets its rich color from trace amounts of manganese and is a 7.5-8 on the Mohs hardness scale. The Utah Geological Survey estimates that for every 150,000 gem-quality diamonds unearthed, one crystal of red beryl is found. Red beryl is a one-source gemstone that is extremely rare. You definitely also know the green-blue to blue beryl we call aquamarine and, most likely, its pink to orange-pink cousin, morganite.īut what about the red variety of the mineral? It’s a rare one so it doesn’t have a lot of exposure, but gem connoisseurs love it. ![]() You all know the saturated blueish-green to green variety of beryl well-it’s emerald, of course. ![]()
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