Emeralds are a green to greenish blue variety of the mineral beryl, the same mineral that aquamarines belongs to. The trace amounts of chromium in this specific beryl specimen gives it its distinct green color and it is what makes this mineral an Emerald.
If we are so attracted to the magnificent green gem, then it is not surprising to note that Cleopatra was one of its biggest fans, she adorned many of her royal jewels with emeralds and it is interesting to know that the first known emerald mines were actually in Egypt dating back from 330 BC into the 1700s.
In the ancient times, emeralds were not only valued for their beauty. They were also believed to increase intelligence, protect marriages and were also thought to enable its possessor the power of predicting the future.
If I would compare those believes with my studies of our body’s energy fields and the chakras, or energy centers, the color green is the color of the heart chakra. This chakra is located in the middle of the chest and is the wellspring of love, warmth, compassion, and joy. The color green evokes and energized the heart chakra increasing its strength with denser vibrations of energy, and I would say maybe validate why the ancients believed this gem would strengthen marriages. As for intelligence, the heart, associated with compassion would ideally be where emotional intelligence is developed, and studies have shown that emotional intelligence is far more important in human beings than the IQ to determine how “intelligent” or tuned in a person is with the world around him and within him. Being emotionally intelligent would definitely allow you to asses the world around you with a higher sense of awareness and I think this is very important in “predicting the future” or simply being more in-tune with what the universe holds for you.
Interestingly, in antiquity, wearing an emerald was believed to reveal the truth or falseness of a lover’s promise, connection to the heart chakra maybe? maybe.
All of my readings and studies about emeralds made me strongly believe that it should be the gem centered in wedding and engagement rings. It is a great symbol of truth and love that it is such a shame this stone is not as popular as the diamond, if not even more popular, to symbolize and celebrate the honest and true bond that two people decide to explore.
WHAT DETERMINES THE QUALITY OF AN EMERALD?
Like any other precious gem, emeralds are evaluated according to their Color, Clarity, Cut and Carat weight. In colored gemstones, the first two determining factors are the most important, this is especially the case in emeralds, rubies and sapphires because deep hues in clear stones are more rare to find.
The color of an emerald stone depends mainly on where it is mined, simply because the location determines the minerals that are in the gem that naturally effect the color of any gemstone. Emeralds occur in hues ranging from yellow-green to blue-green. Are you able to distinct where emeralds are from from their color? If you look at enough emeralds, you develop that eye.
ZAMBIAN EMERALDS
Zambian emeralds are the second largest in the world in terms of production with the Kafubu River area deposits (Kagem Mines) about 45 km southwest of Kitwe responsible for 20% of the world’s production of gem-quality stones in 2004.
Zambian emeralds have a stunning bluish-green color and they are known to be of better clarity than those of Colombian origin and they are more saturated in color.
Zambian emeralds are usually valued less in price than the columbian ones, but this is only because the Columbian emeralds are more popular in the market.
COLOMBIAN EMERALDS
Colombia mines and produces most of the emeralds for the global market. It is estimated that Colombia accounts for 70-90% of the world’s supply of the green gem.
The three major mines in Colombia are Muzo, Coscuez, and Chivor. of the three, Muzo remains the most important emerald mine in the world. All three mines are located in the eastern part of the Andes.
The terms Muzo and Chivor often also describe the quality and color of emeralds. Muzo refers to a warm, grassy-green emerald, with hints of yellow while Chivor is used to describes a deeper green color in Colombian emeralds.
PANJSHIR EMERALDS
Last year, I was having a wonderful conversation with the owner of one of the workshops I produce some of my jewelry with, He is a gemologist and a diamond grader and we always end up discussing fascinating topics related to the industry. On this day we started talking about colored stones and how they are becoming more popular in Kuwait. Ladies are seeking emeralds and in our small market, sourcing them is not that easy. That day was the first time I heard about emeralds and gems mined in Afghanistan, and it blew my mind away. The stones are of exceptional quality and it was only because of politics that the world had no access to them. I set a task to get a hold of gems from Afghanistan because I wanted to see what that rich land beholds.
The Panjshir Valley in Afghanistan is where the magnificent gem is mined. Because of the conflict with the Soviet Union the stones were not available for export and recently because of teh conflicts in Afghanistan the gems were also not that popular in the international markets. in 1990 however some speciments were extracted to be tested and viewed outside of Afghanistan.
As first reported in 1985, large (more than 190 ct)
crystals have been found in the Panjshir Valley, in colors
comparable to the finest emeralds of the Muzo mine in
Colombia. Fascinating, isn’t it !
I do recommend you read the article published by the GIA in the spring of 1991 for a complete understanding of the emeralds in Afghanistan. Find the article here.
I am fascinated with the collection of Panjshir emeralds that I was lucky enough to acquire and would love to sit with interested clients and design special pieces of jewelry.
THHABA & EMERALDS
A few months ago I contacted a gem supplier that I have been working with since I first started deigning jewelry, he is an Afghani jewelry living and working in Kuwait. throughout the years since I have known him, he went through many changes in his business and like all small business owners, it is not smooth sailing all the time. I asked him if he had any stones from Afghanistan and all he said was: “How about you pay me a visit soon?”. Within two hours, I was in his office.
Hamid was recently in Afghanistan, and he had brought back with him a collection of uncut emeralds from the Panjshir Valley. I was blown away. The gems were the perfect hue of green, they were minimally included and stunning to look at. As soon as he commissioned them to get cut, I made my selection.
I enjoyed designing Panjshir emerald rings, and I think I will be exploring them as engagement rings simply because to me, they make more sense than diamond to represent that union between two human beings connecting at the hear center and promising each other truth and love.
As for my understanding of the value of the beautiful green gem. I was always interested in Colombian Emeralds because of the marker value they had, and the color and hue attracted me the most of all green beryls. But after my studies and research I came to appreciate all emeralds from all mines around the world with a soft spot for the Panjshir Valley beauties. The value of an emerald is very personal, I would like to not go by the common market value as some vivid green emeralds are very undervalued because they do not come with a certificate stating they are Colombian, and that to me is very unfair. Planet Earth if full of wonder, and we as humans became so arrogant that monopolies and corporations have stated certain acceptable marker values for so many things especially precious stones making us perceive them with prejudice. All emeralds are beautiful. and if you like an emerald, then who is to say how valuable that stone should be?, unless you are an investor in those goods, the market? or you?
View our Emerald Collection of jewelry on our website
If you are interested in scheduling an appointment to view our collection of emeralds and maybe have a special gem designed for you, send us an email on: abrar@thhaba.com or contact our shop : +96595599882
KITTAB THHABA 