Just like its name suggests aquamarine is known for its both pale and deep and gorgeous blue texture which is resemblant to the sea and deep oceans. It can be used for various things from enhancing jewelry thanks to its beautiful stone, to purifying water. It’s worth noting that aquamarine also has strong symbolic meanings so a lot of people add it to their home collection of gemstones and crystals. But, aquamarine is much more than that.
People who can’t afford to put diamond, jade, or emerald on their jewelry, or don’t prefer such colors and textures will often look for aquamarine, which is another great gemstone that can serve as an addition to their jewelry. It’s considered relatively rare, and its beautiful color will make a lot of people want them on their jewelry.
Aquamarine has been used on jewelry in the past, which is why antique and vintage jewelry with it has great value, as well as other ornaments. If you’re one of those people who recently discovered an item that has aquamarine in it, you must be wanting to see what value you can extract from it.
Aquamarine may not be your first thought when buying a gemstone for jewelry, but it’s incredibly brilliant and valuable. It starts from $5 to $10 but can be found for $675 per carat for the highest quality Aquamarine on average.
Alternatively, if you want to buy aquamarine for your stone collection or to add it to important jewelry for a wedding or a birthday, you’ve come to the right place. Determining the value of a gemstone such as aquamarine can often be seen as time-consuming and difficult.
That’s why we’re here. We crafted this article after researching and testing different aquamarine variations and options. Trust us, there are many variants of aquamarine, and all of them are equally beautiful.
Whether you want to buy or sell aquamarine, this article will inform you about its origin, and value and it’ll also help you evaluate aquamarine on your own.
About Aquamarine Stone
Aquamarine has been around for a very long time, and it has been sought after for its serene look, as well as the power of guidance and protection. Primarily, it was used in Ancient Egypt and Rome and is considered one of the most royal gemstones, which often overpassed the value of gold at the time.
It’s interesting to note that Roman sailors often searched for it to put them on their boats and ships for the simple reason to protect themselves from the raging storms of the sea. Thanks to its color which ranged in different shades of blue, it was believed that aquamarine can calm the sea, and provide safe travel for all sailors and warriors alike.
Some people went as far as to call them oriental emeralds because their rarity was high, and value even higher than gold, as mentioned earlier. The pale blue option was the most abundant of the different aquamarine shades, appearing to be nearly translucent. Still, there were more variants, such as the deep dark blue, as well as the emerald blue-green color which is considered one of the highest-valued aquamarines on the market.
They have a signature hexagonal shape, which is preserved with a thin layer of polish and then prepared for jewelry such as rings and necklaces. Often, they were added to earrings, which enhanced various facial features of the women who’d wear them.
Aquamarine was also often attributed to the powers of the Gods, in the Roman empire where it often was considered one of the most gorgeous stones. As mentioned earlier, it was believed that it protected sailors from the restless and raging seas on their trips to Ancient Egypt, India, and other ancient countries. They often associated it with Neptune, the God of the Oceans due to its crystalline appearance.
They went as far as to believe that Neptune himself took small pieces of water from the raging ocean waves and froze them to give this translucent shade, highly resemblant to the ice and crystals. Still, it takes much less water and much more fire to form aquamarine. Aquamarine is named after a Latin word, and it translates to sea or water.
It was described by many nobles and Roman philosophers, one of them being Pliny who called it “lovely” and that it originates from a house of a mermaid. Although aquamarine was deeply respected and prized by the Roman gentry, it’s worth noting that other civilizations also extracted it, and used it to make jewelry, garments, and adornments.
A lot of people don’t know this, but aquamarine is not a standalone gemstone, or an element even less, so. It’s a type of beryl, which is an extremely firm and hard mineral which is made out of aluminum, beryllium, oxygen, and silica.
We say that aquamarine is extremely hard because it is rated as 7.5 to 8 on the Mohs scale of hardness. It may not be as hard as a diamond, but still has a powerfully firm luster and durability that can be said to be relatively close to that of a diamond. This also makes it an attractive choice for jewelry, because it won’t tear or chip so easily.
Beryl is related to other important minerals that make appearances on expensive jewelry. One of them is emerald, which is a rarer variant, and also more valuable in the process.
Aquamarine is formed inside metamorphic rocks, but it can often be found in granite. As the magma containing granite cools, aquamarine slowly forms. It takes a long time to form aquamarine, which often contributes to its high value. Other than aquamarine, other forms of this mineral are also getting formed.
After a long time, they then get extracted through pegmatite veins, and before that, the reactions with hot water often lead to their colors, as water is equipped with various metals and reacts with the contents of the vugs and veins.
The biggest deposits of Aquamarine can be found in Pakistan, particularly in the mountains of Karakoram. Other extraction locations include Madagascar, Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania, Russia, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Brazil.
Is Aquamarine Worth Anything?
People who prefer to have diamonds, jade, or emerald on their jewelry and other garments don’t know or feel interested in the values of other materials commonly used for them. However, aquamarine may be considered one of the most beautiful gemstones, especially among those who love its radiant blue color and want to express their seeking peace and serenity through jewelry.
Those who understand the spiritual value and meaning of aquamarine would also prefer having it over some other gemstone that they don’t know much about. Still, when it comes to aquamarine, many don’t know what is its value on the market, and whether there is any at all.
Given that many women prefer diamonds on engagement rings or emeralds in some other cases, aquamarine feels a bit left out even though it looks just as beautiful. Aquamarine has highly-regarded value on the market. Being rare and hard to extract just like the other variants of beryl on the market it can be quite expensive.
Depending on the age of the item that has aquamarine on it, you can get paid quite high, but you should always hire a good appraiser who will help you find the right value for it, and understand how to value aquamarine. Below, you can find everything about it.
Aquamarine Value [Chart]
Whether you want to sell your aquamarine to collectors, you’re the collector and want to add one to your collection, or simply want to buy aquamarine for the sake of making a piece of jewelry with it, you’ve come to the right place. We appreciate all gemstones for much more than their physical value. Continue reading to learn more about it!
Aquamarine is one of the most popular gems when it comes to jewelry, and that is all thanks to the Duchess of Sussex who wore Princess Diana’s aquamarine and diamond cocktail ring during the evening wedding reception.
Princess Diana commissioned her engagement ring once she got divorced from now his majesty King Charles. Her engagement ring contained aquamarine which consisted of the 30-carat gemstone encrusted together with a bunch of tiny diamonds and closed in a 24-carat gold ring. When Prince Harry was getting married to Meghan Markle she only wore an aquamarine ring.
Although aquamarine was a popular choice for engagement and wedding jewelry for a long time, her wearing it brought this gem back into the spotlight. There are many price ranges for aquamarine, and because it is so valuable you will commonly see its cost per carat. A high-quality aquamarine can be found for $675 per carat. However, the size of the gemstone also plays a great role.
In the most basic color and quality, aquamarine can be found for from $5 to $100 per carat. However, as the quality of the gemstone grows, so does the price, so medium-quality aquamarine can be found from $100 to $250, while the highest quality costs anywhere from $250 to $1000, with $675 being an average value for an aquamarine ring.
Pale aquamarine is incredibly valuable, but it’s still less valuable than deep blue aquamarine which is established for at least $250 per carat. Deep blue aquamarine often has a greenish tint which may remind people of emerald. That aquamarine has the highest value because it’s the rarest.
| Quality | Value |
| Low-quality aquamarine | $5-100 per carat |
| Medium quality aquamarine | $100-250 per carat |
| High-quality aquamarine | $250+ ($675 on average) per carat |
There are ways to track the live value change of aquamarine by day and even hour. However, a lot of those websites require you to subscribe to paid plans in order to show the value, which is why we can only estimate the value, instead of giving precise values. Visit websites such as gemsociety.org to learn more.
Also Read: 10 Most Valuable and Rare Vintage Pyrex (Highest Recorded Price: $5,994)
How to Estimate the Value of Aquamarine?
There are two key ways to estimate the value of aquamarine that you have on you or are eyeing to buy. The first, easier, yet more expensive method is to hire or consult an appraiser or a jeweler who will estimate the value professionally, compare it to another aquamarine on the market and tell you the final price.
The second way is usually cheaper and can be exciting, but it will also take a lot of your time and require you to acquire new knowledge and understanding of how the jewelry market works. You are perfectly capable of estimating the value of aquamarine on your own.
You can always upload your jewelry to some forum such as Reddit, as well as other jewelry forums. Comments that others give will help you estimate the value of aquamarine jewelry, or at least point you in the right direction. Perhaps, some jewelers and appraisers will offer you their services in the comments and you’ll be able to decide whether they are worth your time and money.
Finally, read through the tips and tricks below that will help you determine the approximate value for the aquamarine you’re testing without having a professional certificate.
The lab-grown aquamarine is still cheaper compared to the original aquamarine, but can still be quite expensive for some pockets and wallets. Nevertheless, there are price grading factors that will establish the value of your aquamarine.
Color
As mentioned earlier, color is a huge pricing factor when it comes to aquamarine. A majority of aquamarine is seen as pale and translucent blue, which gives it great value on its own. Still, that value is considerably lower compared to the deep blue aquamarine.
Dark blue aquamarine has a strong blue intensity which gives it more valuable, in a similar way like it gives emerald more valuable. That being said, the more color-intensive the color, the higher the price.
Deep dark blue aquamarine is often mined in African mines such as that in Madagascar and Nigeria. They are also known for variants that are smaller in carat numbers which also gives them more value, as small carats aren’t so saturated in the color.
Cut
Aquamarine is available in many shapes, but the hexagon shape is one of the most popular options. That’s to make them similar in appearance to emeralds. Additionally, you can find aquamarines also in oval and round shapes. Additionally, when there is an aquamarine with visible imperfections and inclusions jewelers try to turn them into special carvings as well as teardrops.
Clarity
The vast majority of aquamarines are clear in color and clear to the eye. However, in the neverending reaction with water during the process of formation, aquamarine will appear with various liquid inclusions. If a gemstone has many inclusions, it’s cut into cabochons or turned into carvings.
Real or Lab
This is something that we mentioned earlier, but we’ll bring it up again because it’s important in a sense of clarity. Lab-grown aquamarines are cheaper compared to real aquamarine, but they can still be pricy for some people because the creation process of aquamarine can be quite tasking and difficult.
Nevertheless, if you want to be able to tell a difference between real and lab-grown aquamarines, one of the most notable differences is that lab-grown gems don’t have as many inclusions as natural aquamarine does.
Carat Weight
The size of aquamarine is measured in carats. Larger carats of aquamarine are available for larger garments and home use, but generally speaking, you always want a smaller aquamarine if you want to use it on jewelry. The largest aquamarine can be found in Brazilian mines. The aquamarine that is used in jewelry usually weighs less than 5 carats, although exceptions are available in some situations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Shopping for aquamarine is not easy, but if you want to learn more, we compiled a list of frequently asked questions to help you make the right choice.
Where to Buy Aquamarine?
Aquamarine is a relatively rare gem, as stated earlier, and it’s one of the most sought after under diamond and emeralds. It’s beautiful, and its beauty may often mislead people to buy from fake vendor.
Although Aquamarine is available at online marketplaces such as Amazon, you can never be sure that you’re buying from the real vendor, so always make sure to look at the photos carefully, and read reviews of people who already purchased it.
Alternatively, store gem stores may have raw or minimally-modified aquamarine in the shape of rock, but unless you want to invest in crystals for your collection, this may not attract you. Websites such as Lapigems have aquamarine for sale.
Other stores such as Carat Online will allow you to buy aquamarine which is prepared for jewelry, or jewelry with aquamarine on it, which is even better if you’re looking for an engagement ring. It’s also mined from Brazil, which makes it an ideal candidate for jewelry.
