Aquamarine gets its name from the Latin for sea water. Ancient sailors said that the gem can calm the sea and ensure the safety of sailors at sea. This March birthstone is also believed to bring happiness to marriage. Beryl was believed to ward off enemies when worn during battles and court proceedings. Beryl is also believed to make a person invincible, amiable, and resourceful.
Aquamarine is a silicate containing beryllium and aluminum, belonging to the same beryl family as emerald. In recent years, the explosion of the term "Super Santa Matia" has earned enough popularity for aquamarine, so what is this aquamarine that has been turned into a dream stone by countless people? First, let's unveil the mystery of Santa Maria's Aquamarine.
The Brazilian state of Minas Gerais has been an important source of aquamarine for the past two centuries. Travel there and you'll find a panorama of ever-changing landscapes: rocky hills, rivers and scrubland in the center and east; savannahs, forests and streams in the west; and lush green hills to the south. Aquamarine has been found in primary (hard rock) and secondary (weathered) pegmatite deposits in eastern Minas Gerais (near the gemstone center of Teofiluotoni).
Aquamarine has also been found high in the Karakoram foothills in Pakistan. To reach the deposits, miners must climb steep trails at altitudes ranging from 9,800 to more than 13,000 feet (3,000 to more than 4,000 meters) and work on the sides of steep cliffs. Beneath this inhospitable rocky world lie fertile canyons, swift rivers, and small towns. Aquamarine from this region has been described as "water clear".
Aquamarine is also mined in Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Zambia and Mozambique, among other parts of Africa. American origins include the Mount Antero region in Colorado (as the state gem) and Riverside and San Diego counties in California. In addition, aquamarine has also been found in countries such as China, Myanmar, Russia and Ukraine.
Dissoo® Blue Paraiba Sterling Silver Ring
1.What is Super Santa Matia?
Santa Maria Aquamarine is native to the Santa Maria de Itabira mine in Brazil, hence the name Santa Matia. There are also aquamarines similar in color to Santa Maria Aquamarine produced in Africa, in order to distinguish the two aquamarines, aquamarine from Africa is called "Santa Maria of Africa". Aquamarine that can be rated Santa Maria is already very rare, and aquamarine rated Super Santa Maria is even more unique.
Santa Maria color is the highest level of aquamarine color, then super Santa Maria color, as the name suggests, is a level on top of the top, the complete aquamarine color of the temple level, is incomparable, impeccable romantic color, like the deepest treasure in the ocean, is a miracle of nature.
According to Aquamarine's 4Cs grading standard, aquamarine has a narrow range of colors: it can be blue, light greenish blue, greenish blue, dark greenish blue. The most valuable color of aquamarine is deep blue to medium intensity blue with a hint of green. In general, the purer and more intense the blue color, the higher the value of the gemstone.
2.Is topaz a flat replacement for aquamarine?
With the popularity of aquamarine in recent years, topaz has gradually come to the center of the topic. Some people say that topaz is the replacement of aquamarine, does topaz really have the appearance and characteristics of completely replacing aquamarine?
Topaz comes in a variety of colors, generally light blue to blue, yellow-brown to brownish-yellow, etc. Light and medium topaz are rich in color, very similar to the super holy aquamarine color, and can be completely "fake and real" with the naked eye.
However, although they have extremely similar appearances, the price difference is nearly a hundred times, which makes jewelry fans panic for a moment - how to tell the difference between topaz and aquamarine?
Topaz
From the morphological point of view, the crystal form of topaz is topaz orthorhombic columnar, generally transparent to opaque, its surface will have longitudinal lines, and there are fewer impurities. The crystal form of aquamarine is zircon quadrangular columnar, which has high transparency and has a glass-like luster, but will have a small number of imperfections and impurities.
In terms of color, aquamarine is mainly sky blue to light blue, with irregular hue arrangement, and its color variety is slightly less than topaz. Moreover, most aquamarines are blue with a slight green tinge, while topaz rarely has a green hue.
Aquamarine (left); Topaz (right)
3.Is Aquamarine glue injection common?
When friends in the jewelry circle finally figured out the difference between topaz and aquamarine, they were soon troubled by another question - maybe the beautiful aquamarine in your hand is not a natural color at all, but an illusion after glue.
In fact, most of the Shanghai Sapphire bracelets and bracelets on the market are glued at present, and the glue injection of Aquamarine is related to its own raw ore cotton cracks, brittle texture and easy to break, the surface of the beads after injection will not have cracks or chips, and it also has high ornamentation. The engraved fabric in the aquamarine raw material is generally not injected, and a small part of the engraving material will be injected in order to prevent the raw materials from scattering.
Glue injection is a kind of filling treatment in the national standard, and filling generally contains colorless oil, wax, glass, resin, etc. The main materials of low-end filling are resin, which does not cause harm to the human body, so it can be worn normally.
Dissoo® Snake Drop Sterling Silver Earrings with Drop-shaped Aquamarine
Although aquamarine glue filling is already a common thing in the jewelry industry, it is extremely undesirable to sell over-glued goods under the guise of natural gemstones, and friends in front of the screen should also keep their eyes open when buying and use the jewelry knowledge they have learned to correctly identify the goods.
This article was first published in https://dissoojewelry.com/.
Want to know more about jewelry,click https://dissoojewelry.com/blogs/dissoo-blog to learn more.
