Gem of the Week: EMERALD

Wouldn’t it be great to stroll down the yellow brick road in your ruby red slippers to Emerald City with a Tin Man, a Scarecrow, and a Cowardly Lion?! Well, since we don’t have the magic powers of Glenda, the Good Witch of the North, we’ll just give you a lesson on emerald.

As it’s Greek etymology implies, emerald is a green gemstone. Emeralds come in a variety of hues, ranging from yellow-green to blue-green. While the range of hues for emerald varies, only the gems with a medium to dark tone are considered to be true emeralds. Green gems that are of a lighter tone are known as green beryl.

Due to their low resistance to breakage, emeralds have a high amount of inclusions. Finding an emerald that has a minimal amount of inclusions is very rare. Since inclusions are common to the gemstone, emeralds are often oiled to enhance their clarity. As a result of the brittleness and fissures of emerald, it is very difficult to cut an emerald. To combat the presence of inclusions found on emeralds, gem cutters created the emerald cut particularly for this gemstone.

While emeralds can be found in many countries, South America has claims to the finest emeralds in the world.

Even though we don’t have Glenda’s powers, we won’t keep you from dreaming!