From the light blue of the sky to the deep blue of the sea, aquamarines exhibit a beautiful range of mainly light blue colors. Aquamarine is a beautiful gemstone, loved by women the world over love it for its fine blue shades which can complement almost any skin or eye color.

The light blue of aquamarine arouses feelings of sympathy, trust, harmony and friendship. The blue of aquamarine is a divine, eternal color, because it is the color of the sky. Aquamarine blue is also the color of water with its life-giving force. Aquamarine really does seem to have captured the blue of the oceans. No wonder, when you consider that according to the saga it originated in the treasure chest of fabulous mermaids, and has, since ancient times, been regarded as the sailors' lucky stone. Its name is derived from the Latin 'aqua' (water) and 'mare' (sea). It is said that its strengths are developed to their best advantage when it is placed in water which is bathed in sunlight. However, it is surely better still to wear aquamarine, since according to the old traditions this promises a happy marriage and is said to bring the woman who wears it joy and wealth into the bargain.

Aquamarine is one of our most popular and best-known gemstones, and distinguishes itself by many good qualities. It is almost as popular as the classics: ruby, sapphire and emerald. It is related to the emerald, both belonging to the beryl family. Aquamarine has good hardness (7.5 to 8 on the Mohs scale) and a wonderful shine. That hardness makes it very tough and protects it to a large extent from scratches. Iron is the substance which gives aquamarine its color. The more intense the color of an aquamarine, the more value is put on it.

The various colour nuances of aquamarine have melodious names: the rare, intense blue aquamarines from the Santa Maria de Itabira mine in Brazil, which make every gemstone lover's heart beat faster, are called 'Santa Maria'. Similar nuances come from a few mines in Africa, particularly Mozambique. To help distinguish them from the Brazilian ones, these aquamarines have been given the name 'Santa Maria Africana'. The 'Espirito Santo' color of aquamarines from the Brazilian state of that name is of a blue that is not quite so intense. Yet other qualities are found in the stones from Fortaleza and Marambaia. One beautiful aquamarine color was named after the Brazilian beauty queen of 1954, and has the name 'Martha Rocha'.

Most of the raw crystals for the world market come from the gemstone mines of Brazil. Aquamarines are also found in other countries, including Nigeria, Zambia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Afghanistan and Pakistan.