Celebrating May's Birthstone - Emerald
As spring reaches full bloom and the earth bursts into shades of green, May’s birthstone, the emerald, takes centre stage. Known for its deep, vibrant green colour and rich cultural history, emeralds have captivated humanity for thousands of years and remain one of the most sought-after gemstones today.
The name "emerald" comes from the ancient Greek word smaragdus, meaning "green gem." Mined as early as 330 BC in Egypt, emeralds were cherished by Cleopatra, who famously adorned herself and her palace with the gem. The Romans believed emeralds could bring fertility and rebirth, a fitting symbolism for May, a month known for renewal and growth. The emerald is also associated with hope and peace.
Emeralds were formed millions of years ago and, due to the unique set of circumstances required, are incredibly rare. Emeralds belong to the mineral family known as beryl; several different varieties of the mineral exist, including aquamarine, morganite and heliodor, but the green emerald is the most prized and valuable.
An emerald’s colour – varying from bluish green to pure green with vivid colour saturation – is determined by the levels of chromium, vanadium and iron present in the gemstone. We are proud to incorporate Zambian emeralds responsibly mined by Gemfields in many of our creations, and Zambian emeralds fall within the bluish green to green range.
Zambian emeralds tend to have a higher iron content than other emeralds, which means they are less fragile. High iron content also means fewer inclusions, and less need for treatments and enhancements. This strong structure and richness in colour has made smaller sized, high-quality gems possible; while some of the largest and most exceptional emeralds ever found have also been unearthed, thanks to the careful process of recovering them by hand at Gemfields’ Zambian mine. Zambian emeralds were first commercially mined in the 1970s. Since acquiring the Kagem mine in 2008, in partnership with the Zambian government, Gemfields’ investment has stabilised and standardised the supply of emeralds. Today, the mine supplies around one in four of the world’s emeralds. When an emerald is recovered at Kagem, it is the first time that light has ever passed through the crystal, bringing it to life after half a billion years in darkness.
Discover our emerald creations.
Elena Basaglia, Head of Partnerships & Product – Downstream, at Gemfields takes the opportunity to share some insight on May’s birthstone.
“Emeralds have long been the currency of empires. Ever since Cleopatra made this vibrant green gemstone the signature of her kingdom, emeralds have been seducing the great and the good. They were used as a colourful display of wealth and show of force under the Roman emperor Julius Caesar, and as a symbol of peace and restoration under Augustus; they were an obsession for Napoleon, and a forbidden item for anyone other than the emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora in Byzantine times.
The human fascination with emeralds is a thread woven through our collective history. Early humans, captivated by the beauty of colour and the desire to possess enduring treasures, fell in love with this gemstone. In a world where everything else aged and withered, the unchanging beauty of emeralds was a source of awe, desire and admiration. The only logical explanation for their existence was that they were somehow divine, forever linked to the spiritual world.
It has always been widely held that green is a relaxing colour, and emeralds have been ascribed talismanic qualities; they are thought to symbolise good health, the green shoots of Spring, fertility and abundance. Although there are other green gemstones commonly used in jewellery – peridot, jade and tsavorite, for instance – scarcity is what sets emeralds apart.
Emeralds are formed from a rare combination of uncommon elements, namely chromium and beryllium, which are usually found at entirely different depths in the earth’s crust. Chromium is found in minute amounts in the ultramafic rock that makes up a significant portion of the oceanic crust, while beryllium is usually embedded in much newer igneous rocks that form peaks and highlands. These igneous rocks, known as pegmatites, are formed on land by cooled molten magma.
In essence, beryllium and chromium are like the Romeo and Juliet of the elements, and the emeralds that form from their union are regarded as true scientific marvels.
As a gemmologist, I am fascinated by the science and romance of emerald: a royal gemstone with incredible beauty and history, the result of an impossible chemical love affair, formed under the most unlikely of circumstances.
Emeralds originating from different parts of the world present slightly different features. Historically, Colombia was the primary source of emeralds, dating back to when the Spanish conquistadores opened mines in Chivor, Muzo and other localities in the mid-1500s.
Emerald mining in East Africa is much newer and can be traced back to the 1970s, despite the fact that Zambian emeralds were formed more than 500 million years ago.
When an emerald is unearthed from the ground, the first ray of sunlight travelling directly through the gemstone gives it its glowing colour for the very first time. Zambian emeralds’ colour results from chromium and iron contamination in their simple octagonal beryl structure. In Mother Nature’s cookbook, iron is pivotal in bonding the elements tighter, making the crystal less fragmented and more wearable in everyday jewellery.
Zambian emeralds have a distinctive colour, which can be described as a sharp, evenly distributed green that glows with a tint of blue. Internally, microcosms of natural prodigies can be observed under the gemmological lens. Internal features are Mother Nature’s fingerprint and a telltale sign that the gemstone has travelled through time, environments and conditions that will remain in its memory forever.
The formation of each gem influences the decisions made by the lapidary, who unfolds magical sparkles from within each gem after it has been unearthed. Emerald cutting is still done using traditional methods and simple tools that have been perfected over time.
The first cut imposed on a rough gem ends one story and begins a new one. Most commonly, the cutter will opt for an emerald cut: a classical rectangular shape with bevelled corners that elegantly enhance light reflections, reduce stress and maximise weight retention in the rough-to-cut transformation. The cut emerald eventually chooses its setting and its new owner, as gemstones are believed to have the power to tap into the inherent human weakness for beautiful things.”
Explore emeralds in our Colours of Love collection.
