Another person with aquamarine help needed!

[Chrometsav]

Hi all,

I would like some advice/help on aquamarine. This maybe a little difficult as I don't have a photo. I want to buy a stone for my mother. She has always loved an aquamarine that another relative has owned some 50+ years or so! I have recently looked at the stone for the first time although I've heard about it as if it was the Hope diamond a trillion times!

It is not considered a connoisseur's colour, but I have no idea what the $ per carat price would be. It's difficult for me to describe but I'd say it's primary hue is more green not the blue, even a splash of Apatite (such as the shoreline ocean of the Maldives) and it has that hard chrome quality to the colour as well.

If my poor explanation is good enough, some of you could you hazard a guess as to how difficult this type of aquamarine is to get and the general impression of this colour on the market?

Maybe the fact the reference stone was probably mined more than 50 years ago puts up a tough challenge! I was after a general impression (maybe Tourmaline lover could help) rather than a list of shops to use.

Many thanks

CT

 

[kayla.tastikk]

If you could post a picture of something the same color, not necessarily a stone, it would help us help you!

 

[ma re]

Has anyone had this aqua checked by a gemologist? Did it came with a lab certificate? If answers to both questions are negative, you can''t really know if it''s even an aquamarine. I''m affraid no one can give you a serious answer without even a photo, cause what we''ll imagine in our minds after reading your descriptions could differ from person to person (color perception and visualization are quite individual things). You also didn''t state the stone''s approximate size (or carat weight), which makes answering this question even harder. If you can''t provide a photo of an actual stone, how about you try searching for a similar one on some image search, or even find something other than a gemstone, but in color that''s as close to that one as possible.

 

[Gailey]

I inherited a large (purported) aquamarine ring from a close friend of my mother. Her husband bought it for her in Capri at least 50 years ago. It was way too large for me to wear, so I had it re-cut. At which time I found out it was a synthetic spinel. So of course itis possible the stone to which you refer is not actually aquamarine. My point being that age does not necessarily guarantee authenticity.

Now, as to finding you something similar, there are dozens of vendors that sell aquamarine. I have found a selection for someone else today: https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/another-newbie-needing-alot-of-help.139337/ I would suggest you start by looking at the links I found and scanning the aquamarine inventory on each of those sites to see if there is something that appeals to you.

If not, next step would you to either get a picture of the inspiration ring or a photo that depicts the colour you are trying to find.

 

[Harriet]

Do you know where it was mined?

 

[Arkteia]

To chime in with Gailey - I have a huge (supposedly) aquamarine pendant. Very clear, green-blue, mounted in rose gold. Awesome! Well, when I brought it to an appraiser he said he saw air bubbles in it typical for glass. I even wanted to post it here as an example of a beautiful cushion sut stone but then thought, why use everyone''s time?

 

[Chrometsav]

Thanks for the replies. I will try and get a photo. Interesting points in regards it may not actually be an aquamarine!

I''ll try and find something similar.

In regards to cut would there be much difference or suited more so Princess than Ascher?

 

[T L]

Without even a photo, it''s very difficult to ascertain if it''s a true aqua. It could be a beryl of some sort, a tourmaline, a synthetic spinel, even glass, etc. . . . As Gailey pointed out, synthetic spinels were used many years ago as a substitute for aquamarine. If you were to at least provide a photo and it looked very suspect, we could say so, but regardless, you should still take it to a gemologist that specializes in colored gems to check it. A simple RI test would rule it in or out as aquamarine.

 

[Gailey]

Does anyone know what happens when you put a UV light on an aqua? I don''t think it fluoresces. Synthetic spinel does. If you could get a cheap black light and shine it on the stone and it looks anything like the picture below it may well be synthetic spinel.

Can someone check their aqua and post what they see.

 

[Arkteia]

Great info! I am waiting for my black light fluo pen to arrive. I did not know that synthetic spinel fluoresces. Great way to "classify" some other suspicious stones that I have. Thanks!

 

[T L]

Date: 3/25/2010 11:41:46 PM
Author: Gailey
Does anyone know what happens when you put a UV light on an aqua? I don''t think it fluoresces. Synthetic spinel does. If you could get a cheap black light and shine it on the stone and it looks anything like the picture below it may well be synthetic spinel.

Can someone check their aqua and post what they see.

Aqua does not fluoresce. I tried it several times on many of my aquas. It''s my birthstone, so I have several.

 

[chrono]

The first thing you should do is have a gemologist determine if it is truly an aquamarine, glass, some other gemstone type or if it is a synthetic. From there, you can get some basic measurements like carat weight (if unmounted or guesstimated if set) and measurements to back that up. I like the idea of checking under UV light. It is not a definitive test but it will at least rule out a few suspects.