[Rockhounds] Heliodore - gold beryl

[pmodreski at aol.com]

Ronald,

You are right, there is conflicting information to be seen on the www about these names.

For a start, I notice that you said "gold beryl" and not "golden beryl".  I don't know if you intentionally wrote it that way, but "gold beryl", as opposed to "golden beryl", has traditionally been used as a name for yellow chrysoberyl, and not for beryl at all; that is what the American Geological Institute, Glossary of Geology, says about "gold beryl".  However, I think this usage is archaic and is not often used at all this way any more, and people who might write "gold beryl" do simply mean the same as "golden beryl".

So getting back to golden beryl vs. heliodor, I think that for the most part these two are just synonyms and really mean the same, and that this is the only logical way to treat these two names.

But some sources, especially some selling gemstones online, think they can make a distinction between them.  This distinction doesn't seem to be consistent, and I don't think it makes any sense.  I see that some sites say that "heliodor" is a more encompassing term that includes yellow, golden, yellow-green, and brown tints of beryl, whereas "golden beryl" only applies to true golden color.  Personally, I have no idea what the difference is supposed to be between "golden" and "yellow" colors; I don't think there really is any.  One website says, for example, 

"However, the shade may vary and it is often difficult to establish a dividing line between Heliodor, Golden Beryl and Yellow Beryl."

I agree, except I would say that such a distinction is imaginary, not just "difficult"; all three of these mean the same thing.

Historically, I understand that the name "heliodor" was coined in 1910 as a marketing term for a new find from Namibia (quoting from mindat.org):

"Originally applied as a trade name for "Golden Beryl" from Rössing, Namibia. See E. Kaiser (1912) Centr. Min. p385. Now in more common use for any gem-quality Golden Beryl."

That is my take on this.

Pete Modreski, Denver, CO (US Geological Survey)


-----Original Message-----
From: Ronald Werner <rower at start.no>
Sent: Tue, 27 May 2008 7:57 am
Subject: [Rockhounds] Heliodore - gold beryl



Hi,
Just a short question about the "best" description/definition of heliodore as 
pposed to gold beryl.
I have googled and found a lot of conflicting information regarding the color of 
these varieties.
Can anyone recommend a reference/source for the demarcation between these 
arieties 
hat will hold in an official context?
On beforehand thanks for your help!
Ronald Werner
vje og Hornnes Geomuseum på Fennefoss
orway
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
å din egen, gratis e-postadresse på Start.no
-- 
______________________________________________
ockhounds at drizzle Mailing List
ubscription Services:
ttp://lists.drizzle.com/mailman/listinfo/rockhounds
ist Home Page, with a link to the List Usage Policy:
ttp://www.eclecticlapidary.com/Rockhounds/index.html



--- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts ---
multipart/alternative
  text/plain (text body -- kept)
  text/html
---