One of the ironies of the modern jewel trade is that the people who labor so hard to mine the gems are barely able to afford the food to keep themselves alive, yet alone to be able to buy an emerald. Not surprisingly, then, there is an overwhelming temptation for emerald workers to hide and smuggle gems out of the mines. This has led to an unprecedented level of security wherein security guards armed with machine guns monitor every move that the workers make. Despite this, however, there is a roaring trade in black market emerald smuggling. In fact, according to an article in National Geographic magazine, Most emeralds move off the record, untaxed, unseen, buried in aw world market that the trade calls black.
Emeralds have many surface imperfections, which are known as inclusions.
This is due to the way they are grown. Such cracks on the surface of the stone can mar it s beauty and will, inevitably affect it s sale price. Dealers will, however, attempt to mask these flaws by soaking the cleaned and polished gems in a hot bath of oil. The heating forces the air out of cracks in the stone and lets oil seep in. This obscures the imperfections in the gem.