This is a tale built on old sailors' legends. The captain and his granddaughter are imagined, but the beliefs about aquamarine, the stone named for the sea, were held by sailors for centuries.
The old captain's house stood at the end of a long wooden pier, and from his porch you could see nothing but water and sky. Marina, who was nine, loved to sit there with him at sunset, listening to the waves knock against the pilings.
Around his neck, on a worn leather cord, the captain always wore a small stone. It was the palest blue, clear as a drop of seawater.
"Grandpa," Marina asked one evening, "why do you never take that off?"
The captain touched it and smiled. "Because it brought me home. Every single time."
Water of the Sea
"This is an aquamarine," he said. "The name comes from the old Latin words for water of the sea. Look at it in the light. See? It's the exact color of the ocean on a calm summer day, when you can see all the way to the sandy bottom.
"For hundreds of years, sailors believed this stone was a gift from the sea itself. They said it calmed the waves and kept ships safe in storms. So before a long voyage, a sailor's wife or mother would give him an aquamarine to carry, to make sure he came home."
The Mermaids' Treasure
"Some old sailors told an even better story," the captain said, lowering his voice. "They said aquamarines were the treasure of mermaids. That deep under the sea, in chests on the ocean floor, the mermaids kept their jewels, and sometimes a few washed up on the shore for lucky people to find."
Marina giggled. "That's not true."
"Who says?" said the captain. "Have you been to the bottom of the sea?"
The Storm
He was quiet for a while, looking out over the darkening water.
"When I was a young man, my mother gave me this stone the night before my first voyage. Two weeks out, we sailed into a storm like nothing I'd ever seen. Waves as tall as houses. The wind screaming in the rigging. We were sure we'd never see land again.
"I held on to this little stone all night long. I don't know if it was the aquamarine or the captain or just plain luck. But by morning the sea was flat and calm and blue, the same color as the stone in my hand. And we all came home."
Marina reached out and touched the stone very gently.
Passing It On
The captain lifted the leather cord over his head and placed it around Marina's neck.
"Grandpa, no! It's yours!"
"I don't sail anymore," he said. "But you have a whole life of journeys ahead of you. Take it with you wherever you go. And always come home."
The Legend and the Truth
The name aquamarine comes from the Latin aqua marina, meaning "water of the sea." For centuries, sailors carried aquamarines as talismans, believing the stone would calm the waves and protect them on long voyages. Old legends also linked the stone to mermaids and treasures of the sea.
Aquamarine is a member of the beryl family, the same family as emerald. Today it is March's birthstone and the traditional gift for a 19th anniversary, a stone of calm, courage and safe travels.
💡 Read more legends and true stories of aquamarine in The Legends of Aquamarine.
🛍️ Carry a Little Sea With You
Explore vintage and antique aquamarine jewelry at 322 Royal Street or online.
