Beryl var: Emerald

Item Description

Emeralds are one of the few precious gems in the world, often associated with royalty, eloquence, and foresight. Early Emerald mining dates back to the ancient Egypt (documented around 330 BC - probably in Ethiopia) Although Emerald are known to most people, even those with no experience in the gem/mineral world, good quality specimens are rare from most localities, including the limited material from around Swat, Pakistan. The Swat Valley has been producing Emeralds since the late 1950s (mindat.org), but specimens are still quite few and far between on the market. We only see a select few of them every year if we're lucky. This piece is a lovely miniature hosting a richly colored partial crystal measuring 1.7 cm, aesthetically flaring off matrix. The crystal has saturated green color, with a bit of translucency when backlit. While the crystal is not euhedral, it's also not broken, and if you look at it under magnification, you can see small defined reflective faces all over, so I don't think there's any real damage, but incomplete growth.