It's Easy Being Green

The month of May brings with it the last gorgeous blooming flowers of Spring, and the hazy heat of the approaching Summer. What better gemstone to celebrate this month than the emerald? Let’s take a trip to the Emerald City of Oz and forget about the ruby slippers for a bit, as we indulge in the gorgeous hue of emeralds! 
 

Emeralds Through Time

Did you know that emerald gemstones were sold in jewelry 6,000 years ago? That’s right, Babalonian merchants sold these gemstones - even in 4000 BCE, people were drawn to the natural beauty of the emerald. Where were these stones mined? Archaeologists can’t say for sure, but there was a discovery of some of the earliest known occurrences of emeralds in Upper Egypt, near the Red Sea. Could this have been where Cleopatra’s legendary emerald obsession was born? 

This one of a kind ring with a a cabochon emerald is definitely fit for a queen! 

 

It Is Easy Being Green

Kermit the Frog got it wrong, it’s easy to love the brilliant green of an emerald! In addition to being a highly sought-after precious gem, many throughout history have said that emeralds have unique spiritual properties as well! Aristotle is said to have kept an emerald to boost his presence and speech during important events. Others have said that an emerald can keep curses at bay. During the Middle Ages, some even thought that an emerald can help you tell the truth from deception! Even though these ideas are a bit far-fetched, it’s hard to blame them. Keeping an emerald around certainly makes me feel a bit luckier! 

The Irish have always had a special relationship with emeralds - they are nicknamed the Emerald Isle after all. And what do old Irish folk tales say? That emeralds bestowed good luck and guidance. Maybe they could even help you find that elusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. 

 

It's hard not to feel like you're the most poised in the room when you're wearing this emerald pendant! 

 

Gem Facts

Emeralds are the most well-known members of the ”beryl” family of minerals, which also includes aquamarine and morganite. It has a Mohs hardness of about 7.5-8, making it durable enough to be a gem that you can wear every day. However, emeralds are gems that carry the story of how they formed with them - it’s not uncommon for small fractures and inclusions to be seen. This makes each gemstone unique, but it also usually requires that emeralds get treatment to make them more stable. It’s not uncommon for emeralds to have their fractures filled with oil to make them more subtle.

The Green of Growth

 

It’s hard not to look at an emerald and immediately think of lush gardens, overflowing with gorgeous flowers, grasses, and vines. The name emerald comes to us from the Greek word, smaragdos. The origin of smaragdos could be either the Hebrew word izmargad or the Sanskrit word marakata, meaning “the green of growing things” — fresh, vivid, radiant. This is exactly why emerald green is the standard by which other green gems are compared. There’s something almost magical about that nature-infused color of an emerald.

There's nothing more beautiful than the green of an emerald along with the sparkle of a diamond! Get this ring here. 

 

Whether you're shopping for a gift for a loved one or celebrating yourself, the beauty of emeralds makes for the perfect statement! Shop our full selection of emeralds and see what treasures you discover.