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Emerald

Emerald
General
Category	Beryl variety
Identification
Color	Green shades to colorless
Crystal Habit	Massive to well Crystalline
Luster	Vitreous
Diaphaneity	Transparent to opaque

Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes vanadium.[2] Beryl has a hardness of 7.5?8 on the Mohs scale.[2] Most emeralds are highly included,[3] so their toughness (resistance to breakage) is classified as generally poor. Emerald is a cyclosilicate.
Etymology

The word "emerald" is derived (via Old French: esmeraude and Middle English: emeraude), from Vulgar Latin: esmaralda/esmaraldus, a variant of Latin smaragdus, which originated in Ancient Greek: ????????? (smaragdos; "green gem").[4]

Properties determining value

Cut emeralds

In the 1960s, the American jewelry industry changed the definition of "emerald" to include the green vanadium-bearing beryl as emerald. As a result, vanadium emeralds purchased as emeralds in the United States are not recognized as such in the UK and Europe. In America, the distinction between traditional emeralds and the new vanadium kind is often reflected in the use of terms such as "Colombian Emerald".[7]

Color

In gemology,[8] color is divided into three components: hue, saturation, and tone. Emeralds occur in hues ranging from yellow-green to blue-green, with the primary hue necessarily being green. Yellow and blue are the normal secondary hues found in emeralds. Only gems that are medium to dark in tone are considered emerald; light-toned gems are known instead by the species name green beryl. The finest emerald are approximately 75% tone on a scale where 0% tone would be colorless and 100% would be opaque black. In addition, a fine emerald should be well saturated and have a hue that is bright (vivid). Gray is the normal saturation modifier or mask found in emerald; a grayish-green hue is a dull-green hue.[6]

Clarity

Brazilian emerald (grass-green variety of the mineral beryl) in a quartz-pegmatite matrix with typical hexagonal, prismatic crystals.

Emerald tends to have numerous inclusions and surface breaking fissures. Unlike diamond, where the loupe standard, i.e. 10× magnification, is used to grade clarity, emerald is graded by eye. Thus, if an emerald has no visible inclusions to the eye (assuming normal visual acuity) it is considered flawless. Stones that lack surface breaking fissures are extremely rare and therefore almost all emeralds are treated ("oiled", see below) to enhance the apparent clarity. The inclusions and fissures within an emerald are sometime described as "jardin" (French for 'garden'), because of their mossy appearance.[10] Imperfections are unique for each emerald and can be used to identify a particular stone. Eye-clean stones of a vivid primary green hue (as described above), with no more than 15% of any secondary hue or combination (either blue or yellow) of a medium-dark tone, command the highest prices.[6] The relative non-uniformity motivates the cutting of emeralds in cabochon form, rather than faceted shapes. Faceted emeralds are most commonly given an oval cut, or the signature emerald cut, a rectangular cut with facets around the top edge.

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