Emerald:, More Precious Than Diamonds

I am soon-to-be engaged. My fiancé is currently looking for the "perfect" ring. I've never been much for jewelry and always assumed that one ring was much like the others, but my soon-to-be husband has done some homework and has fallen in love with the idea of getting me an emerald, not only because of his Irish roots but because of something much more materialistic.

My fiancé took me to the jewelry counter at our local mall and had me speak to the manager who, with a certain glint in her eye, let me know everything she knew about the jewel.

It turns out that Natural Emeralds are the most rare of all precious stones, often considered more valuable than a diamond. Other precious stones occur in gem gravels. Emeralds, on the other hand, occur inside the rock they were formed making them harder to find.

Emeralds are known by their particularly rich green color. Natural Emeralds (as opposed to lab-created ones) have a texture about them. Fluid inclusions (small cuts in the stone) make them very brittle and difficult to cut. So not only are they hard to find, they're also hard to cut making a beautifully created piece of emerald jewelry all the more precious.

Emerald's translucent attribute al unique "jardin" texture (the French world for "garden") gives the Emerald a slight resemblance to foliage. Much like a fingerprint, it can also tell you what region that stone came from. It also means that every stone is very unique. Perfect for the love of your life, right?

With all this going for the Emerald, it would make sense that a man who is deeply in love would want to give it to his bride-to-be. The only unfortunate thing is that it is not recognized as a traditional engagement ring, that monopoly belongs to a diamonds. As a college-aged woman, the benefit of an Engagement ring is to ward off other men. An Emerald ring may be assumed to be a fashion ring. It's not fair, but that's the world we live in.

Maybe I'll forget society and tell my beau to get the Emerald anyway, but the only reason I wanted a nice ring is so I can be "off the market" without needing to talk about my marital status.

Other Fun Facts about Emeralds
They are May's Birth Stone.
They are the tradition 55th wedding anniversary present.
The first Emerald Mines are believed to have been in Egypt.