Chrysoberyl | Rock Encyclopedia

Encyclopedia

234 rocks, minerals, gems and fossils, each with its photographs, how to tell it apart, and what it has meant to people.

Often openedAmethyst Obsidian Rose quartz Turquoise Moonstone Opal

234 specimens6 groups15 meanings

Stone of the dayEudialyteLove · SpiritEudialyte is a complex silicate that can give alkaline rocks streaks and masses of rose red. It belongs to a group of similar minerals, so a red specimen photograph may need a broader group label.Read about itkevinzim · CC BY 2.0

By group

By occasion

A birthday, an anniversary

The stones that lists and traditions have attached to a month or a year of marriage.

Birthstones of the month

Birthstones

Twelve months, each with its stones.

January10 stones

Anniversaries

The stones named for each year of marriage.

2nd anniversary10 stones

By meaning

What people have asked stones to stand for

Each word gathers the stones whose folklore records it; the stories are in the articles.

The collection

All specimens

234

Igneous rocks

Sedimentary rocks

Metamorphic rocks

Minerals

110

Gemstones

Fossils

GroundingCalmPetrified woodPatrykTBrown · CC0

Photo: Géry PARENT · Public domain

Mineral

In folklore

A photo cannot confirm this material.

Chrysoberyl is a hard mineral with yellow, green and brown gem varieties. Some stones show a moving band of light called a cat's eye; alexandrite is a separate colour-changing variety of the same species1.

At a glance

Composition: BeAl₂O₄
Colour: Usually yellow, green or brown; chromium-rich alexandrite can change from green to red
Luster: Vitreous
Hardness: 8.5Mohs
Crystal system: Orthorhombic
Transparency: Transparent to translucent, may be opaque and chatoyant with oriented inclusions.
Streak: White

Chrysoberyl crystals can be flat or short and prismatic, sometimes joined into shapes that look almost six-sided. Yellow, green and brown are common colours. In a cut cat's-eye variety, a narrow bright band moves as the stone turns; one still image may miss that movement. Colour alone does not identify the mineral1.

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