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Aquamarine the lovely and glorious gemstone has been popular since ancient times. The first discovery of this exotic gemstone is dated back to 300B.C. Amulets of 480 B.C made with this gem had also been discovered. This gemstone is popular since 17th century.
Historically this plain & clear gemstone is considered to be ‘treasure of minerals’. This gemstone is believed to bring positive feelings to life. During medieval ages, it was believed to instill vision and inspiration in the wearer.
Amulets made from this gemstone and engraved with the Poseidon chariot were born by ancient sailors to ensure safe sea voyage and conquer the wrath of stormy oceans.
In 1910, largest aquamarine gem stone was discovered in Minas Gerais, Brazil. It weighed 243 pounds and was 15.5 inches in diameter. By length it was 18 inches. This huge mass of rough was the cut in to small stones that amounted to more than 200,000 carats. Some of these stones cut from the largest ever found aquamarine rough are still in the historically popular museums.
Aquamarine Sources
This light-blue or greenish-blue gem, of beryl family, is scarce and valuable. It is mined in several places through out the world. The most popular countries being Nigeria, Zambia, Pakistan, Madagascar and Mozambique. Brazil is a highly popular location for aquamarine where huge masses of this gemstone have been mined so far.
This dazzling stone mined in Madagascar have an enchanting light blue shades to a bit intense shades. Kenya and Tanzania are other African countries where this gemstone is mined. This exotic gemstone is obtained in other parts of the world as well like Sri Lanka, India, Russia and United States. New deposits of these gems are being found in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Aquamarine Jewelry
This gemstone is very popular among the high end designers. Pleasing to the eyes, jewelry made from this gemstone captivates the hearts of men and women alike. It is very popular for their brilliance and natural subtle glow. As they are inherently more durable maintaining the jewelry made from these gemstones are not very difficult.
Aquamarine is obtained from nature in tempting shades of blue from light to medium. But you can have a shade of your choice and liking by heat treatment process. Yes, even pale yellow shaded gemstone that is obtained from mines, if put under treatment can change its color to a blue shade. But this does not necessarily mean that all the stones with good bright blue color are heat treated.
Aquamarine Valuation
Generally aquamarine gemstone occurs in large clean crystals. Size of the finished stone is certainly not an indicator of its value. The true value of the aquamarine gemstone depends on its color as well. A 20 carat pale yellow aquamarine is of same worth as just a one or two carat size aquamarine of fine blue shade.
It is not the size that matters most. Intensity of the color and the clarity and transparency are the important criterion for its valuation and evaluation. More deep the color, more valuable the aquamarine gemstone is.
