I would like to talk to you today about the beryl species. In this first section I am going to discuss emerald. I love emerald. It is one of my favourite gemstones. I guess I am partial to this stone because of the colour. I love the colour green so for me there are a great deal of gemstones out there that I just adore. It reminds me of the spring and summer. Fresh cut grass and leaves. Very organic and earthy. So let's have fun and learn something new about emerald.
The colours of emerald are emerald green, green, slightly yellow-ish green. The colour streak is white. The Mohs hardness is 7.5-8. Density 2.67-2.78 and the cleavage is indistinct. Crystal system is Hexagonal which is described as three of the four axes are on one plane, are of the same length, and intersect each other at angles of 120 degrees. The fourth axis, which is a different length, is at right angles to the others. Typical crystal shapes are hexagonal prisms and pyramids, as well as twelve-sided pyramids, and double pyramids. This is all found in the book Gemstones of the World by Walter Schumann. The chemical composition is aluminum beryliium silicate. The transparency is transparent to opaque.
The name emerald comes from the Greek word smaragdos which means green stone. Emerald is considered to by the most precious stone in the beryl family. The green colour of the emerald is incomparable and so by default is called emerald green. The colouring agent for emerald is chrome. Beryls that are coloured by vanadium should be called green beryl not emerald. Only the finest gemstones are transparent. The emerald is often cloudy due to inclusions. The inclusions are not to be considered as faults but proof of natural gemstones instead of synthetic and other imitations. Some experts refer to the inclusions as jardin, which is French for garden.
One famous emerald piece is in the Viennese treasury is a vase which is 4.5" high and weighing in at 2205cts which was cut from a single emerald. The biggest emerald ever found was discovered in 1969 and weighed 7,025cts. The Devonshire Emerald is an other large emerald is 1,383.95cts.
So in conclusion I would like to say that I had a great time talking and learning about emeralds today. I find it interesting that there is a great deal that we can learn about emeralds and I love learning about the various gemstones out there. I had fun and I hope you did too. Please drop me a line and let me know what you think about this or any of the other blogs. I look forward to hearing from you. Until next time.
The rare gem lady
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