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Aquamarine
Aquamarine is the pale-blue to sea-green variety of beryl, the beryllium aluminum silicate mineral that also gives us emerald, morganite, heliodor and goshenite. Its color comes from traces of iron within the crystal lattice, and it crystallizes in the hexagonal system, typically as elongated, sharply terminated prismatic crystals that can reach impressive, flawless, gem-quality sizes. Unlike emerald, aquamarine is often remarkably clean and transparent, which is one of the main reasons collectors and cutters alike prize it so highly. A rare deep-blue variety, known as maxixe, owes its saturated color to a radiation-induced center rather than iron alone, and can fade with prolonged light exposure.
The classic source is Brazil, particularly Minas Gerais, along with Bahia (notably Guaratinga) and Espírito Santo (Mimoso do Sul), which have produced some of the largest gem-grade crystals on record, including giant specimens weighing well over a hundred pounds. Pakistan is equally celebrated among mineral collectors, with the Shigar Valley and Skardu District, plus Nagar in the Hunza Valley, Gilgit-Baltistan, yielding some of the finest, most intensely colored aquamarine crystals in the world, often on matrix with muscovite, albite and schorl. Namibia's Erongo region produces intensely saturated blue-green aquamarine highly sought by specimen collectors, while Nigeria's Jos Plateau, Madagascar (Sahatany and Marijao), Mozambique, Zambia, Tanzania, and Russia's Ural Mountains around Mursinka each contribute distinctive material. In the United States, Mount Antero in Colorado, the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho, and pegmatites in Connecticut, Maine and North Carolina are classic historic localities for American collectors.
Aquamarine forms chiefly in granite pegmatites and beryllium-bearing hydrothermal veins, commonly associated with quartz, muscovite, albite, microcline, fluorite, and smoky quartz or schorl tourmaline. Its hardness of 7.5–8 on the Mohs scale makes it durable for both display and wear, while its combination of exceptional clarity, soothing sea-blue tone, and well-documented, name-brand localities makes fine aquamarine crystal specimens a cornerstone of any serious beryl group or gemstone mineral collection.
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