Aquamarine: meaning, properties and lore

The mineral

Its parent species belongs to the beryl group, a ring silicate of beryllium and aluminium. Chemically pure beryl is colourless, and trace elements give rise to green, blue and pink or red colours.^912345108

On the Mohs scale aquamarine has a hardness of 7.5 to 8.0. Its refractive index is 1.577 to 1.583, its birefringence is 0.005 to 0.009, and its specific gravity is 2.72. Aquamarine is durable enough for rings and mountings subject to daily wear, and its hardness and transparency make it popular with designers, artists and carvers.¹⁶⁸¹¹⁷

Aquamarine's colour is greenish blue, light in tone, and it is usually pastel blue, greenish blue or green-blue. The darker the hue, the more valuable the gem is. Colour becomes more intense as the stone gets larger, and most stones below a carat are pale. Aquamarine is pleochroic, showing near-colourless in one crystal direction and strong blue in another.^17211385

Aquamarine grows in six-sided prismatic crystals, and crystals can grow in large sizes with excellent clarity. Crystals are known to be large and relatively clean and well-formed. In its natural state, an aquamarine crystal shows its beauty as a prized specimen. Top quality aquamarine should not have any eye-visible inclusions.¹³⁵²¹¹

Aquamarine is mined at high elevations in Pakistan's Karakoram Mountains, where deposits lie at elevations of 9,800 to 13,000+ feet. It is found in primary and secondary pegmatite deposits in the eastern portion of Minas Gerais, Brazil, near Teófilo Otoni. It is also mined in Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Zambia and Mozambique, and has been found in China, Myanmar, Russia and Ukraine.¹⁶

Most aquamarine on the market has been heat-treated to give it a purer blue colour, and heat treatment of aquamarine is stable. Blue topaz colour is produced by treating colourless topaz with radiation, whereas aquamarine is rarer in nature. Fine aquamarine is rare and expensive and sells for far more than equivalent-quality treated blue topaz.⁷¹¹²

History and lore

Aquamarine's name comes from two Latin words, aqua meaning water and marina meaning of the sea, and it is named after seawater. Pliny described beryl as 'the gem green as the sea', which perhaps gave aquamarine its other name. Greeks used aquamarine for intaglios more than 2,000 years ago, according to the Mani-mala treatise on gems.^121638114

Aquamarine was said to calm waves and keep sailors safe at sea, and in ancient times sailors wore aquamarine amulets for protection at sea. The sailors' amulets were engraved with Poseidon or Neptune, the gods of the sea. Edward Gübelin, in his book Gemstones, wrote that aquamarine remains permanently associated with water in myths and accompanies seafarers to ensure a safe return home.¹³⁵

Aquamarine was thought to enhance the happiness of marriages and to bring happiness in marriage. In Gübelin's account, aquamarine weaves ribbons of faithfulness round the ship of marital fortune. Beryl was believed to protect the wearer against foes in battle and litigation, to make the wearer unconquerable and amiable, and to quicken the intellect.¹⁶⁵¹²

The Mani-mala treatise records that aquamarine was formerly obtained from the frontiers of China and now comes mostly from Brazil. An aquamarine engraved with the figure of Hercules was in the possession of Emperor Commodus, and an aquamarine engraved with Neptune drawn by sea-horses was found in the treasures of Odcschalcbi. Beads of aquamarine have been discovered in Egyptian mummy-pits.⁴

A Greek Lapidary, probably written in the third or fourth century of the common era, lists a beryl described as transparent, brilliant and sea-green in a seafaring amulet that banished fear. The author of The Curious Lore of Precious Stones holds that Theophrastus included beryl among his smaragdi, and believes the stones worn by the high-priest of the Second Temple were aquamarines.¹³

A transparent aquamarine seal of Sassanian Pahlavi work was found in the ruins of Babylonia. A convex blue aquamarine engraved with the head of Julia, daughter of Titus, was donated in the ninth century by Charles the Bald to the Treasury of St. Denis, where it was set at the apex of a reliquary called the Oratorium of Charlemagne. In 1936 the government of Brazil gave First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt a 1,298 carat dark blue rectangular step cut aquamarine.¹⁴⁶

Birthstone and other links

Aquamarine is the birthstone for March, and it is the gem of the 19th wedding anniversary. Edward Gübelin wrote that aquamarine takes particular care of those born in March.¹¹²⁶⁸⁵

The Romans list and the Isidore Bishop of Seville list set aquamarine as the October birthstone, among other early and later lists, as recorded in The Curious Lore of Precious Stones. A list of American gems in which the stone is found in North Carolina, Maine and California also lists it as an October stone. A list adopted in Kansas City makes it the alternate stone for March.¹³

What crystal practitioners say

Crystal practitioners associate aquamarine with calm and clarity of thought, and aquamarine and emerald are said to broaden one's inner sight and mental horizon emotionally. Aquamarine is said to symbolize purity of spirit and soul. Gübelin wrote that aquamarine is the gemstone of all young people and all those who have remained young at heart.¹⁰⁶⁵

Crystal practitioners hold that aquamarine's folklore traditionally includes protection for sailors and fishermen as well as travelers. This sea-related protection links the stone with journeys and with the calm of water. Practitioners also associate the stone with trust and friendship in everyday relationships.⁸

Practitioners associated with the Mani-mala treatise describe a nitrate of nickel solution as a way to revive aquamarine's original hue. The same work warns that the stone fades under heat, light and years, and advises keeping it away from all of them.⁴

Crystal healers claim that aquamarine relaxes the surroundings of the eyes and gives the eye musculature the correct tone. The Healing Crystals First Aid Book recommends aquamarine gem essence in drops or gem water in small sips, taken according to its author's instructions, for eye problems.¹⁰

What testing has found

Edzard Ernst concluded that there are no rigorous trials testing the therapeutic value of crystal healing, and he wrote that a scientific proof of any positive effect beyond a placebo effect does not exist. Ernst's assumption that crystal healing lacks trial evidence was further confirmed by a published paper on crystal healing in oncology.¹⁵

A 2001 study by British psychologist Christopher French challenged 80 volunteers to tell real crystals from fake ones after holding them and meditating. Participants could not tell real quartz crystals from fake glass ones, which indicated a placebo effect only. Researchers concluded that it was the power of suggestion, not the crystals, that helped people.¹⁵¹⁶¹⁷

Scientists note that the findings have not been reproduced in larger trials, which makes broad conclusions difficult to draw. Some researchers suspect crystals do not act directly on physical or emotional complaints, though they may offer indirect benefits that the placebo effect could explain.¹⁵¹⁶

Scientist Ted Kaptchuk, a Harvard Medical School professor, argued that placebo effects in unconventional medicine should not be discarded, as they can be dramatic and compelling to patients. Rigorous scientific research into crystal therapy is lacking, and few studies have compared it to other therapies.¹⁶