After taking the Magdalena River from the Caribbean coast, Jan van der Molen finally arrived in the Boyaca region. He travelled up a lagoon that brought him inland and landed on a lake.

Closing his eyes, he felt all the spiritual strength of the place. Suddenly, he heard songs approaching. Jan van der Molen manoeuvred his boat to hide it on the side of the road, and halfway down the road he saw a raft with several natives on board. The raft came to rest in the middle of the lake. The natives danced and threw several clay vessels covered with gold dust into the water.

Once the raft was gone, Jan van der Molen split the lake in the middle. He noticed that a jar was still floating on the surface of the turquoise water. With the help of a net, he grabbed it. He examined it carefully. The object was desperately empty. The gold dust was gone. With pity, he violently threw the urn. It broke. As Jan van der Molen looked at the pieces scattered on the floor of his boat, he noticed that one of them shone with a greenish light. Surprised, he picked it up: a beautiful stone was embedded in it.

A few weeks later in Santa Fe de Bogota, Jan van der Molen had the gemstone appraised. It was authenticated as a natural emerald of exceptional clarity. 

Jan van der Molen had witnessed an ancestral ceremony of offering to the gods. The Muisca people returned to the sacred lake Guatavita what belonged to them: the magical green glow of the emerald.

In honour of the Muisca people, he decided to have a gold and silver ring made with the purest and most irresistible emerald. The one he now had in his possession. He named it embrujo verde : which means green bewitchment.

To know more about this object, it's here ;)

Antique Colombian emerald ring

Text by Jean-Philippe Samarcq.