International Jewels : Emerald

Emeralds are a rare variety of the mineral beryl that is green because of its chromium content and is most valued gemstone of the world. Beryl has a hardness of 7.5 on the 10 point Mohs scale of hardness, diamonds rank at a 10 on the scale. Did you know that a fine emerald can be more expensive than a high ranked diamond of the exact same caret weight? Emeralds can be a great gift for that someone special in your life for a birthday or other special event.

Traditionally emeralds are the birthstone for the month of May and is the gift for a 55th wedding anniversary. One of the world's most beautiful and highly valued emerald is a Columbian emerald. These stones have a beautiful green color with a hint of blue. Such places as Russia, Pakistan, and Africa are some of just the few places that have high quality emeralds, recent findings in some of the North Carolina mines may have the means to provide up with good quality emeralds as well.

It is said that 4,000 years ago Egyptians introduced the emerald to the world, however the emeralds that were mined then were not as high quality and were minimal in value by this day standards. Egyptians traditionally thought that wearing an emerald promoted healing and bettered love and happiness. Although very popular in Rome, often mummies were buried with emeralds or so they thought, when actually they were peridot a close relation of the emerald.

Like the sapphires and rubies, emeralds may be treated by one of the four of the common treatments dyeing, coating, irradiation and heat treatment. If one of the following treatments have transpired this should be disclosed prior to your purchase. Although it is not uncommon for an emerald to have been treated with an oil or epoxy resins to fill in the cracks on the surface, by doing this the cracks become less visible and improve transparency. This treatment will not diminish the value of the stone, but before you purchase a emerald, it is wise to know that natural emeralds can be very costly and are not easy to find. A true emerald should come with a card certifying the stone of it's autenticity. It is important that with all stones you buy from a reputable jeweler who knows the gemstone and the history of the stone.

Again like the sapphire and ruby, an emerald can be lab created. Although lab created emerals have been around for many years, some dealers have actually be able to produce a lab created stone to show the same natural inclusions that a true natural emerald would have. Less reputable dealers will try to tell you that a lab created emeral is real as this is not the case, as lab created stones have the same chemical likings as a natural a true reputable jeweler will disclose this information and should have no problems with you wanting to have the stone checked out by a lab.

Be sure that when looking at the stone that it is deep in a green color and that it does not change color in the light, take a moment to pay attention to the cut of the stone. Although emeralds come in a array of styles and shapes, you want to make sure that the light reflects properly off of the stone when looking at it from different angles. You can even go one step further and choose several different styles and shapes, place them along side of one another to do a quick comparison. After you have taken these steps you can then choose your emerald with piece of mind.

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