:The history of the discovery of morganite
Compared to gems that have been known and appreciated for hundreds or thousands of years, morganite is a relative newcomer. Commercial quantities of richly colored pink beryl (as morganite was then called) were first discovered in Madagascar in 1910. Around the same time, this stone was also found in San Diego County in southern California. George Kanz, senior Tiffany and the company’s gemologist, obtained samples of this mineral for mineralogical and gemological testing, and the results are exceptional.
:Table of characteristics of morganite
Chemical composition Be3Al2Si6O18 – aluminum beryllium silicate
Hexagonal crystal system
Pink to orange-pink color
The color of the outline is colorless
Clear transparency to OPEC
Uncertain appearance
Shell fracture to irregular
Polished glass
Refractive index nω = 1.925-1.961 nε = 1.980-2.015
Double refraction 0.007 – 0.008
Mouse hardness 7.5-8
Specific weight 2.80-2.91
Weak fluorescence: purple
Morganite: a stone of the beryl family
Morganite belongs to the very important beryl group. There are several types of gemstones in this family, which are usually classified by color or impurity. Some of the more famous beryls that are related to pink morganite include green emerald, blue aquamarine, white goshnite (colorless) and golden beryl or heliodor. The rarest beryl is red bixbite
With its delicate color, this stone can be considered the sister of emerald or aquamarine. It is considered an exciting new gem alternative to pink sapphire, pink tourmaline and kunzite. Morganite may sometimes be known as “pink emerald” or “rose beryl,” but these are just brand names
morganite
:Different colors of morganite
The color of morganite ranges from slightly yellowish orange, to orange, to orange pink, to pink, to slightly purplish pink. This color spectrum attracts many people and it looks attractive when placed in rose gold jewelry, which has also increased in popularity.
In fact, a small amount of manganese is the natural cause of this peach and pink color in morganite. Most naturally colored morganites are very bright in color, especially when cut into gems weighing two carats or less. As a general guide, for the best appearance, the stone should be at least two carats in size
These pale morganites are often treated with heat (around 400°C) or radiation to increase their color saturation. These improvement methods make this gem more attractive and sellable. Some of these enhancements move the stone towards the pink part of the morganite color range
These improvement methods are common, permanent, undetectable and acceptable in the market. However, enhanced gems should always be sold with written or verbal disclosure because many buyers are very interested in unenhanced gems. Customers who only want unenhanced gemstones should always ask the seller for information on enhancement methods
:How to cut morganite
Morganite is a pleochroic gemstone. This means that when you look at it from different angles, its colors are slightly different. When viewed from its crystallographic “c” axis, its color is slightly richer. Since the most brilliance of this stone is in the cut-fast type, the gem cutters who study the rough carefully and determine the direction of the cut-fast stones with the c-axis perpendicular to the gemstone table. This produces gems that are richer in color, often pinker, when viewed upside down.
:Hardness of morganite
As a type of beryl, morganite has a Mohs hardness of 7.5 to 8. This hardness is relatively high, but it is lower than most popular gemstones (diamond, ruby and topaz). Therefore, you should not put a stone next to a harder stone in the worked jewelry because it may scratch it. This makes morganite an excellent stone to use in engagement rings. Compared to emerald, beryl and morganite are relatively free of impurities and fractures. This makes it more durable in jewelry use than emerald.
:Morganite mines
Madagascar became the first source of gem-quality morganite, and the stones produced there were rich in pink color. Other deposits of commercial quality were later found in Afghanistan, Brazil, Mozambique, Russia, China, Namibia and the United States (California and Maine). Today, the largest deposits of morganite in the world are mined in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Morganite is usually extracted from released hardened magmatic fluids called pegmatite. Currently, mining companies in South Africa (especially Mozambique) and Brazil are very active. In these areas, morganite is often found in lithium-rich pegmatite veins associated with tourmaline, albite, apatite, and kanzite. For this reason, geological conditions sometimes, rough morganite crystals may even contain tourmaline inclusions
