Aquamarine Gemstones for March Birthdays

Aquamarine brooch worn by
President Johnson's wife
during his presidency.

       Aquamarine like the emerald is beryl, the distinguishing difference between the two gems being one of color alone, although some gem experts claim that ancient specimens of aquamarine show a more perfectly preserved surface polish than emeralds of the same periods. 

       The oldest source from whence aquamarine was obtained was India. It is possible, however, that the early supply was augmented in a limited measure by the Siberian mines. At one time, the best gems came from Siberia and Brazil, the latter country supplying clear, transparent stones of fine color in the utmost profusion. Very fine aquamarines are also found in the United States in Maine, Connecticut, North Carolina and California, and even more of these gems are found in France and Ireland.

       While aquamarine is rated as a semi-precious stone, its value varies widely according to the quality of the individual gem. Pale stones may be had at small cost, but the deep sea-green or blue-green gems often command very substantial prices. Aquamarines are to be had in a great variety of cuttings, but as a rule the best specimens are brilliant-cut in front, with the obverse side step-cut. 

       Aquamarine was highly prized by the Egyptians who believed that this gem exercised a powerful influence when worn as an amulet. It was generally engraved or worked into the shapes of birds or animals, and there are extant many fine and interesting specimens of such carvings by this people, some of them dating back to a period as early as 2000 B. C. 

       This gem was also well known in Ancient Rome, and was the only stone which the Roman jewelers cut with facets. Pliny (the Roman naturalist), suspected that the aquamarine and the emerald were the same or of a similar nature, a fact which was not definitely established until eighteen centuries later. Writing about 60 A. D., referring to the aquamarine, Pliny states: “There is not a color more pleasing to the eye than that shown by these gems which imitate the greenness of the clear sea.’’ Later, because of Pliny’s happy description of this stone, it received its present name. (It seems not amiss to call attention to the fact that in spite of Pliny’s enthusiastic appreciation of the aquamarine, he could have been familiar only with the comparatively inferior stones from Egypt.)

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