With their sparkling green lustre they are considered to be more precious than diamonds. And, carat for carat, they are the most expensive gems in the world. They are emeralds, the most precious of all gems. If you were fortunate enough to possess an emerald that would fit into the palm of your hand, it could, depending on it s quality, be worth over one million dollars. A large part of the reason is that emeralds are rare gems.
Emeralds are a type of beryl crystal.
They are formed from a combination of the common elements aluminium and silicon with the rare element beryllium. Small amounts of trace elements, either chromium or vanadium, give the emerald its distinctive green tint. The world s source of emerald supplies has traditionally been Egypt. For thousands of years the famous Cleopatra mines, to be found some 440 miles southeast of Cairo, were worked by the Egyptians and then the Romans and the Turks. Working long hours under the blistering heat of the Sun, and the darkness, heat and dust of the underground mines must have been a real ordeal for those ancient laborers.