Pages

.

Emerald Jewelry


Emerald is a wonderful green, much admired stone. Due to its stunning beauty, emerald jewelry such as earrings, rings, necklaces, pendants and bracelets are highly treasured. Energy healers often call emerald gemstones very healing stone for relationships, for the heart, and for health. It is a fabulous birthday gift with a special meaning you can add to it.


What

Medium to dark green beryl which derives its color from chromium and vanadium. Emerald has a hardness rating of 7.5.

Care

Use a soft, dry cloth to clean your Emerald jewelry. Avoid sudden temperature changes, household chemicals and ultrasonic jewelry cleaners.

Treatments

Emeralds are often treated with oil to fill fissures and fractures that are characteristic of emerald. Hence, you should never clean emerald jewelry in an ultrasonic cleaner because this oil could be removed or damaged, making the fissures more visible. In addition, do not clean emerald jewelry in hot soapy water since it too can remove this oil.

Emerald jewelry is often irradiated for clarity.


Misleading Terms

Reputable dealers will not use the following misleading terms. However, for your protection, I am listing them here:


"African emerald" is really green fluorite from South-West Africa "Cape Emerald" is really prehnite found in South Africa (not to be confused with true emerald from South Africa). "Evening Emerald" is really peridot. "Indian emerald" is really green-dyed quartz. "Medina Emerald" and "Spanish Emerald" are really green glass. "Mt. Saint Helens Emerald" is green glass that is man made by fusing volcanic ash. "Scientific Emerald" is really synthetic stones or paste. "Uralian Emerald" is really green garnet. "Zerfass Emerald" is synthetic emerald.



Where Emerald is Found By Margaret Burgon Klemp :


Columbia has got to be one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Outside the capital of Bogota are endless green meadows that lead to the imposing Andes, ancestral home of the Incas. Villages and towns dot the whole country, and rivers wend their way in every direction to meet up with greater tributaries that eventually lead into the oceans.


Columbia is one place where the green ones are found---some of the most beautiful emeralds in the world. But, the earliest emerald mines were found in Egypt, and date back to 2000 B.C. The most famous were known as The Mines of Cleopatra's Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt had a large cadre of emeralds and other jewels, but it is said that she loved her emeralds the best. Emerald mines are worked in terraces until the site is depleted. Cleopatra's mines started to run out in 1750 when they were abandoned. A few new lodes were found later, and mining was revived briefly. Finally, the mines were shut down permanently in the 1920's. Deposits can be found in Siberia, Afghanistan, other parts of Africa, Pakistan, Brazil, and Madagascar along with secondary sites around the world. Most of these mines produce emeralds that are a result volcanic activity which contain chromium bearing metamorphic, crystalline schists. These specimens are known as "metamorphic emerald deposits".


What makes the Colombian variety different?


The emeralds found at the Chivor Mine near the town of Somondoco east of Bogota and the Muzo Mine situated in the western foothills of the Andes do not come from volcanic activity. They were created by hydrothermal processes that are found in black shale clay dating back 120 million years. They crystallized in veins that are several centimeters in diameter, which were made up mainly of calcite, sodium feldspar albite, and iron sulfite pyrite. Then a whole hydrothermal routine took place. Biogenic masses from sea animals and organisms turned into bitumen which caused oxidation and formed the emeralds. Then beryllium ions were released and passed into the veins and cracks that held the mineral elements and caused the stones to cool as large crystals. When the pyrite entered the emeralds it gave them a rich genuine green color that is rarely found in emeralds from other areas. This natural process that produced the Colombian Emerald cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Columbia generates the world's highest quality emeralds.


When the Spanish Conquistadors arrived in South America, and Meso-America they were certainly looking for the riches that abounded in these regions. They are synonymous with the great rush for gold. However, they also wanted other gemstones including emeralds. The Incas in South America were subjected to torture by the Spaniards to learn the locations of the emerald mines, but the natives would not reveal the locations. Emeralds were very sacred to them, and they believed the stones had magical qualities. The Spaniards finally stumbled on the emerald mines by accident, and started commercial mining operations in Colombia and elsewhere on the continent.


The Chivor Mine was discovered by Pedro Fernandez Valenzuela. Emerald mining in Columbia has very violent and cruel history. The conditions became so brutal that the mine was closed down in 1675 by royal decree. Mining operations were sporadic with the mines being opened and closed for various reasons which included barbaric cruelty toward the workers, lack of good equipment and blatant corruption. While the Muzo Mine experienced fewer lapses in production the Chivor Mine was shut down on a more regular basis, and did not return to full production until 1911. In the 1940's the government tried nationalizing the mines, and it led to an epidemic of corruption. In the 1970's the government shut down the mines again, and implemented a program where short-term leases were granted to private companies. Today, mining operations continue but there is a widespread emerald smuggling activity that occurs in Columbia.


Types of Synthetic Emeralds


In the gem market today there is also the proliferation of synthetic emeralds. There are two synthetic types: hydrothermal and flux-grown. Carroll C. Chatam developed the first "flux" synthetics that were marketed successfully. The emeralds he produced did not have any water, and consisted of vanadate, molybdenum, and vanadium. Some synthetic stones are derived from natural, colorless beryl, and the growth period is about seven months.


The first hydrothermal synthetic emeralds came from Austria, and were developed by Johan Lechleitner. These emeralds started to be marketed in the 1960's. This type is produced by placing a thin emerald layer on top of a beryl stone, and then growing it in acid.


The Federal Trade Commission has strict rules about synthetic stones. They insist that the gems must exhibit the same optical, physical and chemical properties as their natural relatives.
The best known sources include Colombia and Zambia. I went to a closed Emerald mine in Australia. Emeralds can also be found in: Brazil, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Russia, USA (North Carolina) and other countries.


Emerald Themed Books
Actual Gem-related books:


Emerald Mystical Properties


Though not meant to replace traditional medical treatment, Emerald is used for physical and emotional healing. It is said to strengthen not only the physical body but also sooth the emotions. Energy healers often associate emerald with the heart chakra. Some traditions say that emerald will help one become more flexible and understanding making it a helpful addition to wedding rings.

More Emerald Lore


The Moguls of India, including Shah Jahan, the builder of the Taj Mahal, loved emeralds so much they inscribed them with sacred text and wore them as talismans. Some of these sacred stones, called Mogul emeralds, can still be seen in museums and collections today. For example, one talismanic emerald is deep green and weighs 78 carats. Around the edge in Persian runs the inscription:


"He who possesses this charm shall enjoy the special protection of God."
According to legend, Emeralds strengthen the owner's memory, quicken the intelligence and assist in predicting the future.


Emeralds have been believed to symbolize fidelity and goodness.
Emerald is the US State Gemstone of North Carolina.
Emerald is said to be the Spring Gemstone of the Season.


Poems
Because
Emeralds

Green as the sea

Floated right before me

So why is this gift you say?

Because your eyes

Show me love

Everyday

at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

What do you think of these solution?

.