THE KING OF GREEN-COLOURED GEMSTONE
Known as “the king of green-coloured gemstone”, emerald is classified as one of the top five precious stones in the jewellery industry. The unparalleled green colour of emerald signifies hope and abundance. It is thought that emerald is highly favoured by Goddess Venus, thus it is associated with success and eternal love, safeguarding the honest and good memories of the wearer. Emerald deposits are scarce. They have been discovered successively in Colombia, Russia, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Zambia. However, the mines in Egypt where emeralds were first extracted are now depleted.

Emeralds are more difficult to mine than other gemstones and more resources are wasted in the process. As a result, they are sold at extremely high prices. Formed by the high pressure during the metamorphism of molten rocks, most of the emerald crystals appear in fractures. They are in general smaller in size. Top quality emeralds above two carats are scarce to find, those in excess of five carats are extremely rare.

Among the green variety of beryl, emerald is the most noble stone. The colour, hue and intensity determine its value. A subtle variation in colour can result in a drastic difference in emerald value. The most-prized emeralds appear in pure green, and are intense yet highly transparent. Compare with other gemstones, it is more difficult for emerald to form in the crust. It takes hundreds of years and adequate amount of changes in geological conditions to grow a desirable emerald crystal.
Such formation process makes emeralds contain numerous eye visible inclusions that are described by gemologists as an internal “jardin,” or garden. Due to this unique characteristic, emerald enhancement is widely accepted to deal with their cracks. Almost all emeralds in general are subject to oil enhancement, except for a precious few that are so naturally perfect they are spared this treatment, making them highly exceptional.