Aquamarine
Hardness 7.5 specific gravity 2.65-2.80
Refractive index 1.56-1.60 birefringence 0.003-10
Wear: low hardness, avoid wear
Aquamarine is a kind of light green, green tone blue or light blue gem grade beryl, and emerald belong to the same family. The difference is that the chromogenic element is iron.
Aquamarine, the English name of aquamarine, comes from the Latin aquamarine, which means "water in the sea". It describes the aquamarine as blue-green as the sea water.
Aquamarine is the birthstone of March.
Human understanding of the history of aquamarine
In 480-300 BC, the Greeks recorded the use of aquamarine in the literature. In Greek mythology, it is called "the treasure of the deep sea elves, which has the magic of resisting the wind and waves and protecting the safety of sailors in navigation". Europeans made the jewel as a talisman for soldiers on military ships.
In 1910, a sapphire crystal with a weight of 110kg was found in marambaia mine, Brazil. It is the largest gem grade "Sapphire" crystal in the world.
The world's largest cut aquamarine is "Dom Pedro Aquamarine", with a weight of 10363 carats. It is currently collected in the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of natural history in Washington.
The origin of aquamarine
Most of the "Aquamarine" crystals are formed in "pegmatite", so there will be very large and pure long columnar crystals. The common inclusions are "liquid and gas nail holes" and "rain wire" inclusions.
The most important gem producing areas are Brazil, Kenya, Madagascar, Myanmar, Namibia, Nigeria, Russia, Sri Lanka, the United States, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Factors affecting the value of aquamarine
"Aquamarine" is a kind of widely existing gem, so its price is far lower than that of emerald of the same family or sapphire of the same color system.
The darker the color and the higher the clarity of aquamarine, the higher the value of single carat.
Most of the aquamarine on the market are heat treated to remove the green hue and form a stable light blue.
Wearing and keeping
Aquamarine is a kind of stable and tough gem, but its hardness is only 7.5, so its wear resistance is low. Keep it away from wear and tear with other harder gems and jewelry.
Clean with warm soapy water and dry with a soft cloth.
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