Latest update 3/9/01
Hello and Welcome to old and new bixbite aficionados,
Red-Emeralds.com is your virtual mine for beautiful gem specimens.
Bixbite is also known as red beryl or red emeralds. Although bixbite is the appropriate official mineralogical term, it is not used as commonly as red beryl, and there has been considerable discussion about the "appropriateness" of the term "red emerald" (see article and link near bottom ). Historically Maynard Bixby first found it at the Maynard Topaz Mine. While he thought it was beryl, that color was unknown, so he sent specimens to Washington DC. There Professor W.F. Hillebrand, a geochemist at the National College described the specimens as a new variety of beryl. In 1912 Professor A. Eppler, a German mineralogist, named the new variety bixbite, in Bixby's honor.
I have recently acquired a number of red emerald specimens, some of which you can see here. Clicking on any photo will bring you to a higher resolution page with additional photos of that same stone. While these pictures show accurate representations of the stone shapes, the color in virtual worlds varies due to many factors. Unless your monitor is color calibrated it will display slightly different tones and hues than every other monitor. (Currently color calibrating requires an external sophisticated calibrator) I also perceive these photos to be slightly more cherry colored and slightly less raspberry than how I see these stones to be in the real world....I'll be working on that.....
Some of the properties of Beryl are as follows: Beryl's chemical composition is Be3Al2Si6O18. (14% BeO, 19% Al2O3, 67% SiO2). It is a ring structure silicate, with 6 tetrahedra in the ring (the Si6O18), a specific gravity of 2.66 - 2.83, a refractive index of 1.56 - 1.58 and a Mohs hardness of 7.5 - 8.0. It is insoluble in acids. Beryl occurs in white, green, blue-green, greenish yellow, blue, yellow, and pink colors, with a vitreous luster. The gem varieties includes emerald, (green beryl), aquamarine (blue beryl) morganite (pink beryl), heliodor (golden emerald or golden beryl), bixbite (red beryl) and goshenite (clear beryl). It usually contains some alkali ions (Na, Li, K, and CS), it may contains Manganese (believed to give it color in red beryl, just as lithium and cesium have been described as the color donors in Morganite or Pink Beryl) and perhaps small amounts of Iron, Calcium, or chromium. Beryl is the most important ore of Beryllium; it sometimes occurs in beautiful gem mineral formations, hexagonal prisms with pinacoidal terminations (flat ends), often vertically striated.
Bixbite also occurs as small hexagonal tablets (sometimes called rosettes) either as single crystals or in clusters. The colors range from orangish-red to cherry to raspberry purplish, with medium tones, and a vitreous luster. The largest crystal yet recovered was 14mm x 34mm and weighed approximately 54 carat. The average faceted gemstone is .15 carat, the largest faceted stone to date weighs 8.0 carat, and the most famous faceted gemstone weighs less than 4 carat. Most of the crystals found are an opaque "bubble gum" quality, but a small percentage are stones of gem quality, with colors ranging from pink to bright or raspberry red. Matrix specimens are not so common, as the crystals are weakly attached.
Red beryl is found primarily in the Thomas Range and the Wah Wah mountains of Utah, and has also been reportedly found in a location in Mexico (possibly near San Luis Potosi one of the very few places beryl is also found on rhyolite). Where it is found in Utah it occurs on rhyolite, where it crystallized under low pressure and high temperature, along fractures or cavities and porous areas of volcanic rhyolitic magma. Another small red beryl source was discovered in the Black Range in New Mexico, where very small (.016 cm or less, too small to yield faceted red emeralds) crystals occurs in a highly altered rhyolite similar to that in the Thomas Range. In the Thomas Range, crystals have been found up to 2.5 cm long and .15 cm wide, although most are much smaller, less than 6mm. Most of the specimen in the Thomas Range are the smaller tabular crystals, which, while sometimes gem quality, are rarely large enough to be cut into gemstones. The red beryl in the Thomas Range form mainly as flat hexagonal tabular crystals. It sometimes is found on topaz crystals, with bixbyite, with garnet, or with pseudobrookite.
The most famous mine is the Violet Claim located in the Wah Wah Mountains. This claim is often described as the only place gem quality red beryl is found.
Regarding the ongoing semantic debate, Robert Genis, Editor of The Gemstone Forecaster had an interesting article titled "red emerald or red beryl" in the Volume 18 No.3 (Fall 2000) issue. Here are a few excerpts:
"....Because of the meager production and small size of the gems, it has thus far only been prized by gemstone connoisseurs. Recently however, an international consortium with some money behind it and a new marketing name, Red Emerald, set out to make this stone a household name. Well, not exactly, with production of less than 10,000 carats a year (probably closer to 5000-7000 carats) and prices reaching over $10,000 per carat. However, their plan is to carve out a profitable niche in the gemstone and jewelry marketplace. According to Kelly Hyslop, CEO of Gemstone Mining, Inc., "There is only one red emerald for every 150,000 diamonds, 12,000-15,000 emeralds, and 7,000-8,000 rubies. Only one woman in 3 million can own a .80 or larger red emerald. These goods are really fit for royalty, only one woman in 50 million could own a large red emerald necklace."
........What's in a Name?
Some trade organizations and strict linguists do not like the name red emerald. They feel marketing the product as red emerald is technically incorrect and believe emerald is strictly synonymous with green. Other beryls are not sold as colored emeralds. Morganite, for example, is not sold as pink emerald, nor aquamarine as blue emerald. However, according to Kelly Hyslop, "We are marketing the material as red emerald. red beryl is a misnomer. If we have pink,
orange, yellow, and purple sapphire, why not red emerald?" As many in the trade are aware, it is difficult to market gemstones with bad names. For example, blue zoisite is sold as tanzanite and green garnet is sold as tsavorite. Let's face it, red emerald is a sexier name than red beryl or bixbite. Although I prefer red beryl, I understand why the owners believe red emerald will help to sell this stone."........
.......Marketing
The main target market for these goods is the US. At one time, the Japanese were the largest buyers of the material. Small stones less than a carat are being targeted for the jewelry manufacturing market. red beryl over a carat will probably be sold to collectors or to high-end jewelry stores. The faceted goods and specimens are displayed at the Denver, Las Vegas, and Tucson gem shows.......
.......Sizes
Most red beryls are subcarats. Recently, Red Emerald, Ltd. offered a 2.72 for sale and, in July, 2000, cut their largest red beryl to date, a 2.84. The largest well known, gem, faceted red beryl weighs approximately 8 carats.
.......Conclusion This material has some obvious marketing benefits: It is an exclusively American gemstone, it is truly an ultra-rare stone with an great story. Although it may never be fully accepted in the retail jewelry world due to its rarity and price, red beryl offers another red alternative for ruby buyers or consumers looking for something different to covet.
For the full text of Robert Genis's article see The Gemstone Forecaster, Volume 18 No.3, Fall 2000 (clicking this link will open a new window...to return here after visiting The Gemstone Forecaster, simply close the new window).
Another excellent source of information on red beryl is:
