Emerald - "Green as never before"

The intimacy between emerald and jewelry art dates back to Gallo - Roman era when this newly discovered stone was cut into natural hexagonal form to be a part of Hellenistic jewelry. It was the exquisite art of Meenakari in mogul period that brought the best of emerald in terms of color and luster. Since then emerald jewelry is seen as an epitome of royalty in itself./

From the time of its discovery emerald has been one of the most valuable gemstone. Back in the days of Cleopatra emerald was mined by Egyptians under extreme condition of dessert heat, snakes and scorpions. This could be the probable reason why possession of emerald demonstrated power and domination. Emerald's lush green hue imbibed in its gazed body made it worth the toil.

True beauty of emerald lies in its color. Unlike other colored gemstones one could easily pick a right colored emerald among its various assortments. Color variety in emerald ranges from pale yellowish green to greens with extreme gray saturation. Emeralds in vivid deep to medium green tone with no secondary hue narrate their own quality. It's very rare to find emeralds free from inclusions. As a result eye-clean emeralds are considered to be supreme.

Size of emerald is next to its color in deciding its worth. The basic rock has to go through intense metamorphism in order to gain its green color. Therefore formation of emerald is an extensive process with large pieces being extremely rare. As a result price changes drastically with slight variation in weight. This explains why emeralds are limited to few standard shapes. Considering the worth of weight and size you might be shedding dollars instead of streak if you decide to achieve a fancy cut in emerald.

Modern day deposits of premium class emeralds are found in Columbia. The infrequent trapiche variety exhibiting star pattern also comes from here. Brazilian emeralds fall next to Columbian emeralds being slightly lighter in color. Other than these, emerald mines also exist in Afghanistan, Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Germany, India, Italy, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Russia, Somaliland, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Tanzania, United States, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Emeralds are generally treated with oil to fill fissure which is to enhance its clarity as well as durability. However treating with green-tinted oil is not an acceptable trade practice. To make it simple for buyer, level of treatment comes graded these days as none, minor, moderate and highly enhanced.

As a prized possession, emerald boasts power and prosperity. For those in love, emerald is known to render faith to a relationship. It is identified to bring hope and wisdom to its wearer. While some wear it as a birthstone others just fall pray to its beauty.