Emerald is May's birthstone and is a beautiful green, well-loved stone.
It is used in rings, necklaces, pendants and bracelets. It is a wonderful
birthday gift.
Emerald: The Green Treasure By
Margaret Burgon Klemp
"Indeed there is no stone, the colour of which is more delightful to
the eye; for whereas the sight fixes itself with avidity upon the green
grass and the foliage of the trees, we have all the more pleasure in
looking upon the smaragdus, there being no green in existence of a more
intense colour than this. And then, besides, of all the precious stones,
this is the only one that feeds the sight without satiating it. Even when
the vision has been fatigued with intently viewing other objects, it is
refreshed by being turned upon this stone; and lapidaries know of nothing
that is more gratefully soothing to the eyes, its soft green tints being
wonderfully adapted for assuaging lassitude, when felt in those organs" The
Natural History, Book XXXVII. The Natural History of Precious Stones,
Chapter 16. Pliny the Elder (23-79)
His real name was Gaius Plinius Secundus. He was an ancient Roman
soldier, author, and a philosopher who had an insatiable curiosity about
everything including the natural order of things. He was also known as a
master researcher because of his extensive work in compiling information
from earlier writers and philosophers. Besides his own treatises on
history he also wrote a whole book on nature which included a number of
chapters about gems and precious stones. .Smaragdus. is a term that refers
to a whole range of green gems including emeralds. However, the reader can
be pretty certain that he is describing an emerald when he talks about the
incursions that are associated with emeralds, and also when he describes
the deep green of the treasure.
Pliny was born into a prosperous family in Gaul, and educated in Rome
where he had access to the libraries of his tutors. When he was 23 he
embarked on his military career in the Roman Calvary serving in Germany.
After returning to Rome it is suspected that he studied and practiced law.
Then he lived in Spain during the reign of Nero, and returned to Rome when
the emperor Vespasian took power. During these years he wrote
prolifically, and produced a number of different volumes on various. The
Natural History is the only complete text of Pliny that has survived. His
last official assignment was at the Bay of Naples when Mt. Vesuvius
erupted. His curiosity about the unusual cloud formation that was formed
from the eruption caused him to go ashore to find out what caused it. On
August 24, 79 he died from smoke inhalation while conducting his
investigation.
Pliny also discussed the flaws or defects that were found in the
Smaragdus. Flaws or what is known technically as .inclusions. is one sign
of an emerald and one of the traits that often makes the stone
identifiable as a true gem. Inclusions or flaws in a stone can have an
effect on its value, so the flaws do lower the market price. He gathered
most of his information on inclusions from the works of earlier writers.
The emerald comes from the beryl family of precious stones. Its beautiful
green color comes from the traces of chromium and iron in the rock.
Emeralds do come in various shades of green and bluish green.
The dictionary definition of an emerald is: 1. a rare variety of the
mineral beryl that is green because of its chromium content and is valued
as a gem. 2. clear, deep green.
The colour intensity of an emerald depends on the chromium quantities.
Maytime Grass is considered to be the most beautiful. An emerald is one of
the few stones that actually will shine in the dark when a small amount of
light appears in the room. The colour occurs when the geochemical makeup
of beryllium and chromium are found together. The combination is not
easily found, and considered to be a rare phenomenon. Natural chemical
processes are what really form the stones.
Emeralds are hard but are sensitive and prey to flaws or inclusions.
They require a lot more care than most other gemstones. The flaws occur
through the trials imposed by nature, and sometimes the engineering
process developed by man. The identification of fissures, however, does
serve a useful purpose. The flaws help to weed out artificial emeralds
from the real ones. Inclusions actually prove an emeralds authenticity.
Refraction and density of the stones vary from the location where they are
found. Emeralds are found buried in their parent rock.
Today, some of the finest emeralds can be found in South America. They
can be found in other parts of the world with the most important sites
being in Africa, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Madagascar. The Mines of
Cleopatra were the earliest emerald mines on earth. There was emerald
mining as early as 2000 B.C. These early mines were abandoned in 1750,
briefly revived, and then finally left to nature in the 1920.s.
Authentic emeralds are very expensive, and not available to the casual
collector. However, with today.s technology scientists can make
lab-created emeralds that can be sold at affordable prices on the open
market. They are made by exposing thin slices of natural beryl to a
chemical mixture that is akin to an authentic emerald. The mixture is one
of pure filtered water and acids. Then it is put under intense heat in
saline solution. Then the stone slices cool until crystal forms and it
reaches a gem like thickness. When this process is complete it can be cut
and processed like a gem.
