March Birthstone Color: Light Blue
The birthstone color for March is light blue and comes from March's birthstone Aquamarine. Aquamarine crystals are generally very pale in color to almost transparent and are rarely found naturally in darker blue shades. Light blue is also considered the Pisces birthstone color for Pisceans born in March.
The Aquamarine mineral is a type of beryl and is formed over millions of years when water became trapped in rock cavities during geological processes. The six main varieties of beryl are aquamarine (blue-green), emerald (green), morganite (pink), red beryl (red), heliodor (yellow) and maxixe (deep blue).
Most Aquamarine comes from the Minas Gerais region in Brazil but it is also mined in Afghanistan and Pakistan in Asia; and Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria and Zambia in Africa. Many trade names for the different colors of Aquamarine are based on the country where that color was first discovered eg. Brazil Aquamarine, Madagascar Aquamarine.
One of the largest aquamarine crystals of over 10 000 carats was found in Brazil in the 1980s, and is called Dom Pedro after the Brazilian emperors. A German gemstone artist cut the crystal into a brilliant light reflecting obelisk which is now housed in the Smithsonian Museum.
Often Aquamarine is heat treated to remove impurities and improve its clear blue color, a widely accepted practice in the jewelry trade. If very pale Aquamarine is irradiated to darken the blue color, it is then known as blue beryl. The attractive blue shades of Aquamarine are popular in gemstone jewelry and in particular March birthstone jewelry.
