* Emerald, Esmaralda, Smaragdos *

The colour of nature is depicted beautifully in gemstones through emerald. This gemstone is the favourite of so many people and also many jewellery designers tend to use it really often on their pieces. Who can resist at this deep green or "smaragdi" (as we call it in Greek) colour?! 

Emerald is the green variety of beryl and it belongs to the hexagonal crystal system.Its colour is caused because of its chemical composition and the existence of chromium and sometimes vanadium traces. It has a hardness around 7.5 at the Moh's scale, which makes it a fragile stone with many fractures.This is the reason why the emerald cut was created in gemstones. This cut is actually an octagonal cut, with the corners truncated, so that it will avoid the chipping of the stone. Great caution should be taken when wearing pieces of emerald on an everyday basis. This gemstone is cut as faceted and used in very nice pieces of jewellery and sometimes it can be cut as cabochons, in order to increase the durability of the stone.  The majority of natural emeralds contain inclusions, such as crystal inclusions, needle-like crystal inlcusions, 3-phase inclusions (liquid filled cavities including a crystal and gas bubbles) or 2-phase inclusions (liquid filled cavities with gas bubbles). Colour zoning can be also present on some stones. Emeralds are almost always treated with oil or resin in order to fill the fractures which reach the surface of the stone. This enhances their appearance, by improving clarity and colour and make them more durable.The most important localities of emeralds that are found in the market are Colombia, India, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Brazil. In the first photo, a translucent to opaque oval cut stone with fractures is depicted, whereas in the second photo a transparent oval cut faceted emerald fracture filled with oil and originating from Zimbabwe can be seen.

Transulcent to opaque oval cut faceted emerald

Transparent oval cut faceted emerald from Zimbabwe

This amazing green colour of emerald is very adorable and it has been used through ages. My favourite suite of emeralds can be seen in the photos below. It comes from Larooz and it consists of a necklace, a pair of earrings and a ring. All of them are made in platinum metal and they show a cluster style of setting with a square shape. Emeralds on this suite are on a round cut faceted style with a claw setting surrounded by round brilliant cut diamonds.

Necklace with round cut faceted emeralds surrounded by diamonds by Larooz

Pair of earrings with round cut faceted emeralds surrounded by diamonds by Larooz

Ring with round cut faceted emeralds surrounded by diamonds by Larooz

Styling your emerald pieces is not that difficult. It depends on what pieces you own. The suite that I mentionned above is better worn with night outfits and on special occassions. A very beautiful maxi dress in neutral or blue tones will be perfect or even a tailoring suit in vivid or neutral colours could also be a very good match. It is very fashionable to wear summer suits including a jacket and a shorts. Emerald pieces will add some extra colour on your look and add a touch of formal attitude.