The Emerald has been a perennial favorite of jewelers and royalty with its green color reflecting the ‘color of life’ and springtime, when nature is at its brightest and prettiest.
Cleopatra loved emeralds and history has it that the first emerald mines in Egypt were named after her. Well, the Incas and Mughals too fell in love with this fine gemstone and adorned their jewels with emeralds, and the Spanish did something more industrious – they traded emeralds for precious metals.
Therefore, the fascination with the gemstone sees ateliers unveiling remarkable jewels adorned with emeralds each year; many of which are sourced through Gemfield. The world’s leading supplier of responsibly sourced colored gemstones, Gemfields has a treasure trove of utterly mesmerizing emeralds from Zambia.
Traditionally, the emerald color needs to be a perfect balance of blue and yellow resulting in a pure green hue. However, these green gemstones sourced from different mines and regions tend to differ in color and tone.
The luscious hue of green is what prompts jewelers to use emeralds both as the key central stone and an embellishment in the jewelry. Often, jewelers accentuate emeralds with sparkling white diamonds and sometimes, with stones in contrasting hues.
A memorable jewel is the Biladom emerald ring by Boucheron that features a gem-adorned panda seen protecting a cabochon emerald, while Bulgari’s newest high-jewelry collection, Italian Gardens, (Giardini Italiani) uses splendid emeralds in unusual cuts, especially for its Hidden Treasures earrings.
Another notable piece is Fabergé’s Devotion rings set with cabochon and cushion-cut emeralds surrounded by a line of shimmering diamonds that make a resplendent statement. While Dior Joaillerie uses emeralds liberally along with other precious gems in their newest high-jewelry line Soie Dior designed by Victoire de Castellane, Chopard uses a luminous emerald-cut Colombian emerald set within a diamond-set lace and emeralds beads, in its limited edition sautoir and continues to adorn its jewels with these vivid gemstones.
Meanwhile, luxury jewelry houses Adler, Bayco, Boghossian, Chaumet, Chopard, David Morris, Graff, Jewellery Theatre and designers Anna Hu, Wendy Yue, Marina B, Martin Katz continue their love affair with emeralds, and design anything from elegant to extravagant pieces.
View the Photo Gallery for a sneak peek at some collectibles set in emeralds.
Smitha Sadanandan
