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A Stone Princess Diana Favoured the Most

аквамарин
© Форпост Северо-Запад / Горный музей / Павел Долганов

This gemstone is a blue variety of beryl, which is particularly fancied by those of noble blood. Princess Diana is among them.

аквамарин
© Форпост Северо-Запад / Горный музей / Павел Долганов

Emerald is the closest to aquamarine variety. In the past, aquamarine was often confused with topazes and sapphires, but then people became wary of it. As the mineral can be found almost anywhere across the globe, its wide occurrence was exactly what made people doubt its value. That meant the stone was easy to mine and would consequently be cheap. Still, it would not be right to say that it applies to all kinds of aquamarine. For instance, a variety with crystal-clear as a drop of water stones, resembling a sea wave in colour, is quite rare in nature.

This type of aquamarine was the first to have been uncovered by ancient Greeks and Romans. The mineral’s colour, so similar to the one of the sea, was the reason why people named it aquamarine, which translates from Latin aqua marina as ‘seawater’. A fantastic shade of the stone also led to the creation of several ancient legends.

аквамарин
© Форпост Северо-Запад / Горный музей / Павел Долганов

As per legend, aquamarine is a stone of Poseidon, god of the sea. Mineral deposits were kept safe on the sea bottom and guarded by mermaids who, however, once forgot one of the treasure chests onshore. Sailors who had found it went to take pieces of aquamarine with them to the sea. Later, they started carving amulets of the stone, believing the Sea Emperor would protect them in their voyages. It can be said that a blue-coloured stone was a sort of meteorological station for the sailors. Crew members used to predict weather conditions based on the stone’s colour. But while aquamarine is indeed capable of changing shades, yet it has nothing to do with the weather but depends on the light incidence angle on a mineral sample.

аквамарин
© Форпост Северо-Запад / Горный музей / Павел Долганов

There is also another legend. It says aquamarine was formed of the young girl’s tears that had fallen into the sea and fossilised. The young maiden was waiting on the shore for her beloved sailor man to return, but he never did because of the shipwreck he got into. Following the event, a new tradition emerged - lovers began gifting each other jewels with aquamarine. That practice is still very much alive. In 2016, Prince Harry gave a ring with this stone to his bride as a sign of loyalty. That ring once belonged to his mother, Diana, who had worn it for the first time after getting an official divorce from Prince Charles with whom she had never been happy. As is well-known, her husband cheated on her. The new jewel item was, therefore, а symbol of a new life for Lady Di, that kind of life where only true love could fit in.

Missing content item.

If one would ever want to buy such a piece of jewellery today, they would have to know it costs a lot since the stone’s colour directly affects the price. Samples of brighter and more vibrant colour are more expensive. Thus with all else being equal, a specimen of aquamarine with a medium blue shade will be 2 to 3 times cheaper than a sample with deep blue colour. At the same time, it will be more expensive than a light blue variety. Greenish shades, in turn, reduce the price of a particular stone.