Emerald
the royal green color
Emerald is the quintessential green gemstone that has been treasured for thousands of years.
It is very rare to find Natural, untreated Emerald with good clarity. Some level of inclusion is typically acceptable for Emerald. They frequently have inclusions which are referred to as “jardin” – French for “garden”.
One of the acceptable methods of treating Emeralds is ‘oiling’ which fills small fissures that reach the surface of the gems.
Significant sources of Emerald are Columbia, Brazil, Zambia, Afghanistan, and the recent discovery in Ethiopia.
Emeralds are part of the Beryl family which comes in many colors – blue (Aquamarine), green (Emerald & Green Beryl), peach-pink (Morganite), yellow (Heliodor), colorless (White Beryl/Goshenite) and red (Bixbite from Utah).
While Beryl has a hardness of 7.5-8.0 on the Mohs Scale one should exercise extra caution with Emeralds as they frequently have fissures that can potentially cause issues.
Emerald is the birthstone for May and celebrates the 20th and 35th Anniversaries.
We have more shapes and sizes available in Emerald – please contact us if you don’t find what you are looking for in our online inventory.
Here is a link to GIA’s Buyer’s Guide to Emerald:
click here to see a selection of Emerald for sale
Colors | emerald green bluish-green light green medium green deep green |
Family/Species | Beryl |
Properties | RI = 1.577 (+/-0.016) – 1.583 (+/-0.017) SG = 2.72 (-0.05, +0.12) Dispersion = 0.014 Hardness = 7.5-8 Highly suitable for use in jewelry |
Treatments | Can be 100% Natural, untreated (very rare) Emerald is routinely treated to reduce the inclusion level and improve clarity See policy on Treatment Disclosure |
Important information | We prefer to work with Natural, untreated (unoiled) material with attractive bluish-green to strong green colors The darkest green colors are generally the most desired and expensive gems (most emerald normally occurs in lighter tones) |
Birthstone | May |
Anniversary | 20Th |
Cuts | Calibrated up to 4mm All standard cuts and free sizes |
Mining locations | Columbia, Brazil, Zambia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Afghanistan and other localities worldwide |