Emerald

Emerald is the green variety of beryl, and emeralds come from Colombia, Brazil, Rhodesia, South Africa, Russia, Zambia, India, Zaire, Pakistan and North Carolina.

They are very easy to break, and synthetic emeralds can also be easily made in a lab. There are synthetic Emeralds that take about a year to grow in a lab, and are very hard to tell from real ones.

Nero was said to have used Emerald as a kind of sun glasses while he was watching chariot races! Some people believe that emeralds can be used to tell the future, and make people more intelligent, and help them remember things. Women used to think that they kept you safe in childbirth.

Emeralds cut (above) and uncut (below)