Gem Focus May 2019: Emerald
*Gem Focus & Market Pulse (Free Subscriber)EMERALD: THE BIRTHSTONE OF MAY, HAS RECENTLY BEEN A GROWING TREND AFTER A LONG TERM PAUSE.
Emerald is the most prized variety of Beryl. The use of emeralds in jewelry and objects of personal adornment date back for millennia. It is the birthstone of May and has been a growing trend recently after a long-term pause.
Emeralds occur in a range of modified green colors. The ideal emerald color is described by GIA as “vivid, slightly bluish green,” although it is not uncommon to see pure green or slightly yellowish green specimens. Pure green is the rarest, while emeralds with a yellow modifier are often less desirable.
There is typically a strict tone description required of emerald in trade. If it is not medium or darker many dealers do not consider the stone emerald. Instead they classify it as green beryl. While this might seem reasonable for practical purposes, scientifically the variety is defined by its coloring agent. AGL New York recognizes any green beryl colored by chromium and/or vanadium as emerald regardless of the tone. Almost all emeralds contain iron as a trace element, though the amount may change from one formation to another. A beryl variety that owes its green color to iron only is named green beryl. The earliest documented source of emeralds is the Cleopatra Mine in Egypt. Other relatively early sources include what is today Pakistan and …