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Identity HelpEmerald or something else?

10th Aug 2010 04:21 UTCMisty Mortar

I bought this piece at an educational supply store. It was labeled as an "emerald quartz" apparently related to serpentine (or containing serpentine I think it said). I had never heard of emerald quartz and my attempts to look it up have rendered nothing.

It looks like what I thought a rough, low grade emerald looks like from pictures I've seen. It's a bit blueish in color although more green than aquamarine usually is. I showed it to a geologist, as I was confused about the labeling in the store, and he suggested that by the color it might be amazonite, which confused me even more. They were selling amazonite in the store as well, and while the color is similar the samples looked far different.

So: does this look like an emerald or is it actually a different mineral? (Or maybe a greenish aquamarine or something?) It's possible that I may have misread the sign and it actually said something to the effect of "emerald quartz and serpentine" instead. But the labeling seemed to suggest that it was a different mineral altogether, hence my confusion.Thanks so much for taking the time to look at it!

10th Aug 2010 05:53 UTCSteve Hardinger 🌟 Expert

Low grade emerald. Better to call it greenish beryl.

10th Aug 2010 05:55 UTCNoah Horwitz

Well, it's beryl, though how you slice it in terms of variety is up to choice. It's kind of greenish-blue, so you could call it emerald or aquamarine, but I would probably stick with "beryl" given that it is nowhere near gem grade and the color is intermediate. The hexagonal shape pretty much confirms it as beryl; emerald is the green variety of beryl and aquamarine is the blue variety.

10th Aug 2010 06:01 UTCCorie Mattar

Hi!

It looks like Brazillian emerald to me. I have a piece and it is very similar.

Regards,

Corie

10th Aug 2010 06:15 UTCMisty Mortar

Thank you very much, everyone!

It definitely looks like a beryl to me, which is why the suggestion of "quartz" and "amazonite" seemed off.

It only cost me a dollar, in any case. I'm not sure where it said it came from.

Thanks again!

11th Aug 2010 16:30 UTCVik Vanrusselt Expert

A geologist confusing beryl with amazonite? (td)

12th Aug 2010 11:02 UTCMark Willoughby Expert

Howdy all,

I'd certainly call it beryl, emerald is traditionally used to discribe 'gem quality' gree beryl, and I would not call it 'gem quality'.

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