Silky Aquamarine

Is silky aquamarine considered a lower quality grade of aqua? What
does “silky” mean exactly, simply that there are oodles of veils that
make it look that way? Couldn’t scare up much about it on the
Internet.

Thanks so much for any info, Carol C-W

Is silky aquamarine considered a lower quality grade of aqua? 

Absolutely !

Aquamarine is a type 1 gemstone, which means that normal clarity for
aquamarine is clear. Even slight inclusions would reduce value
significantly.

Leonid Surpin.

I passed on this thinking some GG’s would chime in. To answer the
real question, somewhat, anyway. A stone is supposed to be clear
(say). When the crystal grows sometimes there are other things that
happen, which I can’t define scientifically (GG’s?) and very fine
lines grow inside of it. It’s similar to rutilated quartz, but
microscopic in scale. I really don’t know the science of the
gemology, I’m afraid, but in your hand when a stone is “silky” it has
a bit of a fog to it, and sometimes it will have an inner glow
because of the way the light is bouncing around - it’s like there’s a
mesh of spiderwebs inside it. A star sapphire is inherently silky,
and the “silk” in oriented within the crystal such that the light is
channeled into a star. It can be an attractive thing in some stones,
though it’s considered a flaw in grading mostly. A silky ruby can
look like it has a fire burning inside it, for instance. Any stone
can have it’s own beauty, but an aqua is “supposed” to be crystal
clear…

http://www.donivanandmaggiora.com

When the crystal grows sometimes there are other things that
happen, which I can't define scientifically (GG's?) and very fine
lines grow inside of it. It's similar to rutilated quartz, but
microscopic in scale. 

It is difficult to say anything conclusively without seeing the
stone, but the most likely scenario is that “silky aquamarine” is
actually what is know as black beryl. Black beryl gets its color
from micro inclusions of black spinel which oriented along the plains
perpendicular to the optical axis. Black colour is observed only in
the center of such crystals. The surface of the crystals, can be few
inches deep, is grayish-blue and if cut would produce something
which can be called “silky aquamarine”. Strictly speaking, it should
never be called and aquamarine.

Leonid Surpin.