Emerald Gem Stone
Emerald is the green variety of beryl, and one of the most rare and expensive ones. This stone has since eternity believed to bring faithfulness and unending unconditional love to the wearer. It is the birthstone of people born in May. Unlike what most people think, this stone is far harder than most, even though is softer that other varieties of beryl because of the geological conditions under which it is formed. That’s what makes it brittle and sometimes full of inclusions. However, the thing is very precious, and that calls for special care while setting the stone and wearing it.
The best kind of emerald is grass green in color – almost the pure spectral color, if not for a very slight tint of blue. But, like I said, flaws are so abundant in emeralds that they have sort of birthmarks for the stone that confirm their authenticity and give a fingerprint with which a particular stone can be identified.
Columbia is one of the most abundant sources of good quality emeralds, which is why the prices of emeralds go up drastically when they are proven to have their origin in Columbia. Other than Columbia, emeralds are also found in Brazil, the Indian subcontinent and Russia.
Now, being one of the most popular and prized stones on the planets also means that the stone has countless imitations and synthetics. While buying an emerald in the market, one has to be especially wary of not only synthetics and artificially treated stones, but also doublets and triplets that may not be represented as so. And of course, do not forget that there are a lot conmen passing green pieces of glass, complete with the flaws, as genuine emeralds.
The synthetics, unlike the imitations, are not inexpensive by any normal measure, except when compared with their originals. Artificial treatments to accentuate the quality of a emerald normally involve oiling other than the regular irradiation and heating. Now the thing with oiling is that it has been an acceptable practice since early Greek times, and it still is. But you have to make pretty damn sure that the price reflects the original quality of the emerald, and not what the quality seems to be after the oiling (if you remember, oiling removes the visibility of cracks that reach the surface). The same holds true for filling with epoxy resins or some other filler.
Understand that the more the popularity and price of a stone, the greater the number of fraudulent practices. So deal only with reputed jewelers and be especially wary of bargains. And after the purchase, make sure the gem is as good as it was represented to be, by getting it appraised. These days, purchase of such exotic and fine gems is not getting underway without proper lab reports or certificates.
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