About Aquamarine

My favorite colour is something in between blue and green.
So when I saw an aquamarine for the first time it was mesmerizing.
It's like grabing a bit of blue sky, a bit of sea water and a bit of sun light, mixing it and cristallizing it into a gorgeous mineral...

What is it?

Aquamarine is a variety of a mineral named Beryl. Another well known variety of Beryl is Emerald.

Aquamarine colours can vary from sky-blue to sea-green.
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In ancient times, in the Mediterranean sea, aquamarine was thought to be a treasure from the mermaids. It was used by fishermen, navigators and travelers as a lucky amulet.

What is it made of?

Beryl gained it's name for being rich in a metal named Beryllium. "Chemically" speaking, beryls are beryllium aluminosilicates. Which is to say beryl refers to a group of minerals formed by silicates (SiO4), aluminium (Al) and Beryllium (Be).

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In this aluminosilicates group, beryl is included in another group, the cyclosilicates because its atoms are organized in little tetraedrons that bound with each other to form a ring. A beryl is a six-member ring cyclosilicate.

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Where does it come from?

Aquamarine major extracted deposits are currently located in:

Brazil
China
India
Kenya
Madagascar
Mozambique
Myanmar
Nigeria
Pakistan
Tanzanya
Vietnam
Zambia
Zimbabwe
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How does it turn into a gem?

Aquamarines are frequently submited to a heat treatment in order to highlight it's blue color.
The seagreen variety is also very appreciated as well as all the colours in between.

Heat treatment provokes changes at the atomic level that are translated into changes in colour and other properties.
The image shows that until 700ºC the aquamarine color changes due to the reduction of iron. Reduction is the name of a phenomenon that happens at the atomic level, where atoms (ions) loose electrons. It's the oposite of oxidation.
For the Human eye, that's reflected in the aquamarine color change.
It changes from a iron oxidated state (sea-green), to an iron reduced state(deep-blue).
Above 700ºC, aquamarine starts dehidratating and oxidating, loosing it's bluish colour and starting to crack.

In the end they're cut, shapped and polished in order to reflect the light that goes through it as much as possible and to seduce the Human eye to buy it 👀