The mineral and gemstone chrysoberyl is an aluminate of beryllium. The name is derived from the Greek words chrysos and beryllos, meaning “a gold-white spar”.

Ordinary chrysoberyl is yellowish-green in color and can vary from transparent to translucent. The mineral when it is transparent and exhibits a pale green to yellow color, it is used as a gemstone.

The three main varieties of chrysoberyl are: ordinary yellow-to-green chrysoberyl, cat’s eye or cymophane, and alexandrite. Yellow-green chrysoberyl was referred to as “chrysolite” in the past, but that name is no longer used now.

Chrysoberyl was first discovered in 1789 and described and named in 1790, by Abraham Werner who was one of the most outstanding geologists of his time.

Chrysoberyl and beryl are two completely different gemstones. Chrysoberyl is a hard natural gemstone and lies at 8.5 on the Moh’s scale of harness between corundum (9) and topaz (8). Members of the beryl group include emerald, aquamarine, and morganite while members of the chrysoberyl group include chrysoberyl, cymophane (cat’s eye), and alexandrite.

Beryl is a silicate and chrysoberyl is an oxide. Though both beryl and chrysoberyl contain beryllium they are two different gemstone species unrelated in any other way.

Because of the confusion between chrysoberyl and beryl, chrysoberyl remains relatively unknown for its won merits while the alexandrite variety is much more widely recognized. The two well-known natural gemstones harder than chrysoberyl are corundum and diamond.