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Aquamarine is one of the most sought-after blue or teal-colored gemstones. The name of the stone is due to its color, as Aqua Marina in Latin means seawater. It belongs to the beryl family, i.e. the same family as the emerald. Although not as expensive as emeralds, aquamarine is one of the most popular gemstones.
Aquamarine's color is due to the presence of iron in its composition and its intensity can be from faint blue to the intense dark blue color of the sea water. The most important Aquamarine mines are located in Brazil, Nigeria, Mozambique, Madagascar, and India. Depending on the region, the mineral can have different intensities in its color. Brazilian aquamarines have an intense dark blue color, the ideal color for this particular gemstone. They come from the Santa Marina de Itabira mine and are known as Santa Maria aquamarines. A similar intensity of the color is found in aquamarines from a mine in Mozambique, and to distinguish them from those in Brazil, Mozambique aquamarines are known as Santa Maria Africana.
The ancient Romans believed that Aquamarine could protect its wearer from dangers on sea voyages and that it could give energy and cure laziness. Today aquamarine is considered the birthstone of March and is an ideal 19th wedding anniversary gift.
The largest aquamarine found to date weighed 110 kilograms and was about 48 centimeters long. It was found in Brazil in a mine in the Minas Gerais region.
Dom Pedro Aquamarine
Dom Pedro is the largest cut aquamarine and its color is green and blue. The original mineral stone weighed 45 kilograms and was about 90 centimeters long. It was mined in 1980 from a mine in the Pedra Azul region of Brazil. It was cut into an obelisk shape weighing 10,363 carats and measuring 36 cm high by 10 cm wide and is now housed in the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.
Queen Elizabeth Tiara and Jewellery Set
The set began with the earrings and necklace presented to the late Queen Elizabeth by the then President of Brazil on the occasion of her enthronement. In 1957 Elizabeth commissioned a tiara of diamonds and aquamarines from the House of Garrard to match the jewels. The following year Brazil offered Elizabeth a bracelet and brooch to match her set, and in 1958 when Elizabeth visited Brazil the then Governor of São Paulo presented her with an Aquamarine and Diamond hair accessory, which Elizabeth used to make the tiara more impressive. She later replaced the central aquamarine of the tiara with that from the motif portion of the necklace.
Eleanore Roosevelt Aquamarine
It is an aquamarine weighing 1298 carats that was offered in 1937 to the wife of the then-US President by the Brazilian President, Getúlio Vargas. The aquamarine came from Vargas' private collection and it was then one of the largest known cut aquamarine gemstones. The aquamarine is now located at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in New York.
Discover stunning affordable Aquamarine jewellery or visit Galerie Tsangarakis' collection of precious Aquamarine jewellery.
