The letter is "A" for Blogging A to Z Challenge

Welcome to the Blogging A to Z Challenge.  The idea behind this challenge is to blog for 30 days with Sundays off and using the letters of the alphabet as the inspiration for your subject.  For instance on day one of the challenge you blog about something that starts with the letter “A”.  Day two you blog about something that starts with the letter “B”, etc. until you get to the end of April and the letter “Z”. 

I am a jewelry designer and maker and I chose the subject of gemstones and related subjects.  Hopefully I will be able to come up with 26 related topics from “A” to “Z”.  Right now I have a couple of letters that I still need to get a topic for. 

Today’s topic starts with the letter “A”.  There are many gemstones that start with the letter “A”.  I had a hard time deciding which one to talk about but my birthstone is Aquamarine so I will talk about it. 

Aquamarine ranges in color from a pale blue which may appear to be colorless to blue-green that can stand alone color wise.  They tend to have inclusions which are streaks of another color and they also may have opaque areas.  Those stones with great clarity and an attractive color are expensive. 

Aquamarine is a form of beryl which one of the oldest forms of minerals on earth.  They can be found in veins of minerals formed in granite rocks in Afghanistan, Brazil, Columbia, India, Ireland, Mexico, Pakistan Russia, and Zimbabwe. Aquamarine can also be found in the United States in Colorado and Wyoming.  The largest gemstone quality Aquamarine was found in Brazil in 1910.  It was 19 inches long and 17 inches in diameter weighing over 110kg.  The largest cut gem is in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History.

Aquamarine



Beryl, Aquamaine, and Heliodor

Thanks for stopping by.  Be sure to come again tomorrow to see what the letter "B" will be.

Carolyn


Pictures and some content are from Wikipedia.