What is Morganite?
Morganite is a delicate pink variety of the mineral, Beryl, ranging from purplish-pink to yellowish or orangy-pink. Beryl is best known for its green and blue gemstone varieties, Emerald and Aquamarine. When evaluating its quality, the color saturation of a Morganite gemstone is one of its most significant traits, Gemvara’s Morganite offerings fall into the sought after orangey-pink range. Morganite is almost always heat treated to enhance its color and remove unwanted hues. Heat treatment is an industry-accepted standard and does not diminish the value of this gemstone. This results in a stable and pure color with lifetime durability for your Morganite jewelry.
Why choose Morganite?
The color pink has long been associated with love, romance, and femininity, making pink gemstones an obvious and popular choice for engagement rings and other romantic gifts. The color pink also flatters any skin tone. The affordability of Morganite – especially compared to Pink Diamonds – makes it easy to see why Morganite engagement rings, especially those rose gold settings, have become so popular. Morganite is not only flattering alternative engagement rings but a durable one. Treated with care, a Morganite engagement ring can last you a lifetime.
Morganite is usually found with very few inclusions (visual flaws). This means the stone can grow in large sizes without splitting, and so carat size does not have an as large impact on the price of Morganite as it does other stones. Morganite is cut to ensure the best quality possible. Its coveted pink color is more striking the larger the stone, so Gemvara only offers Morganite in larger sizes, 5mm and above.
Fun Facts & Famous Morganites
- Morganite was as first identified in Madagascar in 1910 as 'pink beryl.' Shortly after, it was renamed to honor American financier and gem enthusiast, J.P. Morgan. Morganite is still occasionally referred to as "pink beryl", "rose beryl", "Pink Emerald", and "cesian (or Caesian) beryl."
- Like Emerald and Aquamarine, Morganite is part of the Beryl mineral family. Unlike Emeralds, which tend to form with inclusions, Morganite gemstones are relatively free of inclusions, resulting in larger sizes, higher clarity ratings, and making them much easier to care for. Morganite is rarer than Aquamarine.
- Morganite is favored for its pink to orange-pink color, which is caused by trace amounts of the element manganese.
- On October 7, 1989, one of the largest specimens of Morganite was discovered in Buckfield, Maine. The pinkish-orange gem measured 30cm in length and weighed an incredible 50-pounds! The stone was eventually separated into smaller pieces with the larger portion acquiring the name “The Rose of Maine,” which now resides in Harvard University’s mineral museum.
How to Care for Morganite Jewelry
Morganite is perfect for daily wear. Morganite has a Mohs hardness rating of 7.5 to 8 (out of 10) and doesn’t require much specialty care due to its hardness and durability. We recommend regularly cleaning your Morganite jewelry with mild dish soap and warm water, using a toothbrush to scrub behind the stone where dust can collect.
Remove morganite gems and jewelry before exercising, cleaning or engaging in vigorous physical activities. Store each piece of gemstone jewelry separately so that harder stones don't scratch softer ones. Morganite can easily scratch other gems and also be scratched by gems with high Mohs ratings, such as Sapphire and Diamond. Most gemstones are much harder than the metal they are set in.
For more information about how to clean your Morganite Jewelry, contact our Jewelry Consultants.