AZGem Gems
May, 2006
 
The World's Most Useful
Gem & Jewelry Monthly Newsletter
Written by Carolyn Doyle for customers of
The Dorado Company
and other visitors to the
azgem.com website who subscribe.
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Usable Gems... and a little opinion.
May Birthstone Is
Emerald
The May birthstone is emerald.
This month we continue our
series on birthstones that will provide
answers to questions like...
"What is
my birthstone?"
"What
if I don't like the color of my birthstone?"
"What
if I can't afford my birthstone?"
Emerald is the green variety of beryl...
if it contains chromium and/or vanadium, along with the normal chemical soup of beryllium, aluminum,
silica, and oxygen.
Green beryl that does not contain one of these two
elements is just that - green beryl.
Beryl as you already know, is a mineral family that
includes:
- aquamarine (blue)
- morganite (pink)
- bixbite (red)
- heliodor (yellow)
- goshenite (colorless)
- golden beryl
- green beryl
|
|
Click on the box...
and have Google start putting money in your bank account! |
Emerald almost always contains inclusions (those things in
the stone in the top photo), and emerald is less durable than most other gems. But
the color of emerald makes it one of the most popular, and most
valuable gem stones in spite of these shortcomings.
Since emerald by definition is green in color, May babies have no
color choice in their birthstone.
However, emeralds are available in a wide variety of prices, from
cheap to shockingly expensive. As with all gems, price depends on size
and quality.
Emeralds were mined in Egypt more than four thousand years ago, and
were a favorite of Cleopatra.
For centuries, almost all
transparent green gems were called emerald. So many
ancient emeralds were actually green tourmaline, peridot, or other green gems.
Most emeralds are now mined in South America and Africa.
Columbia
is generally recognized as the home of the best quality large emeralds,
although Pakistan and Zambia produce many top quality gem emeralds.
Other
countries that produce significant quantities of emerald include:
- Brazil
- India
- Australia
- Canada
- United
States
- Zimbabwe
- Nigeria
- Tanzania
- Madagascar
Columbia's
emerald mines were taken over by the Spanish when they conquered much
of South America in the sixteenth century. Emeralds, along with gold
and other treasurers were shipped back to Spain during the colonial
period. Have
you heard of the Atocha emeralds?
Today,
mining emeralds in Columbia is a dangerous business because of the
cocaine drug lords in the area, but the miners seem to be able to keep
these beautiful gems coming to market.
Emerald, the May birthstone is recognized worldwide
as a beautiful and desirable gem with rich traditions and history.
Follow this link to learn more about Birthstones,
Modern and Traditional.
A Google search for the keyword phrase emerald jewelry returns a number of listings and ads for vendors specializing
in production run jewelry pieces.
Gem Industry News...
Emerald
Magnate Attacked
Unknown assailants
shot the emerald kingpin Yesid Nieto in late February.
Nieto survived the
attack at his Bogota apartment, and he is said to be making good progress
towards recovery.
Nieto is one of several major mine owners in the remote, emerald-rich region of
Boyaca, Colombia. He rose to prominence through his astute management of the
successful La Pita emerald mines, of which he is part-owner.
Nieto has also been
credited with ushering in a new era of openness in the notoriously secretive
emerald business, and for restoring confidence in Colombian emeralds among global
buyers.
Nieto is a prominent spokesman for seven powerful clans that control 80% of
Colombia's emerald exports. Industry observers suggest the shooting could
destabilize power and control of the region among rival clans. In the 1990s, a
war between emerald mining clans claimed the lives of thousands in the region.
Nieto had recently
offered to help Colombian government authorities eradicate several coca
plantations in the region, therefore some officials speculate that cocaine
producers made the attempt on Nieto's life.
Jewelry
Dealers
 Mother's Day is right around the
corner... plus, anniversaries and birthdays are always coming up.
All
are good reasons for your customers and their friends to buy
jewelry.
~~~~~
Are you rewarding your customers with discounts or
freebies when they send you a new customer?
~~~~~
The price of gold recently passed $650 per
ounce, so if you weren't able to hedge by buying up gold mountings and
findings a couple of years ago, you probably should be buying what you
need now. It just keeps going up.
Jewelry
Dealers Program
Do you enjoy jewelry and gems?
Do you enjoy talking with friends and co-workers?
Take a look at our great
Jewelry
Dealers Program.
Carolyn Doyle
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