E is for Emerald

Emeralds are the most famous in the beryl family which puts it in the category of precious stones amongst rubies, sapphires, aquamarine and of course diamonds. Emeralds are 7.5-8 on the hardness scale, making it a stone that requires more care than the other precious stones such as rubies and sapphires. Even so, emeralds are a beautiful stone and with the proper care will last for generations. Although they are durable stones, they are susceptible to chipping and cracking. The emerald stone is more expensive to set into jewelry due to these risks.

Most emeralds have some type of inclusion or imperfection. Emeralds without these are very rare. Color, cut, clarity and carat weight are the four factors to determine the value of emeralds. The most important is color of emerald. The best color is vivid green or bluish green with even saturation and no color zoning. A one carat emerald may appear larger than 1 carat diamond because emeralds have a lower density. Top quality emeralds can be worth more than a diamond per carat. Unlike other gemstones, the clarity of an emerald is assessed with the naked eye.

Cleaning your emerald consist of warm soapy water with a little soft scrubbing. No ultrasonic or stream is recommended.

Emeralds lust green color has soothed souls and excited imaginations since antiquity. The first known mines were found in Egypt dating back to 330BC into the 1700’s. Cleopatra was known to have a passion for emeralds and used them in all her royal adornments.

Intrigues? Watch about the world’s largest emerald in this National Geographic - $400 million Dollar Emerald.