Is this good aqua?

[Green with Envy]

I had my sister helping to search the web for my cat's eye stone and she keeps mentioning her favorite stones are aquamarines. I learned so much about tourmalines... but not aquamarines yet. Can someone tell me if this looks like a good one for a large stone... or should i do more research and keep looking? I just know my sister doesn't care about heating or non-heat, but wants a large stone that is not too light and stone that is well cut so nice brillance. Me being more of a green person... I think this blue looks not too dark and unique. BUt could I find better?

Thanks.

http://www.acstones.com/ProductCart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=3&idproduct=1634


Plus- she found that aqua ring at same site and was thinking of getting for herself. We all LOVE that ring- lucky duck who got it!

 

[Kismet]

I think it''s a lovely stone and since it''s cut by Ben Kho you know it''s going to be a nice cut. I wavered over buying it today too.

 

[chrono]

It looks like a nice aqua, maybe a bit on the lighter side. Maybe it is my monitor? Cut by Ben Kho? Wow, I'd bet that stone is going to be one very lively aquamarine.

 

[twodoor2]

From my experience, because I have about ten million aquas (well maybe not that many), and it's my birthstone, I find aquas look darker in pictures than they do in real life. That stone has a gray mask, but then again, it's incredibly rare to find one without a gray mask. The cutting will give it much life though.

Aqua is not a stone I would buy off ebay either. Too much treatment, and they can fade.

 

[Kismet]

Date: 8/1/2007 4:45:33 PM
Author: Chrono
It looks like a nice aqua, maybe a bit on the lighter side. Maybe it is my monitor? Cut by Ben Kho? Wow, I'd bet that stone is going to be one very lively aquamarine.

She has it marked as medium to medium-dark so I don't imagine that it's all that light. Yup Ben Kho, that's what the BK at the end of the description means.

ETA: Oh, and I'm the one who got the milky aquamarine ring.

 

[Green with Envy]

Since so many people seem to use that particukar internet site and this cutter is supposedly top notch- do you mean don''t buy from ebay? Or do you mean don''t buy an aqua that you don''t see in person? I understasnd some are heated and some are not (doesn''t matter to me as long as it looks good) I am not sure about heating with this stone so waiting to hear back from my internet questions to them.

 

[twodoor2]

I would only buy an aqua from someone I trusted to tell me the truth about it's treatment. Some heated aquas fade, or some beryls are irradiated to make them bluer, or there are coated beryls. If you know someone on ebay you trust, that's a different story. One of the questions I would ask when buying an aqua is "is the color stable?"

 

[Green with Envy]

There is no way i could tell on my own by looking at a stone if it is heated or not, right? I assume only heated stones have potential to fade? If you get an unheated aqua from a trusted source- it will stay the same forever? It seems like aquas were very popular a long time ago- if you have an aqua that was past down from a grandmother- this probably is NOT heated because they did not do that back then, right?

 

[chrono]

Date: 8/1/2007 10:28:13 PM
Author: twodoor2
I would only buy an aqua from someone I trusted to tell me the truth about it''s treatment. Some heated aquas fade, or some beryls are irradiated to make them bluer, or there are coated beryls. If you know someone on ebay you trust, that''s a different story. One of the questions I would ask when buying an aqua is ''is the color stable?''

This is why I rarely buy from ebay and only from a select few trusted vendors (maybe a handful only). Too many undisclosed treatments or misrepresented stones. I love ACS because Barbara is very honest, has a great eye for gemstones, gets her stuff from safe sources (and famous cutters) and as a true GG, knows the real from the fake stuff.

 

[Stone Hunter]

It''s my understanding (warning total novice here) that Aquas can be very very light and tend towards blue or green. I prefer the blue Aquas and I don''t like them to be too light.

The stone and the cut look very nice on my monitor. But a bit green for me personally. What COLOR does your sister like?
I''d focus on her likes if the stone is for her.

 

[Stone Hunter]

Date: 8/1/2007 10:28:13 PM
Author: twodoor2
I would only buy an aqua from someone I trusted to tell me the truth about it''s treatment. Some heated aquas fade, or some beryls are irradiated to make them bluer, or there are coated beryls. If you know someone on ebay you trust, that''s a different story. One of the questions I would ask when buying an aqua is ''is the color stable?''

WOW twodoor2 you really know your stuff. THANKS so much for sharing your knowledge here on PS. I would never want to buy a coated stone but I didn''t even know that they coated Aquas.

 

[movie zombie]

for all you need to know about aquamarine:

http://www.minerals.net/gemstone/gemstone/aquamari/aquamari.htm

assume all aqua is heat treated.

movie zombie

ps aqua is also my birthstone and i too would not buy off ebay unless there was a most excellent return policy. most aqua looks like colored glass....and if its from ebay it very well could be glass. if the price seems too good to be true, then it is. quality stones command quality prices. also, the color of the stone you posted is popular right now. in years past, the greener [still heat treated] blue was more popular.

 

[canuk-gal]

Date: 8/2/2007 4:43:03 PM
Author: movie zombie
for all you need to know about aquamarine:

http://www.minerals.net/gemstone/gemstone/aquamari/aquamari.htm

assume all aqua is heat treated.

movie zombie

ps aqua is also my birthstone and i too would not buy off ebay unless there was a most excellent return policy. most aqua looks like colored glass....and if its from ebay it very well could be glass. if the price seems too good to be true, then it is. quality stones command quality prices. also, the color of the stone you posted is popular right now. in years past, the greener [still heat treated] blue was more popular.

HI:

I hope I will be forgiven for this temporary hijack--hello MZ! You''ve been missed

.

cheers--Sharon

 

[chrono]

Ditto! Welcome back MZ.

 

[Fly Girl]

Date: 8/1/2007 5:54:54 PM
Author: Kismet

Date: 8/1/2007 4:45:33 PM
Author: Chrono
It looks like a nice aqua, maybe a bit on the lighter side. Maybe it is my monitor? Cut by Ben Kho? Wow, I''d bet that stone is going to be one very lively aquamarine.

She has it marked as medium to medium-dark so I don''t imagine that it''s all that light. Yup Ben Kho, that''s what the BK at the end of the description means.

ETA: Oh, and I''m the one who got the milky aquamarine ring.

Kismet - Please post hand pics! I had been looking at that ring too.

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Date: 8/2/2007 12:29:13 AM
Author: Green with Envy

1. There is no way i could tell on my own by looking at a stone if it is heated or not, right?

2. I assume only heated stones have potential to fade?

3. If you get an unheated aqua from a trusted source- it will stay the same forever?

4. It seems like aquas were very popular a long time ago-

5. if you have an aqua that was past down from a grandmother- this probably is NOT heated because they did not do that back then, right?

1. No.

2. I personally have not heard of heat treated aquas fading. As far as I know the the color is stable. I'd be interested in any documentation to the contrary. To my knowledge aquas are not irradiated, and surface coating is quite rare (but not out of the question).

3. Yes.

4. Yes, they were quite popular from the 20's through the 70's. The popularity dimmed a fair amount with the advent of inexpensive blue topaz, but is now resurging in popularity.

5. Yes, they did not (heat treat back then). Heat treating became prevalent in the late 70's, usually 1979 and later. Now virtually all aquamarine is routinely heat treated to drive out the green overtone and make the stone bluer. Many antique connoiseurs highly prize the old stones with their strong green modifiers. Quite beautiful actually, reminiscent of the "sea green" which aquamarine was originally known by and named for.

 

[Richard Sherwood]

"The beautiful light blue to blue-green color of aquamarine may fade upon prolonged exposure to light."

I believe this statement (from the URL that movie zombie posted) to be incorrect. To my knowledge the color enhancement derived from heating aquamarine is stable.

 

[twodoor2]

I have an aqua that faded, what kind of treatment would cause it to fade?

 

[Richard Sherwood]

None that I know of, TwoDoor. Tell me a little about it. In your opinion, what was the before and after tone on the following scale:

Extremely light.....Very light.....Light.....Medium light.....Medium

Do you remember who you bought it from, and what country of origin they said it was from? Was it bought pre or post 1979? What conditions do you think caused it to fade? Was it possibly coated? Did you ever have it tested to make sure it was aquamarine?

Thanks.

 

[twodoor2]

It was a cheap purchase, from one of the television networks, DSN (yes, I should know better). I bought it over a year ago for about $20. It is 1.75 carats and touted as "New Mine Aquamarine" with no clue to origin other than that. It was a medium-light saturation when I got it (you could definitely see a blue hue), now it's almost goshenite!!! I never had it set, it was just an impulse purchase for fun. It sits in a box, it never even sees much sunlight. DSN said they could not disclose the place of origin for security reasons.

I never had it tested to determine it's aqua, but I figured it was since I purchased it from DSN, and they have a lot to lose by selling something that it's not. It also has the same luster and sparkle as my other aquamarines.

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Send it to me, and I''ll reimburse you your costs just so I can take a look at it.

To go from a medium light to a pale or almost non-existent tone is unheard of in a heat treated aquamarine (at least in my experience). I''d like to examine your stone to get an idea of what''s going on with it, if you''re agreeable.

 

[twodoor2]

No problem, it's not like I'll miss it. I'll send it out next week sometime. It's a checkboard rectangular cushion. When DSN touted it, they were blabbing about the deep blue color the "New Mine" material had. It looked nice when I first received it, and I was pleased, and thought I received my money's worth (even for $20). I would be very interested in your results. I just took another look at it, it's a silvery color with the tiniest touch of blue. It's like one shade away from goshenite. Here's a picure, it looks darker in the picture (the stone looks more saturated than it is), but as you can see, it's very light.

 

[twodoor2]

Can you send me mailing instructions. I was just going to send it plain old USPS, not insured, just in a bubble wrap envelope.

 

[Richard Sherwood]

$20 for a 1.75 aqua with any kind of color is pretty darn cheap. Too cheap, it would seem. Makes me wonder about this "New Mine" classification.

Send it to my name only:

Richard Sherwood
640 S. Washington Blvd., Ste 175
Sarasota, Florida 34236

Thanks!

 

[Richard Sherwood]

I did a search under "New Mine" aquamarine and came up with two references.

One was a dealer selling "African New Mine" aqua from a mine in Tanzania. It was sold as being unheated, and had a pleasing strongly greenish hue. It wasn't cheap either.

The other was labeled as "New Mine" material from a recently discovered mine in China producing flat, stubby crystals (which yield smaller stones), supposedly being sold for a "fraction" of the price of other aqua. Sounds like it could be where your stone came from.

 

[twodoor2]

It''s quite possible since DSN is selling some really ugly Chinese "New Emperor Mine" aqua now. It is even uglier than the "New Mine" one I purchased.

 

[chrono]

2door,
I just read about Goshenite/light aqua being treated with a very similar process to that used to coat topaz. Is this possible on your aqua?

 

[movie zombie]

richard, look forward to your analysis of the stone.

movie zombie

 

[Chrysoz]

I have to agree with Richard, Aquamarine is not my expert subject (which is rare gemstones) but I am pretty (ok, very) sure that Gently heat-treated aquamarine does not fade over time. I have heard of some coating treatment for Aqua, but from what I understand it''s so rare that you barely need to think of it. I don''t remember where I heard of it either...