Aquamarine

Aquamarine, the March birthstone, is a blue or turquoise variety of beryl with a hardness of 7.5-8 on the mohs scale.  The term aquamarine is derived from the Latin aqua marina or “water of the sea”. It can be found in the US in Colorado and Wyoming. There are mines in Brazil, Columbia, Zambia, Madagascar, Malawi, Tanzania and Kenya. The largest aquamarine of gemstone quality ever mined was found in Marambaia, Minas Gerais, Brazil in 1910 and weighed over 110kg.