While Quartz is one of the most abundant minerals on the Earth's surface, it makes it no less valuable, or beautiful! It is composed of the elements silicon and oxygen, and in its pure state it is colorless, though just small amounts of various impurity atoms can yield a variety of colors. It is common to find inclusions in quartz crystals. Quartz is usually one of the last minerals to form in a deposit, so it sometimes grows around existing crystals. Because quartz is commonly clear, the inclusions are easy to see, as seen in smokey and rutilated quartz.

The green variety of Beryl, Emerald is the most famous and valuable green gemstone in the world. Prized for its beautiful green color, the deeper green the Emerald, the higher it’s valued. Along with Ruby and Sapphire, Emerald is one of the “big three” of colored, precious gemstones. The green is caused by chromium and vanadium impurities.

Beryl has other notable gem varieties, including blue Aquamarine, pink Morganite, and Golden Beryl or Heliodor. If the green gemstone is not saturated enough, instead of being labeled as “Emerald” it would be reclassified as “green Beryl”.