What Makes A Good Aquamarine?

[mhovingh]

I recently viewed a few aquamarines and have been trying to learn about them, "trying" being the operative word here.

I feel like I am hitting a wall on understanding how they are graded. What features make an aquamarine good? Is there a certain "sweet spot" color that is a quality peak with darker or lighter than that color falling off in quality, or does the quality grading going from light to dark (or vice versa)?

I am hoping some of you here can point me in the direction of some good information on aquamarines or even post some information in this thread if you are feeling extra kind today. I am just not finding the answers to the questions I have about aquamarines so I am hoping PS can bail me out on learning about this stone.

I don''t want to seem picky about the information I get, and am thankful for it all but I am primarily looking for information on what would be considered your average aquamarine, without any of the special stuff. I have read information on green tints (signifying untreated) and the rare, and thus highly priced, cat''s eyes and stars. Feel free to teach me about the less common or rare but I am more interested in the average aquamarine you would see out in a jewelry store that has been heat treated.

Thank you ahead of time for any information you are willing to share.

 

[T L]

Date: 6/11/2010 10:43:02 PM
Author:mhovingh
I recently viewed a few aquamarines and have been trying to learn about them, 'trying' being the operative word here.

I feel like I am hitting a wall on understanding how they are graded. What features make an aquamarine good? Is there a certain 'sweet spot' color that is a quality peak with darker or lighter than that color falling off in quality, or does the quality grading going from light to dark (or vice versa)?


I am hoping some of you here can point me in the direction of some good information on aquamarines or even post some information in this thread if you are feeling extra kind today. I am just not finding the answers to the questions I have about aquamarines so I am hoping PS can bail me out on learning about this stone.


I don't want to seem picky about the information I get, and am thankful for it all but I am primarily looking for information on what would be considered your average aquamarine, without any of the special stuff. I have read information on green tints (signifying untreated) and the rare, and thus highly priced, cat's eyes and stars. Feel free to teach me about the less common or rare but I am more interested in the average aquamarine you would see out in a jewelry store that has been heat treated.


Thank you ahead of time for any information you are willing to share.

According to the trade, it should be as dark in tone as possible with almost no green cast. It doesn't matter to the trade if it's very greyish. This is odd because most gems are valued on saturation of color (meaning little to no grey or brown) and aqua seems to be the exception to this rule. Heating an aqua doesn't really affect it's value too much except that it drives off any green cast, and that helps the stone to be more desirable.

According to me, it should be a nice saturated blue color with as little grey as possible, regardless of the tone. Although you don't want ones that are too light in tone (almost colorless) or too dark in tone (very grey). That's my opinion however, but others may disagree. I also don't mind a greenish cast, as I think it makes for a more beautiful gem, but the trade doesn't seem to think so.

BTW, this is knitwit's aqua, and I have to say its one of the most saturated blue aquas I've ever seen. I almost didn't believe it was aqua when I saw it, and I have never seen one like this color IRL, and I've seen bazillions of them (it's my birthstone). I definitely prefer this to those dark Santa Maria greyish blues that the trade gets so excited about.

 

[Fly Girl]

I think one of the standout aquas on PS has to be Ellen''s heirloom aqua recut by Richard Homer and set by Leon Mege. Link She posted many pictures on the linked thread. A lovely blue stone.

 

[iLander]

I can only add this very lousy picture I noticed on Costco's site: For some reason, this aqua is $11,299! I think it's overpriced, but I would assume it's a good color if it's anywhere near that price in real life. Granted, the stone is a monster: 11 carats, 21 x 13 mm.

I prefer the unheated green, it's more unique and reminds me of mermaids. Art Cut gems has an unheated aqua which is very nice.

 

[T L]

Date: 6/12/2010 10:57:07 AM
Author: iLander


I can only add this very lousy picture I noticed on Costco''s site: For some reason, this aqua is $11,299! I think it''s overpriced, but I would assume it''s a good color if it''s anywhere near that price in real life. Granted, the stone is a monster: 11 carats, 21 x 13 mm.


I prefer the unheated green, it''s more unique and reminds me of mermaids. Art Cut gems has an unheated aqua which is very nice.

It''s good because it''s very dark in tone, and it''s probably very grey as most dark aquas tend to be.

 

[T L]

Here''s my aqua in a lousy setting. I''m only posting it because it''s darker in tone and has more value than a lighter toned stone, but notice how grey it is. The trade doesn''t care about this desaturated blue color in aqua. They only care about tonality. I rarely wear this gem, as I bought it many years ago, before my eyes were trained better to understand the nuances of saturation of color.

 

[Agnesg]

It is not a lousy setting...it is nice. Is this color completely by nature?

 

[movie zombie]

you are being given the "now" what is popular with aqua. it changes periodically. at one time the greener more the color of the caribbean was popular. the history of aqua is interesting. what is desireable re the color of aqua has changed so many times it no wonder we consumers get confused. get what pleases your eye.

mz

 

[T L]

Date: 6/12/2010 11:24:59 AM
Author: Agnesg
It is not a lousy setting...it is nice. Is this color completely by nature?

Thank you Agnesg.
It is very grey actually, especially when I compare it my much more saturated cuprians. I think cuprians destoryed aquas for me. LOL!

It is a very bad setting with frozen spit diamond chips, and very old. I bought this gem around 14 years ago, and all I know is that is it Nigerian and supposedly unheated. Of course, I have no proof to back that up. The only thing I definitively know is that it is an aqua (had it checked out by a gemologist). I also have a very large (13 cts) lighter toned aqua very similar to Ellen's color/tone above in a much nicer setting antique retro setting, but this stone I posted a photo of would be considered the most valuable of the bunch due to the darker tone. I also have another one that's huge but almost completely colorless (a learning stone), and some smaller loose ones that I never look at, but have blue color to them. You don't have to imagine they're blue like some washed out aquas.

As for Ellen's stone above, one of the very nice things about it is that the polish is excellent, which helps the overall appearance of these gems. If you get one that isn't polished very well, they can look more glassy. I think polish is very important when it comes to aqua, especially the lighter toned ones.

I will say one good thing about my stone above. Since it is a darker tone, it is not necessary to clean it all the time. The lighter ones seem to require constant cleaning in my experience, or they become very waxy/glassy looking. Not sure if this is anyone else's experience, but it is mine with these gems.

 

[Indylady]

Date: 6/12/2010 11:34:57 AM
Author: tourmaline_lover

I will say one good thing about my stone above. Since it is a darker tone, it is not necessary to clean it all the time. The lighter ones seem to require constant cleaning in my experience, or they become very waxy/glassy looking. Not sure if this is anyone else''s experience, but it is mine with these gems.

My experience has been the same. I gave one of my close friend''s an aqua ring, and it always looked a little "frosty" after a week or two. She was constantly bringing it back to me to clean because she wore it every day.

 

[Harriet]

Colour aside, I like the crystal to be limpid. I know it''s corny, but I want to feel as if I''m gazing into water.