M for Morganite

The color of first love and rose petals is embodied in a morganite, the most delicate gemstone ever. 

Description

Morganite is a variety of beryl, a mineral that also forms emeralds and aquamarines.

It is a transparent gemstone, characterized by light pastel-pink color range that includes pink, orangy-pink, brownish-pink and peachy shades. 

Morganite’s palette can be divided into warm and cool shades. Warm color range contains light orange components: from orangy-pink, peach and light beige to intetse brownish-pink. The cool palette of morganites implies the absence of an orange hue. These are pure pink colors – from very light almost unnoticeable pink, to rich, bright neon pink. Neon stones are extremely rare, and do not reach large sizes. Bright pink morganite can be compared to pink sapphires. Stones of cool shades are represented on the market in much smaller numbers than warm peachy ones. Hence, their value is higher. 

Its subtle color is caused by traces of manganese. Bright shades in morganites are extremely rare, and gems usually have to be large to attain the finest color. Nevertheless, they can form impressively large crystals! For example, miners in Brazil have found crystals that weighed around 10 kg! 

By the way, one of the most famous and massive morganites was discovered in 1989 – it’s called «The Rose of Maine». This gem was somewhat orangish in hue, about 23 cm long, 30 cm wide – and weighed more than 22 kg!

Mineral: beryl
Color: pink to orange pink
Mosh Hardness: 7,5-8
Origin: Madagascar, Brazil, Afghanistan, Mozambique, Namibia, the US
Superpower: soothes the emotional field

History

The history of morganites began on Madagascar… 

There, in 1910, a pink beryl — the «cousin» of emerald and aquamarine — was discovered. It made its way to George Kunz, a prominent gemologist of his days. It was exactly Kunz who proposed to name this pink gem a «Morganite» – in honour of his friend and customer, J.P. Morgan. 

In fact, J.P. Morgan was one of the most important gem collectors in the early 1900s – his collection was partly assembled by Tiffany and Co. and their chief gemologist – not surprisingly – George Kunz. With Kunz’s expertise and Morgan’s money, the men were able to collect the finest gemstones available.

Lucky charm

Since morganite was discovered relatively recently, people of the 20th century failed to endow it with magical properties or use it in any special rituals. However, it’s believed that this romantic gemstone may soothe emotions and help in overcoming anxiety, anger and resentment. 

Quality factors

Color

Morganite’s color palette includes pink, rose, peach, and salmon colors. Today, the pink and rose shades are considered to be the most trendy and fashionable. Although the peach and salmon hues seem less popular, some collectors value untreated peach-colored crystals more highly than treated pink stones. 

Morganite’s saturation effects its price per carat. There’re three categories of saturation: light and very light, medium and strong. The gems with strong saturation are valued more than light samples, which are the majority on the market. Note, that peach, orange and brownish tones reduce the price.

Clarity

Morganite usually lack eye-visible inclusions, having high clarity. The only exception are bright pink and neon pink morganites – cracks and inclusions in such gems are considered as norm, due to the fact that morganite crystals of this color as rule contain inclusions. 

Cut

Historically, forms of pears (drops) and ovals are the most common for faceted morganites. However, morganites are cut in all shapes and sizes.

They are perfectly collected in pairs and sets of large – over 10 ct – stones, which allows creating unique sets of jewelry.

Carat weight

Morganite crystals can be very large – that’s why large faceted stones are more common than among many other gemstones. Larger sizes are also more likely to show rich and strong color.

Reuven’s comment

“Morganite is a beautiful semi-precious gem of a delicate pink color. Especially beautiful are peach stones and gems of a pure pink shade – they are also considered the rarest.

Due to its accessibility and beautiful color, Morganite can be an excellent substitute for a rare pink diamond”.

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