Description

An Emerald is a highly valued gemstone and variety of the mineral Beryl. Pure Beryl is colorless, but it is frequently tinted by impurities.  Emeralds are green from trace amounts of chromium and sometimes vanadium.  The name Beryl is derived from Greek which referred to a “precious blue-green color-of-sea-water stone”.  Beryl of various colors is found most commonly in granitic pegmatites, but also occurs in mica schists in the Ural Mountains, and limestone in Colombia.