 | Jerry Burnell has been a driving force in the jewelry industry of Kansas for the past 30 years. Jerry is a native of Wichita and a graduate of Wichita State University. He jokingly says that he had a degree in business, almost a masters in business, almost a degree in chemistry, with heavy studies in physics, math, and biology and he just quit college, that he figured that with 239 credit hours he should be able to make a living somewhere. Actually he was already deep into the motions of starting the most respected jewelry design team in this part of the country. Jerry is highly regarded and considered an expert in many fields, three of which are Precious gemstones, jewelry manufacture, and jewelry design. Jerry is presently president of The Kansas Jewelers Association and holds a position on the advisory board of Jewelers of America. You may contact Jerry at Burnell’s Jewelers, (316) 634-2822, or find Burnell’s Jewelers on the web at www.burnells.com |
Gold, Silver, Diamonds & Jewelry
2005-10-01 14:59:00
The history of emeralds
: My birthstone is an emerald. What do you know of the history of emeralds?
ANSWER: I learn some great things from articles I study on the world wide web… For instance, it's interesting to note that it is believed the ancient source of the emerald was somewhere in Ethiopia, but the exact location is still unknown. From upper Egypt, near the coast of the Red Sea and on down to the area south of Kosseir, came the first emeralds of what we call historic commerce. It is believed that the emerald beryl first gained attention commercially in Europe just prior to the seventeenth century, and was brought from South America. Emeralds had been found before this, however, in the wrappings of Egyptian mummies and in the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Ancient Egyptian emerald mines on the west coast of the Red Sea were rediscovered about 1820 by a French explorer, Cailliaud, on an expedition organized by Mehemet Ali Pasha. The artifacts found there date to the time of Sesostris (1650 B.C.). Ancient inscriptions tell us that Greek miners were employed there during the reign of Alexander the Great. Emeralds presented to Cleopatra, and bearing an engraved portrait of the beautiful Egyptian queen are assumed to have been taken from these mines. Cailliaud, with permission of Mehemet Ali, reopened the mines, employing Albanian men as miners. It is supposed, that because only stones of a very poor quality were found, the work was soon and quite suddenly given up. The Spanish conquistadores found magnificent emeralds in the treasures of both Peru and Mexico, but no emeralds are now found in those countries. An immense quantity of magnificent emeralds, a large proportion of which are probably still in existence in Europe, was sent to Spain from Peru. The only place in the new world that the Spanish found emeralds by prospecting for them in the earth was in Colombia or New Granada. It's possible that the gems of the Aztec sovereigns and the Incas also came from that area. The Spaniards first learned of the existence of the Colombian emeralds on March 3, 1537, through a gift of emeralds by the Indians, who, at the same time, pointed out the locality from which they were taken. This spot, Somondoco, is now being mined by an English corporation, although only second-class stones have been found by these modern emerald miners. Muzo, where the present supply of the world's finest emeralds is mined, is about one hundred miles distant in the eastern Cordilleras of the Andes on the east side of the Rio Magdalena. The only other locale of importance where emerald beryls are now found is about fifty miles east of Ekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains, Siberia, where Uralian chrysoberyl, or alexandrite, is found. The grass-green beryl is also found in an almost inaccessible locality in the Salzburg Alps. Fine emeralds have been found in the United States. The most notable locale being at Stony Point in Alexander County, North Carolina, but the supply at that place seems to be now exhausted. The name "emerald" applied indiscriminately to green transparent, translucent, and even opaque stones complicates everything about the emerald question. For example, it was long assumed that emeralds came from Brazil, and green stones from there were called "Brazilian emeralds." There is no authentic proof that a true emerald was ever found in Brazil, and it is supposed that green tourmalines found there account for the "Brazilian emerald" myth. In ancient times the name emerald was applied to green jasper, malachite, chrysocolla, and other green minerals. There is still a custom of calling stones other than beryl "emerald," with an explanatory prefix. Thus, Oriental emerald is green corundum; "lithia emerald" is hiddenite, a green mineral of the pyroxene group occurring associated with the emerald beryl in North Carolina. "Emerald-copper" is dioptase, the beautiful green silicate of copper. Among the green minerals sometimes sold under the name of emerald are: the green corundum, demantoids, or green garnets, hiddenite, diopside, alexandrite, green tourmaline, and sometimes chrysolite and dioptase. These minerals are all of higher specific gravity than beryl and all can be distinguished from beryl emeralds by tests possible to the scientific gem expert. More next month…
