Aquamarine Birthstone Beauty

The ides of March are nothing to fear, not when we’re still celebrating this month’s glorious March birthstone aquamarine!

Aquamarine comes in a variety of  colors hues ranging from a lightly green tinged aqua to a crisp, powder blue.  The colors of aquamarine pick up sky and water tones beautifully, and are favored in lighter, airier designs. Most aquamarines are cut in an emerald shape and occasionally checkerboard more often than they are brilliant. This is to show off aquamarine’s beautiful clarity but also to enhance their color.

Aquamarine is part of the beryl family (along with emerald.) Pure beryl has no color, but trace elements in beryl give its While aquamarine comes in shades of sea foam and sky blue, the darker the hue, the more valuable the gem. In addition, the blue varieties tend to be more valuable than the green varieties.

As far as durability, aquamarines are an impressive 7.5 on the Mohs scale, making them pretty tough. They’re fine for every day wear, and even the larger aquamarines are tough enough to withstand a raucous cocktail party. And that they do – some of our favorite cocktail rings are our huge, beautiful aquamarine stones!

Beryl is famed for its ability to grow very large crystals with very few inclusions. That’s why when you check out our colored stones cases, the biggest gems are usually our gorgeous aquamarines.

It also means that aquamarines without any inclusions are readily available, so when shopping, avoid those with visible tubular inclusions. You won’t score an amazing deal, and you’ll just be paying for an inferior stone. Your best bet is something slightly smaller with the amazing sea-like colors and glass like clarity that a great aquamarine stone will offer.

Aquamarine looks very similar to the less expensive blue topaz. Blue topaz, however, is much more common, and isn’t naturally that gorgeous shade of blue. It’s irradiated, which lowers its value.