Stone Spotlight: Aquamarine - W.R. Metalarts

Stone Spotlight: Aquamarine

Three triangular Aquamarine stones

 

Color: Colors range widely within the blue to blue-green spectrum, including pale blues, frosty blues, seafoam greens, and deeper greenish-blues

Our Sources: We source Aquamarines from Maine, New Hampshire, Colorado, Malawi, Madagascar, and other countries around the world.

The Fairmined New Hampshire Aquamarine Emerald-Cut Carved Solitaire on white background

The Fairmined New Hampshire Aquamarine Emerald-Cut Carved Solitaire

 

Stone Cutting: We generally source pre-cut gemstones. For stones sourced outside of the US, we look for suppliers who employ stone cutters in the same region where the stones are mined.

Minimalist Oval ring with aquamarine center stone and diamond accent stones plus hammered contour band

 

 

More on Aquamarines

Aquamarines are March’s birthstone! They are rated 7.5-8 on the Mohs Hardness Scale, making them hard and durable enough to wear everyday. Some aquamarines have been heat-treated to bring out the darker blue color tones of the gemstone. Aquamarines are a part of the Beryl gemstone family, which includes Emeralds, Goshenites, Morganites, and Heliodors.

Three aquamarine pendants - left is 14k white gold, right 14k rose gold, center is 14k rose gold with bezel setting on white background
The Aquamarine Pendant
Mokume Gane rings with pear cut aquamarine stone on a white background

More on Our Commitment to Ethical and Sustainable Sourcing:

W.R. Metalarts strives to know the full story of the materials we use in our jewelry. We are committed to supporting artisanal miners and mining communities, promoting healthy and safe working conditions, and avoiding environmentally destructive practices. We are dedicated to deepening our understanding and working to address the historical and ongoing harm of the jewelry industry on indigenous communities and communities of color all around the world. We do not claim to have all of the answers; we are constantly evaluating our practices as we gain a more nuanced understanding of our complex industry. Transparency is critical so that you, our clients and collaborators, can trust that we’ve done all we can to create the most beautiful jewelry - not just the end result, but beautiful at every step of the journey.

The way that we back up these values is to do our homework, putting our suppliers through rigorous vetting processes. We don’t take our vendors at face value when they say a stone is “conflict-free” or “sustainable;” we push them to give us the whole story about the journey of a stone and if they are not able to back up their claims of “ethics'' with sources or credentials, we won’t work with them. We source directly from local cutters and miners, when possible, which is one way to ensure ethical, responsible, and sustainable sourcing, practices and conditions. It takes time and diligence to find suppliers that we trust, but once we find them, we forge incredible relationships built on our shared values of transparency and doing good. Through direct relationships, ongoing assessment, and accountability we continue to strengthen and develop these practices and the demands for them.

Mokume Gane ring with square cut aquamarine stone on a white background

 The Mokume Gane Square-Cut Maine Aquamarine Solitaire

 

Thank you for supporting responsible and sustainable sourcing! 

 

 

 

Back to blog

Leave a comment

Please note, comments need to be approved before they are published.