Beautiful opaque Rocky Mountain Aquamarine 12mm bead encased in bright Sterling Silver accents and Textured Sterling Silver Earwires. Earring length is approximately 1 1/8 inch from top of earwire.
The gemstone Aquamarine is the modern March birthstone as adopted by the American National Association of Jewelers in 1912. It is also the birth stone for the Zodiac sign of Scorpio. Aquamarine is suggested as a gem to give on the 16th and 19th wedding anniversaries.
Aquamarine is a blue variety of beryl. Beryl is a silicate mineral often found in granitic rocks that is usually clear. Trace amounts of iron present during the crystal's growth provide the aquamarine with its unique color and make it a valuable gemstone.
Aquamarine is commonly found in Colorado and Utah, among the Rocky Mountains. The Rocky Mountains were formed millions of years ago by volcanic activity. The intrusion of magma into the continental crust melted the existing rock, creating new formations of basalt and granite.
The magma that formed the Rocky Mountains took several million years to cool completely. Pegmatitic granite, a type of granite that contains large crystals, is one kind of igneous rock that resulted. Pegmatitic granite forms when liquid minerals are still present in the surrounding rock. Crystals slowly form as the mineral's atoms come together and become a solid, much like liquid water becoming ice.
Crystal growth can continue in, and is often enhanced by, the ongoing heat and pressure present deep in the earth. The longer the crystal is subjected to these conditions, the more likely it is to be altered in some way. Whether or not the crystal undergoes metamorphic changes depends on the conditions at its location. Longer cooling times also result in larger crystals. One single specimen of aquamarine was over 18 feet long.
Sterling Silver Textured Earwires
