Emerald

Ancient emeralds were extracted from mines in Egypt and perhaps in what is now Afghanistan.

Some emeralds in old European jewels originate from the ancient mines of Habachtal in the Austrian Alps. These mines are now exhausted.

Colombia was the source of the famous Inca’s emeralds and today, the area of Chivor, with its famous mines Cosquez and Muzo, still produces the finest emeralds in the world.

Zambian emeralds, with their deep color and sometime blue tinge have less inclusions.
The famous Sandawana mines in Zimbabwe produce some exceptional quality emeralds but very few exceed one carat in size.
Brazil became the main producer of medium to high quality stones with some very fine specimens coming from the Nova Era mining area.

Other potentially important producers of emerald are Afghanistan with its Panjshir mines, Madagascar, Pakistan, Nigeria and Russia.