How The Aquamarine Gets Its Color
You may have seen aquamarine jewelry and marveled at the various beautiful hues of green and blues that can be found in the gemstone. But why does it have that color? There are a few answers to this question.
First, when it’s pulled from the ground the green or blue shade in aquamarine is given to the stone by the iron deposits that were in the ground near where it was forming. It is the chemical effect of the iron during the formation process that first causes the color.
If an aquamarine is very light in its blue-green coloring or even in shades that are not traditional, like yellow or almost clear, there is a way to bring out more color in the gemstone, by heating it. Many aquamarines go through a heating process after they are mined to create those brighter colors you often see in finished aquamarine jewelry. For the most part, a jeweler can get top dollar for a rich blue aquamarine gemstone, while there is less demand for the blue-green or lighter blue varieties. The problem with this method is that there's no way to know just what color will come out in the heating process. Often it pays off, but sometimes a lighter attractive stone that is heated comes out less good looking.
The other possible color of an aquamarine is faded. When you first get piece of aquamarine jewelry, you may love the bright blue qualities of the stone. But over time, it may start to fade and lighten. If this happens, it’s likely because of the light you are putting on the stone. Aquamarine reacts negatively to sunlight and the suns rays can fade the color of the stone over time. It is essentially a bleach to your beautiful blue aquamarine stone.
