Emerald

EMERALD

Emeralds have always been one of the most sought after and valuable of gemstones. In the best examples they have the most beautiful, most intense and most radiant green that can possibly be imagined. Natural internal marks (inclusions) are to be expected and are actually desirable in that they can assist in the correct identification of Emeralds and also sometimes be an indicator of it's origin .  Affectionately, and rather poetically, the specialists call the  crystal inclusions, feathers or fissures which are typical of this gemstone 'jardin' (the French word for garden).   In top quality, fine Emeralds are rarer and even more valuable than Diamonds.

The name Emerald comes from the Greek 'smaragdos' via the Old French 'esmeralde', and really just means 'green gemstone'. Innumerable fantastic stories have grown up around this magnificent gem. The Incas and Aztecs of Central and South America, where the best emeralds are still found today, regarded the emerald as a holy gemstone. However, probably the oldest known finds were once made near the Red Sea in Egypt. Having said that, these gemstone mines, already exploited by Egyptian pharaohs between 3000 and 1500 B.C. and later referred to as 'Cleopatra's Mines', had already been exhausted by the time they were rediscovered in the early 19th century.

In the case of the Emerald, it is mainly traces of chromium and vanadium which are responsible for the fascinating colour. Normally, these elements are concentrated in quite different parts of the Earth's crust to beryllium, so the emerald should, strictly speaking, perhaps not exist at all. But during intensive tectonic processes such as orogenesis, metamorphism, emergences and erosion of the land, these contrasting elements found each other and crystallized out to make one of our most beautiful gemstones.

As a Beryl, Emerald has a good hardness of 7.5 on the hardness scale.  However because of its relatively high number of inclusions in relation to Aquamarine for example, it is best to treat Emerald  carefully.  It is a lovely stone but does not handle robust wear.

Emerald is the birthstone for May and occurs mostly in Colombia, Brazil, Zambia with smaller producers in Russia, Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) and Pakistan.

Metaphysically, Emerald is symbolic of regeneration and life and can assist with creative and artistic endeavors.