All About Emerald

All About Emerald


History of Emeralds

Like rubies and sapphires, emeralds have a long and interesting history, which I shall touch upon only briefly. In ancient Egypt, emeralds were mined not far from the Red Sea. Judging by the quality of Egyptian emerald we know that their stones were of a spotty, light color variety.. This tranquil green color was much prized in the Egyptian world, although it is not very popular among and investors today, as finer grades of emeralds have been discovered.

Emeralds in ancient Rome were valued for the cool, calming effect of their color. Nero watched the Roman games in Coliseum; when he tired, he would peer at the exhibition through emerald glasses.

Not until much later, however-at the time of the Spanish capture of Central and South America in the sixteenth' century-that fine emeralds really entered the gem world.

The first precious stones found in a mine tend to be the largest and most beautiful. The deeper one goes into the earth, the less perfect the color and the less pure the crystallization When Pizarro and Cortez subdued the Americas, the claimed the great emerald and gold wealth of the Inca and Mayan civilizations for their native Spain. As these stones were the first fruits of the rich mines of the Americas; it is believed that the finest examples of emeralds came from this period in history.

Many of the first fine South American emeralds were shipped to India through the trading ports of the Philippines Some Chinese still call emerald the "Filipino stone.' A Study of the inclusion patterns of the emeralds in the collection the Moghul rulers of Delhi reveal that these gems originated in the mines of Colombia.

In Pizarro's time, the mines at Muzo and Chivor had been working, but they were covered up and hidden by the Indian before the Spaniards could seize them. The mineral wealth of the Mayan civilization was more than a sign of affluence. The Mayans believed that their gold, silver, and emeralds were direct gifts from the gods, and the gems held a prominent place in all celebrations.

Given the religious significance of these precious gems, it is no wonder that the Mayan and Incan people, even under torture, refused to disclose the whereabouts of their emerald mines. A jungle enclosed these Colombian mines in much the same way that the Angkor Wat temple laid covered by the jungle in Cambodia, until a wandering Parisian tourist discovered it after a thousand years. In 1895, traces of emeralds were found near Muzo, and that ancient and fabulous mine was reopened. Chivor was rediscovered in the 1920s.

There are other sources of emeralds besides Egypt and Colombia. Emeralds have been found in Russia-unmistakably pale in color-and in large quantities (but poor quality) in Austria and India. More recently) emeralds have been discovered in Brazil, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Afghanistan, Norway, and the United States


Mining Emeralds

Emeralds are not found along riverbanks like diamonds, rubies, and sapphires, but are imbedded in the rock itself, this accounting for the high price of extraction. Emerald deposits are often found in conjunction with layers of mica Schist They also often run along pegmatite dikes. A small pocket of emeralds might well be located by cutting through the mica area.

This is extremely laborious work. The recently discovered mines near Carnaiba, Brazil, provide an example of what an emerald strike is like. About fifteen years ago, the Brazilian government decided to build its section of the Pan American highway, linking numerous countries in North and South America with Central America. This huge and ambitious road project meant, in effect, that people with a high degree of geological engineering skills were sent from the capital and from Rio to the very underdeveloped hinterlands. As these road builders cut roads through the jungles of Brazil, they uncovered incredible sources of mineral wealth.

Rumors circulated that there were pockets of emeralds near Carnaiba. Within weeks, vast numbers of Brazilians descended upon this small town to begin mining on the most primitive scale. Tens of thousands of claims were filed with the government. The Brazilian government has long favored the protection of the small miner; at one time there were twenty thousand mines with separate shafts going into the ground in Carnaiba.

In the center of town, where traffic is most dense and a rotary has been built, there exists an emerald mine of about fifty feet across and two hundred feet straight down. Similarly, in the back of stores, in front of people's homes, there are small-scale mines being dug and worked each day. Workers are lowered into the mines on ropes, where they gouge out rocks with the simplest of hand tools. Blasting is impossibility because it might destroy the fragile emerald crystals. Once they are pried from the bottom of the mine, the rocks are hoisted up with a pulley system to be sorted and evaluated by a partner aboveground. Generally, the mines are a cooperative effort on the part of three or four individuals. The output of the mines is traded either in Carnaiba itself or in Rio de Janeiro.

In the early 1980's Carnaiba gave the appearance of being a 'old rush" boom town, with its tens of thousands of wandering and hopeful prospectors, its dance halls, bordellos, and its strange, transient beauty. One has a feeling that if the mines were to run out, the town would become a jungle within several weeks and its entire population would travel to another part of Brazil with the same idea of striking it rich through a combination of luck and hard work


Judging the Color of Emeralds

The emerald reveals much of its origin through the shade of green visible to the eye.

A bluish green has been identified as coming from the mines of Chivor. Colombian stones in general possess a deep color that is preferred by most collectors

In comparison to the Russian emeralds of the nineteenth century that tended towards a patchy, very pale green.

The Sandawana emeralds from Zimbabwe are a very deep, rich green color; but the size of the crystals is usually small and they are most appropriate for small, round, or melee stones. From time to time we get bigger stones and will make them available on the website.

Brazilian emeralds are characterized by an even lighter shade of color than the Russian emeralds, although new mines have been discovered recently in which the quality appears to be more promising. Emeralds were mined in India after 1944. They had a deep bluish cast to the green and today are highly prized by dealers and investors in fine gems.

What gives an emerald this green tint? The chromium within the emerald crystal is composed of aluminum oxide and accounts for the depth of color. If a stone has 1/ 100 of 1 percent too much chromium, what will remain is a very blackish bluish green emerald. Similarly, a 1/100 of 1 percent too little in the chromium count might result in an extremely yellowish green stone. Grading emeralds is said to be among the most difficult tasks in precious stone dealings, and it is a terrific help to have other fine emeralds on hand against which to evaluate the stone in question.

A large number of emeralds fall into the melee category. These stones, varying between 2, 3, and 4 millimeters in size, constitute the bulk of dollar volume of emeralds traded in the world today. Most emerald crystals are opaque, with very little usable material within a crystal. Therefore, a small, thin sliver of clear green at the edge of a piece of rough can be utilized to make a tiny round stone; that is what happens in a great number of cases.

One can see Indian colored stone merchants traveling throughout the world to every mining center of Brazil, Africa, and elsewhere. These dealers will buy tens of thousands of carats and ship them back to India, where they will be cut and faceted by thousands of Indian gem cutters. Gem cutting in India has existed for over two thousand years. On a roof in Bombay, for example, there may be a group of ten cutters who will use the most rudimentary of tools a wheel that is turned by hand and a cutting device so primitive that it has not changed in several hundred years. And day after day, year after year, century after century, these Hindus, Moslems, and Jams have fashioned under that incredibly bright Indian sky the majority of the world's emeralds. The destination of these emeralds can be a ring that is interspersed with emeralds and diamonds, or simply a complicated pin or necklace using the small round emeralds.

Rough buyers purchase all grades and sizes of crystals. Generally speaking, emerald rough is sold in 50,000-piece, 100,000-piece, and even larger lots. Every rough dealer of emeralds throughout the world who is worth his salt has put aside a few fine emerald rough pieces as a kind of saving for the future. And there are, of course, legends about these dealers. One man supposedly has a houseful. Another, in Brazil, has a treasure chest containing rough that will yield over five carats for each stone. But these are legends. The fact is that fine emerald~ are becoming more scarce each day.

In my observation, the vast majority of fine emeralds on the market have actually been set in pieces of jewelry for the last fifty years. Only now are they beginning to be taken from mountings and recut to give them better color and brilliance


How to Distinguish Genuine from Synthetic Emeralds

Synthetic emeralds are made by mixing aluminum oxide with traces of chromium under high heat and large amounts of pressure. There are two great makers of synthetic emeralds in the world today, and they are extremely secretive about their methods of operation.

Caryl Chatham and his son from San Francisco, California, have developed a most remarkable, exceedingly beautiful emerald. Chatham has priced his product in the hundreds of dollars per carat, and he refuses to discuss his production methods. Similarly, in the south of France, another technological genius, Pierre Gilson, has utilized a method of creating synthetic emeralds.

The secret in distinguishing the natural from the manmade emerald may lie in the inclusions. A natural emerald is created over the course of millions of years, and the inclusions are a shorthand diary of that stone's birth pains and growth history. The short, perhaps month-long, history of the creation of the synthetic emerald has another set of inclusions that betray that gemstone's man-made origins.

Under the microscope, one can see wispy, veil like inclusions permeating the Chatham or Cilson emeralds. These contrast with the included crystals of pyrite, calcite, and actinolite that dot the interior landscape of a naturally formed emerald crystal.

Similarly, man-made emeralds become easily activated under ultraviolet light, appearing reddish, while natural emeralds do not generally appear to light up. This test is not hard to perform. One word of caution, however: After a few years' study, the ingenious Mr. Cilson managed to mix an amount of iron with his synthetic emeralds; this prevented any fluorescence. Nonetheless, the Gemological Institute of America has been able to analyze the chemical compositions and impurities in this emerald by means of a spectrometer, but the primary tool is a microscope and a ultra-violet lamp


How to Value an Emerald

There are no industrial uses for emeralds as there are for diamonds. Consequently, an emerald mine owners only profit is from the sale of his gemstones. If there is no gem contents in his mine, the mine simply cannot be worked. As diamond melee has gone up to $200 to $ 300 per carat for finer stones, so too, emerald melee has sharply increased in price over the past few years. It is not unusual on a wholesale level to see emeralds selling for $7OO to $8oo per carat of melee, which often translates into $70 to $80 per stone- a stone the size of the letter "0" on this page.

The stones, however, that capture the dealer's and investor's imagination are mainly the bigger stones-those that are cut into carat sizes or better. Emeralds over 10 carats are a great, great rarity. However, unlike rubies, which had to be presented to the king if they exceeded 6 carats, emeralds were never placed under this constraint in Colombia or in other gem-mining areas. Consequently, we can see in the Smithsonian Institution two emeralds that are over 30 carats, of superb, sea like transparency.

The popularity of emeralds has been so strong in recent years that most auctions offer at least one important stone for sale. Even if you have no immediate intention of buying an emerald, an auction is a good place in which to become familiar with its various shades of color and market value.

If you want to get an idea of the full, delicate range of the emerald colors, there is no question but that a trip to the Iranian collection of precious stones would easily he the finest education possible. Barring this, the same mechanics are involved in purchasing an emerald as in purchasing other precious gems. Ultimately, you will depend upon the reputation, knowledge and skill of the establishment or person from whom you are buying the gem. It is thus wise to find, by means of inquiry, who in your town has an understanding ear and a stock of emeralds for sale. And arm yourself in advance with as much knowledge of the subject as possible.

One thing that always shocks a new investor is the fact that almost every emerald contains some blemishes or inclusions. Although it seems incredible that one could pay several thousands of dollars for a stone that is not perfectly flawless, the overwhelming factor in the price of emeralds is the strength and purity of its green color. Flawless emeralds are nonexistent!

Finally, by comparing the sizes of the stones, the shades of green, and the relative absence of flaws with the price of a stone, one can normally make a decision as to which emerald is most suitable for purchase