As you can tell from the captions in the photos below, Emerald is found in the Southern hemisphere, primarily in two locations. The African stones are a bluer hue and typically contain black chromite inclusions. The Colombian / Brazilian stones span the borders of the two countries and more often contain White Calcite inclusions. Both typically have a “Jardin” or “garden” of flaws. Emerald is a gem from Biblical times and continues to remain popular today.

These gems are composed of Aluminum Beryllium Silicate. Emeralds’ Green is a result of Chromium trapped within the Hexagonal Beryl Crystal. Depending on the saturation of these chemicals, Emerald can range from very faint Light Green to an almost Black-Green. It can also have a greater Blue component, caused by the presence of Iron as well as Chromium, just to further confuse the issue. It boils down to, when you see a stone you like, then it is a good stone for you.

Emeralds are relatively soft and can chip easily, so it is much safer when set as a pendant or in a set of earrings than as a ring. However, if a ring is well designed to protect the stone, the client should be able to wear the piece with confidence.

Cost is factored on Depth of Colour, Clarity, Hue, Saturation and Rarity. An Extremely Fine Emerald can easily cost as much as a comparable weight Diamond and often, much more. As with Diamonds, the bigger the stone, the more expensive it is per unit of weight. So an Emerald weighing twice as much as another, with all else being identical, can cost three or four times as much just because of the rarity of the size of the larger stone.

Emerald is listed as the birthstone for the month of May.

The pictures below really do not do justice to the ranges of colours of Emeralds. To see a selection of stones, please come into our shop and see for yourself.