Emerald gemstones were producing in Egypt 330 BC ago, but some of them think that the earlier emerald dates back to 2. 97 billion years old.
Cleopatra, one of the most famous and legendary Egyptian leaders loved and appreciated emerald gems. She also went to the extent of saying that she owned the emerald jewel mines in Egypt at one point in time.
The ancients Egyptians incorporated emeralds into jewelry and also in their elaborate funerals, where they would enclose emerald stones with monarchs to protect them in the afterlife.
In similar fashion the ‘Muzo Indians’ living in Colombia also had secure and highly valued emerald deposits. These mines were so hidden that the first Spanish conquistadors discovered them only after almost twenty years!
Though there are several types of beryl, the most popular one is emerald. Healers believed that wearing the stone under the tongue would help a person see visions of the future, and magicians claimed that putting emerald under the tongue would allow a person to tell the truth and shield oneself from curses. Cholera and malaria diseases for instance were also believed to be cured by Emerald at a one point in time. An emerald was worn on the grounds that it could either show the truth or lying of the lover when an oath was sworn and also it turned its wearers into eloquent orators .
It is also a gem that folklore has it was one of the stones that God himself gifted Solomon with. These four stones were also believed to have granted the king dominion over all original existence.
Its shade symbolizes new spring coming, which constitutes the reason for this stone to be assigned the status of a birthstone for the month of May It is also the traditional gemstone for twentieth and thirty-fifth year of marriage.
Physical Properties of Emerald Stone
Made from the mineral Beryl, Emerald is the green member of the Beryl family with Aquamarine being the blue member of the same family. Beryl is berylium aluminum silicate and has a known chemical formula of Be3Al2Si6O18.
That is why the crystals of emerald are prismatic, having the hexagonal structure. Other forms of green Beryl that do not exhibit hexagonal crystal habit or are coloured by the presence of iron are often subjected to heat treatment in order to eliminate the green component and are sold as Aquamarine, even though the presence of trace amounts of chromium or vanadium in those Green Beryls will result in the formation of Emeralds.
The Specific Gravity is a determined value used to explain the density of an object regarding its volume. AKVolume of one cubic centimeter of pure water will be equal to 1 gm in weight. 00 grams and has a specific gravity of 1. 00. Also, a Sapphire has of normal size has a specific gravity of close to 4. 00; and thus, if you had a liter of water and a liter of Sapphire, then the Sapphire would weigh about four times as much as the water.
Specific gravity of Emerald ranges between the above mentioned figures of diamond and ruby, which is true for most gems; the value being 2. 72. This means that in order for an Emerald to look as big as a Sapphire carat the actual weight of the Emerald would have to be three times heavier than that of a Sapphire due to the differences in specific gravity.
In the Moh´s hardness scale, the rating for an Emerald measures 7. 5 to 8. 0. This is slightly better than Tanzanite (6. 0 to 7. 0) but definitely worse than Sapphire and Ruby that have a rating of 9. 0. The Moh´s hardness scale simply measures hardness in terms of ability of the gemstone to scratch. This is not the same as stiff-skin or hardness.
While an Emerald has relatively good hardness for it, the toughness and the durability is only fairly good. Emerald is quite susceptible to getting chipped through an impact, they are not very difficult to chip. When setting designs of Emeralds are being considered, this is well taken into account, especially with ring designs.
How to Find the Value of Emerald Stone
Just like every other colored gemstones, the usual criteria that are used to determine its value include clarity, cut, color as well as the carat weight. Regarding basic value characteristics, it is for Emeralds where color and clarity are most significant.
All Emeralds have inclusions. These were features which are part of the formation process of Emeralds (and some other Beryl) and are in fact quite useful in distinguishing between natural Emeralds from the created/stimulated ones.
These include faceted pyrite crystals, calcite jardin (or garden), spindle shaped cavities in the quartz and three phase inclusions with gas bubbles within tiny liquid-inclusion in the crystal, which are indicative of hydrothermal origin linked with Colombian emeralds.
Unlike other gemstones, these characteristics impair the value of the Emeralds to a negligible extent, and only in cases where they are really prominent or, in other words are able to affect the luster of the gemstone. Inclusions that exist in such a manner that they are an Eyesore of sorts and which take a lot out from the sheen of the Emerald will severely hamper the value of the gemstone.
The question as to which color is the optimum color for Emerald is debatable, though it is distinguishable to a certain extent that the nearer towards green, the higher the value. In Colombian Emeralds, term “Muzo Green” must describe the leaf green hue tied to Emeralds that originated in the Muzo mines region. After this period, miners should concentrate on producing emeralds with bluish secondary hues, similar to those found in the Chivor region of Colombia, specifically in Zambia.
Although, the color hue also provides a hint as to the origin of an Emerald, it cannot be the sole test for origin because Emeralds from these sources and Brazil have Em hues that are similarly appearing but not intrinsically identical. Evaluating the colour, regardless of the source location, shows that purity and intensity of colour highly influence the value of an emerald.
From the perspective of Emerald valuation, both cut and carat weight are seen to have only a rather secondary role. There is no scarcity of Very large faceted Emeralds fourteen carats plus per stone if one is willing to accept undertone, less intense color or less brilliance. As for the Diamonds, Rubies and Sapphires, the above statement cannot be said of them. Nonetheless, Emeralds with a weight of more than one carat that has very fine grading is rare and may be equal or exceed that of diamonds depending on their carat weight and grading.
How to tell Emerald is Real?
It is always a challenge to differentiate an original Emerald from that which is man-made. This is because it provides an EQUAL chemical composition as well as having nearly an equivalent optical and physical properties as that of natural emeralds. Some of the more recent synthetic techniques also consist of affording correct looking inclusions which are naturally found in actual Emeralds to the created gemstone involved. In the case when a potentially attractive, unblemished, and intensely colored Emerald of the highest clarity is offered as an ‘authentic’ stone and the price is under 500 USD. For example if the price per carat is $ 00 a carat, then the buyer should be aware that this is not a realistic price for natural Emerald of such trueness.
In fact, it is not wrong to display such created Emeralds as the real Emeralds in that the created ones possess the chemical composition and crystalline structure that are similar to those of a natural Emerald. The only questionable question to ask at this stage is, ‘Is this a natural Emerald or is it created?’ At this juncture, most dealers will agree that the Emerald in question is actual created; it would not be proper business to sell created Emeralds and pass them off as natural ones. However, although it is not completely false, it is rather unscrupulous to categorize a created Emerald as a “real” Emerald and sellers imply such information is accurate.
If there is a detected Emerald in a persons’ custody and someone would wish to know if the Emerald is created or natural, it should be taken to a competent Laboratory. Due to the similarity discussed earlier, it is important for created Emeralds and the finest natural Emeralds to be distinguished based on their quality by professional gemologists who have the relevant tools for measuring the differences between the two.