The New Age of Jewelry

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

Stone of the Month - Emerald

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.

The green of life and of love

The green of the emerald is the colour of life and of the springtime, which comes round again and again. But it has also, for centuries, been the colour of beauty and of constant love. In ancient Rome, green was the colour of Venus, the goddess of beauty and love. And today, this colour still occupies a special position in many cultures and religions. Green, for example, is the holy colour of Islam. Many of the states of the Arab League have green in their flags as a symbol of the unity of their faith. Yet this colour has a high status in the Catholic Church too, where green is regarded as the most natural and the most elemental of the liturgical colours.

The magnificent green of the emerald is a colour which conveys harmony, love of Nature and elemental joie de vivre. The human eye can never see enough of this unique colour. Pliny commented that green gladdened the eye without tiring it. Green is perceived as fresh and vivid, never as monotonous. And in view of the fact that this colour always changes somewhat between the bright light of day and the artificial light of a lamp, emerald green retains its lively vigour in all its nuances.

Fingerprints of nature

The lively luminosity of its colour makes the emerald a unique gemstone. However, really good quality is fairly rare, with inclusions often marring the evenness of the colour – signs of the turbulent genesis which has characterised this gemstone. Fine inclusions, however, do not by any means diminish the high regard in which it is held. On the contrary: even with inclusions, an emerald in a deep, lively green still has a much higher value than an almost flawless emerald whose colour is paler. Affectionately, and rather poetically, the specialists call the numerous crystal inclusions, cracks or fissures which are typical of this gemstone 'jardin'. They regard the tender little green plants in the emerald garden as features of the identity of a gem which has grown naturally.

So where do they come from and how is it that they exist at all? In order to answer these questions, we need to look far, far back into the time of the emerald's origin. Emeralds from Zimbabwe are among the oldest gemstones anywhere in the world. They were already growing 2600 million years ago, whilst some specimens from Pakistan, for example, are a mere 9 million years young. From a chemical-mineralogical point of view, emeralds are beryllium-aluminium-silicates with a good hardness of 7.5 to 8, and belong, like the light blue aquamarine, the tender pink morganite, the golden heliodor and the pale green beryl, to the large gemstone family of the beryls. Pure beryl is colourless. The colours do not occur until traces of some other element are added. 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 crystallised out to make one of our most beautiful gemstones. The tension involved in the geological conditions conducive to the above processes produced some minor flaws, and some major ones. A glance through the magnifying-glass or microscope into the interior of an emerald tells us something about the eventful genesis of this unique gem: here we see small or large fissures; here the sparkle of a mini-crystal or a small bubble; here shapes of all kinds. While the crystals were still growing, some of these manifestations had the chance to 'heal', and thus the jagged three-phase inclusions typical of Colombian emeralds were formed: cavities filled with fluid, which often also contain a small bubble of gas and some tiny crystals.

Logically enough, a genesis as turbulent as that of the emerald impedes the undisturbed formation of large, flawless crystals. For this reason, it is only seldom that a large emerald with good colour and good transparency is found. That is why fine emeralds are so valuable. But for the very reason that the emerald has such a stormy past, it is surely entitled to show it - that is, as long as only a fine jardin is to be seen, and not a rank garden which spoils both colour and transparency.

The world of fine emeralds

Colombia continues to be at the top of the list in terms of the countries in which fine emeralds are found. It has about 150 known deposits, though not all of these are currently being exploited. The best known names are Muzo and Chivor, where emeralds were mined by the Incas in pre-Columbian times. In economic terms, the most important mine is at Coscuez, where some 60 faces are being worked. According to estimates, approximately three quarters of Colombia's emerald production now comes from the Coscuez Mine. Colombian emeralds differ from emeralds from other deposits in that they have an especially fine, shining emerald green unimpaired by any kind of bluish tint. The colour may vary slightly from find to find. This fascinatingly beautiful colour is so highly esteemed in the international emerald trade that even obvious inclusions are regarded as acceptable. But Colombia has yet more to offer: now and then the Colombian emerald mines throw up rarities such as Trapiche emeralds with their six rays emanating from the centre which resemble the spokes of a millwheel.

Even if many of the best emeralds are undisputedly of Colombian origin, the 'birthplace' of a stone is never an absolute guarantee of its immaculate quality. Fine emeralds are also found in other countries, such as Zambia, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan and Russia. Zambia, Zimbabwe and Brazil in particular have a good reputation for fine emeralds in the international trade. Excellent emerald crystals in a beautiful, deep emerald green and with good transparency come from Zambia. Their colour is mostly darker than that of Colombian emeralds and often has a fine, slightly bluish undertone. Emeralds which are mostly smaller, but very fine, in a vivacious, intense green come from Zimbabwe's famous Sandawana Mine, and they often have a delicate yellowish-green nuance. And the famous emerald mines of Colombia currently face competition from right next door: Brazil's gemstone mine Nova Era also produces emeralds in beautiful green tones, and if they are less attractive than those of their famous neighbour it is only by a small margin. Brazil also supplies rare emerald cat's eyes and extremely rare emeralds with a six-spoked star. Thanks to the finds in Africa and Brazil, there are more emeralds on the market now than there used to be - to the delight of emerald enthusiasts - .

A sophisticated gemstone

Whilst its good hardness protects the emerald to a large extent from scratches, its brittleness and its many fissures can make cutting, setting and cleaning rather difficult. Even for a skilled gem cutter, cutting emeralds presents a special challenge, firstly because of the high value of the raw crystals, and secondly because of the frequent inclusions. However, this does not detract from the cutters' love of this unique gem. Indeed, they have developed a special cut just for this gem: the emerald cut. The clear design of this rectangular or square cut with its bevelled corners brings out the beauty of this valuable gemstone to the full, at the same time protecting it from mechanical strain.

Emeralds are also cut in many other, mainly classical shapes, but if the raw material contains a large number of inclusions, it may often be cut into a gently rounded cabochon, or into one of the emerald beads which are so popular in India.

Today, many emeralds are enhanced with colourless oils or resins. This is a general trade practice, but it does have the consequence that these green treasures react very sensitively to inappropriate treatment. For example, they cannot be cleaned in an ultrasonic bath. The substances that may have been used by the cutter during his work, or applied subsequently, seal the fine pores in the surface of the gem. Removing them will end up giving the stone a matt appearance. For this reason, emerald rings should always be taken off before the wearer puts his or her hands in water containing cleansing agent.

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.