A Short Introduction To The History Of Emeralds And Emerald Jewellery

By John S Stewart


Emerald provides a jewellery piece containing a birthstone gem that will bring good luck and protection. Monthly birthstones symbolize the birth month, according to the Gregorian calendar, so the very best jewellery for this month would contain Emerald Earrings, Emerald Pendants and Emerald Rings for example.

Emeralds are the birthstone for May, the Zodiac gem for Cancer and represent all sorts of 35th Anniversaries.



Emerald History, Legend and Lore

Emerald are found in mica schist and hydrothermal-metamorphic schists and other host rocks consisting of a chemical interaction between granitic rocks and pegmatites, and the terminal basic (silica-deficient) stones. The chemicals are necessary for the formation of Beryl is often transferred to the adjacent material of the corner stones of granite Beryl crystallizes, without altering the original composition of the bedrock through a process known as exometamorphism. If the stones contain the basic elements of chromium and vanadium, small amounts of these factors can be included Beryl structure, which gives a strong distinctive green gem variety of Beryl - Emerald.

Some of the deposits of the most famous emerald mines in the world are from hydrothermal mines in Columbia, where mineral water is heated or gas heated in deep igneous sources and later cooled and crystallized along fractures in carbonate rocks. Mineral deposits are associated with pyrite, dolomite, calcite, quartz and albite.

Because of Emerald's relatively high hardness and specific gravity, it is sometimes found in eluvial and aluvial deposits.

Emerald is usually recognized by its colour, form, hardness and specific gravity.

They have been held in the crown jewels, and decorated the thrones of some of the oldest dynasties in history. As a symbol of wealth and power they are unmatched. Their brilliant green sheen is more precious than gold and diamonds, and per carat these gems are the one of the most expensive in the world. They are the emeralds, one of the most precious of all gemstones.

If you were fortunate enough to possess an Emerald that would fit into the palm of your hand, it could, depending on it's quality, be worth over one million dollars. Why such a high price? A large part of the reason is that emeralds are rare gems. Emeralds are a type of beryl crystal. They are formed from a combination of the common elements aluminium and silicon with the rare element beryllium. Small amounts of trace elements, either chromium or vanadium, give the emerald its distinctive green tint.

Global source of supply has traditionally been Egypt. For thousands of years the famous mines of Cleopatra, about 440 kilometers south of Cairo, were developed by the Egyptians and the Romans and the Turks later. Working long hours under the scorching heat of the sun, and darkness, heat and dust in underground mines, must have been a real ordeal for older workers. However, the mines were worked continuously since about 330 BC to 1237 AD.

In ancient times, emeralds have been held with a great fascination for all the people. Besides its exquisite beauty, which were coveted for their supposed magical powers and healing. Emeralds were considered really a cure for many diseases. It was also believed to be able to increase fertility and sexual desire in women. Due to this demand, emeralds were highly sought after and profitable trade was established between Egypt and as far away as India.

Egyptian monopoly in the global supply of emeralds lasted until the sixteenth century, when the Spanish conquistadors arrived in South America. In 1558, the Spanish found deposits in Muzo, near Columbia. There, they discovered emeralds the size and beauty that was outstanding. The Spanish were quick to capitalize on this knowledge. They quickly seized the mine and enslaved the local population. These slaves were forced to work again break the extraction of precious stones from the mine. Soon a large supply of fine emeralds were sent to Europe. These gems quickly found its way into the hands of the decision makers in many empires of Europe and the Middle East. The Ottoman Turks, the Persian Shah and even the royalty of India were presented delicately carved emeralds as masterpieces of its collection of jewellery.

One of the ironies of modern jewellery is that people who work mining for them for them, often are barely able to buy food to survive, much less than buy Emeralds themselves. Not surprisingly, there is an overwhelming temptation for employees to conceal the smuggling of gems of the Emerald mines. This has led to unprecedented security guards, armed with machine guns to control the movements of all workers. Despite this, however, is a thriving trade in contraband emeralds on the black market. In fact, according to the National Geographic article, most of Emeralds are not documented, are duty-free, invisible basically to the radar by being hidden from the world trade market, and known as "black". Almost all high-quality emeralds were being smuggled at some point in their history.

I sincerely hope you find this short article involving Emeralds and Emerald Jewellery interesting, and may be it can even be of some help to you in some way.

Best regards

JSS




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