For my Rocks and Minerology block study I had to write a report on a gemstone of my choice and so I chose Emeralds.These stones are the green variety of the mineral beryl. The name comes from the Greek word smaragdos, which was given to most green stones. Emeralds are a green stone, with a hardness of 8, a white streak, and an imperfect cleavage. They are mostly translucent or transparent.
Good emerald sources are mined in Columbia, Austria, Norway, Russia, Brazil, Wales, South Africa, and North Carolina. Columbia produces 90% of the world's emeralds. They can be found with a quartz, granite, limestone, mica schist, or pegmatite host stone.
Emeralds are very rare and valuable and were important to many cultures in history. The Egyptians considered it as a symbol of life and fertility. The Aztecs considered it the stone of renewal. In the 17th century, it was thought that if you held the gem in your mouth, you would not have epilepsy. It was also thought to assist women in labor, drive away demons, and protect the wearer’s chastity. It was said to be good for the eyesight, stop fevers, prevent pain, and stop bleeding.
Emeralds as jewelry are very beautiful. There are 4 popular cuts for this stone: the mixed cut, the synthetic cut, the emerald cut, and the cabochon cut. If the stone is too cloudy to be pretty, it is tumble-polished. As emeralds are the traditional birthstone for May, it is popular for people born in this month to have jewelry made of this stone. Emeralds are also the stone for the 20th, 35th, and 55th wedding anniversaries. The largest natural emerald is the Bahia Emerald, which is 180,000 carats and is worth 75 million dollars.
