MORGANITE

Morganite (alternatively known as "pink beryl", "rose beryl", "pink emerald", "cesian/caesian beryl") is a variety of the mineral Beryl.

It is a rare light pink to rose coloured gem-quality stone, but orange to yellow varieties can also be found. Colour banding is common with this gemstone. The pink colour of morganite is attributed to the presence of Mn2+ ions and it can be routinely heat treated to remove patches of yellow and occasionally treated by irradiation to improve its colour.

The main sources of morganite are Brazil, Madagascar, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the US. Pink beryl of good colour and size were first discovered on the coast of an island of Madagascar in 1910. In December 1910, the New York Academy of Sciences named the pink variety of beryl "morganite" after the financier J.P. Morgan. On October the 7th 1989, one of the largest gem morganite specimens ever uncovered was found at the Bennett Quarry in Maine, United States. It had an orange hue, was 23cm (9") long, 30cm (12") across and weighed just over 23kg (50 pounds). It was named "The Rose of Maine".