I wanted to love this stone but it turned out to be, essentially, a dud. It’s advertised as being 10k but I find it to be sub-8k. It’s also harsh on highly refined straight razor edges. Maybe it would be useful for someone to follow a 5k synthetic – and then I think you’d need to use a paste or something to smooth it all out. Maybe. I haven’t tried that because I bought this as a ‘finisher’ and I have no need or reason to keep experimenting with it as a mid-range option.
I think this is very possibly a reconstituted or sintered stone.
The feel of this Beryl hone is similar to some well known hard glassy stones, like a Transluscent Arkansas. Not exactly like that, but similar enough.
As delivered from the Chinese seller, the working surface is rough, way too rough for razors and I had to smooth it out with a very worn Atoma 400 – I think it might benefit from further smoothing also.
Beryl is a very hard stone, harder than Novaculite but this stone laps easier than any Ark I’ve ever had to flatten but it’s still pretty hard and difficult to lap.
Years ago, these stones sold for $200 each. This example was less than $30. For an experiment, to me – it’s worth it; as an investment in a go-to hone for finishing razors - not so much.
