Is Aquamarine a Very Expensive Stone? Aquamarine Gems Price per Carat

For those who are curious about this question, the answer is No. Aquamarine is a semi-precious gemstone, not a very expensive one. Aquamarine is a relatively affordable gemstone.

“Aqua” means water and “marine” means sea. Due to its ocean inspired blue color, this stone is named Aquamarine.

Owing to its beauty, Aquamarine is used in different kinds of jewelry and decoration pieces. It also holds great importance in history and spiritual and metaphysical practices.

Why do People desire to buy Aquamarine?

Symbolism of Tranquility: Aquamarine is believed to enable the wearer to overcome his fears and worries and to develop tranquility and vastness just like an ocean. According to the Egyptians, this stone signifies youth and euphoria.

Attractive Beauty: Aquamarine’s luminance resembles the scene of light dancing on ocean waves. Its mesmerizing beauty makes it loved by everyone.

Historical Value: Aquamarine has a strong connection with sea folklore. The Romans believed that this stone was found in mermaid’s treasure deep in the sea. It is believed to guide and protect the sea travellers.

Rarity and Uniqueness: Overall aquamarine is moderately rare but the gemstones with deep blue color, absolute transparency and small size are quite rare. Cat-eye effect and Asterik effect aquamarines are the rarest.

Investment Opportunities: Due to its potential to increase in value, aquamarine is sought-after as an investment opportunity.

Favorite for Jewelry Designers: Having a color palette of serene blue to sea green color, easy availability of well-cut aquamarine and its transparency, aquamarine has become the favorite gemstone of jewelers.

Market Performance and Liquidity: Due to its moderate price, its demand in the gemstone market has been increasing over the years.

How much is an Aquamarine worth?

Being a semi-precious gemstone, aquamarine is quite affordable for gemstone collectors. However, high quality aquamarines command high prices.

The price range of aquamarine is as follows:

Very Cheap:$40 – $100/carat

Cheap: $100 – $650/carat

Mid-range: $1000–$2000/carat

Expensive: $5000 or more /carat

Factors affecting per carat Price of Aquamarine:

Price of aquamarines depends on various factors.:

Grading Ranks:

Grading of Aquamarine depends on the 4Cs:

1. Color, mainly the intensity of blue color. Deep blue color is preferred. Santa Maria Aquamarine is famous for its medium to dark tone and vivid blue colour. Its price is about $1000.
2. Clarity, presence or absence of inclusions with Loupe-clean aquamarine being more expensive.
3. Cut: Most popular aquamarine cuts are emerald or round. Well-cut aquamarine stones are easily available.
4. Carat Weight: Aquamarine comes in a range of sizes from small to large sized gemstones. However, small sized stones command high price because stones larger than 25 carats are not feasible for use in jewelry except as center stone.

Natural Aquamarine gemstones are graded as:

Grade AAAA

Occurrence: Best 10% of natural gemstones

• Color: Pure blue or sea-blue
• Clarity: Loupe-clean clarity
• Price: Several hundred dollars/carat

Grade AAA

• Occurrence: 20–30% of best natural aquamarine
• Color: Blue
• Clarity: Eye clean clarity
• Price: Several hundred dollars/carat

Grade AA

• Occurrence: 50–75% of natural gemstones
• Color: Transparent blue
• Clarity: Moderately included.
• Price: $675/carat to $1500/carat

Grades B and C are of low quality due to decreased depth of blue colour, thus cost cheaper.

Transparency

Based on transparency, aquamarine is classified as transparent, translucent and semi-transparent.

Most expensive aquamarines are transparent with eye clean clarity. Their price range is about $12 to $1150/carat depending on quality.

Origin of best quality Aquamarine

• Brazil
• Madagascar
• Mozambique

Treatment

• Heat treated naturally occurring aquamarine are quite expensive.
• Heat treated lab grown aquamarine stones are abundant, so they can be bought at a budget friendly price.

Market Demand

The price of aquamarine fluctuates depending on scarce or abundant supply and high or low demand in the gemstone market.

Most Expensive Aquamarine gemstones in the World

. Dom Pedro is the largest cut aquamarine in the world. It was offered to Smithsonian for $7million to $10million in late 1990s.

Queen Elizabeth’s Tiara Aquamarine, gifted by Brazilian President to Queen Elizabeth, is estimated to cost £3–£5 million.

Meghan Markle’s Ring was presented by Prince Harry to Meghan Markle as a wedding gift. Its cost is $90,000.

The Kashmir King was extracted from Skardu Pakistan. Its worth was $8M USD.

Conclusion

Aquamarine is one of the most popular semi-precious gemstones. It is popular among gemstone enthusiasts for its reasonable prices and beauty. Owing to its increasing market demand, it is considered as an investment opportunity for the jewelers.

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