Beryls

Impurities of iron in different chemical states are responsible for the colors in these aquamarines and green beryls from Brazil, ranging in weight from 911 to 2,054 carats. When beryl is a rich blue to blue-green color, the gem is called aquamarine. If the beryl is green, but not an intense rich green to be called emerald, the gem is simply called green beryl. The 1,000 carat emerald cut aquamarine (pictured upper left), known as the Most Precious, was a gift of Evyan Perfumes in 1963. The 2,054 carat yellowish-green rectangular step cut beryl and the 914 carat modified round brilliant cut green beryl were cut by John Sinkankas. The other two beryls in the photograph are a deep blue step cut aquamarine weighing 911 carats and a yellowish-green square step cut beryl weighing 1,363 carats.