Emeralds Stones are fascinating gemstones
Emeralds are fascinating gemstones. They have the most beautiful, most intense and most radiant green that can possibly be imagined: emerald green. Inclusions are tolerated. In top quality, fine emeralds are 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 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.
Written many centuries ago, the Vedas, the holy scriptures of the Indians, say of the precious green gems and their healing properties: 'Emeralds promise good luck ...'; and 'The emerald enhances the well-being ...'. So it was no wonder that the treasure chests of Indian maharajas and maharanis contained wonderful emeralds. One of the world's largest is the so-called 'Mogul Emerald'. It dates from 1695, weighs 217.80 carats, and is some 10cm tall. One side of it is inscribed with prayer texts, and engraved on the other there are magnificent floral ornaments. This legendary emerald was auctioned by Christie's of London to an unidentified buyer for 2.2m US Dollars on September 28th 2001.
Emeralds have been held in high esteem since ancient times. For that reason, some of the most famous emeralds are to be seen in museums and collections. The New York Museum of Natural History, for example, has an exhibit in which a cup made of pure emerald which belonged to the Emperor Jehangir is shown next to the 'Patricia', one of the largest Colombian emerald crystals, which weighs 632 carats. The collection of the Bank of Bogota includes five valuable emerald crystals with weights of between 220 and 1796 carats, and splendid emeralds also form part of the Iranian National Treasury, adorning, for example, the diadem of the former Empress Farah. The Turkish sultans also loved emeralds. In Istanbul's Topkapi Palace there are exhibits with items of jewellery, writing-implements and daggers, each lavishly adorned with emeralds and other gems.
Nice blog on emeralds. I might note a few corrections.
ReplyDeleteThe Aztecs were in Mexico, not South America. The Incas did trade in emeralds, but tribes in Colombia are better known for it. There are so many Pre-Colombian groups and some are quite distinct. Many people call all the indians that were in the Andean range, Incas, but that's not accurate. Easy mistake.
Also the collection in Bogota with is actually at the Museo del Oro (Gold Museum) which is maintained by the Banco de la Republica (Colombia's National Bank).
The hardness is actually 7.5 to 8 on the Moh's Scale. It's a hard stone, but not as hard as corundom (sapphires and rubies) and diamonds. You can scratch steel and glass with it.
Production in Colombia is actually heavier in La Pita. Coscuez is a major mine, but La Pita produces more at the moment. These things fluctuate, but Chivor and Muzo are also producing plenty at the moment.
I would disagree with the statement made about emeralds from Zambia being darker and of a deep emerald green color. In our experience they tend to be lighter, bluish, and lacking the emerald green color that Colombian emeralds are so famous for. They do however tend to be cleaner.
I'd also disagree with the statement about emeralds not being as brilliant below a certain size. While I encourage customers to go big, I have had great success with small stones that have excellent characteristics.
If you like, visit Embassy Emeralds and take a look for yourself.