[Rockhounds] Heliodore - gold beryl - Pete Modreski

[Ronald Werner]

Hello Pete,

Thanks for a very useful reply.

First, yes, you are absolutely right about "gold" vs. "golden". But in Norway we 
only know "gullberyll", we have no way of calling it "golden", so therefore the 
mistake.

(The norwegian language is much more context dependant than English!)

The funny part for me was a couple of days ago, while working together with the 
geological consultant from our neighbouring municipality - Iveland. Our collections 
are similar, though the collection of the Fennefoss museum is much larger. So, it 
was a surprise to see the beryls we call "gullberyll", called heliodor in their 
collection. That of course started a discussion between us, and the more I googled, 
the more confused I got.

The beryl we are talking about is rather dark yellow-orange-brownish of color. I 
associate the color easily with the color of gold. I cannot recall a website with a 
picture of such golden beryl/heliodor from our area. I am supposed to work with the 
website of the museum, and eventually I will put out some pictures of such golden 
beryl.

I feel confident you are right about the subjectivity of these terms. We are 
obviously not talking about mineral species with strict requirements regarding 
composition and crystal structure.

Personally I am fond of the name "gullberyll" and don't want to start calling it 
heliodor. That is also strategy towards the publicum. Most people don't know what 
heliodor is or means. But the word gold is readily understood and appreciated.

Thanks!

Ron
Norway




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