Aquamarine
Sea-blue beryl, coloured by iron and almost always clean.
- Family
- Beryl
- Formula
- Be₃Al₂Si₆O₁₈
- Mohs
- 7.5 to 8
- System
- Hexagonal
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Science
Aquamarine grows in granite pegmatites as long, clean hexagonal prisms, sometimes enormous. Ferrous iron gives the blue; heating removes the yellow tint of ferric iron to leave a purer colour. Almost all of it is eye-clean, unlike its sister emerald.
- Mineral
- Beryl (variety)
- Formula
- Be₃Al₂Si₆O₁₈
- Crystal system
- Hexagonal
- Mohs hardness
- 7.5 to 8
- Specific gravity
- 2.72
- Refractive index
- 1.577 to 1.583
- Lustre
- Vitreous
- Colours
- Blue, Blue-green
- Birthstone
- March
Composition
Be₃Al₂Si₆O₁₈. Made of Beryllium, Aluminium, Silicon, Oxygen, with trace Iron responsible for colour.
Origin
- BrazilMinas Gerais
- PakistanGilgit-Baltistan
- Nigeria
- Madagascar
- Mozambique
- Zambia
Filled dots are primary sources
Rarity
Widely available. Strong, saturated 'Santa Maria' blue is the rare grade; most rough is pale and heated.
- 1 Abundant
- 2 Common
- 3 Uncommon
- 4 Rare
- 5 Exceptional
Hardness
Aquamarine sits at 7.5 to 8 on the Mohs scale. It will scratch glass and holds a polish in daily wear.
Energy
Associations from crystal-healing tradition, recorded here as folklore. They are not medical claims.
Chakras
- Throat
Element
- Water
Zodiac
- Pisces
- Aquarius
- Gemini
Planets
- Neptune
- Moon
Properties
- Courage
- Calm
- Clear communication
- Letting go
Lore
Romans believed it was the treasure of mermaids and carried it to sea for safe passage. Sailors slept with it under their pillows against drowning.
The Dom Pedro, cut from a Brazilian crystal in 1992, is an obelisk of 10,363 carats now in the Smithsonian.
- Largest gem roughA 110 kg crystal from Marambaia, Brazil, 1910.
- MaxixeA deep blue beryl that fades in light; not aquamarine.