Aquamarine (Beryl)

Referring to the calming blue color of the ocean, its name means “water of the sea”. Aquamarine is a gem variety from the beryl family that gets its trademark color from iron. It is a stone that symbolizes eternal youth and happiness with medium-dark blue to slightly greenish-blue being the most valued. Aquamarine is also typically very clean- most specimens do not have any eye-visible inclusions. Despite this, almost all blue aquamarines are heat-treated while the greenish variety go untreated.

Brazil’s Minas Gerais produces some of the world’s best aquamarines, but only accounts for less than 5% of the total yield. Other major producers are Pakistan, Nigeria, Madagascar, Mozambique, Australia, US, and China.