Green held inside beryl for four hundred million years — the one great gem whose inclusions are called a garden, and forgiven.
Our emeralds
A garden, not a flaw
Emerald is beryl coloured by chromium and vanadium. Almost every emerald carries internal features, and the French word for them — jardin, garden — tells you how the trade regards them. They are part of the stone’s character rather than a mark against it.
At 7.5 to 8 on the Mohs scale emerald is hard but brittle, so setting and wear matter more than with corundum. Most stones are treated with oil or resin to soften the look of surface-reaching fissures; we will always tell you exactly what has been done and how to look after it.
Book a private viewingWhat to look for
Four questions worth asking
Emerald is judged by different rules from diamond, and applying diamond thinking to it will lead you to the wrong stone. Start here.
Colour
Saturation above all: a vivid, slightly bluish green of medium tone. Colour outranks clarity in emerald every time.
The jardin
Inclusions are expected. What matters is whether they interrupt the colour, reach the surface, or threaten the stone’s integrity.
Cut
The step cut named after the gem exists to protect it. Cut corners and a considered pavilion keep both colour and edges safe.
Treatment
Minor oiling is normal and accepted. Significant resin or dyed filler is not, and the difference is a laboratory matter.
Interactive guide
The Emerald Chart
The greens of emerald and where green beryl begins, what a jardin looks like at each level, how the pavilion decides between depth and darkness, how a less dense gem spreads across the finger, the outlines that protect a brittle stone, and how emerald compares with the other great gems.
From the collection
Emeralds we are asked for
We buy emerald on colour first and disclose every treatment in writing. Each design below can be made around a stone selected with you.
Wear & care
Keeping it at its best
Never use an ultrasonic bath
Vibration travels straight into a fissure. Warm water, mild soap and a soft cloth are the only cleaning an emerald should meet at home.
Keep it away from heat
Heat and solvents drive out the oil that keeps fissures discreet. Remove your ring before hot water, perfume and hairspray.
Re-oil every few years
Re-oiling is routine maintenance, not repair. We can assess and refresh a stone for you whenever its colour starts to look tired.
By appointment
Emerald deserves daylight
No screen reproduces the green of a fine emerald, and artificial light flatters the wrong stones. Book an appointment and we will show you the difference at a window.
