Being as Mother Nature only made so many incredible emeralds, the more incredible ones have developed names and long herstories! Cleopatra is the 1st know true collector. She may have dropped her pearls in Mark Anthony wine but she kept her emeralds for herself. After inheriting all of the earlier Pharaoh's collections she secured many from Afghanistan and Romania. She liked to bask in light filtered through them for her skin. Cleopatra secured the Eye of Isis (today's Hooker Emerald) from an Afghan sheh's belt buckle ~ she wrote of it being her favorite thing on Earth. Nero, being another of the world's greatest collectors, ends up with most of her collection (passed from Julius Caesar). Nero was very near-sighted and cut the hugest for a monocle to watch "the games". He later commissioned the first pair of sunglasses ~ from emeralds. The Hooker was in his crown and was tangled throughout Roman history. Much of this collection mixes with Russian emeralds and becomes the crown jewels of Eastern Europe. Most are again united by Napoleon who added even more. His favorite, the Hooker, was in his crown. Most were commissioned for Josephine then remounted again in 1810 for the Marie Antoinette: a twinkling 290 carats consisting of a Tiara: 79 emeralds (22 large, 57 small), 1002 brilliants, 264 rose diamonds, Necklace: 30 emeralds, 864 brilliants and 264 rose diamonds, Earrings: 6 emeralds, 66 brilliants and 48 rose diamonds, Comb: 23 emeralds, 226 brilliants, 54 rose diamonds, Belt clasp: 5 emeralds, 107 brilliants. Louis XIV, being an avid collector/lover, added even more. Then during Louis XVl's reign most of the French Crown Jewels were stolen by the English. The remainder were sold after his beheading for fear of restoration of the monarchy (French Revolution). The stolen majority waited out the statute of limitation from French law in England where then they were hacked, separated, sold by English monarchs. Queen Elizabeth's father sold many financing WWII. The French have never quite gotten over the loss of their emeralds ~ the British get fresh rocks cut for their crown jewels or risk international incident.
Being as Mother Nature only made so many incredible emeralds, the more incredible ones have developed names and long herstories! Cleopatra is the 1st know true collector. She may have dropped her pearls in Mark Anthony wine but she kept her emeralds for herself. After inheriting all of the earlier Pharaoh's collections she secured many from Afghanistan and Romania. She liked to bask in light filtered through them for her skin. Cleopatra secured the Eye of Isis (today's Hooker Emerald) from an Afghan sheh's belt buckle ~ she wrote of it being her favorite thing on Earth. Nero, being another of the world's greatest collectors, ends up with most of her collection (passed from Julius Caesar). Nero was very near-sighted and cut the hugest for a monocle to watch "the games". He later commissioned the first pair of sunglasses ~ from emeralds. The Hooker was in his crown and was tangled throughout Roman history. Much of this collection mixes with Russian emeralds and becomes the crown jewels of Eastern Europe. Most are again united by Napoleon who added even more. His favorite, the Hooker, was in his crown. Most were commissioned for Josephine then remounted again in 1810 for the Marie Antoinette: a twinkling 290 carats consisting of a Tiara: 79 emeralds (22 large, 57 small), 1002 brilliants, 264 rose diamonds, Necklace: 30 emeralds, 864 brilliants and 264 rose diamonds, Earrings: 6 emeralds, 66 brilliants and 48 rose diamonds, Comb: 23 emeralds, 226 brilliants, 54 rose diamonds, Belt clasp: 5 emeralds, 107 brilliants. Louis XIV, being an avid collector/lover, added even more. Then during Louis XVl's reign most of the French Crown Jewels were stolen by the English. The remainder were sold after his beheading for fear of restoration of the monarchy (French Revolution). The stolen majority waited out the statute of limitation from French law in England where then they were hacked, separated, sold by English monarchs. Queen Elizabeth's father sold many financing WWII. The French have never quite gotten over the loss of their emeralds ~ the British get fresh rocks cut for their crown jewels or risk international incident.
The Inca and Aztec greatly prized emeralds and associated them with vision. After years of searching/torturing the Spanish conquistadors, in 1537, discovered the famous Colombian mines at Chivor and Muzo. These are the most beautiful setting the market and standard. The Spanish queens enjoyed many of these beautiful rocks but most of the truly incredible ones were lost in early ship wrecks (Atocha).
The Indians (including Shah Jahan, the builder of the Taj Mahal) loved emeralds so much that they inscribed them with sacred verse and wore them as talismans. Hindu texts are the origin of Dorothy's Emerald City. Here they are associated with Mercury, the planet of nerves, intellect, memory, creative ability and cure all sorts of eye and ear troubles, forgetfulness, epilepsy, stammering, and insanity. Starring at emerald will make the eyes cool. Chinese Emperors valued them as the jade of heaven and knowledge.
Our "birthstones" system comes from the ancient Ionian priestesses through the breast plate of the Egyptian's taken by the Jews (Bible). Evolving lore shows the Romans attributing emeralds to Venus making her the lover's gem. May was made her solar time of power (rebirth/Spring) and she embolds the sign of Taurus. She is the talisman for Monday as well as for 55 years of marriage (35 in some systems) and is THE talisman recommended over all other precious and stones. Roman and medieval books agree that they prevents epilepsy, stops bleeding, calms dysentery. protects from panical terrors, delay storms and contain passion. They, also, acts as an antidote against laziness and stupidity. When put in the left arm they protect from witchnesses and destroy devil actions. In gem therapy, the science of curation through gems, much success has been reported in massaging certain cancer's affected zones with emeralds. The New Agers consider her the Stone of Peace and the subtle healer. They empower the "green" chakra through focused light and are all about heart/love or strength from love.
Today's Queen Elizabeth has Earth's largest in her crown but the Hooker was gifted to President Kennedy for his vision/love/strength in the '60s and resides in the Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. She belongs to us all now and is available daily for public gazing. Cleopatra's matched necklace is there ~ Napoleon conquered much of Europe to gain. How do we know who's emeralds came from where? The technique is based on measuring the concentration of 2 oxygen isotope ratios, that of 18O and 16O. Many are currently being analyzed and unveil an incredible tale of intrigue!
Emerald is beryl, Beryllium Aluminum Silicate Al2Be3(Si6O18) with the green coming from oxidized chromium (Cr) or vanadium (V). Emerald has a hardness of 7.5-8 making her a good gemstone for jewelry, however most are fractured and this impacts durability. These fractures (fluid and mineral inclusions) are known in the trade as "jardin" (garden leaves and branches). Each is unique and is said to tell her own story. Chromium emeralds exhibit chromium fluorescence or appears to glow from within. Emeralds colored by vanadium do not have this property and are less valuable. Most of these are processed for their beryllium content in the $2.2 billion emerald industry.
Our Stone of Eloquence occurs in granite rock and are pegmatites, hydrothermal deposits. They occur in Columbia, Brazil, Russia, Australia, North Carolina, Sri Lankra and Namibia. As the earth pushes her tectonic plates around, some of the continental plates get shoved under other ones. These liquefy from the heat and pressure. If the upper plate is part of an oceanic plate, liquefied beryls may combine with the unfamiliar chromium or vanadium to form emeralds. Because the formation process is quite rare, natural emeralds are far rarer than diamonds. In Columbia they form in black argillaceous limestone of the Upper Cretaceous age deposited when seas separating North and South America drifted. Continental drift created the Andes Mountains with the sea bottoms ending up being the mountain tops. While folding, fractures provided space for the growth of calcite veins. Hot magma followed by hot gases and fluids permeated through these cracks nowcalcite veins. Gases in these folds were trapped by an impermeable shale formation allowing beryllium to crystallized while the gasses and fluids slowly cooled.
The name beryl comes from the Greek "berylos", meaning has been lost. It was 1st isolated in free form in 1928 by F. Wholer and A. Bussy then obtained as a pure metal by the French scientist P. Lebeau in 1998. Beryllium is one and a half time lighter than aluminum or magnesium and is much stronger with a much higher melting point. Beryllium is one of the basic aircraft metals today. Excellent heat properties make it useful in space engines, heat shields, gyroscopic instruments on rockets and artificial satellites. It contains huge amounts of heat (15000 kcal per kg) and is the fuel for extended space travel yet unlike steel, beryllium does not spark when hit on stone or metal (non-explosive). Beryllium alloys even float in water! It is the bottom line on safety for x-ray tubes, space age sound transmission stuff and ultra high temperature nuke stuff. She is one of the 21st century's most important elements.
For over 4,000 years beryllium has quickened the mind, heart and eye of many powerful folk. Wonder who will wear Cleopatra's emeralds next?
Blessings