Emerald Gemstone- Precious Stone

 

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, emeraldweighs 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.

A matter of trust-

Unfortunately, because the emerald is not only one of the most beautiful gemstones, but also one of the most valuable, there are innumerable synthetics and imitations. So how can you protect yourself from these 'fakes'? Well, the best way is to buy from a specialist in whom you have confidence. Large emeralds in particular should only be purchased with a report from a reputable gemmological institute. Such an institute will be able, thanks to the most modern examination techniques, to differentiate reliably between natural and synthetic emeralds, and will inform you as to whether the stone has undergone any treatment of the kind a purchaser has the right to know about.

And one more piece of advice on the purchase of an emerald: whilst diamonds generously scintillate their fire in sizes below 1 carat, you should go for larger dimensions when acquiring a coloured gemstone. True, there are some lovely pieces of jewellery with small coloured gems to set decorative accents, but emeralds, like other coloured gemstones, do not really begin to show that beautiful glow below a certain size. How large 'your' emerald ends up will depend on your personal taste, and on your budget. Really large specimens of top quality are rare. This means that the price of a top-quality emerald may be higher than that of a diamond of the same weight. The fascination exuded by a fine emerald is simply unique.

Types of emerald-

COLUMBIAN EMERALD GEMSTONE

Columbia is the foremost producer of emeralds. Both in terms of quantity and in terms of quality Columbian emeralds lead the world. The transparency, crystallization and fire identify a Columbian emerald. It is the deep green shade of Columbian emerald that is taken as standard.

BRAZIL EMERALD GEMSTONE

Brazil has been supplying emerald to the world market since the 1980s. Typical Brazilian emeralds are lighter and yellowish.

AFRICAN EMERALD GEMSTONE

African countries like Zimbabwe, Zambia, Madagascar and Nigeria have deposits of beryl and are the second most leading producer of emerald. Unlike Columbian emerald, African emerald lacks the intensity of green colour. Due to the presence of a higher percentage of iron in these emeralds the green colour gets blunt and a grayish tinge takes over. Therefore it is described as 'green on top of grey or brownish grey.

RED EMERALD OR BIXBITE

This gem which is basically formed out of the mineral berl takes its colour due to the presence of manganese. It is found only in a few deposits of Utah's Wah Wah mountain. This makes it one of the rarest gems of the world all the more so if it is facetable.

SYNTHETIC EMERALD GEMSTONE

The synthesis of emerald began in the 1930s when it

was done by a process known as Farben and the Chatham processes. However the process did not run out to be commercially much viable. Later on in the 1960s another process known as hydrothermal flux process began to be used in the production of synthetic emerald. In this method crystal nutrients are dissolved in an acidic solution of water and chemicals at a very high temperature and pressure. It is then allowed to crystallize in a cooler chamber of the reactor. This method of emerald production proved to be much viable and by 1980 as much as 500,000carats of gem had been manufactured through this process. Manufacturers Biron, Chatham, Kyocera, Gilson, Inamori, Farben, Lechleitner, Linde and others produce synthetic emeralds today.