Is Aquamarine a Precious Or Semi-precious Gem?
If talking about aquamarine, everyone instantly thinks about the color blue, which is the color of water! But the main confusion is whether your aquamarine is precious or semi-precious stone?
We know, this question creates many confusion. However, rest assured about the right answer! Here in this article, we’ll discuss about where aquamarine falls in, precious or semi-precious category.
Before we start, let’s understand first…
What Exactly Aquamarine Is?
Beryl is a family of gemstones that also includes Emerald, Morganite, Goshenite, Yellow Beryl, and soft, pastel blue varieties like aquamarine. Aquamarine, one of the most well-liked blue gemstones, is rich in folklore.
Aquamarine is recognized as the birthstone of March. It ranges from pale blues to light blues, to yellowish blues. If talking about the chemical definition, Aquamarine is the mineral Beryl, a Beryllium Aluminum Silicate with the typical chemical formula Be3Al2(Si16O18).
Beryl has a vitreous luster, and imperfect cleavage, and ranges in hardness from 7 1/2 to 8 on the Moas scale. It crystallizes in the hexagonal system.
What Does Aquamarine Symbolize?
Talking about the nature of gemstones, aquamarine represents hope, happiness, and everlasting youth. In ancient period of time, aquamarine was believed to provide protection those at sea.
It was believed that in ancient times this gemstone protects the sailors make them fearless and safe from adversaries on the open water.
As we discussed this, let’s jump to our main question…
Also Read: Real Vs Fake: Check Your Aquamarine Stone Authenticity
Is Aquamarine a Precious Or Not?
As per the classification, there are only four gems that fall in the precious category namely diamond, ruby, emerald, and sapphire. Apart from these, all are semi-precious gems including Aquamarine too.
The gemstones were categorized during the 1800s, as precious and semi-precious stones, depending on many factors that were established at that time. And apart from lacking any scientific backing for this, the same bifurcation is followed to date.
But wait!….
Does That Mean Aquamarine Is Not Valuable! Right?
No, not at all! As aquamarine is not considered as precious gem it does not mean that its amazing quality is not popular.
Here are some of the reasons that makes this gem unique and valuable on its own;
Color: Aquamarine reflects the beauty of the blue seas, its hue is no doubt its best and most cherished quality. The color range varies from pale blue, to greenish blue, to intense blue. From all the shades, deep blue-hued gem is highly valuable.
Pleochroism: Aquamarine is pleochroic in nature which means it has ability to reflect different colors in when seen from different angles. And in the case of aquamarine gemstone, it can show from colorless to blue to strong blue.
Clarity: Clarity is the another valued feature of this gem. Most of the aquamarines tend to be eye-clean as you cannot spot the flaws with your naked eyes.
Cut: Aquamarines stone can be cut into almost any shape. And because of this, they are easily accessible showing that there are many of aquamarine to work with.
Durability: The hardness of this gem from resistance to scratching is measured in Mohs scale of mineral hardness. Aquamarine ranks between 7.5 to 8, which meas it is fairly durable and tough enough to be worn daily.
Wrapping Up With:
As per traditional bifurcation, aquamarine gemstone belongs to the ‘semi-precious’ category, however, this gem is very special and unique on its own. Aquamarine has so many qualities and its easy affordability makes this gem worth flaunting.
