When
you're searching the stores for the perfect emerald ring, you probably don't
realize the effort that goes into producing the final product. All you
have to do is ask the employee to show you some of the various shapes, sizes,
and settings, and then you choose your favorite emerald ring. It takes a
mere percentage of the time to decide which ring to buy compared to the time
needed to actually cut and polish the stone to shape. Emerald rings come
in many shapes and sizes, but is usually known for its emerald cut.
So what is an emerald cut? An emerald cut is rectangular or square in
shape, and usually has beveled or rounded corners. The emerald
stone does come in other shapes such as oval and pear shaped, but the emerald
cut is the favorite because of the stone's naturally occurring inclusions, or
internal flaws. Although it's a relatively hard stone, its frailty and
inclusions make it a bit difficult to cut and shape. Therefore, the
emerald cut was developed to address this issue. In fact, other stones
are also shaped in the emerald cut, most notably the diamond. If you
browse the stores you'll see lots of emerald cut diamonds rings - they look
similar to emerald rings, except with the diamond stone.
Emeralds belong to the beryl gemstone family. In its purist form, beryl is
colorless but becomes emerald in color with chromium impurities and sometimes
vanadium impurities. The deeper the green color, the more valuable the
stone. Columbian emeralds are generally the most sold Emeralds But
the darkest and deeper in color, are the Zambian Emeralds that are used by the
Royal family.
Some exquisite varieties of the emerald stone are the trapiche emerald, star
emerald, and cat's eye emerald. The trapiche emerald has black impurities
in its stone and is known for its unique six-pointed star pattern. The
celebrated star emerald is a special type of trapiche emerald that displays an
asterism, or a moving, shimmering star-like formation. A cat's eye stone
reflects a shape of a cat's eye. It's extremely rare.
Now when you go shopping for your new emerald ring, you'll know a little bit
more about the emerald stone.
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