Welcome back to the Diamonds Hatton Garden blog where we bring you the latest insights from our Hatton Garden jewellers. In today’s blog we continue our ongoing series of monthly birthstones with the birthstone for March: the beautiful and alluring aquamarine.
What Does Aquamarine Symbolise?
The name for Aquamarine, evocative and exciting, comes from the Latin for seawater, and ancient mariners believed that the gem would calm waves and keep sailors safe at sea. Thought to bring happiness in marriage, it was thought that March’s birthstone would give the wearer protection against foes in battle and litigation and claimed to make the wearer unconquerable and amiable, and to quicken the intellect.
Where is Aquamarine found?
Aquamarine has been found in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais for over 200 years and the area has remained one of the richest and most important sources for Aquamarine. The rocky hills, luscious vegetation and rivers that dominate the area have continued to the feeling that the land is very much shaping these gorgeous gemstones. Aquamarines are found in primary (hard rock) and secondary (weathered) pegmatite deposits in the eastern portion of the state, near the gem centre of Teófilo Otoni.
Aquamarine is also found high in the Karakorum foothills of Pakistan. To reach the deposits, miners must climb steep paths to elevations of 9,800 to 13,000+ feet (3,000 to more than 4,000 metres) and work the sides of forbidding cliffs. Below this inhospitable rocky world lie fertile valleys, rushing rivers and small towns. Aquamarine from this area has been described as “water clear”.
Aquamarine birthstones are also mined in Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Zambia and Mozambique, as well as elsewhere in Africa. U.S. sources include the Mount Antero area of Colorado (it’s the state gem) and California’s Riverside and San Diego counties. In addition, aquamarine has been found in China, Myanmar, Russia and Ukraine, among other countries.
Famous Aquamarine Stones
Aquamarine is not only the birthstone for March, but the gem is also given as a present on the 19th wedding anniversary. As for famous ones, in 1936 the government of Brazil gave First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt a dark blue rectangular step-cut aquamarine that weighed 1,298 carats (ct). It was the larger of two stones faceted from a piece of aquamarine rough that itself weighed an impressive 2.9 pounds (1.3 kilograms). It is now housed at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, New York. A celebrated attraction at the Smithsonian Institution is the 10,363 ct (about 4.6 pounds) Dom Pedro Aquamarine – believed to be the largest faceted aquamarine in the world. The approximately 14 inch (36 centimetre) high obelisk was fashioned by acclaimed German lapidary Berndt Munsteiner using the fantasy cut technique.
Whether you are looking to add aquamarine to your diamond engagement ring or use it to add contrast to a diamond tennis bracelet or a bespoke diamond statement piece, our teams are on hand to assist. For more information and to book your virtual appointment via info@diamondshg.co.uk or on +44 7951 060238.