Lucky natives of May, the emerald is your birthstone - and since not everyone can take pride in the fact that their gem belongs to the Fantastic 4 clubIf it's the one in Taurus that shares your life, we're sure that makes sense when choosing a ring too. engagement ring 😊.
Emerald daisy ring with diamonds
The emerald is the most precious stone of the beryl family which also includes aquamarine. In our eponymous article we introduced the emerald as the latter's sexy older sister, if you will; in the Middleton family the aquamarine would be Pippa while Kate would be the emerald (one is the future Queen of England but the other is not doing badly either).
Its name comes from the Greek " smaragdos" meaning green stone, and the word " smaragdus" in Latin with a similar meaning. The colour of the emerald varies from green-yellow to green-blue. The stone also gave its name to a shade of green. It is also the origin of a form of gem called "emerald cut", which is rectangular in shape with cut sides. This cut appeared in the 19th century and was originally the preserve of eponymous stones as well as diamonds. An example of the cut is shown below, and the stone is a green tourmaline, which is an interesting alternative to beryl for tighter budgets.
Green Tourmaline 4.53 Cts, Emerald cut
I can't say exactly when my passion for jewellery began. Mister T alias Barracuda from the Agence Tous Risques is a hint - if you haven't read it, we highly recommend the article on Precious and non-precious metals ! Bianca Castafiore from The Adventures of Tintin - The Castafiore Jewels is another. And since we almost spoiled the ending in the article Fifty shades of greenWho, like the magpie, has not dreamt of possessing the emerald offered to the singer by the Maharaja of Gopal?
Castafiore's favourite piece is theAir des bijoux, from Charles Gounod's opera Faust first performed in 1859. It tells the story of Marguerite who, having adorned herself with jewels, sees herself as "so beautiful in this mirror". We can imagine that unlike our heroine, you don't need them to boost your self-confidence, but since we're talking about daisies, we have just the one with an emerald to suggest!
Emerald marquise ring with diamond setting
In your opinion, is it a coincidence that Hergé drew his inspiration from India with the Maharadja emerald? If you are told that it was an object of devotion in the Mughal Empire (16th-19th centuries), does that help? India and the emerald have a close relationship, not least because of the colour of the stone, which is associated with hope, rebirth, nature and peace.
The funny thing is that despite their close relationship, India is not among the emerald producing countries. However, emeralds are found in Austria, Afghanistan, Brazil, Madagascar, Pakistan, Zambia and Zimbabwe as well as in Colombia.
Emeralds sometimes have micro inclusions known as triphasic inclusions (because they contain liquid, gas in the form of bubbles and salt crystals). Without going into more scientific considerations, remember that most emeralds with these inclusions come from Colombia, THE historical and sexy source of emeralds. The ones that adorn our bracelet and flower ring below are certified Colombian 😉
Large gold, emerald and diamond bracelet
Colombian emerald and diamond daisy ring
The inclusions in emeralds are poetically called "gardens", and the stones are rarely clear. Because of this they are also relatively fragile, especially to high temperatures and shocks. To learn more about the care of your jewellery, we refer you to the article of the same name and we continue our space-time journey.
Elisabeth Taylor as Cleopatra, Film by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1963.
We haven't told you yet, but apart from the Colombian emeralds already exploited by the Incas (notably the Muzo and Chivor mines) and then forgotten before the conquistadors casually seized them in the 16th century, another country had emerald mines, which today are only of historical value: Egypt. And Cleopatra was totally enamoured of the stone. It is said that the queen, who had a flair for showmanship, adorned herself with gold and emeralds on her trips down the Nile in order to establish her power and wealth. She also used to give visiting dignitaries an emerald engraved with her profile - it's getting too easy to make jokes about her nose so we won't, especially as the legend is completely false! Did you know that? It's because of Pascal's 17th century maxim in his Pensées: "If Cleopatra's nose had been shorter, the whole face of the world would have changed.
Pink gold, emeralds and diamonds garter ring
Except perhaps at the time of Art Nouveau, and in the 1940s - but with the Second World War, the supply of precious stones was suspended; and then the French had other preoccupations - the emerald has never suffered a loss of interest. In 1925, at the Exposition des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes which gave its name to the movement Art DecoIn 1925, at the Exposition des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, which gave its name to the movement, Cartier presented an emerald called Berenice engraved with multiple flowers and weighing approximately 141 carats. At the time, it was mounted in a breastplate. It was bought in 1927 and disappeared until the 2000s when it was sold by Christie's and returned to its parent company. New settings were then created for it, including the tiara below.
Berenice emerald tiara, © Cartier
To know all about the supposed esoteric powers of emerald we refer you to the article on birthstones. It is said that the gem is connected to the heart chakra, so if you wish to be in a love relationship you will increase your chances by wearing the stone near your heart.
We're sure it also works with an emerald ring on the left ring finger, which is said to be directly connected to the heart via a vein! And if you've already found the other half of your orange (in Colombian Spanish, we say "encontrar su media naranja", for "finding your soul mate"), the emerald celebrates 40 years of marriage. You'd better find your engagement ring in our selection so you can have a beautiful green beryl in 40 years!
Don't be jealous if you weren't born in May, find a Taurus to marry! 😄 And/or discover the equally cool properties of your own birthstone.
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