Aquamarine Consumer Information
Care
Aquamarine can be worn in jewelry under normal use. Larger aquamarines should be worn with care, especially in settings such as rings that can be easily knocked
Cleaning: sudsy water and damp cloth
Clarity
They frequently possess a vitreous clarity not found in emeralds. For this reason, aquamarines may be fashioned as exceptional clean gems and carvings
Lower grade aquamarines can have a milky appearance if the crystal has a lot of inclusions
a potentially desirable “cat’s eye” effect occurs when miniscule, hollow growth tubes form parallel to one another
Color
Main colors: greenish blue to blue green
Light in tone and transparent
Some milky quality if lots of inclusions
Most collectible colors: aquamarines that have saturated, light blue colours are especially desirable, though a few beryl collectors prefer a slight greenish tinge
Treatment
Consider every aquamarine heat treated
Heat treatment causes them to loose their secondary greenish color and create a more “aquamarine blue” gem
It is generally impossible to gemologically determine whether an aquamarine has been treated or not
Cut
Relatively large stones can be cut due to its hardness and relatively large crystals (up to hundreds of carats) without inclusions
Unusually cut gems are also popular, especially in gems that have been fashioned by an important lapidary artist.
Aquamarines and other beryls often lend themselves to sculptures because of their size
Collect
Most collectible:
Saturated, light blue colours
Gems that have been fashioned by an important lapidary artist or cut in unusual ways
Aquamarines from desirable localities, such as Santa Maria aquamarines from Itabira, in Brazil, are collectible in accordance to their legendary depth-of-colour