Physical Properties |
|
| Chemical formula | Be3Al2Si6O18 |
| Class | Cyclosilicate Rings of linked tetrahedra |
| Crystal system | Hexagonal |
| Habit | Hexagonal prisms |
| Color | Colorless Blue Red Green (emerald) Pale greenish blue (aquamarine) Rose (morganite) Gold (heliodor) |
| Hardness | 7.5 to 8 |
| Specific gravity | 2.7 to 2.9 |
| Cleavage | Poor (001) |
| Fracture | Even |
| Luster | Vitreous to resinous |
| Transparency | Transparent to translucent |
| Streak | White |
Optical Properties |
|
| PPL | Colorless Non-pleochroic |
| XPL | 1st order gray |
| δ | 0.006 |
| after Perkins, 315-316 |
Beryl in Hand Sample
Beryl in Thin Section
Thin Section GigaPans
Beryl in plane polars
Beryl in crossed polars