CHRYSOBERYL
Specimen chb-11
$ 60.00Dims: 1.16x0.76x0.25" (2.94x1.93x0.63cm)
Wt: 30.00ct (6.00g)
Ambatodraza, Madagascar
This is another Ambatodraza chrysoberyl specimen. At first examination, it appears that a brown, opaque host rock has been completely coated by chrysoberyl. However, close examination reveals that the chrysoberyl surface (pale greenish-yellow and transparent) is a single twinned crystal, showing hints of a cyclic hexagonal form. This convinces me that the underlying "rock" must be chrysoberyl, albeat impure, brown, and opaque. The large flat surfaces show an interesting striation/growth pattern, and the crystal terminations are transparent, showing many internal fractures, and also multiple facets from uneven crystal growth, yielding a pleasing crystalline pattern.