Emerald Gemstone

One of the most beautiful women in history, Cleopatra, had a love affair with these precious gemstones - a testament to the allure of emeralds. Emeralds are the most precious and highly celebrated of gemstones. These gems come in many hues of green and bluish green, but emeralds are best known for their lush green color. The green color of this gemstone is so intensely vivid that an emerald is one of the few gemstones to have a color named after it - Emerald Green. Pliny the Elder, a writer from the ancient times eulogized the emerald in just 3 words that speak volumes, "Nothing greens greener", he wrote. Emerald gets its name from the Greek word - "smarados" which is further derived from the French word "esmeralde", all of which essentially stand for the color green.

One of the most ancient gemstones known to mankind, the emerald has been treasured for at least 4,000 years by different cultures the world over. The ancient scriptures of the Hindu Religion, the Vedas, eulogized these precious gems for their mental and physical healing properties. In Islamic religion, emeralds are sanctified. The Islamic texts talk of heaven's garden as carpeted with emeralds, and the famous 'Mogul Emerald' weighing in at a gargantuan 217.8 carats, has prayer texts inscribed on one side and floral engravings on the other. In ancient Egypt, mummies were buried with an emerald around their neck as an emblem of eternal youth. According to the Catholic Church, green is the most intrinsic of liturgical colors.
Emeralds were highly cherished by royals of the ancient times, not only Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt, but Shah Jahan, the emperor of the Mogul Empire, Emperor Jahangir of the Mogul Empire, and Empress Farah of Iran, to name a few.
In the ancient times, emeralds were believed to possess healing powers. The vivid green color of emerald epitomizes life, verdure and springtime, when life blooms. This lively color has also been associated with endurance and constancy in love. In the ancient Roman times, the color green was associated with Venus, the goddess of love and beauty.
Emerald is the birthstone for those born in May and the zodiac sign Taurus. Emerald is anniversary gift for the 20th and the 35th wedding anniversary.

In the ancient times, emeralds were mined in Egypt, Austria and present-day Afghanistan. Later Colombia became one of the most popular sources of fine emeralds. These gems from Colombia are celebrated and prized for their shiny, vivid green color which is unadulterated by any blue tint. The famous Colombian mines Muzo and Chivor have been a popular source of emeralds since the pre-Columbian times, almost 5 centuries ago, when the Spanish explorers first arrived on the American continent. The rare Trapiche emeralds that have six rays emanating from the centre are also from Colombia.

Other origins of fine emeralds include Zambia, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan and Russia. The African nations Zambia, Zimbabwe and Brazil in particular have a good reputation for fine emeralds. The stones from Zambia are particularly famous for the beautiful, deep emerald green color with good transparency. The color of these gems is darker than the Colombian gems, and often has a fine, blue undertone. The stones from Zimbabwe have an intense green color with a delicate yellowish-green hue. The gems from Brazil are only next to the much celebrated Colombian greens. Brazil also mothers some rare emeralds such as emerald cat's eyes and the star emerald with a six spoke star.

From the gemstone mines to the hands of the buyer, emeralds go through an adventurous journey. In the mines emeralds of all shapes and sizes are found mixed with the gravel or hidden in the creeps. Miners swirl water in the pebbly gravel in cane baskets or screens and pick these precious pieces from the mud or dig into the creeps for this precious gem. This is adventurous as no one knows what the next lot of mud contains. Emerald mines like the ones in North Carolina offer mining for tourists and enthusiasts.
From the mines, the crystal is taken for lapidary. The crystal is carefully cut into slabs optimizing the size of each piece for the best color and quality available. Once this is done, the best suited shape and cut for that particular piece is determined. The crystal is then shaped and faceted accordingly. The facets are important as they help in reflection and refraction of the light from the inside of gem which gives the gemstone its luster. A skilled lapidist can transform a rough stone into an exquisite piece of jewel.

Faceted Emeralds come in various shapes: rounds, pears, ovals, emerald-cuts, etc. However, the Emerald Cut or (Octagon) is the most popular and classical shape for an emerald. The Emerald cut suits the hexagonal crystal and its refractive index, enhancing the luster of the stone. It is even more suited for emeralds since emeralds naturally have inclusions and rather than seeing reflections from a stone, an emerald cut allows you to experience the richness of color.

An ancient way of cutting gemstones, including emeralds, is Cabochon, which essentially means a round ball without facets. Cabochons are the oldest way to cut Gems before the world knew faceting methods. Most Royal treasures have cabochons.

In a very rare case, say one in a thousand, a very unique natural shape of six separate crystals joined to a centered black core is found - called Trapiche. Lapidists never facet Trapiches, instead they smooth them into cabochons. Trapiches are one of the most unique natural gems nature ever produced, highly precious and prized by Gem Collectors and Emerald Connoisseurs.

Emerald is the deep green variety of the mineral beryl, an aluminum berylium silicate, Al2Be3(Si6O18). Beryl is 7.5-8 on the Mohs scale. Although emerald is good on its hardness level, it has a shell-like fracture and a brittle tenacity, which makes it sensitive to pressure and heat. The beryl structure usually has an irregular distribution of color; the color is stable in light and heat.

The impurities in the beryl structure namely chromium and vanadium give an emerald its divine green color. Some believe that the chromium impurity defines emerald, whereas beryl colored with vanadium is merely green beryl. Emeralds naturally occur with inclusions of veils of tiny bubbles and other minerals trapped within the stone. When seen under magnification, you will see all sorts of lovely patterns resembling foliage in a garden. These inclusions are like fingerprints, giving each emerald a distinctive personality. The extreme rarity of a transparent emerald is the reason why the finest quality emeralds can be more valuable than diamonds. Emeralds are also rare in large sizes.

The basic truth about emerald gems is that they are almost always treated. Emeralds typically have inclusions, there are also minute surface reaching breaks that are filled with natural 'oils' like Canada balsam or Cedar Wood oil to fill-up the breaks and enhance the look of the emerald gemstone by 'softening' the visibility of these natural flaws in emerald gems.

When choosing an emerald, the most important value factor to consider is color. The vivid green color of an emerald is so prized that visible inclusions are accepted in these gems in return for the incomparable color. As a general rule the more vivacious the green, the more valuable the emerald.

Since emeralds naturally occur with inclusions, you should make sure that fissures and inclusions do not go too deep into the stone such that it might be weakened enough to break if it were hit accidentally. However, due to the high quality standard at Our collection consists of only fine emeralds that are not brittle in nature.

Even for a skilled lapidist, cutting emeralds presents a special challenge, firstly because of the high value of the raw crystals, and secondly because of the frequent inclusions. However, this does not detract from the lapidists' love of this unique gem. In fact, they have developed a special cut just for this gem: the emerald cut. The clear design of this rectangular or square cut with its smoothened corners brings out the beauty of this valuable gemstone to the full, at the same time protecting it from mechanical strain or accidental impact.

Emerald gems are very often bezel set. Emeralds look great with diamonds or white sapphires as these add to the royal charm of the gem.

The fissures and inclusions that are characteristic of emerald are traditionally filled with oil to minimize their impact. You should avoid cleaning emerald with hot soapy water or steam and never clean an emerald in an ultrasonic cleaner because this oil could be removed or damaged, damaging the beauty of the stone. Never use harsh detergents and or any cleaning solutions that contain petroleum distillates. Avoid soaking your emerald gems and jewelry in water for long, and only use something like an old soft toothbrush (without toothpaste). A warm moist cloth may also be used to clean emerald jewelry.