May Birthstone - Emerald
Another month has come and gone. Life seems like such a blur these days with limited access to normalcy like running errands, kids at school, and big changes to everyday life. A new month means a new birthstone! I’m excited to talk to you today about emeralds! I love colored gemstones, and this is one of my favorites!
Some quick, easy facts about emeralds:
Emerald is one of the four recognized precious gemstones. The others are ruby, sapphire, and diamond.
Emerald is the birthstone of May and is the traditional gift for the 20th, 35th and 55th wedding anniversary in the US.
Emerald is made from beryl just like the gemstone aquamarine.Emerald gets its green coloring from trace amounts of chromium and/or vanadium.
A 1-carat emerald appears larger than a 1-carat diamond because of its lower density.
Emerald measures between 7.5 to 8 on the Mohs Scale of Hardness. Though they are durable stones, emeralds are susceptible to chipping and cracking. This makes emeralds more expensive to set into jewelry due to the risk involved.
Colombia yields the largest amount of emeralds, contributing to more than 50 percent of all emerald production worldwide. -The Spruce Facts
For extensive articles and much more information on emeralds, you can visit my alma mater, GIA’s, website.
I also wanted to talk to you today about a specific pair of emerald earrings I designed for a client, pictured below.
The fan shape emeralds in the earrings are from the Muzo mine in Columbia. Columbia produces up to 2/3 of the world’s emeralds in their mines. You can read all about the Muzo mines by clicking here.
These earrings were an anniversary gift for a very special woman! Her husband wanted an earring that was simple yet very special… I think these turned out perfect! I paired them with beautiful matching pair of pear shape diamonds as a simple delicate stud earring.
If you have any questions or would like your own emerald jewelry, please reach out and email me!
