Aquamarine
March's birthstone — the sailor's talisman of calm seas. Pakistan's Shigar Valley in the Karakoram yields flawless ice-blue crystals; Brazil's Santa Maria mine gave its name to the finest deep blue hue. Dom Pedro, the largest cut aquamarine (10363 ct), came from Brazil.
Known origins & mines
Santa Maria de Itabira · Brazil
The 1910 discovery here defined the finest deep-blue hue now called "Santa Maria" grade — the Serra da Mangabeira mines still yield top satu…
Shigar Valley Aquamarine · Pakistan
Karakoram granite pegmatites above Skardu yield flawless ice-blue aquamarine crystals to 100+ carats — Pakistani "snow blue" clarity is the …
Erongo Granite Massif · Namibia
The Erongo breccia pipes combine aquamarine, blue-topaz, fluorite and jeremejevite in one famous complex — Martin Lock's 2007 jeremejevite f…
Nagar Valley Chumar Bakhoor · Pakistan
Discovered in 1984 high in the Karakoram, this pegmatite field became one of the world's most recognizable sources of ice-blue aquamarine on…
Jos Plateau Mines · Nigeria
Nigerian plateau pegmatites yield clean yellow-green to blue aquamarine plus morganite and spessartine — artisanal workings supply Bangkok a…
Karur Beryl Fields · India
Tamil Nadu pegmatite gravels flood Asian markets with affordable sky-blue aquamarine; massive etched crystals from Karur feed carving worksh…
Mount Antero Aquamarine · United States
A Colorado fourteener hosting the highest gem field in the lower 48 states — classic alpine-blue beryl worked since 1885.…
Murzinka Ural Mines · Russia
The "Siberian" color benchmark came from these 18th-century Ural miarolitic pockets that supplied Catherine the Great's court lapidaries.…