March birthstone

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The birthstone for the month of March is Aquamarine.

A close relative to the emerald.

Aquamarine is greenish-blue in colour and can vary from almost colourless with a slight bluish tint to a very intense dark blue.



About Aquamarine

The gem gets its name from the Latin aqua marina, which means water of the sea.

Aquamarine is extremely hard and has a glass-like luster.


What is Aquamarine? Aquamarine is a variety of the precious

beryl, which is a group of minerals most famous for the green emerald – one of the „Precious Four‟ gems in the world. The other three being diamond, sapphire and ruby.

Beryl is a mineral that is composed of beryllium aluminum cyclosilicate with hexagonal crystals that give it form. Those hexagonal crystals can vary in size from very small to quite large.

Pure beryl has no colour but tinted colours produced from impurities include green, blue, yellow, red and white.


Folklore points to Aquamarine

Bringing victory in battles and disputes.

It was effective in curing jaw, throat, stomach and liver ailments.

It was said to be able to ease the pain of toothaches and was credited in curing excessive belching and yawning.

Attributes of Aquamarine

As the name of aquamarine implies, it was used in ceremonies to bring rain or to curse enemies with drought.

When it was worn as an amulet included pain relief, friendliness, quick intelligence and was even a cure for laziness.



Aquamarine Believes

In the Medieval Ages the stone was believed to render soldiers invincible.

Roman bridegrooms gave aquamarine to their brides as a gift believing it would assist in building a happy, fulfilling marriage.


Aquamarine Believes

Various myths and legends exist regarding the aquamarine from Romans who thought enemies would become friends if a figure of a frog was carved on the stone, and that it “absorbed the atmosphere of young love.”

Both the Greeks and Romans appropriately viewed the aquamarine as the gem of the sea, or a sailor‟s gem which was believed to bring safe passage on rough seas.


Locations of Aquamarine

The gem is found in Sri Lanka, Brazil has clear yellow beryl.

Deep blue aquamarine is in Madagascar.

It is also found in various locations in the United States.

Also mined in Columbia, Norway, Austria, Germany, Sweden, Ireland, Russia, Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania and Kenya.

The Ontario amethyst is from the Thunder Bay area of Canada and it is also found in various locations in Nova Scotia.


Symbols of Aquamarine It was a symbol of joy and youth to the

Sumerians, Egyptians and Hebrews.

It was identified with the Apostle St. Thomas in Christian circles as it resembled the sea and air as the Saint took long sea journeys to preach salvation.

In the Middle Ages aquamarine was a superior stone for fortune telling when cut into a crystal ball, which made it the most popular of oracle crystals at that time.


The largest aquamarine of gemstone quality on record was mined in Brazil in 1910.

The specimen weighed just over 110-kilograms.

The world‟s largest known naturally occurring crystal of any mineral is a massive beryl crystal in Madagascar which weighed 380,000-kilograms. It measured 18 metres long and 3.5 metres in diameter.

March birthstone

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