Beryl
var Emerald
Emerald is green beryl,
colored by trace amounts of chromium and
sometimes vanadium. Most emeralds are
highly included, so their brittleness
(resistance to breakage) is classified
as generally poor.
The modern English word "emerald" comes
via Middle English Emeraude, imported
from Old French Ésmeraude and Medieval
Latin Esmaraldus, from Latin smaragdus,
from Greek σμάραγδος smaragdos meaning
‘green gem’, from Hebrew ברקת bareket
(one of the twelve stones in the Hoshen
pectoral pendant of the Kohen HaGadol),
meaning ‘lightning flash’, referring to
‘emerald’, relating to Akkadian baraqtu,
meaning ‘emerald’, and possibly relating
to the Sanskrit word मरकत marakata,
meaning ‘green’. The Semitic word אזמרגד
izmargad, meaning ‘emerald’, is a
back-loan, deriving from Greek
smaragdos.
Emeralds in antiquity were mined by the
Egyptians and in Austria, as well as
Swat in northern Pakistan. A rare type
of emerald known as a trapiche emerald
is occasionally found in the mines of
Colombia. A trapiche emerald exhibits a
"star" pattern; it has raylike spokes of
dark carbon impurities that give the
emerald a six-pointed radial pattern. It
is named for the trapiche, a grinding
wheel used to process sugarcane in the
region. Colombian emeralds are generally
the most prized due to their
transparency and fire. Some of the
rarest emeralds come from three main
emerald mining areas in Colombia: Muzo,
Coscuez, and Chivor. Fine emeralds are
also found in other countries, such as
Zambia, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Madagascar,
Pakistan, India, Afghanistan and Russia.
In the US, emeralds can be found in
Hiddenite, North Carolina. In 1998,
emeralds were discovered in the Yukon.
Emerald is a rare and valuable gemstone
and, as such, it has provided the
incentive for developing synthetic
emeralds. Both hydrothermal and
flux-growth synthetics have been
produced. The first commercially
successful emerald synthesis process was
that of Carroll Chatham. The other large
producer of flux emeralds was Pierre
Gilson Sr., which has been on the market
since 1964. Gilson's emeralds are
usually grown on natural colorless beryl
seeds which become coated on both sides.
Growth occurs at the rate of 1 mm per
month, a typical seven-month growth run
producing emerald crystals of 7 mm of
thickness. The green color of emeralds
is widely attributed to presence of Cr3+
ions. Intensely green beryls from
Brazil, Zimbabwe and elsewhere in which
the color is attributed to vanadium have
also been sold and certified as
emeralds.
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