02/06/2025
Gem School 🎓
Emerald is the green to greenish blue variety of beryl, a mineral species that also includes aquamarine and morganite. Its name comes from the ancient Greek word for green, “smaragdus.”
The first known emerald mines were in Egypt, dating from at least 330 BC into the 1700s. Cleopatra was known to have a passion for emerald, and used it in her royal adornments.
Emeralds from what is now Colombia were part of the plunder when sixteenth-century Spanish explorers invaded the New World. The Incas had already been using emeralds in their jewelry and religious ceremonies for 500 years.
There are other green gems, like tourmaline and peridot, but emerald is the one that’s always associated with the lushest landscapes and the richest greens.
In the trade any green beryl colored by chromium tends to, by some people, be called an emerald. But to most gemologists, gemological laboratories, and colored stone dealers, it is more correct to call a stone green beryl when its color is too light or the saturation too weak for it to be classified as emerald.
