facts about emeralds

Emeralds are gorgeous rich green and blue coloured gemstones, which have been very popular for making stunning items of jewelry since ancient Egyptian times.

Emeralds are mined across Asia, parts of Africa and America and almost all have cracks in them, so jewlers will use a little oil or resin to fill in the surface marks. This is not considered cheating because this simple proceedure radically improves the transparency of the emerald. The best emeralds come from South America.

It may sound obvious, but the rectangular "emerald cut" is the most popular way that emeralds are cut. However, just as this cut is also used for diamonds, so other cuts are also used with emeralds.

 

Emeralds look particularly spectacular when set against white gold or platinum. When buying an emerald, look for clarity and colour and ensure you buy from a respected jeweller.

In both the Inca and Aztecs cultures, the emerald was regarded as a holy gemstone. The rareity of finding these beautiful stones is probably the reason theyy were so venerated.

Fake Emeralds

Peridot

Peridot is a semi-precious gem that looks very similar to emerald but should cost a lot less.

Synonyms for Peridot include Night emerald, Bastard emerald and Evening emerald.

Green Fluorspar

Green Fluorspar is a mineral that is very cheap but can fool some people.

Synonyms for Green Fluorspar include Bohemian emerald, Emerald matrix, Mother-of-emerald, South African emerald and Transvaal emerald.

Stone Dioptase

Stone dioptase is a silicate with a strong green hue.

Synonyms for Stone dioptase include Copper emerald, Congo emerald, Pyro emerald and Emerauldine.

Quartz

Quartz can be coloured to look like Emeralds that might fool some people.

Synonymns for coloured Quartz include Crystalline emerald, Gibsonville emerald and Indian emerald

Green Glass

Green glass is sometimes passed off as an imitation Emerald.

Synonymns for Green Glass include Broghton emerald, Electric emerald, Ferrer's emerald, Medina emerald, Endura emerald and Spanish emerald, Emeraldine, Lithia emerald and Mascot emerald.

Tourmaline

Tourmaline is a mineral that can be coloured to look like Emerald

Synonymns for Tourmaline include Emeraldite and Emeralite.