Emerald

Emerald

Properties

  • Mineral: Beryl
  • Chemistry: Be3Al2Si6O18
  • Colour: Green to Bluish Green
  • Refractive Index: 1.577 to 1.583
  • Birefringence: 0.005 to 0.009
  • Specific Gravity:   2.72
  • Mohs Hardness: 7.5 to 8
  • Phenomenon: Chatoyancy (Cat’s eye)

About Emerald

Emeralds are the green variety of the mineral Beryl. Admired for thousands of years by the pharaohs of ancient Egypt, Caesars of the Roman Empire, the Mogul empire of India, to the sultans of the Ottoman Empire, emeralds have never lost its charm. To this day emeralds remains the premier green coloured gemstone.

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Product Description

History

Believed to have been mined as early as 1500BC by the ancient Egyptians, Egypt was a major source of emeralds until the 16th century. Emeralds were then discovered by Spanish explorers in South America in the region now known as Colombia which still remains as the largest producer of emeralds till this day.

Sources

Colombia, Brazil, Zambia and most recently Zimbabwe are the major suppliers of emeralds. Afghanistan and Pakistan are other notable sources of emeralds as emeralds found there can rival top quality emeralds from Colombia however they are scarce.

Quality

Even though emeralds from countries such as Brazil and Zambia are beautiful in their own right, emeralds from Colombia are of the highest quality. Its bright vivid deeply saturated slightly bluish green colour is unrivalled.

Trivia

The BAHIA Emerald

In 2001 in Bahia, Brazil miners unearthed an emerald rough weighing 380 kilograms with an estimated yield of 180000 carats, the largest ever found. Some of the emerald crystals were said to be the size of a man’s thigh. The emerald crystals were valued at 400 million USD. True to emeralds mesmerizing effect on people the emerald rough was caught in a web of greed, lies, deceit and corruption. After long unsuccessful legal battles among multiple individuals claiming ownership of the emerald rough it now sits in a police vault waiting to be claimed by its rightful owner.

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