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Chrysoberyl

Specimen cases holding small mineral samples on a reference tray, viewed from above.

Properties

Property table of the Wikipedia article “Chrysoberyl”, reprinted as recorded in the fetch.
CategoryOxide minerals
FormulaBeAl2O4
Crystal systemOrthorhombic
ColorVarious shades of green, emerald-green yellow, blue, brownish to greenish black, may be raspberry-red under incandescent light when chromian; colorless, pale shades of yellow, green, or red in transmitted light
Crystal habitCrystals tabular or short prismatic, prominently striated
CleavageDistinct on {110}, imperfect on {010}, poor on {001}
FractureConchoidal to uneven
TenacityBrittle
Mohs scale hardness8.5
LusterVitreous
StreakWhite
Specific gravity3.5–3.84

From the Wikipedia article

The mineral or gemstone chrysoberyl is an aluminate of beryllium with the formula Be Al2O4. The name chrysoberyl is derived from the Greek words χρυσός chrysos and βήρυλλος beryllos, meaning "a gold-white spar". Despite the similarity of their names, chrysoberyl and beryl are two completely different gemstones, although they both contain beryllium, aluminium and oxygen. Chrysoberyl is the third-hardest frequently encountered natural gemstone and lies at 8.5 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, between corundum (9) and topaz (8).

Source

Source record: crystal-compendium/chrysoberyl/minerals.json. Fetched from English Wikipedia by the operator 2 October 2026.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysoberyl — revision id 1374719919. Text and properties from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.