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HELIODOR

Heliodor was first discovered in Rossing, Erongo in western Namibia in 1910 and was named from the Greek “helios” and “doron”, meaning “gift from the sun”.

Displaying characteristic yellowish greens (similar to olive oil), Heliodor is a variety of Beryl, the “mother of gemstones”. Interestingly, as an allochromatic gem, pure Beryl is colourless, with traces of different elements being responsible for Beryl’s great colour range.

Legends and lore

Amongst crystal healers, Heliodor has traditionally been used as a charm to promote compassion, sincerity and sympathy. Heliodor is also believed by some to enhance one’s intuition and to improve one’s communicative abilities.

Just the facts

Heliodor’s main characteristic is its colour, which is produced when iron replaces some of the aluminium in the crystal structure. The colour ranges depending on the relative concentrations and location of iron within the Beryl crystal structure. However, the shade may vary and it is often difficult to establish a dividing line between Heliodor, Golden Beryl and Yellow Beryl. Originally, Golden Beryl found in Namibia was called Heliodor, but today the name is used to describe the yellowish green varieties of Beryl, with the golden colours called Golden Beryl and the yellow colours called Yellow Beryl. However, please be aware that these demarcations are still confused by some sources.

Not surprisingly, Heliodor was discovered in a pegmatite that also produced Aquamarine, a Beryl also coloured by iron. Like Aquamarine, the more intense colours frequently have more inclusions. Heliodor occurs primarily in granite pegmatites and to a lesser extent in granite cavities. Because of Heliodor’s relatively robust hardness and specific gravity, it is sometimes found in alluvial deposits.

Heliodor is famous for its perfect, six-sided prismatic hexagonal crystals that usually occur individually. These are often enormous and some 8 metre, well crystallised examples are known to have existed. Understandably, only very small amounts of these enormous crystals are of a sufficient quality to be used in jewellery.

Heliodor can be faceted into various gem cuts, and some gems display chatoyancy (cat’s eye effect) when cut and polished into cabochons. When perfectly transparent, six-sided crystals are discovered, they are sometimes set uncut in necklaces and pendants.

While the best Heliodor traditionally hails from Namibia, beautiful specimens are also found in Minas Gerais, Brazil and the Ural Mountains, Russia. While Heliodor’s durability and summery colours makes it well suited to jewellery, it is extremely difficult to find enough Heliodor to craft lines of jewellery, particularly with respect to clean examples displaying intense colours and a high lustre (good cutting and polishing). It frequently simply isn’t available and despite its beauty, rarely makes an appearance in jewellery.