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Aquamarine
MQA01 Beryl var. Heliodor-Aquamarine
Befotaka Sud District, Atsimo-Atsinanana Region, Fianarantsoa Province, Madagascar
14.0x 2.4x 2.15 cm
$16000
A very beautiful doubly terminated crystal of beryl that grades from heliodor near the top, to aquamarine near the base.
Despite this being my fourth trip to the country, I had only ever come away with a few beryl samples previously-- usually nothing particularly gemmy. I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to claim that the pieces recovered from this pocket are probably some of the best beryl specimens to come from Madagascar in the last 10-15 years.
There is some sub-surface pocket dirt-- this is visible more on one side than the other. I have included pictures of both sides (to see the dirtier side, see the pictures below the description and at the very bottom). It is somewhat difficult to get the color right in the pictures, so I have photographed it with a few different backgrounds-- the super bright image is an iPhone picture in direct winter sunlight-- as you can see, the thing really glows if you light it correctly, and the effect can be recreated with a well-placed LED.
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XUY01 Fluorite with Aquamarine on Muscovite
Huya Village, Mt. Xuebaoding, Sichuan Prov., China
13.0x 10.1x 6.3 cm
$8000
A spectacular fluorite from Mt. Xuebaoding. This locality is
best known for its scheelites and aquamarines, and while they are encountered considered
to be something of a rarity, good fluorite is occasionally encountered here as well. This one has a
large, very clear cube perfectly positioned on a muscovite matrix. The edges
and corners are super sharp, and there is a tabular aquamarine positioned
beneath it. The side crystal has damage, the main one is nearly perfect, save one small, nearly invisible chip.
I have seen larger, colored fluorites from this locality in the past, but this is the best colorless one that I have personally seen. Both its size and the degree of transparency (slightly blurred, but you can see to the muscovite beneath) make it stand out among the usually smaller, frosted, broken crystals that usually come from this location. Truly a top specimen from this locality!
MAT13 Muscovite, Beryl var. Aquamarine, Albite
Nagar, Hunza Valley, Northern Areas, Pakistan
13.5x 9x 3.5cm
A cabinet aquamarine from Nagar, with a 6.5x 4 cm cluster of gemmy and terminated blue aquamarine crystals nicely centered on an albite matrix.
This piece is rather unusual, in that the right-facing sides (and only the right-facing sides) of all the albite crystals are coated with a druze of muscovite.
Overall, this specimen differs greatly from the standard opaque-ish blue aquamarines that we have all grown so accustomed to seeing. This piece was found around 2002, and is from my personal collection.
MQA58 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Befotaka Sud District, Atsimo-Atsinanana Region, Fianarantsoa Province, Madagascar
6.9x 3.4x 2.4 cm
$3600
A beautiful, terminated aquamarine with a greenish tinge, from Madagascar. This piece comes from a recently discovered pocket that produced a small quantity of excellent heliodors and aquamarines. Some are obviously one or the other, this one is somewhere in between.
There is some sub-surface pocket dirt, mainly on the back.
This was my fourth trip to the country, and I had only ever come away with a few beryl samples, usually nothing particularly gemmy. With that said, good beryl specimens are not common from Madagascar-- in fact, the last time I know of a decent pocket being discovered was almost 7 years ago.
It is somewhat difficult to get the color right in the pictures, so I have photographed it with a couple different backgrounds-- the super bright images are iPhone pictures in direct winter sunlight-- as you can see, the thing really glows if you light it correctly, and the effect can be recreated with a well-placed LED. I've taken pictures of both the display side (cleaner) and the back.
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MAT2 Muscovite, Quartz, Beryl var. Aquamarine, Schorl
Shigar Valley, Baltistan, Pakistan
17.5x 11 x 5 cm
$2850
Now here is a very nice combination piece. Four main aquamarines to 3.5 cm with schorl inclusions on a bed of muscovite balls. Also on the specimen are several quartz crystals. It has a natural "pedestal" on the back that holds it up at a nice angle.
PKV1 Aquamarine, Beryl var. Aquamarine
Shigar Valley, Baltistan, Pakistan
10.6x 8.0x 4.4 cm
$2800
A large terminated aquamarine rises from an albite matrix that is studded with garnets and small quartz crystals.
The color is about as good as it gets for Pakistan, much better than the Chumar Bakhoor pieces (the ones with the muscovite matrixes) from farther south.
There is a chunk of albite that has partially interrupted the growth of the back side of crystal (you can sort of see this in the image below and to the right). The crystal is absolutely undamaged, moreover it is terminated and it displays perfectly from the front.
There is also a double terminated quartz crystal on the lower front of the matrix, that is included by several garnet crystals.
MQA59 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Befotaka Sud District, Atsimo-Atsinanana Region, Fianarantsoa Province, Madagascar
9.4x 3.1x 3.0 cm
$2800
A doubly terminated aquamarine with a greenish tinge, from Madagascar. This piece comes from a recently discovered pocket that produced a small quantity of excellent heliodors and aquamarines. Some are obviously one or the other, this one is somewhere in between.
This one has quite a bit of sub-surface pocket dirt-- it could be greatly improved with some work (I think), but I'm leaving it as is. The price does take this into account. Personally, I think it is best displayed on its side, to show that it is doubly terminated. Fortunately, the display side is the cleaner of the two.
Despite this being my fourth trip to the country, I had only ever come away with a few beryl samples previously-- usually nothing particularly gemmy. With that said, good beryl specimens are not common from Madagascar-- in fact, the last time I know of a decent pocket being discovered was almost 7 years ago.
It is somewhat difficult to get the color right in the pictures, so I have photographed it with a couple different backgrounds-- the super bright image is an iPhone picture in direct winter sunlight-- as you can see, the thing really glows if you light it correctly, and the effect can be recreated with a well-placed LED. I've taken pictures of both the display side (cleaner) and the back.
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MQA04 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Befotaka Sud District, Atsimo-Atsinanana Region, Fianarantsoa Province, Madagascar
4.4x 3.2x 2.6 cm
$2500
A gemmy, terminated aquamarine crystal from a recent find in Madagascar.
Despite this being my fourth trip to the country, I had only ever come away with a few beryl samples previously-- usually nothing particularly gemmy.
It is somewhat difficult to get the color right in the pictures, so I have photographed it with a few different backgrounds-- the super bright image is an iPhone picture in direct winter sunlight-- as you can see, the thing really glows if you light it correctly, and the effect can be recreated with a well-placed LED.
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KP03 Aquamarine, Beryl var. Aquamarine
Chamachu, Skardu, Northern Areas, Pakistan
12.0x 9.8x 9.8 cm
$2400
A beautiful cabinet specimen with two terminated, gemmy aquamarine crystals on matrix. Both crystals have lightly etched surfaces, and a light blue color.
The main crystal stands straight out of its matrix, finding a specimen where the crystals are positioned like this is not as easy as you might think: mining involves lots of dynamite, so more often than not the crystals wind up separated from their matrix...
This is the best piece from the pocket.
ERN01 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Erongo Mountain, Erongo Region, Namibia
16.4x5.3x 4.8 cm
$2400
An unusually large example of aquamarine from Erongo, both crystals are terminated. The smaller one has better color than the larger-- I had considered splitting it in two but decided against it because finding such large specimens is quite unusual for this locality. Typically, when you get a piece of this size, it will be a felspar matrix covered in small aquamarines. Associated with siderite and feldspar.
TIM2 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Huanggang Mine, Hexigten Banner (Keshiketeng Co.), Ulanhad League (Chifeng Prefecture), Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
10.3x 3.0x 2.7 cm
$1800
One of the surprises at Huanggang was the presence of aquamarine crystals. Although the mine cluster is exploiting a skarn, there is a pegmatite intrusion present. It is from that pegmatite that these aquamarines have been coming.
This is the largest single crystal of aquamarine that I have seen from the location. About a year and a half ago there were a few clusters available, but no more were found. Along with those clusters, I would consider this to be one of the more notable aquamarine examples from the location, typically the crystals stayed under 5 cm, with 6.5 cm being considered very large.
The termination is deep blue, the rest (as with all of these) has a whitish rind-- probably due to etching that is causing the light to diffuse
MCA2 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Shigar Valley, Baltistan, Pakistan
13.0x 10.5x 10.0 cm
$1450
A stunning Pakistani aqua, with a mostly flawless, water-clear crystal rising dramatically from its matrix. The crystal has very good color. This xtl is from a pocket that was discovered in October of 2005. Compared to other pieces from this find, the price is quite good.
KP02 Aquamarine, Beryl var. Aquamarine
Shigar Valley, Skardu, Pakistan
10.0x 8.8x 6.3 cm
$1380
A beautiful cabinet specimen featuring a terminated aquamarine on a matrix composed of multiple albite crystals. The crystal has good color and a slightly frosted texture, and spans the length of the specimen
Y1605 Aquamarine on Muscovite
Chumar Bakhoor, Hunza Valley, Nagar, Northern Areas, Pakistan
8.5x 5.3x 4.7 cm
I usually don't bother with these anymore, but I was in a Pakistani dealer's room, and this one caught my eye out of all the others in the case (and he was almost exclusively offering these aqua/muscovite combinations.)
The crystals are uncommonly transparent, and very beautifully arranged. The muscovite is also quite sharp, and is richly studded with numerous small aquas that improve the appearance of what would otherwise be a fairly dull mica matrix.
ERN05 Beryl var. Aquamarine with Schorl Tourmaline
Erongo Mountain, Erongo Region, Namibia
11.6x 6.2x 5.1 cm
$1300
A nice hand-sized example of blue aquamarine on a matrix covered with schorl crystals-- many of those overgrown with small aquamarines themselves. Minor saw marks on the back edge
T1501 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Shigar Valley, Baltistan Pakistan
7.0x 4.0x 3.3 cm
A wonderfully transparent gem crystal of aquamarine, displaying good color and a dramatically etched termination, along with lightly etched lateral faces. The bottom of the crystal has an etched termination, and the crystal has been etched into two separate pieces, approximately 1.5 cm from the bottom. The bottom piece is held by the albite matrix, though has just enough clearance to move up and down just slightly.
All in all, it makes for a very beautiful and slightly more unusual Shigar aquamarine.
T1502 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Shigar Valley, Baltistan Pakistan
6.1x 4.4x 5.9 cm
$750
A nicely terminated aquamarine crystal, displaying good color and perched on the side of a partial albite crystal.
MQA57 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Befotaka Sud District, Atsimo-Atsinanana Region, Fianarantsoa Province, Madagascar
5.1x 1.7x 1.7 cm
A beautful aquamarine with a chisel-like temrination, from Madagascar. This piece comes from a recently discovered pocket that produced a small quantity of excellent heliodors and aquamarines.
Despite this being my fourth trip to the country, I had only ever come away with a few beryl samples previously-- usually nothing particularly gemmy. With that said, good beryl specimens are not common from Madagascar-- in fact, the last time I know of a decent pocket being discovered was almost 7 years ago.
It is somewhat difficult to get the color right in the pictures, so I have photographed it with a couple different backgrounds-- the super bright image is an iPhone picture in direct winter sunlight-- as you can see, the thing really glows if you light it correctly, and the effect can be recreated with a well-placed LED.
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18MA05 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Mahaiza Area, Vakinankaratra Region, Antananarivo Province, Madagascar
5.4x 1.8x 1.8 cm
$700
A very sharp, somewhat gem green beryl crystal, purportedly from somewhere around Mahaiza. I had never seen beryl from this area before, but the man I purchased it from is a mine runner who specializes in the deposits around the area, and he was adamant that the piece was local.
Whatever the case, it's a very good miniature example of beryl from Madagascar, at (what I would consider) to be a very reasonable price. One end is terminated, the other seems to be etched, or at least contacted and rehealed. There is a very hallow chip on the termination, though it is nearly invisible unless you angle the crystal so that light is reflecting off the top face.
2CN09 Aquamarine, Scheelite on Muscovite with Quartz
Huya Village, Mt. Xuebaoding, Sichuan Prov., China
9.3x 8.4x 3.7 cm
$660
A nice, saturated orange scheelite crystal siting on a
muscovite matrix, accompanied by a quartz crystal and a small aquamarine near
the base.
TIM4 Aquamarine on Quartz
Huanggang Mine, Hexigten Banner (Keshiketeng Co.), Ulanhad League (Chifeng Prefecture), Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
7.6x 2.5x 2.1 cm
$600
One of the surprises at Huanggang was the presence of aquamarine crystals. Although the mine cluster is exploiting a skarn, there is a pegmatite intrusion present. It is from that pegmatite that these aquamarines have been coming.
This is a rare matrix example, one of only about 3 that I have seen, and I have to say its overall condition is better than either of the others. The aquamarine is terminated, and of a decent size-- the others (on matrix) were basically match-stick width, and the quartz crystals on which they rested were in rough condition. Again, that contrasts to this piece, where the smoky quartz is fully terminated with lustrous lateral faces.
The termination is deep blue, the rest (as with all of these) has a whitish rind-- probably due to etching that is causing the light to diffuse.
Y1610 Mushistonite on Kesterite with Aquamarine
Huya Village, Mt. Xuebaoding, Sichuan Prov., China
7.7x 6.2x 2.8 cm
$595
A very nice combination sample of kesterite coated with light green mushistonite, sharing a muscovite matrix with numerous aquamarines that display the tabular form typical of this locality.
The kesterite has a contact on the reverse, but you can only tell if you flip it over...... A very nice (and fairly hard to come by) combination specimen nonetheless.
T1503 Muscovite, Beryl var. Aquamarine
Chumar Bakhoor, Hunza Valley, Nagar, Northern Areas, Pakistan
4.6x 3.7x 4.1 cm
$585
A terminated and unusually flattened aquamarine from what has arguably become the most iconic of the various Pakistani aquamarine localities, since its discovery in 1984.
This piece has the muscovite association that is considered typical for the location, and also has a bit of quartz attached to one side.
As a side note, this is the same locality that is notable for the pink fluorites and apatites.
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T1909 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Latinka, Ardino Municipality, Kardzhali Prov., Bulgaria
3.45x 1.5x 1.45
$485
I usually skip over the Bulgarian rooms in Tucson, expecting nothing but formless, uninteresting sulfides and the odd amethyst. I happened to step into one however, and saw a pair of aquamarine crystals on a shelf. After a couple questions, I was surprised to learn that they were in fact Bulgarian.
There were two crystals, this was the better one. It is an etched floater, doubly terminated and very gemmy, with an exquisitely saturated color that does not come through in the pictures.
If you are a beryl collector, you probably won't see one of these again.
2CN27 Beryl var. Aquamarine on Muscovite
Huya Village, Mt. Xuebaoding, Sichuan Prov., China
11.0x 9.9x 4.8 cm
$480
A beautiful aquamarine specimen from Mt. Xuebaoding, perhaps
best known for its spectacular scheelites.
NB04 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Erongo Mountain, Erongo Region, Namibia
4.7x 4.1x 2.8 cm
$395
A chunky aquamarine crystal from Erongo Mountain.
T1507A Muscovite, Beryl var. Aquamarine
Huya Village, Mt. Xuebaoding, Sichuan Prov., China
4.7x 4.5x 4.1 cm
A tabular aquamarine specimen, with a small clump of muscovite crystals attached to the front. The color on this piece is considerably better than most from the locality-- they are usually so pale that applying the term "aquamarine" probably has more to do with the general habit for describing beryls from Mt. Xuebaoding.
This is a slightly older piece, little good aquaamrine, scheelite or caissiterite comes out these days. There is a chip on the very top, but it isn't the easiest thing to see.
BT612 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Shigar Valley, Baltistan Pakistan
4.7x 4.45x 2.0 cm
$365
A beautifully etched floater crystal of aquamarine, from the Northern Areas of Pakistan.
LT2110 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Shigar Valley, Skardu, Pakistan
7.1x 6.5x 3.4 cm
$365
A pretty blue aquamarine crystal on a feldspar matrix, from the Northern areas of Pakistan.
AZK12 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Shigar Valley, Skardu, Northern Areas, Pakistan
5.7x 3.5x 2.1 cm
A terminated and nicely colored blue aquamarine crystal aesthetically positioned on a matrix of white albite, from recent workings in northern Pakistan.
ERN15 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Erongo Mountain, Erongo Region, Namibia
4.0x 3.9x 1.7 cm
$335
A pretty example of blue aquamarine with feldspar, from Erongo Mountain.
AZK16 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Shigar Valley, Skardu, Northern Areas, Pakistan
4.8x 3.0x 1.6 cm
$295
A very gemmy aquamarine crystal with an interesting dome termination, sharing a bit of matrix with a weathered schorl crystal, that aids the overall visual balance of the piece. The color of the aquamarine is very faint.
DAQM1 Aquamarine, Beryl var. Aquamarine, Albite
Shigar Valley, Baltistan, Pakistan
6.8x 2.0x 1.7 cm
$285
A terminated aquamarine crystal, with little scaps of matrix attached to the back. The upper portion of the crystal is quite gemmy.
There is absolutely no damage to the crystal, and it is heavily etched.
SVP26 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Befotaka Sud District, Atsimo-Atsinanana Region, Fianarantsoa Province, Madagascar
3.7x 1.5x 1.2 cm
A nice sample of bluish green aquamarine from Madagascar. For all the gem material that comes from Madagascar, beryls have been somewhat scarce. Over the last year however there has been a beryl rush at this location, though most of what is recovered winds up with the cutters.
MGR37 Aquamarine, Beryl var. Aquamarine
Central Madagascar
4.6x 1.2x 1.1 cm
$195
An elongated and heavily etched crystal of Malagasy aquamarine. Aquamarine from Madagascar is actually somewhat hard to find, especially as proper crystals. Shards are available here and there, but cut stones seem to be the most common form of the material.
This crystal has a domed termination; this seems to be more common in Malagasy aquamarines than in Pakistani ones (where flat terminations are prevalent.)
Unfortunately the best I can say for the locality of this one is "Central Madagascar". Many of the local dealers have no idea where their minerals come from, and specimens can change hands so many times in a complex chain of consignments that the information gets lost... the focus is obviously on selling the stone, rather than keeping all the information together.
ERN16 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Erongo Mountain, Erongo Region, Namibia
3.9x 2.7x 2.6 cm
$195
A pretty example of blue aquamarine with feldspar, from Erongo Mountain.
NB20 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Erongo Mountain, Erongo Region, Namibia
4.5x 2.4x 1.8 cm
$195
A nice example of a terminated blue aquamarine crystal on a bit of feldspar, from Erongo Mountain.
IMCN37 Aquamarine
Huanggang Mine, Hexigten Banner (Keshiketeng Co.), Ulanhad League (Chifeng Prefecture), Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China 4.0x 1.0x 0.9 cm
4.0x 1.0x 0.9 cm
$185
One of the most interesting new things to come from this mine has been a very small quantity of aquamarine crystals.
Usually, when I think of places where aquamarine occurs, I think of pegmatites-- not an iron mine situated in a skarn body.
For what I understand there was one decently sized pocket of this material some months back-- and most of the pieces were pretty bad.
The crystal is double terminated.
These look a lot like some of the aquamarines from Erongo.
AZK14 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Shigar Valley, Skardu, Northern Areas, Pakistan
4.2x 4.0x 2.4 cm
$185
A terminated aquamarine crystal on a contrasting matrix of white albite.
MQA49 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Vakinankaratra Region, Antananarivo Prov, Madagascar
3.25x 1.1x 0.9 cm
$185
An excellent blue aquamarine thumbnail from Madagascar (though from a different find/ location than the others in this update.)
DCN14 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Huanggang Mine, Hexigten Banner (Keshiketeng Co.), Ulanhad League (Chifeng Prefecture), Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
6.1x 1.4x 1.1 cm
$185
A nice, doubly terminated aquamarine crystal from he Huanggang Mine. These were one of the surprises form the despost. Although Huanggang is a skarn deposit, there was actually a pegmatite running through the mining area that produced a number of these crystals in the early days of mining. This piece was probably collected 7-ish years ago.
IMCN38 Aquamarine
Huanggang Mine, Hexigten Banner (Keshiketeng Co.), Ulanhad League (Chifeng Prefecture), Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China 3.6x 1.0x 0.75 cm
3.6x 1.0x 0.75 cm
$175
One of the most interesting new things to come from this mine has been a very small quantity of aquamarine crystals.
Usually, when I think of places where aquamarine occurs, I think of pegmatites-- not an iron mine situated in a skarn body.
For what I understand there was one decently sized pocket of this material some months back-- and most of the pieces were pretty bad.
The crystal is double terminated.
These look a lot like some of the aquamarines from Erongo.
DAQM4 Aquamarine, Beryl var. Aquamarine, Albite
Shigar Valley, Baltistan Pakistan
4.9x 1.0x 0.9 cm
$175
A very gemmy and terminated aquamarine with minor inclusions of what I am guessing is rutile.
The crystal appears to be clouded in the photographs, but that is because of etching on the crystal"s surfaces. The crystal itself is water-clear.
IMCN33 Aquamarine
Huanggang Mine, Hexigten Banner (Keshiketeng Co.), Ulanhad League (Chifeng Prefecture), Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China 6.7x 0.7x 0.65 cm
6.7x 0.7x 0.65 cm
$165
One of the most interesting new things to come from this mine has been a very small quantity of aquamarine crystals.
Usually, when I think of places where aquamarine occurs, I think of pegmatites-- not an iron mine situated in a skarn body.
For what I understand there was one decently sized pocket of this material some months back-- and most of the pieces were pretty bad.
The crystal is double terminated.
These look a lot like some of the aquamarines from Erongo.
IMCN35 Aquamarine
Huanggang Mine, Hexigten Banner (Keshiketeng Co.), Ulanhad League (Chifeng Prefecture), Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China 5.8x 0.8x 0.8 cm
5.8x 0.8x 0.8 cm
$165
One of the most interesting new things to come from this mine has been a very small quantity of aquamarine crystals.
Usually, when I think of places where aquamarine occurs, I think of pegmatites-- not an iron mine situated in a skarn body.
For what I understand there was one decently sized pocket of this material some months back-- and most of the pieces were pretty bad.
The crystal is double terminated.
These look a lot like some of the aquamarines from Erongo.
IMCN36 Aquamarine
Huanggang Mine, Hexigten Banner (Keshiketeng Co.), Ulanhad League (Chifeng Prefecture), Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China 4.5x 0.8x 0.7 cm
4.5x 0.8x 0.7 cm
$165
One of the most interesting new things to come from this mine has been a very small quantity of aquamarine crystals.
Usually, when I think of places where aquamarine occurs, I think of pegmatites-- not an iron mine situated in a skarn body.
For what I understand there was one decently sized pocket of this material some months back-- and most of the pieces were pretty bad.
The crystal is double terminated.
These look a lot like some of the aquamarines from Erongo.
IMCN34 Aquamarine
Huanggang Mine, Hexigten Banner (Keshiketeng Co.), Ulanhad League (Chifeng Prefecture), Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China 4.4x 1.0x 0.85 cm
4.4x 1.0x 0.85 cm
$165
One of the most interesting new things to come from this mine has been a very small quantity of aquamarine crystals.
Usually, when I think of places where aquamarine occurs, I think of pegmatites-- not an iron mine situated in a skarn body.
For what I understand there was one decently sized pocket of this material some months back-- and most of the pieces were pretty bad.
The crystal is double terminated.
These look a lot like some of the aquamarines from Erongo.
WG11 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Shigar Valley, Skardu, Northern Areas, Pakistan
3.2x 2.6x 2.7 cm
A nice, doubly terminated aquamarine with good blue color, on a bit of albite matrix.
AZK13 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Shigar Valley, Skardu, Northern Areas, Pakistan
4.7x 3.0x 3.8 cm
$160
A terminated aquamarine crystal on an albite matrix.
TNM24A Beryl var. Aquamarine
Shigar Valley, Baltistan Pakistan
3.1x 2.2x 2.2 cm
A terminated, very lightly colored aquamarine crystal on matrix, with an interesting dome-shaped termination and etched lateral faces. This comes from a pocket unearthed in 2006.
IMCN39 Aquamarine
Huanggang Mine, Hexigten Banner (Keshiketeng Co.), Ulanhad League (Chifeng Prefecture), Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China 4.0x 0.6x 0.5 cm
4.0x 0.6x 0.5 cm
$135
One of the most interesting new things to come from this mine has been a very small quantity of aquamarine crystals.
Usually, when I think of places where aquamarine occurs, I think of pegmatites-- not an iron mine situated in a skarn body.
For what I understand there was one decently sized pocket of this material some months back-- and most of the pieces were pretty bad.
The crystal is double terminated.
These look a lot like some of the aquamarines from Erongo.
AQ255 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Shigar Valley, Skardu, Pakistan
5.4x 1.1x 1.7 cm
A terminated hexaconal aquamarine crystal, with some albite crystals clinging to its side.
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TID17 Aquamarine on Feldspar
Near Centerville, Boise Co., Idaho, United States
3.2x 2.5x 1.9 cm
A rare matrix specimen, featuring a light blue, doubly terminated aquamarine perched on the tip of a feldspar crystal. A nice miniature for the locality-- again, particularly as it is on matrix. Ex. Steve Pullman collection.
TNM05 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Shigar Valley, Baltistan Pakistan
2.8x 2.8x 2.8 cm
A nice gemmy aquamarine crystal on a bit of matrix.
ERN52 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Erongo Mountain, Erongo Region, Namibia
2.8x 2.2x 2.0 cm
$135
A very pretty thumbnail of blue aquamarine with a little bit of feldspar clinging to the side.
ERN55 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Erongo Mountain, Erongo Region, Namibia
3.6x 2.7x 2.2 cm
$135
An interesting aquamarine specimen from an older pocket, hosting a spray of crystals with bases that have a light coating of hyalite and iron oxide. The matrix is quartz with schorl.
JPK03 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Huya Village, Mt. Xuebaoding, Ping Wu Co., Sichuan Prov., China
3.2x 2.6x 2.1 cm
A thumbnail specimen hosting a pale tabular aquamarine crystal on a matrix of feldspar and muscovite. Unlike most other aquamarine localities that produce prismatic crystals, Mt. Xuebaoding is known for its tabular examples.
The locality was most productive in the early 90’s, and while specimens continue to trickle out, these days the quality and quantity are relatively low. Matters are not helped by remoteness of the mine (which unlike many other Chinese mines is not a large-scale ore operation), the fact that it borders a Panda reserve, or the 2008 earthquake. Along with good aquamarine, the locality has produced the world’s best scheelite and kesterite.
JPK13 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Shigar Valley, Northern Areas, Pakistan
2.45x 2.0x 1.8 cm
$125
A light blue, terminated aquamarine crystal from the northern areas of Pakistan.
ERN54 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Erongo Mountain, Erongo Region, Namibia
2.6x 1.55x 1.55 cm
$125
A thumbnail-sized, terminated aquamarine from Erongo-- this one is special because of the clarity. Although clear aquas do come from Klein Spitzkoppe, Erongo's aquamarines are almost always cloudy and blue. Interestingly enough, this one us quite gemmy.
MIJ29 Beryl var. Aquamarine
Huanggang Mine, Hexigten Banner (Keshiketeng Co.), Ulanhad League (Chifeng Prefecture), Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
4.2x 1.4x 1.65 cm
$120
A terminated aquamarine crystal from Huanggang. Interestingly enough, there is a pegmatite running through the main skarn body, which is where these are found.
As with all of these, there is an outer light blue rind that conceals a deeper, more translucent core (this core has no effect on the appearance of the piece...)
The bottom is etched, not fractured, so technically this is double terminated
