The Emerald Gemstone is a variety of the mineral Beryl and is a beautiful strong velvety green in colour, although more recently a bluish green seems to be the most desired.



Beryl is colourless in it's purest form, but the presence of chromium and vanadium is what gives this flawed but fabulous Gemstone it's rich colouring. Emerald is the birthstone for the month of May and is also the anniversary Gemstone used to celebrate the twentieth and thirty-fifth years of marriage. Best sources of Emerald are mined in Brazil, Colombia and Zambia but can also be found in Australia, India, Pakistan as well as Russia, South Africa and the United States.

The Emerald Gemstone is a very precious jewel indeed and by weight is the most valuable Gemstone in the world, it's rarity prompting the development of synthetic Emeralds.

This beautiful green Gemstone is one of the oldest known to mankind and has been used in Jewelry for hundreds of years. The ideal Emerald should be highly transparent with a good even colour, clarity is important but overall the colouring of the Gemstone is the key factor. Emerald Gemstones will usually be found with cracks and fissures and it is normal practice to treat these flaws with oil, most commonly cedar oil is used as it has a similar refractive index and helps to show off and disperse the stones rich vibrant colour.

Some Emeralds are filled using a heat and vacuum technology, this involves using epoxy resin, which becomes part of the stone and helps to hide the natural flaws the stone possesses. A lot of Emerald from Brazil and Colombia is treated this way but Gemstones from Zambia are not normally subjected to filling, almost all stones however are oiled.

This dazzling green stone was mined for thousands of years by the ancient pharaohs with the most famous being Cleopatra who had a vast collection of Emeralds, the Cleopatra mines in Egypt was probably the source of a large amount of historical Emerald but the mines have been depleted for many years now. At present probably the finest specimens come from Colombia as they are normally a nice pure green with a touch of blue, Brazilian stones are a little lighter in colour and can seem to appear cloudy but they usually do not have so many inclusions, Emeralds from Zambia are a deep lush green with very good clarity.

Because of the natural flaws of the Emerald it has been given it's own unique cut, usually rectangular with the corners beveled so as to prevent the flaws from splintering the jewel, although the stone is quite hard it prevents accidental damage by chipping the corner of the gem if you were to knock it. This cut also shows off the Emeralds beautiful colouring perfectly.

The Emerald Gemstone is said to make the wearer full of love, and that if a man and a woman present each other with an Emerald Gemstone their love will grow and become permanent.

Venus the goddess of love is said to have been totally captivated by the Emerald.

It is believed that if Emerald is tied around a lady's waist during childbirth, that the delivery will be normal and painless. Legend and lore states that the green gem destroys black magic and assists in predicting the future, wearing the stone is also said to aid health and immunity as well as increase the ability to concentrate and focus the mind.

Emerald is also believed to help in career opportunities and increase wealth and social staure. Placing a real Emerald on your eyes gives a cool feeling, if the gem was imitation it would warm quickly.

Although Emerald has a hardness of 7.5-8 on the Moh scale this can vary depending on the inclusions in the Gemstone, as the stone is quite brittle care should be taken with your Emerald Jewelry, try to select designs that border the stone fully and offer the Gemstone as much protection as possible, this is even more important with rings. A soft cloth and very mild soap and water are the best way to clean Emerald or better still, have it done professionally and do not ever use a ultra sonic cleaner as this de-greases the Gemstone and will dull the colour and have adverse effects on any treatments your Emerald has received.

When buying Emerald Jewelry of course it is important to be sensible and go by your budget but the larger the stone you can buy the better the gem will show off its fantastic colour.

The Emerald is one of the few Gemstones that look beautiful in both white and yellow gold.