10 important facts of Colombian emeralds
Of the Colombian emeralds a lot, for example, that these are the best quality gems in the world, which have the best color or that in Colombia two of the largest raw emeralds in the world have been given.
However, many more remains to be known, such as that Colombia has a 55 per cent share of the world emerald market. For this reason, so that you do not miss any details about these valuable Colombian gems we have written this entry.
What you need to know about Colombian emeralds
- Trapiches
Colombia's exclusive Trapiche emerald is one of the rarest gems in the world. Its name is due to the resemblance it has with the shape of the pine nuts of sugarcane squeezing machines.
- Emerald blur
Colombia is the only place in the world where you can find natural emeralds of bluish green. This is thanks to the hydrothermal formation that takes place in Colombian mines.
- Emerald Fura
The Emerald Fura is the second largest emerald in the world (after the Emerald Theodora), and was found in 1999, along with a smaller one known as Esmeralda Tena, in a mine located in the Muzo mountains, a Colombian municipality, located in the province of the west of the department of Boyacá well known for its emerald deposits. It is 170 km from Tunja, the capital of the department and 90 km from Chiquinquirá the capital of the province.
- Emerald Gachalá
The Emerald Gachalá or Esmeralda Emilia is one of the most valuable and famous emeralds in the world, it was found in 1967, in the mine called Vega de San Juan, located in Gachalá, a municipality of Cundinamarca (Colombia), located in the Province of Guavio, which is 142 km from Bogotá.
Emilia weighing a little over 3 pounds is certainly inside the five biggest emeralds found so far. This wonderful sample of size and beauty is named after La Emilia by the woman who discovered her in 1969 in the municipality of Gachalá.
- Emeralds and celebrities
Actresses such as Amy Adams, Annette Bening, Marisa Tomei and Reese Witherspoon wore jewelry with Colombian emeralds on the red carpet of the Icar Awards in 2010. Previously, jewelry designer Lorraine Schwartz traveled to Bogotá to buy the emeralds Angelina Jolie wore at the academy awards in 2009.
- Emerald jewels
In 2011, a tiara of Colombian emeralds and diamonds, which belonged to Princess Katharina Henckel von Donnersmarck, was up for $12.7 million, making it the most expensive jewel in the world.
- The emerald of the Taj Mahal
In 2019 in June an auction was held at Maharajas & Mughal Magnificence jewelry store where jewelry and objects from the Al Thani collection were offered. One of the most striking and special jewels in that collection was the emerald The Taj Mahal, unique for its natural beauty. This emerald is 141.13 carats and is from Colombia. It was sold for $1.8 million.
- The Galeon Our Lady of Atocha.
The emerald Our Lady of Atocha, originally from Colombia. According to historians, the jewel is likely to go up aboard the Atocha on September 4, 1622, along with treasures of noble families and other passengers, all of them on a return trip from Colombia and Panama to Spain.
In addition to 70 pounds of Colombian emeralds, the ship contained 180,000 silver coins, 24 tons of Bolivian silver, 125 gold ingots and a collection of Venezuelan pearls.
- The Colombian Relic
One of Colombia's emblems is lettuce. It is a relic with 1,486 emeralds of very high quality. The relic was manufactured by the Spaniard Joseph Galaz along with two other native goldsmiths between the years 1,700 and 1,707 on behalf of the company of Jesús de la Hidalga Villa de Sante Fe de Bogotá.
According to its owners, it is considered one of the richest and most beautiful religious jewels of the continent. Likewise, it shows the different styles and dimensions that can be created in a territory rich in gold and emeralds.
- Emerald of $1 million
A 5.27 carat Colombian emerald was recently auctioned, on June 28, 2023, worth $1,197,000 in the American jewelry store Sotheby's. The price of the ring (without fees or taxes) was 950,000, almost 20 times the outlet value averaged by the auction house, which had placed it between 50 thousand and 70,000 dollars.
The emerald crowned a ring belonging to Mitzi Perdue, 81, widow of American chicken tycoon Frank Perdue, who financially supported the expedition of treasure hunter Mel Fisher, who in 1985 and after 16 years of search found the remains of the Spanish gallery and the treasures he was hiding.
Paula A. Bonilla
Social communicator and journalist from Sergio Arboleda University in Colombia. She is also a jeweler and is passionate about constantly learning about precious gems and national high jewelry.
Currently, she is working for one of Bogotá's most important jewelry stores, Emerald by Love. This jewelry store has over 40 years of experience and has 2 physical branches in the capital city of Colombia, located in the city center.
