Green Aquamarine

[Fly Girl]

Well, I just ordered this green aquamarine from Wild Fish. Link I''m a March baby, and I have never seen a pale blue, or even a darker blue aqua that I liked, so I decided to try a greener aqua. I"m hoping its not too pale, but I suppose I''ll know when I see it.

So nervous.

Has anybody else tried green aquas?

 

[movie zombie]

no, but i tend to like the seafoam color which is also hard to find. can''t wait til you get it and report in. i''ve seen some online but no live and in person. i think they''re definitely worth considering.

movie zombie

 

[Fly Girl]

Thanks, movie zombie. I heard from Ed last night, and the stone should be shipped today with delivery expected for early next week. The description just sounded soooo cool, with an intense green-blue color, and perfect cut with no windows or black areas. They say aquas don''t photograph well, so I am expecting/hoping that the stone looks much better in person.

I''ll let you know.

Then I''ll need suggestions about setting. I was thinking of a ring at first, but now I''m thinking of a pendant set in 18 k yellow gold to match a beautiful 18 k gold chain that I already have.

Getting excited.

 

[chrono]

I''ve read that greenish aqua is very popular in Japan and fetches better prices than the blue ones (which is the total opposite in the USA market).

 

[777_LDY]

OMG Fly Girl that stone looks amazing! I''ve never seen a green aqua before, I

it!

 

[Fly Girl]

Date: 2/20/2008 12:20:56 PM
Author: Chrono
I''ve read that greenish aqua is very popular in Japan and fetches better prices than the blue ones (which is the total opposite in the USA market).

I was out on the Wild Fish site last night when they picked up my order and put my aqua on "hold". So, I ran a search on their site on the word "hold". It brought up a couple of pages of gems currently on hold, but interestingly, most of the gemstone descriptions were in Japanese, rather than English. This made me wonder if the language of the description reflected the language when the item was ordered off their system. By the way, most of the Japanese stones being held were pink and red. They do have some beautiful rubies on Wild Fish.

 

[movie zombie]

expect a report and pictures the moment it arrives! in some ways it looks like a mali garnet i picked up last august but i can''t get a decent picture of it. if i posted one of it everyone would think i was crazy for having bought it.

movie zombie

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Very pretty color. I can''t wait to see more photos.

 

[pamplemousse]

Very pretty color! I love how clear it looks... There is something really satisfying about playing with a shiny new loose stone. I couldn''t leave mine alone when I got it. Wildfish is really great, too. They''ll probably send you a little gripper thing and loupe. Can''t wait to see more pictures!

 

[MustangGal]

I have a greenish aqua that''s been sitting around waiting for the right mounting. They''re pretty, and much less commom of a color, you''ll probbaly gets lots of compliments!

 

[eac]

A green aquamarine = a green beryl that isn''t green enough to be called an emerald, am I right? I guess "green aquamarine" is more marketable nowadays. But I always just liked that gemstone name, "beryl" - it sounded shimmery and mysterious, and it was open to lots of colors in its range. "Green aquamarine" doesn''t have the same ring, to me.

 

[Fly Girl]

Date: 2/22/2008 3:55:06 AM
Author: eac
A green aquamarine = a green beryl that isn''t green enough to be called an emerald, am I right? I guess ''green aquamarine'' is more marketable nowadays. But I always just liked that gemstone name, ''beryl'' - it sounded shimmery and mysterious, and it was open to lots of colors in its range. ''Green aquamarine'' doesn''t have the same ring, to me.

According to "The Gemstones Handbook" by Arthur Thomas that I just picked up on sale at Barnes and Noble

, aquamarine is beryl that owes its color (sea-green to sky-blue) to traces of iron. Green beryl has iron as well, and is light yellow-green to mid-green in hue, with no hint of blue, or else it would be called aquamarine. Emerald owes its intense green color to traces of chrome. Thomas goes on to describe the controversy as to whether an intense green beryl colored with traces of vanadium can be called emerald. In summary, a green aquamarine is a green beryl with some blue color, and emerald has an intense green color caused by chrome (or vanadium). So, it''s more than just the intensity of green color that distinguishes a green aquamarine from an emerald. The color difference is a result of traces of different elements in the beryl structure.

Thanks for asking that most interesting question. I wonder if some real gem experts could add to my meager explanation?

 

[Catmom]

Fly Girl, what a cool, gorgeous stone! I love the color and can''t wait to see more pictures. I''ve never heard of a green aqua before. You learn something new everyday!

 

[eac]

Thanks for the very interesting green aquamarine versus emerald facts! Now I''m as dazzled by your erudition as by your good taste in gemstones.

 

[marcy]

Very pretty stone and definitely a rare stone. Enjoy.

 

[LembeckGems]

glad you posted the info from the handbook. emerald /geen beryl does get a bit confusing but the two stones do not resemble each other except for the fact that both have a green element

as for emerald and intense green color. there is a lot of emerald that is not as intense looking as green beryl. but it is emerald because of the presence of chromium. some emerald has chromium and vanadium so there is no contorversey there with the vanadium as there is also chromium present.

I suspect it imight be that chromium emerald that also has vanadium is what has fueled the idea that when the vandium stands alone in beryl some will say it is emerald and some say no. also, it may be the "look" as well I don''t know.

green beryl has a definite "look". so does emerald. so dealers can make most of the initial call "by eye".

unheated aqua can be blue without green. BUT most unheated aqua is geeniish blue or BLUE / green. blue is the dominating hue with a green modiifying hue. it is heated to cook out the green.

I like the presence of the green hue. makes the Aqua look warmer to me.

the stone in the picture looks like green beryl to me. ask for a gem brief from AGL next time. or you might get one yourself. cost $25 bucks.

for me Aquamrine is an easy gem to photograph. the difficulty is representing the saturatiuon of color accurately as even a slight variance of intensity of hue caused from one computer monitor to the next affects the represented value greatly.

also, it''s worth mentioning once again, just to add to the mix, we once had some blue emeralds with GIA papers - emerald with chromium and copper. they were BLUE / green. predominantly blue. the quess was that the blue color came from the presence of the copper. there might have also been vanadium present too. I wish I could remember. if I could only find a copy of the cert.

steve

 

[Fly Girl]

Thanks, Steve, for chiming in! I appreciate the professional view, since I certainly know next to nothing about gems.

 

[Fly Girl]

I picked up the green aqua at Fed Ex tonight, so I haven''t seen it in daylight yet. So far I think it looks pretty cool.

There was a small gem show at a local mall this weekend, and I picked up a couple of inexpensive beryl for fun. Here is a picture of the three of them.

On the left is a 9 x 7 mm peach morganite, in the middle is the 4.1 ct green aquamarine, and on the right is a 2.1 ct golden beryl. I held up a small bit of green cloth, to help compare the aqua tint. Can you tell I''m wearing a red sweater???

All of the gems sparkle, but the aqua is the best as well as being the cleanest stone. Most aquas I have seen look pretty "meh" compared to this one.

 

[Fly Girl]

Update- Just back from dropping the aqua off at a local designer''s to be set into a pendant. She is going to work a couple small diamonds I had into the design as well. I view the CAD in two weeks, so hopefully I will have something to show you guys then.

BTW, she was quite surprised when I told her the price I paid for the green aqua. She guessed it would be more than twice as much. It doesn''t really matter, but it makes me feel like quite the savvy gemstone shopper, nonetheless. It pays to hang around PS.

 

[Ellen]

Hey Fly Girl, I''ve been quietly following your thread here. I know monitors don''t give an absolutely true picture, but I love the color of your stone from what I''m seeing. Very pretty! And I can''t wait to see your pendant!

 

[Catmom]

That''s always cool to hear. I can''t wait to see how your pendant turns out!

 

[Fly Girl]

Date: 2/28/2008 6:45:06 PM
Author: Ellen
Hey Fly Girl, I''ve been quietly following your thread here. I know monitors don''t give an absolutely true picture, but I love the color of your stone from what I''m seeing. Very pretty! And I can''t wait to see your pendant!

Thank you so much, Ellen.

I have an 18 k gold necklace that "needs" a pendant. The designer suggested using polished 18 k gold to help highlight the green color of the stone and to set the aqua E-W. It will be semi-bezel set top and bottom and so the very sparkly ends of the stone will be open to the light. One of the accent diamonds is going to be my original 0.21 ct engagement ring stone which will be bezel set. It''s going to look amazing.

I have learned so much here at PS. It has made me a much more knowledgable consumer. I decided to stick with excellent color and excellent cut in the Wild Fish gem. Picking a less popular shade is the way to save. I''m also fortunate to be able to use local design talent, because it is great to be able to sit there in person and watch her sketch and discuss the project. I first met her at the Richard Homer round-table last fall, and noticed that setting colored stones was her speciality.

 

[Fly Girl]

Thanks, Michelle. I had to tell the designer how much I paid for the aqua for insurance purposes (it is now sitting in her safe). She was quite surprised, and my first thought was ''Oh, no, I''ve overpaid''. So relieved to hear otherwise!

As PSers know, excellent cut is worth it.

 

[Ellen]

The pendant sounds gorgeous! And I agree the gold will make such a lovely contrast. Sweet that you get to incorporate a sentimental diamond too.

How long did she say it would take?

 

[Fly Girl]

Date: 2/29/2008 8:37:42 AM
Author: Ellen
The pendant sounds gorgeous! And I agree the gold will make such a lovely contrast. Sweet that you get to incorporate a sentimental diamond too.

How long did she say it would take?

I look at the CADs in 2 weeks, and the pendant should be finished two weeks after that, so around the end of March. She is busy, but still February and March is a bit of a lull, so my timing is good. It is after the holidays, and before the very busy spring/summer wedding season.

 

[Fly Girl]

Aqua in the morning sun before it went to the jeweler for setting.