March Birthstone: Aquamarine — Color, Meaning & Jewelry Guide

By Tolga Kavut, founder of Glamour Jewelry House · Updated September 2026

The March birthstone is aquamarine — the pale sea-blue gem whose name literally means “water of the sea,” worn by Roman sailors as insurance against drowning. March also keeps a second, older birthstone: bloodstone, a dark green jasper flecked with iron red.

Aquamarine is one of the stones I most enjoy setting, because it does something few gems do: it flatters everyone. Here’s the March birthstone in full — its color, its seafaring lore, its family tie to emerald, and how to pick a stone that looks like a drop of ocean rather than a piece of glass.

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March birthstone at a glance

What color is the March birthstone?

The March birthstone color is blue with the salt left in — anywhere from the faintest tint of a pool at dawn to the saturated “Santa Maria” blue named after the legendary Brazilian mine. Unlike sapphire’s velvet blue, aquamarine’s blue is luminous and transparent; a good stone looks lit from inside.

Two honest trade facts most guides skip. First, aquamarine is usually exceptionally clean — unlike its sister emerald, expect no visible inclusions at all. Second, most aquamarine is gently heated to shift a natural greenish tint toward pure blue; the treatment is stable, permanent and universal — but a jeweler should tell you, so I’m telling you.

What does the March birthstone mean?

Aquamarine is courage dressed as calm. Roman sailors carried it — often carved with Neptune — to guarantee safe passage, and to this day it reads as protection for anyone crossing something: an ocean, a career change, a first year of anything. It has also long been a stone of honest speech, said to cool tempers and let truth out gently, which made it a traditional gift between spouses.

Bloodstone, March’s traditional stone, carries the opposite energy: a warrior’s talisman worn for strength and vitality since antiquity. Between the two, March gets the calmest birthstone on the calendar and one of the fiercest.

A short history of aquamarine

The Romans gave the stone its name — aqua marina — and its job description. But aquamarine’s real era began with the Brazilian discoveries of the 19th and 20th centuries: Minas Gerais produced crystals of astonishing size and clarity, including single stones weighing over a hundred kilograms, and made aquamarine the great blue gem of Art Deco jewelry — those cool, geometric 1920s pieces were built around exactly this stone.

How to buy a good aquamarine

Depth of color first. Pale stones are pretty; stones with real saturation are special, and price follows saturation. In sizes under 5 mm most aquamarine reads pale — if color matters, size up slightly.

Demand perfect clarity. Eye-visible inclusions mean keep looking. This is a gem where flawless is normal.

Cut matters more than people think. A well-proportioned emerald cut or round brilliant shows off aquamarine’s transparency like water in a glass; shallow stones look washed out.

Caring for aquamarine jewelry

One of the lowest-maintenance birthstones: 7.5–8 Mohs and no special sensitivities. Warm soapy water and a soft brush.

Shop March birthstone jewelry

Every piece is made to order in 18K gold — choose aquamarine at checkout for a March birthday, and add a name, initial or date if you’d like it engraved.

Natural Birthstone NecklaceFrom $57 Birthstone RingFrom $57 Teardrop Birthstone NecklaceFrom $58 Family Birthstone NecklaceFrom $59 Personalized Birthstone BraceletFrom $59 Custom Name Necklace with BirthstoneFrom $59

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March birthstone jewelry: where to start

Aquamarine’s pale blue is one of the most wearable colors in jewelry — it goes with denim, white shirts and wedding dresses. Set in gold it turns warm; in white gold it turns glacial.

Start with a bezel-set March birthstone necklace — the setting frames that watery blue like a porthole, and an engraved name or date makes it a keepsake. Aquamarine’s hardness also makes a March birthstone ring a genuinely practical everyday piece. In a family birthstone necklace or birthstone bracelet, a March stone reads as a drop of sea among the other birthdays.

March birthstone questions

What is March’s birthstone?

Aquamarine — the sea-blue member of the beryl family. Bloodstone is March’s traditional second birthstone.

What color is the March birthstone?

Sea blue — from pale sky tint to the deep “Santa Maria” blue that commands the highest prices. Some stones lean slightly blue-green.

Are aquamarine and emerald related?

Yes — both are beryl. Iron makes beryl blue (aquamarine); chromium makes it green (emerald). Aquamarine is typically far cleaner and more durable.

Is aquamarine durable enough for a daily ring?

Yes. At 7.5–8 Mohs with typically flawless clarity, it is one of the best colored stones for an everyday ring.

What does aquamarine symbolize?

Courage, calm and safe passage — the Roman sailors’ stone, given today for new chapters and steady nerves.

Birthstones for every month

Each month has its own guide to its stone, color and meaning — or start with the complete birthstones by month chart.

• January birthstoneGarnet · Deep red
• February birthstoneAmethyst · Violet purple
• March birthstoneAquamarine · Sea blue
• April birthstoneDiamond · Colorless
• May birthstoneEmerald · Vivid green
• June birthstonePearl · Cream white
• July birthstoneRuby · Rich red
• August birthstonePeridot · Olive green
• September birthstoneSapphire · Royal blue
• October birthstoneOpal · Play-of-color
• November birthstoneTopaz · Golden yellow
• December birthstoneTurquoise · Robin’s-egg blue

You might also like

• May birthstone — emerald, aquamarine’s green sister in the beryl family
• September birthstone — sapphire, the other great blue birthstone
• December birthstone — turquoise and tanzanite, December’s blues