Maxixe Aquamarine Identification Guide
Identifying Maxixe-type aquamarine, a deep irradiated blue beryl with fading color, by dichroism, spectrum, and stability tests.
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What Maxixe Aquamarine Looks Like
Maxixe aquamarine (Maxixe-type beryl) is deep-blue beryl whose intense color is produced by irradiation, marketed using the aquamarine name. The blue is darker and more saturated than natural aquamarine - often a vivid sapphire or cobalt blue - but the color is unstable and fades with light and heat. It is a transparent, vitreous beryl.
- Color: deep, vivid blue (unstable, prone to fading)
- Luster: vitreous
- Transparency: transparent
- Crystal habit: hexagonal prismatic beryl; usually faceted
Step-by-Step Field ID Checklist
- Confirm beryl: hexagonal habit, Mohs 7.5-8, indistinct cleavage, vitreous luster.
- Judge the color depth - a beryl bluer and darker than normal aquamarine should raise a flag.
- Use a dichroscope - Maxixe-type shows the deep blue in the reverse orientation compared with true aquamarine, a key separator.
- Watch for fading - if the deep color lightens after sun or warmth, it is Maxixe-type.
- Test hardness against quartz (beryl scratches quartz).
Key Diagnostic Tests
- Mohs hardness: 7.5-8.
- Streak: white.
- Cleavage/fracture: indistinct basal cleavage; conchoidal fracture.
- Specific gravity: about 2.6-2.9.
- Dichroism: reversed relative to natural aquamarine - a defining gemological test.
- Spectroscope (lab): characteristic absorption lines in the red region, absent in iron-colored aquamarine.
- Color stability: fades with light/heat exposure (unlike stable aquamarine).
Common Look-Alikes and How to Tell Them Apart
- Natural aquamarine: lighter, blue-green to blue, color-stable, with dichroism in the opposite orientation; does not fade.
- Heat-treated aquamarine: stable blue from iron; lacks the Maxixe red-region spectrum and reversed dichroism.
- Blue topaz: denser (SG ~3.5), perfect basal cleavage, different optics.
- Blue glass/synthetic spinel: lower hardness or different optics; singly refractive in the case of spinel/glass, whereas beryl is doubly refractive.
Where It Is Typically Found
The name traces to the Maxixe mine in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Modern Maxixe-type aquamarine is created by irradiating pale beryl from various pegmatite sources, so the material is defined more by treatment than a single locality.
Frequently asked questions
How can you tell if it's real Maxixe aquamarine?
Confirm beryl identity (hexagonal, Mohs 7.5-8), then look for an unusually deep blue with reversed dichroism compared to natural aquamarine. Lab spectroscopy shows distinctive red-region absorption lines, and the color tends to fade with light and heat.
Is Maxixe aquamarine the same as regular aquamarine?
No. Regular aquamarine gets its stable blue-green color from iron, while Maxixe-type aquamarine is beryl whose deeper blue comes from irradiation and is unstable, fading over time with light and heat exposure.
Why does Maxixe aquamarine lose its color?
Its color comes from irradiation-induced color centers rather than iron. These centers break down under light and heat, so the deep blue gradually fades toward pale or colorless.
Maxixe aquamarine vs blue topaz: how do they differ?
Maxixe-type is beryl (Mohs 7.5-8, indistinct cleavage, SG ~2.7) with fading irradiated color, while blue topaz is denser (SG ~3.5), has perfect basal cleavage, and holds stable color. Their hardness, density, and cleavage separate them.