Today,
emeralds are so expensive that synthetics dominate the retail market. Be sure
to ask if the emerald that you are purchasing is genuine.If you were born in May, then Emerald is your birthstone. Emerald also commemorates the 20th, 35th and 55th wedding anniversaries. The emerald was well known in antiquity; mines in Egypt have been discovered that date back to about 2000 BC. These mines produced most of the world's emerald supply until just a few hundred years ago.
Today,
emeralds are so expensive that synthetics dominate the retail market. Be sure
to ask if the emerald that you are purchasing is genuine.
Emerald is a member of the beryl mineral group. Emerald has a hardness of 7.5 - 8 and a specific gravity of 2.72. Emeralds are found in Columbia, Zambia, Brazil, Pakistan and Zimbabwe.