In 1995, golden beryl crystals of extraordinary beauty started appearing in the market. The shape of the crystals was totally unusual in this variety of beryl, and although the sellers asserted that they came from a new deposit called Zelayota Vada (golden water) in Tajikistan, some collectors found this explanation doubtful. A geologist of the Smithsonian investigated the crystals and finally proved that they were aquamarines from Pakistán which had undergone a thermic treatment to change their colour. We include this specimen as a curio.