EMERALD

Emerald's lush green has soothed souls and excited imaginations since antiquity. Its name comes from the ancient Greek word for green, "smaragdus."


Pliny the Elder described emerald in his Natural History, published in the first century AD: "...nothing greens greener" was his verdict. He described the use of emerald by early lapidaries, who "have no better method of restoring their eyes than by looking at the emerald, its soft, green color comforting and removing their weariness and lassitude." Even today the color green is known to relieve stress and eye strain.

Legends gave emerald the power to make its wearer more intelligent and quick-witted. It was once believed to cure diseases like cholera and malaria. Its color reflects new spring growth, which makes perfect choice of a birthstone for the month of May. It's also the gemstone for twentieth and thirty-fifth wedding anniversaries.

History
The first known emerald mines were in Egypt, dating from at least 330 BC into the 1700s. Cleopatra was known to have a passion for emerald, and used it in her royal adornments.

Emeralds from what is now Colombia were part of the plunder when sixteenth-century Spanish explorers invaded the New World. The Indians had already been using emeralds in their jewelry and religious ceremonies for 500 years. The Spanish, who treasured gold and silver far more than gems, traded emeralds for precious metals. Their trades opened the eyes of European and Asian royalty to emerald's majesty.

Emerald is often mined and sold under peril - the natural resource Colombians cherish is also coveted by underworld drug traders. The availability of fine-quality emerald is limited, and emerald was plagued in the late 1990s by negative publicity about treatments commonly used to improve its clarity.

Gemology
Emerald is the most famous member of the beryl family. It has a hardness of 7.5 to 8 on the mohs hardness scale, and has a toughness of poor to good.

Treatments
Fracture Filling — Filling surface-reaching fractures with colorless oils or resins to improve clarity. (Routine — Not Permanent)

Dyeing — Adding a colorant to the oils or resins used in the fracture filling process to improve color. (Rare — Not Permanent)

Coating — Covering a light-colored beryl with a green plastic to create an emerald imitation. (Rare — Not Permanent)

Sources
Colombia is one of the largest commercial producers of emerald. Fine Colombian emeralds are highly regarded for their excellent color. Zambia is also a commercial source of emeralds with good clarity. Other sources include Afghanistan, Brazil, Pakistan, Russia, and Zimbabwe.

Care and Cleaning
Emeralds are routinely treated with colorless oils or resins to improve clarity. To clean emeralds, only warm soapy water should be used. Avoid the use of harsh detergents and vigorous scrubbing.

Simulants, synthetics and alternatives
Emerald imitations can be made from green glass or synthetic spinel triplets.

Synthetic emeralds may be grown using the flux of hydrothermal method.

Emerald alternatives include alexandrite, demantoid garnet, diopside, jadeite, Peridot, sapphire, tourmaline, tsavorite garnet, and zircon.

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Pearl: Seven characteristic

Just like diamonds, pearls also have some essential Seven (7) characteristics in order to differentiate high quality pearls from the rest.


Size
In this case size does matter. The size of pearls is measured in millimeters. The bigger the pearl, the better. The pearls that have a bigger size are more precious due to their rarity. There are small pearls, generally around 3-5 centimeters, and big pearls, having more than 9 millimeters. Akoya cultured pearls sold today are between 7 and 7.5 millimeters, Tahitian Pearls are around in 10-12mm and South Sea pearls around 12-15mm.

Shape
The shape if pearls is also different. they can be spherical, symmetrical or baroque. Very few pearls are actually round, they might be near-round, button-round, semi-baroque, baroque, coin, circle and drop pearl. Baroque jewelry is very popular in modern jewelry designs due to its uniqueness.

Color
Cultured pearls present a base color but also an overtone. The overtone is not obvious and it refers to the translucent and radiant color. The third component of a pearl’s color is called orient. It is present if the pearls shows a moving iridescence on the surface. Possible colors are white, pink, silver, cream, black and gold.

Luster
The luster is one of the most appreciated characteristics of a pearl. It represents the intensity of the reflected light, that “inner glow” everyone talks about. An excellent luster truly confers value to the pearl and brings true beauty, appeal. The degrees of luster are: excellent, good and fair.

Surface quality
The surface quality of a pearl refers to degree of irregularities on the surface of the pearl. They are also called imperfections or blemishes like spots, abrasions and bumps. The value of a pearl is higher as blemishes are less visible. Even so it’s very rarely that a pearl has no imperfections.

Nacre quality
A pearl is considered to have a high nacre when the layer of nacre is thicker and thus the luster more full. This characteristic can be observed quite easily. If the pearl is matte that means the nacre is thin and the pearl looks chalky. An intermediate level of nacre quality is when the nucleus is still visible.


Matching
This is an important factor when a jewelers wants to make a uniform strands of pearls. If the easthetic pattern focuses on asymmetry matching is not a problem. Matching means the consistency of all the other factors for more than one pearl.


ConclusionBecause they are produced in different animals in different environments under unique conditions, each pearl type has its own expected characteristics. When the traits shown for a certain pearl are outside the norm for its type, the pearl will be more valuable.

Each pearl is unique, and uniquely beautiful. Which pearl and pearl type is the most beautiful? It’s up to you.


Now you know what to look for and what questions to ask when shopping for pearls. Remember, a pearl’s worth depends on its overall look--how well it combines the seven value factors. Keep in mind that not all value factors are important to all people. You may be more interested in pearl color than pearl size, for example. As with anything, individual tastes reign supreme. Now, go forth and buy with confidence.


For inquiries and questions email me at info@hersheychan.com

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Diamond: Treasure of time

DIAMOND: TREASURE OF TIME
Every diamond is unique. Each reflects the story of its arduous journey from deep from deep inside the earth to a cherished object of adornment. Yet all diamonds share certain features that allow us to compare and evaluate them. These features are called 4C’S.

GRADING YOUR DIAMONDS

Independent and non profit, GIA is considered the final word on a diamond’s authenticity and quality. GIA developed the 4C’S and the international grading systems, the grading standard adopted by Jewelry Professional around the world.
Every stone is screened to identify synthetics, stimulants and known treatments. Expert gemologist examine each diamond under controlled lightning and viewing conditions, in order to provide the most rigorous assessments of a diamond 4C’S.
Every diamond Grading Report or diamond dossier contains the assessments along with additional descriptive information and state of the art security features. Regarded as premier gemological credentials by international gem professionals and fine jewelry houses, GIA Reports accompany the world’s most legendary diamonds – and now, quite possibly yours.

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