Ux4 is also in possession of some dark blue stable aquamarine. Perhaps he can share a little more information on it, as to locality and treatment if known.
'tase...
...the Blue Beryl, linked in above post, is the sister stone of the Brazil "Riesling" that you looked at some time back. They were found in the same small pocket (pocket 4) of the finds made ironically by the German miner in Brazil. I'll get up in a minute and get the weight of the Blue - its big!
...the stone is IF and has not so subtle undertones of the sister. Quite appealing to me. I have not handled the stone much or given it a proper exam. It is STILL residing with my associate who has yet to examine it. As soon as I get it back, I'll send it your way.
...in the meantime, maybe David E. has some info on the Brazil "Riesling" and Blue finds. I believe the stones to be untreated, and the Blue stable. It has been exposed for quite awhile now with no fade. Supposedly only ~200 blues exist, while the "rieslings" are somewhat more plentiful.
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Last edited by Ux4 on Tue Nov 29, 2005 3:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Going back to Anatase's post concerning the discovery of a darker blue beryl that was thought to be Maxixe (mah-she-she) and later proven to be aquamarine, I thought you may like to read the prequel to the G&G link she provided that described the testing of this material.
Stable aquamarine of darker colours can be found in a range of prices, with a heap of accepted trade names. Most well known and the darkest commercially available is referred to as “Santa Maria”, originally from the Brazilian mine of the same name. This designation now is generally used to describe any dark blue aqua. For a true Santa Maria, expect a colour similar to London blue Topaz.
Similar colours are found in Mozambique, which are generally referred to as 'Santa Maria Africana' or “Santa Maria Afrique”. I have also heard these referred to as “Zambian double blue”. A lighter colour than “Santa Maria”, although fairly dark still is “Espirito Santo”, usually found in the Brazilian state of that name. 'Martha Rocha' is yet another specific hue that was named after a Brazilian beauty queen, and is lighter again.
Finest Santa Maria material can fetch over $800 per carat, although this is exceptional.
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Anuck, that may be difficult since much of the material is relatively clean. I've found there is a noticeable difference using a penlight and chelsea filter. Aqua is noticably green while the topaz is relatively unchanged.
Can't say that it's written in stone but, that's been my observation so far.
Other than that you could take a portable polariscope and search for an interference figure, aqua is uni-axial, topaz bi.
Or cary a bottle of heavy liqued 2.85 with you. Aqua floats while (to my knowledge) all other pale blue ones will sink.
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2006 12:44 am Posts: 2056 Location: San Francisco
The aqua is pleichroic, and has a dark and a light ray in the dichroscope.. topaz nada... I just got some glass that was sold to me as aqua.. checked the inclusions at 40x and sure nuff.. it's glass...
That'll sort out aqua from topaz/glass etc.. good luck.. (they are small and handy as well)
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