Emerald Gemstone is the green to blueish green variety of beryl. a mineral species that also includes, aquamarine as well as beryl’s in other colors, it is found in mines between hard rocks and marble.
Unlike most gemstones, it is a deep, dark green color and transparent, and ranks third in importance.
Gem experts differ on the degree of green that makes one stone an emerald and another a less-expensive green beryl. Some people in the trade tend to give the name emerald to any green beryl colored by chromium.
But to most gemologists, gemological laboratories, and colored stone dealers.
it is more correct to call a green beryl stone when its color is: “too light” for it to be classified as emerald. Even among that group, however, there’s a difference of opinion about what’s considered “too light.”
Emerald Gemstone History
Emerald gemstone’s lush green has soothed souls and excited imaginations since antiquity. Its name comes from the ancient Greek word for green, “smaragdus.”
Rome’s Pliny the Elder described emerald in his Natural History, published in the first century AD: “…nothing greens greener” was his verdict.
He describes the use of emeralds by early lapidaries, who “have no better method of restoring their eyes than by looking at the emerald. its soft, green color comforting and removing their weariness and lassitude.” Even today, the color green is famous to relieve stress and eye strain.
There are other green gems, like tourmaline and peridot, but emerald is the one that’s always associated with the lushest landscapes and the richest greens. Ireland is the Emerald Isle. Seattle, in the US state of Washington, is the Emerald City. Thailand’s most sacred religious icon calling the Emerald Buddha, even though carved from green jadeite.
The first known emerald gemstone mines were in Egypt, dating from at least 330 BC into the 1700s. Cleopatra was have a passion for emerald and used it in her royal adornments.
Emeralds from what is now Colombia were part of the take when sixteenth-century Spanish explorers invaded the New World. The Incas had already been using emeralds in their jewelry and religious ceremonies for 500 years. The Spanish, who treasured gold and silver far more than gems, traded emeralds for precious metals. Their trades opened the eyes of European and Asian royalty to emerald’s majesty.
Emerald is the most famous member of the Beryl family. Legends endowed the wearer with the ability to foresee the future when an emerald was placed under the tongue, as well as to reveal truth and be protect against evil spells. Emerald was once also believed to cure diseases like cholera and malaria. Wearing an emerald was to reveal the truth or falseness of a lover’s oath as well as make one an eloquent speaker.
Legend also states that emerald gemstone was one of the four precious stones of King Solomon. These four stones “were have given the king power over all creation”.
Its color reflects new spring growth, which makes it the perfect choice for a birthstone for May. It’s also the gemstone for the twentieth and thirty-fifth wedding anniversaries.
Emerald Clarity
Brazilian emerald is a grass-green variety of beryl mineral in a quartz-pegmatite matrix with typical hexagonal, prismatic crystals.
Emerald gemstones tend to have numerous inclusions and surface-breaking fissures. Unlike diamonds emeralds are graded by eye. Thus, if an emerald has no visible inclusions to the eye (assuming normal visual acuity) considering flawless. Stones that lack surface-breaking fissures are scarce and therefore almost all emeralds treating “oiled” to enhance the apparent clarity. The inclusions and fissures within an emerald are sometimes describes as jardin (French for garden), because of their mossy appearance.
Imperfections are unique for each emerald and can use to identify a particular stone. Eye-clean stones of a vivid primary green hue, with no more than 15% of any secondary hue or combination of a medium-dark tone, command the highest prices. The relative non-uniformity motivates the cutting of emeralds in cabochon form, rather than faceted shapes. Faceted emeralds are most commonly give the oval cut, or the signature emerald cut, a rectangular cut with facets around the top edge.
Emerald Treatments
Most emerald gemstones are oiled as part of the post-lapidary process, to fill in surface-reaching cracks so that clarity and stability are improved. Cedar oil, having a similar refractive index, is often used in this widely adopted practice. Other liquids, including synthetic oils and polymers with refractive indexes close to that of emeralds, such as Opticon, are also used.
The least expensive emeralds are often treating with epoxy resins, which are effective for filling stones with many fractures. These treatments are typically applied in a vacuum chamber under mild heat, to open the pores of the stone and allow the fracture-filling agent to be absorbes more effectively. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission requires the disclosure of this treatment when an oil-treated emerald is sold.
The use of oil is traditional and largely accepted by the gem trade, although oil-treated emeralds are worth much less than untreated emeralds of similar quality. Untreated emeralds must also be accompanied by a certificate from a licensed, independent gemology laboratory.
Emerald Gemstone in Culture and lore
Emerald regard as the traditional birthstone for May as well as the traditional gemstone for the astrological sign of Cancer.
The virtue of the Emerald is to counteract poison. They say that if a venomous animal should look at it, it will become blind. The gem also acts as a preservative against epilepsy; it cures leprosy and strengthens sight and memory.
A New Discovery of Emeralds from Ethiopia
In recent years Ethiopia has gained considerable attention in the gem trade for large amounts of high-quality opal from an area near Wegel Tena. Apart from opal, emeralds have been sporadically mined, near Dubuluk, for more than a decade. This deposit is located about 80 km from the Kenyan border. Gemfields has been exploring this deposit since July 2015.
A new deposit of high-quality emeralds found in the rural villages of Kenticha and Dermi, in the Seba Boru district. In November 2016, Ethiopian gem merchants gathered to legally buy and sell emeralds that are mined several kilometers away.
Few people outside the gem industry including emeralds stones realize the true nature of a gemstone’s journey from the mine to the counter of a store. Whether the gem is being offered to consumers at a traditional jewelry store’s counter, an internet shopping site, or a television broadcast the journey always involves a great deal of effort.
source: www.gia.edu.com