March Birthstones
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This 20.83-carat stone from Africa represents the large size and attractive color that make aquamarine a much-prized gem. - De'ev Dvir/ICA, courtesy Gemstar Ltd., Israel
Aquamarine’s name comes from the Latin for seawater and it was said to calm waves and keep sailors safe at sea. March’s birthstone was also thought to enhance the happiness of marriages. The best gems combine high clarity with limpid transparency and blue to slightly greenish blue hues. Like many beryls, aquamarine forms large crystals suitable for sizable fashioned gems and carvings.
Description
The Dom Pedro aquamarine obelisk by gem sculptor Bernd Munsteiner is the largest cut aquamarine. - Eric Welch, courtesy Smithsonian Institution
Aquamarine is the green-blue to blue variety of the mineral beryl. (Emerald is the green to bluish green variety of the same mineral.) Its color is usually a light pastel greenish blue. Heat treatment usually gives it a more bluish appearance.
Aquamarine crystals are known to be large in size and relatively clean and well-formed, making them particularly valuable to collectors of mineral specimens.
Aquamarine History and Lore
The name “aquamarine” is derived from two Latin words: aqua, meaning “water,” and marina, meaning “of the sea.”
It has been said that the mineral beryl gives the wearer protection against foes in battle or litigation. It makes the wearer unconquerable and amiable, and also quickens the intellect. Aquamarine is the birthstone for March.
Few people outside the gem industry realize the true nature of a gemstone’s journey from the mine to the counter of a store. Whether the gem is being offered to consumer’s at a traditional jewelry store’s counter, an internet shopping site, or a television broadcast the journey always involves a great deal of effort. Tons of earth and countless hours of labor are needed to being a gem from mine to market.
The government of Brazil gave this 1,298 ct rectangular step cut aquamarine to Eleanor Roosevelt when she and President Roosevelt visited Rio de Janeiro in 1936. Courtesy: The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, Hyde Park, New York