Precious Gems
I just finished a very interesting course in Gemology. Over the next months I will be posting some photos of beautiful gems. There are so many unknown gemstones. They are treasures of nature. Let’s remember some facts about them.
The emerald is a type of beryl. Very often they contain inclusions (internal flaws) or fissures (flaws that break the surface). For this reason, although quite hard (7.5-8 Mohs scale), emeralds are not very tough and must be handled with care.
The famous green color of the emerald is caused by chromium (and sometimes vanadium) impurities within the mineral structure of the stone. Often, emeralds are treated with oil in order to mask or diminish the visibility of fissures. Cedarwood oil is often used and it is generally expected in the gem trade that emeralds will have been treated with oil. However, treatment with dye in order to enhance the stone’s color is not considered acceptable. It is possible to create emeralds synthetically, but the seller must disclose the fact.
