Emeralds - The Green Gemstones The majority of women like jewellery, Many men do as well, but they tend to prefer gadgets and watches. In numerous countries women store their wealth in jewellery as exemplified by the Fifties song "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend". Asian women in particular accumulate gold. However, precious stones and precious metals are by and large perceived to be very valuable. Leaving the value of the jewelry aside, most people have their favourite colour. Some prefer yellow gold, others prefer white. Some prefer the clarity and brilliance of diamonds, whilst others would rather have aquamarine, turquoise of green. In fact, high-quality green gemstones are among the most precious of all gemstones including diamonds. Emeralds are the most costly green gemstones weight for weight. Gemstones are formed underground at great pressures and they obtain their colours from the minerals involved in their composition. Gemstones are by and large fairly hard, because they were formed under great pressure. In olden times, lots of people believed that gems had magical properties. The magical property attributed to emerald was the restoration of eyesight and the curing of eye illnesses. In fact, emeralds are a kind of beryl and derive their green colour from the element chromium or occasionally vanadium. Emeralds have a hardness of seven to eight; diamonds are the hardest at 10 on the Mohs Scale. However, emerald has a great many inclusions (or faults), so it will shatter quite easily. These inclusions give emeralds their characteristic fuzzy look.Nevertheless, the best emeralds are those that have a clear, transparent, even colour of green all the way through. Weight for weight, an emerald of top quality is more valuable than a diamond of comparable quality, which surprises most people. However, good diamonds are easier to find than good emeralds and hence the difference in cost. Be very wary of stones that are known as 'something' emeralds like Lithia emeralds or oriental emeralds. These are normally cheaper gemstones which are referred to as emeralds in order to enhance their value. These stones are not emeralds and not worth much in comparison. Because of the cost of real emeralds, many 'cheap emeralds' are either not emeralds at all or are very poor specimens that are being held together by resin. It is very hard for a novice to know the difference between the decent and the bad, which makes it vital to purchase from a trustworthy jeweller or dealer.
Emeralds have been well-liked since the times of the pharaohs and there are emerald mines in Egypt. There are also emerald mines in Siberia, Brazil, Zambia, Pakistan, South Africa, India and Australia amongst other countries. In spite of the fact that there seems to be numerous sources of emeralds, decent quality gemstones are still difficult to get hold of at a good price. However, there are no equivalents to emerald, so if you want the best, you can expect to pay a lot for it. As with all expensive gemstones, you should ask for a signed certificate of weight and quality if you purchase an emerald. Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on a variety of subjects, and is now concerned with Amber in Poland. If you would like to know more, please visit our web site at Jewellry and Watches.