STUNNING NATURAL MINED EMERALD 1.96CTS

HISTORY:
Columbian emeralds have been found in archeological digs dating back to pre-Columbian times, from the 1200’s, as artifacts such as crystals set in gold. Prior to the 16^th century, Cleopatra’s Egyptian deposits were the only known source of emeralds for Europe and Asia. But after the discovery of large, clear, saturated crystals in Columbia, the Egyptian material was considered to be of only historical significance.

Each major Columbian emerald mine seems to produce gems with distinct qualities. We expect to find visible inclusions in most emeralds, and there are very few absolutely clean stones from the Columbian mines. Most jewelers and consumers know and accept this. GIA’s colored-gem trading system places emerald, along with red beryl and red tourmaline, into the Type III category, which denotes stones that are always included.

CARE AND CLEANING:
Emeralds, like all beryls, have a hardness of 8 to 8.5 on the Mohs scale, which means they can take a fair amount of abuse and can’t be scratched by most objects. However, because many emeralds have fissures that make them vulnerable to breaking, one should be careful not to smack the stone against something hard.