A Brief History Of Emeralds – What You Need To Know
The gorgeous green gemstones have been with us for hundreds and thousands of years, symbolizing life, growth, and fertility. The term ‘emerald’ has originally been derived from a Persian word, which means ‘green gem’, and throughout the years, the name has been changed numerous times from Greek to Latin Smaragdus, Esmaurde, Esmralde, and finally to Emerald in the 16th century.
The ancient emerald
The green gem is a popular variety of naturally colorless Beryl stone, which also gives rise to other gemstones e.g. morganites. It’s a type III gemstone, which, no matter how beautiful, has flaws most of the time. The Columbian emerald is the most flawless among them and also the costliest one, because of its high quality.
Emerald and the blue blood
The Incas and Aztecs had considered emerald as their own for thousands of years, just like other ancient tribes in Columbia. However, it’s the 16th-century bloodbath that cemented emeralds in the history of South America, as Spanish conquerors looted them extensively from the mines in the region. Since then, royalties from all over have been depending on the Spanish mines to adorn their jewelry and crowns with the green gemstone. Be it the Indian Mughal rulers, The Russian royalties or the Iranian monarchs, this particularly glowing gemstone has occupied the royal treasuries of numerous emperors and Shah for hundreds of years. Even some of the famous ladies in history like Queen Cleopatra and Catherine The Great have been said to be eternal devotees of the beautiful green gem.
Emerald cut and synthetic emeralds
Originally, the emeralds were cut in a popular style, which came to be known as the ‘emerald cut’ later. It optimized the green glow without altering the brilliance of the stone. Synthetic emeralds were created somewhere in 1935, and the first-ever Chatham Emerald is displayed in the Smithsonian Institute.