With its warm peach hue and eye-catching brilliance, the morganite is truly an iconic gemstone.
Join us today as we deep-dive into its glittering world and discuss the stone’s history in great detail.
Grab your favourite chair and let’s get started.
First Things First, What Is a Morganite?
The morganite is a semi-precious jewel hailing from the beryl mineral clan. It owes its romantic hue to the trace amounts of manganese, cesium, and lithium present within its chemical structure. An interesting aspect about this gem is that it is generally eye-clean, which means that most morganites do not display any visible inclusions or flaws. Also, this stone is considerably durable and has a rating of 7.5 to 8 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness. These factors, combined with the gem’s relative affordability, have made it a popular option for a variety of jewellery, including engagement rings.
What is the history of this gemstone?
Believe it or not, but the morganite is a relatively new discovery (at least in comparison to some of the ancient gemstones that are available today). Its history can be traced back to the end of the 19th century. During this time, this jewel was originally mistaken for a pink variation of the precious emerald. It was therefore called the ‘pink emerald’ and ‘rose beryl’, and was marketed under the same.
These names were used up until the year 1910. Post that, gemstones showcasing similar characteristics as the morganite were located in Madagascar. This discovery won the attention of world-renowned gemologist George Kunz who studied and correctly identified the jewel. He eventually named it ‘morganite’ after John Pierpont Morgan – famous American banker and gemstone enthusiast known all over the world.
Beliefs Related to the Morganite
Since its discovery, the morganite has been associated with a variety of positive attributes. To begin with, this stone was primarily believed to calm the mind and give the wearer a sense of peace and tranquility. It was also used to heal issues related to stress, the heart and nervous system. Interestingly, in the past, people even wore it to simply protect themselves from illnesses.
On a more romantic note, the morganite is believed to attract and nurture love – another reason why it’s a popular choice for engagement rings.
While none of these theories are backed by science, they certainly do make the gemstone come across as more interesting.
Quality Grades
As with every gemstone, not all morganites are built alike and their price tag greatly depends on what category they belong to. The four major quality grades that are available today are as follows…
- Heirloom (AAAA): These jewels are considered to be the cream of the crop. They are defined by their saturated peachy-pink hue that is extremely mesmerising. What’s more, these morganites also showcase a distinct ‘eye-clean’ property and extreme brilliance.
- Best (AAA): These morganites are not as saturated as the above-mentioned grade. They’re still, however, sought-after for their beautiful peach hue, high brilliance and lack of eye-visible inclusions.
- Better (AA): The morganites that fall within this category tend to have a light peach shade and few eye-visible inclusions.
- Good (A): These morganites are considered to be the most affordable of the lot. They are defined by their extremely light hue and have slight to moderate visible inclusions.
We do hope this article gave you all the information you needed!
