Detailed information
Dimensions
74 x 55 x 48
mm
Locality
Marambaia Minas Gerais Brazil
Condition
No recorded repairs
Brazil is perhaps the most important country in the world for gem Aquamarine, the blue variety of Beryl, but these have not come from just one region but spread out across the huge state of Minas Gerais. Ponto do Marambaia, in Caraí, northeast Minas Gerais is one of the most famous occurrences, discovered during the early 20th century and having produced gem crystals of colossal proportions, most of which were cut into gemstones. This well-developed flat-topped pinacoid terminated crystal of Aquamarine measures 6.8 cm across its termination and is relatively short and stocky down its prism sides. Its surfaces are exceptionally glassy and reflective and its edges around its termination are so sharply defined. Its base is a fractured surface which slopes upwards across the crystal, making one side of the prism longer than the other. Internally, it is partially transparent, with what is often termed a sea-foam green colour, with many eye-catching wispy inclusions and larger embedded platy crystals of silvery to golden Muscovite mica, some of which extend through to the outside edges of the Aquamarine prism sides. This is a really fine individual off-matrix Aquamarine from this famous old-time Brazilian gem occurrence.
