How to Buy a Genuine Aquamarine

Aquamarine is almost universally heat-treated, but in a low-stakes way compared to most colored stones: routine heating removes a slight natural green undertone to produce a purer, more market-preferred blue, and this is such a standard, essentially universal step that it barely functions as a value distinction the way heated-versus-unheated does for ruby or sapphire. What matters far more here is simply the natural depth of blue the stone was heading toward before that routine step.

Color saturation is the dominant value driver, and it works differently here than in most gems: because so much commercial aquamarine is quite pale, a deep, richly saturated blue is disproportionately rare and valuable, sometimes marketed under the "Santa Maria" name for that benchmark depth of color. Clarity comes next, and this is the other place aquamarine differs from most colored stones — beryl grows so cleanly that aquamarine is typically expected to be eye-clean, so visible inclusions hurt value more here than they would in a gem where some inclusion is normal, like ruby or emerald. Carat weight follows in the usual way, with larger saturated, clean stones commanding a real premium.

Because clean growth is the norm for this gem, treat a visibly included aquamarine as a lower grade rather than assuming "natural, so it must be fine" the way you might reasonably think about a heavily included emerald — inclusions are simply a bigger red flag here. When comparing stones, prioritize color depth first: a smaller, deeply saturated stone will often look and hold value better than a larger, pale one.

For certification specifics, see our Aquamarine certification guide, or check current Aquamarine prices. General authenticity standards that apply across every gemstone we handle are covered on the site-wide Authenticity & Certification page.