Gemstone

Emerald, the matriarch of the Beryl family and one of the oldest recorded gemstones in the world.

Emerald is prized the world over for the deep rich green colour exhibited by the finest crystals. These stones will often contain a wide variety of inclusions (poetically referred to as the ‘Jardin’) which the well-trained eye can use, somewhat like a unique finger print, to help identify exactly where the stone came from.

The earliest Emeralds were mined by the Ancient Egyptians. Cleopatra is reputed to have been so passionate about these precious gems, that she had her own mine. However the finest examples were brought to light by the Spanish Conquistadors in Columbia during the 16th Century. Some of these mines, still working today, produce arguably the most fabulous emeralds in the world.

If you fancy hunting for an emerald on your holiday you need to get booking those flights to Brazil, Columbia, or Zambia, where you might just bump into Mila Kunis, ambassador for the latest Gemfields campaign (above).

Given as a gift to the then Duke of Devonshire in 1831, the ‘Devonshire Emerald’ is one of the largest emerald crystals ever found. It weighs in at an impressive 1,383.93 carats and is on display in The Vault at The Natural History Museum in London. Another jaw dropper is the 217.80ct ‘Mogul Emerald’ (above) which is engraved with sacred text and foliate detail and was sold by Christies Auction House in 2001 for over £1.5 million.

Emeralds have adorned and been adored by Royalty – ancient, modern and Hollywood. Elizabeth Taylor’s Bulgari suite is justifiably one of the most famous emerald jewels in the world and more recently Angelina Jolie stunned in huge emeralds by Lorraine Schwartz on the red carpet.

Take a look at the fabulous book ‘Emerald’ which was described by the Telegraph as “almost as beautiful as the fine jewels it celebrates” or get yourself down to the Museum of London before April 27th to ogle the emeralds on display as part of The Cheapside Hoard exhibition. The star of the show is a hexagonal emerald-cased watch (above) which is believed to have been cut from one single stone.