Inner Garden

Emerald conoisseurs know that inclusions are a part of the natural beauty of an emerald. They have even used the word 'jardin' or 'garden' to describe the inner features of a beautiful emerald. From his book The Internal World of Gemstones (Zurich, 1979), Doctor Eduard E. Gubelin, a world-renowned gemologist, describes the inclusion features of emeralds in poetic detail:

"The saturated green of a crystal clear green mountain lake is the image of the most beautiful emeralds. Such a peaceful mountain lake magnetizes our gaze into its depths. As we sink into it we attain a world where, in the shimmer of a distant greenish light, fronds of weed cast shadows, rigid growths stretch their limbs like chandeliers... This green landscape has long been familiar to jewellers as 'garden' and fine gardens with delicate ornamental plants are highly prized."

COLOR AND CHEMISTRY

You will often hear that Colombian emeralds are superior to African or Brazilian emeralds. In the same manner you will hear that rubies from Burma are superior to Thai rubies. The reason for this has to do with iron atoms. The color of fine Colombian emeralds seems to be "green on top of green" while Brazilian or African emeralds appear to be "green on top of grey or black". The pure velvety green off the Colombian emerald is the result of extremely rare geological conditions found only in the remote Andes Mountains of Colombia. The inner chemistry that causes these color differences comes from presence or absence of iron miles below the earth's surface (and millions of years ago) when the stones were formed.

In emeralds, small amounts of iron in the chemical makeup tends to blunt the intensity of green (caused generally by chromium) while at the same time adding grey or blackness to the color makeup. The iron content of Colombian emeralds is very small while in Brazilian and African emeralds it is significantly higher. This causes the difference in color that we perceive between Colombian stones and emeralds from other localities.

Thai rubies similarly have greater concentrations of iron than Burma rubies This causes a slight blunting of the intensity of the red as well as adding an undertone of brownish.

This is only one of the numerous differences among gemstones that is caused by subtle changes in the geologic conditions surrounding the formation of the stone. Despite the importance of origin in the makeup of a gemstone, beauty remains the top criteria for its price and desirability. Therefore, while quality is often based on origin, the final criteria for the selection of a gemstone should be beauty.

 Read the Paper I Submitted to the American Society for Aesthetics

Read the Connoisseurship Disclosure that appears on my Reports

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