Welcome to You Ask Andy

Jahi Scoter age 10 Pasadena, Calif.

 What is an emerald

The ancestors. of this precious: atone. are three silver‑white metals. Only nature can combine them to form the vivid green emerald. And she has made only a small quantity of them.  It takes ages of time to crystalize the proper amounts of these elements. or their compounds to make an emerald.

Beryllium: is rare in nature; What’s more it does not occur by itself. It has been isolated as a very hard. silver‑white metal. Mixed with copper it forms a valuable alloy. Beryllium copper is as; strong as steel. Unlike steel it refuses to strike sparks when hammered. Tools. of this alloy are useful where. flying sparks are dangerous.

But in nature: beryllium prefers beauty to usefulness. For a compound, of beryllium with the help. of aluminum often forms beautiful crystal.. This semi‑precious stone is beryl and it comes in many varieties. It is plentiful and often occurs ins slabs weighing many pounds.

A huge chunk of beryl is a beautiful thing to see. So also are the smaller stones. The colors are pale and delicate. One variety looks like from an sea foam. of greenish blues. Another looks like captured sunlight of gold and yellow.

Morganita; is a. rose colored variety of beryl. Another variety is phenacita. The name of this crystal means imp ester. Phenacite is often mistaken for quartsite It may be colorless or it. may come; in gentle tones of yellow rose or brown.

All varieties of beryl. are children. Of elements. beryllium: and alundrmm. To make emerald nature adds still another element to the family tree. This: is chromium the third ancestor of silver‑white metal. For emerald is a crystal form.. of beryl and oxide of chromium. 'It in the chromium which gives the intense; color to the most precious: of precious. stones..

The emerald is valued for its deep color of vibrant green. A large flawless emerald is very rare indeed. The loveliest stones often have flaws which look like rocks. However. these help to reflect the light and enflame the glowing color. As a rule. the flaws do not. make the stone less valuable.

As a stones the emerald is far less. durable than the diamond. The diamond is: the hardest. of stones. Only another diamond can make spa much as a scratch upon its. The emerald is much softer. It is easily scratched and chipped. Y et a fine emerald may be; far more valuable than a fine. diamond of the same size. This is because of the deep.. rich color of such a atone.. It is also because the emerald is far more rare than the diamond. Whatever the recipe for mixing berylliums aluminum and chromium. Nature used its very sparingly.

Most of the world’s emeralds are mined in Columbia South America. Here there are supplies of the precious stones. in the darkest of shades. A few emeralds. are found right here in the United States. Some quite handsome stones have been found in South Carolina. Let’s hope there are more waiting to be discovered.

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