| Because the rich green color of
emerald is the color of spring, the ancients prized it as the
gemstone symbolizing love and rebirth. Treasured for at least
4,000 years by different cultures all around the world,
emerald is said to quicken the intelligence as well as the
heart. Legend gives its owner the gift of eloquence.
Cleopatra prized her emeralds more than any other gem. She
may have dropped her pearls in her wine for Mark Anthony but
she kept her emeralds for herself! The ancient emerald mines
of Cleopatra, long a mystery, were discovered again a hundred
years ago near the Red Sea. Some tools found in the mine were
dated at 1650 B.C. but no quality emeralds were found: the
mines were exhausted thousands of years ago. Mummies in
ancient Egypt were often buried with an emerald on their necks
carved with the symbol for verdure, flourishing greenness, to
symbolize eternal youth.
The Romans also loved emeralds because, as ancient scholar
Pliny said, "nothing greens greener." Pliny said
that emerald was the only gem which delighted the eye without
fatiguing it. He said his eyes were restored when gazing at
emerald. Emperor Nero wore emerald sunglasses to watch the
gladiators.
One legend says that Satan lost the emerald from his crown
when he fell. The emerald was shaped into a bowl which the
Queen of Sheba sent to Nicodemus. Christ used the bowl at the
last supper and Joseph of Arimathea used the bowl to catch
blood from the cross, founding the order of the Holy Grail.
Emerald is the birthstone for May, the month of springtime
romance, and the anniversary gemstone for the twentieth year
of marriage, the perfect emblem of an enduring love.
How Green is Your Garden?
What is the source of the timeless appeal of emerald? Today
scientists tell us that the human eye is more sensitive to the
color green than to any other. Perhaps that is why green is so
soothing to the eye, and why the color green seems to
complement every other color: think of the beauty of a garden.
Spring can also be seen in the network of inclusions in the
depth of the emerald that the French call the "jardin,"
or "garden," because it resembles foliage. The
inclusions are like a fingerprint, giving each emerald a
distinct personality. The extreme rarity of transparent
emerald is why emeralds can be more valuable than diamonds.
Emerald is a beryl, a mineral that is normally colorless.
Emerald's rich green color is caused by minute traces of
chromium. Chromium is the rare Midas element of gemstones: its
presence also gives rubies their firey redness.
Crystals of emerald grew long before human history in
metamorphic rocks, which usually restricts the size of emerald
crystals, making them even rarer in large sizes. Other beryls,
emerald's cousins, like pale blue aquamarine, pink morganite,
golden heliodor, and pale green beryl, grow in pegmatites
which allow larger crystals to form. There is even a bright
red beryl found in Utah in the United States. |
