Often very pure, aquamarine is a highly prized stone in jewelry for its delicate blue color evoking the ocean - the name aquamarine comes from the Latin aqua marina meaning sea water. It is a variety of beryl, just like emerald and morganite, whose hardness it also shares (between 7 ½ and 8 on the Mohs scale).
Aquamarine owes its color to iron, present in small amounts in its crystal structure. The more intense the blue of aquamarine, the more valuable it becomes. Thus, the most famous aquamarines are of a deep blue and are called Santa Maria. They originally come from the Santa Maria mine in Brazil.
Aquamarine can be sourced from Namibia, Nigeria, Tanzania or Pakistan, but Brazil remains the world's largest producer, and it was in Brazil that a jewel-quality crystal of aquamarine weighing over 110kg was discovered in 1910.
Discover without delay our collection of aquamarines, available on Nascendi Paris.
