Feature Gems & Gemology, Spring 2001, Volume 37, No. 1

Hydrothermal Synthetic Red Beryl from the Institute of Crystallography, Moscow

James E. Shigley, Shane F. McClure, Jo Ellen Cole, John I. Koivula, Taijin Lu, Shane Elen, and Ludmila N. Demianets

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Hydrothermal synthetic red beryl has been produced for jewelry applications by the Institute of Crystallography and an affiliated company, Emcom Ltd., both in Moscow. Diagnostic identification features include: a tabular crystal morphology, chevron-like and subparallel or slightly wavy internal growth zoning, sharp absorption bands at approximately 530, 545, 560, 570, and 590 nm due to Co2+, water-related absorption bands between 4200 and 3200 cm-1 in the infrared spectrum, and the presence of Co and Ni peaks in EDXRF spectra.