Here is an interesting story of a designer and her beautiful creation of jewelry with Santa Maria Aquamarine. The real Santa Maria Aquamarine is well known among collectors as one of the best qualities in the world. As always beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
(via Journal of Gemmology, Vol.27, No.5, January 2001) Francisco Bank, Prof Hermann Bank and Elena Villa writes:
Abstract
A Santa Maria aquamarine is the inspiration for the design of a necklace. Details of the stone are given, as well as the description of the design and make-up of the necklace.
The Aquamarine
Aquamarine of the highest quality and the finest blue has for many years been called ‘Santa Maria’ after such material was found at the small locality of Santa Maria in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Since there are so many places called Santa Maria in Brazil, it may have been better to have named the aquamarine after the nearby town, Itabira.
The story is told that in 1925 a mule had fallen down a hole and had broken a leg; the owner of the mule saw blue crystals in the hole and so discovered what came to be the most famous aquamarine locality in the world. For some years blue aquamarines have been mined in several ‘lavras’ (mines) in the region of Santa Maria, and were of such a good sky blue color (like the blue of tropical skies) that after 75 years people still dream today of the super color of Santa Maria aquamarine. After World War II more aquamarines were found near the original localities, but although similar, they did not quite equal the extraordinary stones of 1925.
In c.1990 blue beryls were found in a secondary deposit in Mozambique which were similar to the Brazilian ‘Santa Maria’ aquamarines and these have been called ‘Santa Maria Africana; however, in comparison they appear to have a more steely appearance than the lovely sky blue of the original Brazilian stones.
Gemological properties
Santa Maria aquamarines have the following properties:
RI = 1578-1581 (1.585-1.588)
Birefringence = 0.007-8
Specific gravity = 2.68-2.70
Spectroscopic investigation of the stone used for the necklace gave absorption lines at 370, 426, 557, 833 and 891nm. The equipment used was a Perkin Elmer Lambda 12 spectroscope.
The necklet
A Santa Maria aquamarine of 16.75ct was the inspiration for a necklet designed by one author (Elena Villa) and made by Hans Dieter Krieger of Idar Oberstein, Germany. The inclusions are disc-like and oriented parallel to each other with a rather filmy appearance.
The design
The color of the aquamarine and the inclusions ‘reflecting the shiny waves of the ocean’ inspired the creation of this unique piece of jewelry named the ‘Light Tree Water Being’. Elena Villa writes about the concept and development of the piece as follows:
“Like any other real existing being, the invented being also should have a history. Where does it come from? How has it been called into being? For me nature on earth, under water and in space, offers the richest variety of colors and shapes. Inspired by this natural diversity, the basic idea for this piece of jewelry was born. The coincidence of the strong concentrated forms of energy, light, water and earth, as well as the grace of each of these natural elements, unified in the delicate expressiveness of a jewelry piece, stimulated a new interpretation of nature through jewelry.”
“Evolution in its progress is thrilling and cannot be foreseen. The attraction to create new forms of expression, and also new possible forms of living, was more than enough reason to realize an evolutionary association between a gem and an invented being. Under such circumstances the gem can rise to life because it is no more just immobile and beautiful, but pat of a living being. The form of living and the gem turn to a symbiosis and reach a stage of subtle living effect.”
“The aim was not to have a motionless new piece of jewelry but to compose a new living being with the facilities of jewelry creation design. The result is a decorative independent individual who inspires the fantasy of the wearer as well the viewer, free and powerful with personal radiation.”
Manufacture
The piece was cast in platinum, the gold sections being formed by hand and soldered to the platinum. The aquamarine was set and then all pieces were connected by laser; the piece was finally polished with selected areas finished in a satin surface.
No comments:
Post a Comment