Learn the history of emeralds through out time, what they meant symbolically, metaphysical, uses and the value they carried.

1. Ten Thingsabout
EMERALDS

2. The first emerald mines date back to 1500
BCE in Northern Egypt.
Emeralds were thought to enhance clairvoyance,
especially if put on the tongue or worn on the left
side of the body.

3. The Chaldeans believed emerald contained
Ishtar, the goddess of love and war.
Top quality emeralds are more valuable than
diamonds.

4. Weighing in at 840 pounds and containing
approximately 180,000 carats of emerald crystals, the
“Bahia Emerald” is one of the largest emerald specimens
ever found, valued at nearly $400 million.
Emeralds get their name from the Latin word
smaragdus, meaning "green gem".

5. Pliny said, "No stone has a color that is more
delightful to the eye, for, whereas the sight fixes itself
with avidity upon the green grass and the foliage of the
trees, we have all the more pleasure in looking upon
the emerald, there being no gem in existence
more intense than this."

6. Colombia is the world's largest producer of emeralds.
Unlike a diamond, which requires magnification
to grade clarity, an emerald is measured by
the naked eye.

7. Fans of emeralds are in good company.
Cleopatra, Charlemagne, and Queen Elizabeth II
were just some of the gem's devotees.

8. For more interesting
gemstones:
houseofgems.com
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