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 The rich green of an
emerald is “the intense colour of life itself” and reminiscent of the
spring season, a fresh, calming hue that has come to symbolise rebirth, harmony and a strong affinity with nature. In Roman
mythology “Venus” the Goddess of beauty was associated with green and green is still regarded as a holy colour
to Moslems across the world today.
Man has worshipped emeralds for many 1000’s of years. They were mined near the Red Sea by the Egyptian Pharaohs
(Cleopatra’s Mines) and the South American Aztecs and Incas mined what they considered to be a “holy”
stone (Pre- Spanish conquest) but the oldest emeralds have been discovered in Zimbabwe.
Today Columbia is the largest producer of the finest shining emeralds the world has ever known. Zambia and Brazil produce
a darker variety of emerald whilst Russia, Afghanistan, India, Zimbabwe, Madagascar and Pakistan also produce emeralds
for the world stage. |
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The emerald belongs to the “beryl” family of gems and beryl itself is colourless but due to a “beautiful
accident” caused by the earth’s tectonic machinations, other elements such as vanadium and chromium permeate the
beryl and a magnificent emerald results.
Interestingly even the finest emeralds have some inclusions but colour and transparency are paramount when judging these gems.
Unlike diamonds, fine inclusions in an emerald are regarded as normal and fondly referred to “jardin” which is Spanish
for “garden.” The inclusions are affectionately thought of as natural flora growing within an emerald garden.
Emeralds although hardy are the most delicate of the “hard” precious stones and given this the emerald is normally
cut into gentle rectangles, squares or other classical shapes to mitigate the degree of cutting imposed on the gem.
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