Aquamarine Value, Price, and Jewelry Informa on

A custom-designed, beau ful, bold ring with a 10 x 8 mm precision-cut radiant aquamarine, vintage detailing, and wide, mul -strand band. © CustomMade. Used with
permission.

Named a er the color of sea water, aquamarine is the blue to blue-green member of the beryl family. Readily available and moderately priced, the modern
birthstone makes an excellent jewelry stone.

Aquamarine Value
Since aquamarines are available in large sizes, there's no incremental increase in value per carat for large gems. A 50-ct aquamarine will be worth the same
per carat as a single carat gem of equal quality. The gem price is dependent on clarity, depth of color, and to a lesser extent the purity of color.

For more detailed informa on on aquamarine quality factors, consult our aquamarine buying guide.
 This unusual arrangement brings together princess-cut aquamarines, marquise sapphires, and seed pearls to create a one-of-a-kind ring. 3
and 4 mm aquamarines, 2.25 x 4.25 and 1.5 x 3 mm blue sapphires, and 1 and 1.25 mm cultured seed pearls arranged in a faux-cushion
three stone se ng. © CustomMade. Used with permission.

The Interna onal Gem Society (IGS) has a list of businesses offering gemstone appraisal services.

Aquamarine Value via Gem Price Guide

Top Color: GB 4/4

Faceted .5 to 1.5 carats 1.5 to 3 carats 3 carat plus

Dark    to   /ct    to   /ct to   /ct

Medium    to   /ct    to   /ct to   /ct

Light    to   /ct    to    to   /ct

See the en re Gem Price Guide.

Start an IGS Membership today for full access to our price guide (updated monthly).
See Plans and Pricing
Aquamarine Informa on
DATA VALUE

Name Aquamarine

Is a Variety of Beryl

Varie es Blue Beryl

Crystallography  Hexagonal

Refrac ve Index  1.567-1.590

Colors  Blue to blue-green.

Luster  Vitreous.

Fracture  Conchoidal to uneven

Hardness  7.5 - 8

Specific Gravity  2.66-2.80

Birefringence  0.005-0.007

Cleavage  Indis nct

Dispersion  0.014

Heat Sensi vity No

Luminescence  None.

Wearability  Excellent

Enhancements  May be heat treated to remove green nt. Very common, undetectable.

Transparency  Opaque to transparent.

Absorp on Natural aquamarine: a broad band at 4270 and a diffuse band at 4560. (Weak band may be seen at 5370). Maxixe aquamarine: a narrow line at 6950, a stro
Spectrum  at 6540 and weak lines at 6280, 6150, 5500 and 5810.

Phenomena  Chatoyancy; asterism (rare).

Birthstone  March

Formula Be3Al2Si6O18 + Fe

Pleochroism  Natural aquamarine: blue/colorless (some mes greenish). Maxixe aquamarine: non-pleochroic (blue/blue).

Op cs  o = 1.567-1.583; e = 1.572-1.590; Uniaxial (-).

Etymology From the La n aqua marina for "sea water," in allusion to the color.

Occurrence Grani c rocks, especially granite pegma tes.

Inclusions  Long, hollow tubes, nega ve crystals, chrysanthemums. 2-phase and 3-phase inclusions. See "Iden fying Characteris cs" below.
 Aquamarine on mica matrix. Photo by Géry Parent. Copyrighted free use.

Comments
This beau ful gem receives its coloring from trace amounts of ferrous iron. Its hues range can range from blue-green to deep blue, and its tones can vary fr
light to moderately dark. You’ll rarely see aquamarines darker than a Swiss blue topaz. When you do, the color is usually enhanced by the cut.

Due to aquamarine’s color and name, in Western cultures, this gem has a folklore strongly connected to the sea. Its mys cal purview tradi onally includes
protec on for sailors and fishermen as well as travelers in general.

Fabergé brooch, 1908-1917, gold and silver with aquamarine, diamonds, and topaz. Photo by Shakko. Licensed under CC By-SA 3.0.
Gem Cu ng Recommenda ons
When cu ng aquamarine, the primary considera on should be depth of color. Deep designs, like Barions and emerald cuts, are usually preferred. Faceters
use 43° pavilion mains on aquamarine for the highest brilliance. Low crown angles will produce higher brilliance, but higher crowns are o en used to deepe
color.

The beryl family, including aquamarines, are some of the easiest gems to polish. Diamond polish is the most common method. A high-quality polish can give
aquamarines such great brilliance they might be confused with higher refrac ve index (RI) gems. Even with a moderate dispersion of 0.014, light stones wit
crown angles will show their spectral colors well. This makes for an outstanding gemstone.

While the highest values go to the richer colors, a well-cut light aquamarine can be one of the most spectacular examples of gem face ng in the world.

Two gem cut designs by Jeff Graham, “Signature #4” and “Blue Ice,” work par cularly well for aquamarines.

Three-piece aquamarine rough and cut set. Crystal specimen, 9.7 x 5.0 x 3.8 cm; Portuguese round brilliant cut, 18.47 mm and 32.65 cts; Cat’s ey
cabochon, 10.66 mm and 4.81 cts. Chumar Bakhoor, Hunza Valley, Gilgit District, Gilgit-Bal stan (Northern Areas), Pakistan. © Rob Lavinsky,
www.iRocks.com. Used with permission.

Iden fying Characteris cs

Inclusions
Inclusions are interes ng features of this gemstone. Beryl, and aquamarine in par cular, are known for having long, hollow tubes. This dis
feature will iden fy a gem as a member of the beryl family.

Aquamarines may have transparent and metallic inclusions, such as bio te, hema te, ilmenite, phlogopite, pyrite, and ru le in skeletal cry
They may also contain crystals of apa te, cassiterite, epidote, garnet, muscovite; quartz, and tourmaline. Some stones contain “snow-stars
irregularly shaped liquid droplets in a star forma on. The Martha Rocha aquamarine has notable “snow-star” inclusions.
 This polished aquamarine specimen contains a full, doubly terminated
tourmaline inside it. 4.4 x 2.8 x 2.0 cm. Virgem De Lapa, Minas Gerais, Brazil. ©
Rob Lavinsky, www.iRocks.com. Used with permission.

Cat’s Eyes and Star Stones

With enough hollow tube inclusions and proper cu ng, aquamarines can show chatoyancy and even asterism. Collectors prize beau ful cat’s eye aquamar
very highly. Their prices come very close to that of clean, faceted gems with the same coloring. Star aquamarines are even more rare than cat’s eyes and ca
command premium prices.
 Beryl: Aquamarine cat’s eye, Brazil (18.37). Photo © Joel E. Arem, PhD, FGA. Used with permission.

Synthe cs
Aquamarines can be synthesized. Only professional gem labs can dis nguish natural from created aquamarines.

Enhancements
Most aquamarines come out of the ground with a greenish nt. However, this will disappear a er hea ng to 375° C, which leaves a pure blue color. Remov
aquamarine’s green n ng through heat treatment is very common. In the past, this was done rou nely. Nowadays, a more sophis cated public has started
apprecia ng slightly green, untreated aquamarines. However, dis nguishing this hea ng process proves impossible. Therefore, gem graders should describe
pure blue aquamarines as “probably heat treated.”
 Aquamarine Rough

Maxixe Aquamarine
In the 1970s, Maxixe (pronounced mah-SHE-she), a very dark blue aquamarine, appeared on the market. However, the color of this irradiated product isn’t
Although these stones have mostly disappeared from the market, if you’re ever offered a very deep blue aquamarine, buyer beware.

You can dis nguish the Maxixe from a natural aquamarine by its lack of pleochroism. Natural aquamarines have dis nct blue and colorless dichroism. On th
hand, the Maxixe has no pleochroism. When viewed from any angle, it just shows blue. The absorp on spectrum of natural aquamarine and the Maxixe also
With a spectroscope, you’ll see a narrow line at 6950, a strong line at 6540, and weak lines at 6280, 6150, 5500, and 5810. This differs considerably from n
aquamarine’s spectrum, with a broad band at 4270 and a diffuse band at 4560.

You can also dis nguish a Maxixe aquamarine from a natural stone with a dichroscope. Both windows remain blue when viewing a Maxixe. In contrast, one
should be colorless or pale yellowish when viewing an untreated specimen.

Sources
Brazil is the world’s major source of fine aquamarine gems. Locali es include Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Norte, Ceara, and others.

Madagascar has more than 50 specific locali es that produce fine, blue gem material.

Other notable sources include the following:

United States: San Diego County, California (not much gem material); Mt. Antero, Colorado; Connec cut (some gem); Maine; North Carolina.
Aquamarine, 4.8 x 4.7 x 4.0 cm. Katerina Mine, Pala District, San Diego Co., California, USA. © Rob Lavinsky, www.iRocks.com.
Used with permission.

Australia: Mt. Surprise, North Queensland (small).

India: Karur, Madras, and Kashmir (medium blue color).

Namibia: Rossing (in pegma tes).

Nigeria: Jos (abundant material, some fine color).

 Beryl: Aquamarine, Nigeria (3.10, 7.82, 2.81). Photo © Joel E. Arem, PhD, FGA. Used with permission.

Russia: Mursinsk mine (and other locali es).

Afghanistan; China; Mozambique; Myanmar; Pakistan; Sri Lanka; Vietnam; Zimbabwe.

Uniquely terminated aquamarine crystal from Afghanistan. © All That Gli ers. Used with permission. (Right photo enlarged to show
detail).

Stone Sizes
You’ll find aquamarines available in a remarkable range of sizes. Lapidaries have cut gems that weigh several hundred carats, much too large to be worn. Be
crystals weighing many tons have been found in pegma tes, but these are never of gem quality. However, aquamarines may be very large and s ll be gem
 Beryl: Aquamarine, Brazil (25.65). Photo © Joel E. Arem, PhD, FGA. Used with
permission.

A blue-green crystal was found in Marambia, Teofilo Otoni, Brazil. This irregular prism, transparent end to end, measured 19 inches long and 16 inches acro
weighed almost 243 pounds.

The famous Martha Rocha aquamarine, found in Brazil, weighed 134 pounds and yielded more than 300,000 carats of superb blue gems. An even larger cry
found in 1910 weighed 229 pounds but yielded only 200,000 carats of cut gems.

Bri sh Museum (Natural History) (London England): 67.35 (blue) and 60.90 (greenish); 879 (sea-green, oval).

American Museum of Natural History (New York): 272, 215, and 160; also 355 (Sri Lanka), 144.5 (Brazil).

Hyde Park Museum, New York: 1847 carats.

Smithsonian Ins tu on (Washington, DC): 1,000 (blue-green, fine color, Brazil); 911 (blue, Brazil); 263.5 (blue, USSR); 71.2 (pale blue, Sri Lanka); 66.3 (pal
green, Maine); 20.7 (pale blue, Madagascar); 15.3 (blue-green, Idaho); 14.3 (blue, Connec cut).
 Ancient Roman head of an empress in aquamarine, 2nd century CE. From the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Firenza (Florence, Italy). Photo by
Sailko. Licensed under CC By 3.0.

Trade Names
Brazilian aquamarine: bluish green, (also a misnomer for bluish green topaz).

Madagascar aquamarine: fine, medium blue.

Maxixe beryl: treated beryl with excellent aquamarine blue, known for fading. Also called halbanite.

Please note, don’t assume aquamarines billed as “Brazilian” or “Madagascar” actually come from these sources. These terms may only refer to the color. Ask
documenta on to cer fy a gem’s origin.
 Care
Aquamarines require no special care. They can resist the rigors of everyday wear very well. However, inclusions within aquamarines may not react well to
mechanical cleaning techniques like ultrasound or steam, increasing the risk of sha ering. Consult with a gemologist first to determine if your gems can wit
these cleaning methods. Of course, you can always use a so brush, mild detergent, and warm water to clean your aquamarines safely. Consult our gemsto
jewelry care guide for more recommenda ons.

“Aquamarine at Sunset on Paper” by Verena Engel. Licensed under CC By-SA 3.0.

by Joel E. Arem, Ph.D., FGA, Donald Clark, CSM IMG, Interna onal Gem Society

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