The Santa María Aquamarine, the most famous in Brazil, is obtained in Minas de Gerais, it is extracted from metamorphic pegmatites and were discovered in the 50’s, unfortunately today these mines where this gem of wonderful quality and incomparable color was extracted, are practically exhausted and they do not compete in beauty with what is achieved in other countries; It can be said that they are nocturnal gemstones, during the day they reflect light giving us brilliance and splendor and at night in the light of candles, they develop their sumptuousness with the sensation of being illuminated by their brilliance and beauty.
This aquamarine has a very rare intense blue hue, coming from the Brazilian town of Santa María de Itabira. Formerly it was said that it had the power to calm the furies of the sea god Poseidon or Neptune for the Romans, they called it the «sailor’s stone», because they used it as a talisman against seasickness and as protection against storms, in the Middle Ages, magicians believed that this gem prevented fluid retention and improved digestion; They also believed that it acted as an antidote to any poison.
The stones that are offered today were acquired in previous years, since the beginning of the 90s aquamarines of a similar color were extracted but they came from Africa and were called «African» and the Brazilian ones were called «Santa Maria», which had a top quality; it is said that as a birthstone it corresponds to the month of March and that it sharpens insight and wisdom in the child.
By coincidence it was discovered in the Sao Domingo farm in Brazil, a deposit where a variety of aquamarine called Sao Domingo was obtained, which is a pastel blue color with an extraordinary brightness, it closed its activity in 1965, and since then they have been restoring the mining houses and fixing the streets for vacation recreationone of the clean water reservoirs was also prepared and with this, that area has been conditioned for tourism.
When it comes to gems, Minas Gerais or “Minas Generales” in Spanish, is the first Brazilian state that we remember, an area exuberant in precious stones such as quartz, sphene, aquamarine, emerald, garnet, tourmaline, aquamarine Santa María, quartz Ouro Verde de Juwelo, another is the Boca Rica Aquamarine with its pastel blue that declines in light green tones with an incredible transparency and brightness; its name is really appropriate, because it describes the golden tints with green, typical reflections of this stone, this color is only found in Minas Gerais!
Aquamarine, semiprecious variety of beryl. Due to its blue-green color and brightness, it has long been associated with the sea and the element of water; The name is derived from the Latin «aqua» and «marinus», and long ago, it was known as the sailor’s stone, its blue hue is due to the presence of traces of iron, this gem contains all the mystery and the fascination of the sea.