Aquamarine

Who wouldn’t want a gemstone whose various color nuances have such melodious names such as Santa Maria (from the Itabira mine in Brazil), Santa Maria Africana (from mines in Mozambique), Espirito Santo (from the state in Brazil with the same name), and Martha Rocha named after the Brazilian beauty queen of 1954?
Who wouldn’t want a gemstone that is said to arouse feelings of friendship, harmony, and trust? Who wouldn’t want a gemstone that, according to traditions, promises marital happiness to the woman who wears it? And who wouldn’t want a gemstone that captures the lucid blue of the oceans and stirs visions of mermaids, treasure chests, and ancient sailing vessels? Who wouldn’t want a gemstone named literally water-sea – from the Latin aqua = water and mare = sea?
But aquamarine is much more than a name. It is one of our most popular and best-known gemstones – almost as popular as the ageless ruby, emerald, and sapphire. An outstanding feature of the aquamarine is that it is almost entirely free of inclusions, those solid, liquid, or gaseous foreign bodies enclosed in a mineral or rock. It also has a good hardness that makes it durable and protects it from scratches.