Green and rich Colombian emerald: Chivor
Chivor, Green and rich land in the indigenous language, is a flagship municipality of the Tenza Valley, Boyacá and Colombia, known for its unparalleled emerald mines. Located southeast of the department of Boyacá, it extends 35 km northeast of Gachalá, another important Colombian mine.
It is believed that the mines located in Chivor were discovered in 1537 in one of the explorations sent by the conqueror, Gonzálo Jiménez de Quesada, to Somondoco (now Chivor).
With 486 years of history, it's worth reading so you can know all about the mines and emeralds that lie in Chivor, the green and rich town of Boyacá.
History of Chivor
The country's historically oldest mines are in Chivor. The story reports that in 1537 the troops of the conqueror, Gonzálo Jiménez de Quesada, found the village of "Chiriví," lands of the Suminco chieftain, today Chivor territory.
Later, during the rediscovery of the mines, countless historical facts were given way within the mining world, such as the publication of Chivor's experiences embodied in the novel "Green Fire." written by the miner, Peter W. Rainier.
This town was born as a municipality thanks to Mr. Florencio Novoa, who in 1908 loted his estate for the construction of the first houses, schools and churches in this municipality. Thanks to the efforts of Mr. Ernesto Rodriguez promoted his legal foundation as the 123rd municipality of Boyacá and the youngest in the department, by ordinance 023 of 1990.
Although its fame revolves around the gemstones of emeralds, Chivor has the entire variety of thermal floors, with the exception of snowfall, which gives way to various points of incalculable ecotourism, cultural and artisanal value.
Esmeraldas de Chivor
The emeralds extracted in Chivor represent the second line of the economy for this municipality, since the emeralds of this region are appreced at the national and international levels.
The emeralds of this area of the country stand out for having a bluish, almost transparent light green color. Although its tone is not so intense, it stands out for being one of the gems of the country that lies with few inclusions.
As for their clarity, these chivorite stones are usually translucent, with almost total absence of notorious carbons, minerals or other impurities typical of stone.
These mining mines were lost for more than 200 years, but were rediscovered in the late 19th century and have remained in operation ever since.
Chivor's famous emeralds
- Patricia
A beautiful emerald of 632.00 carats, 8 centimeters high and 5.5 centimeters in diameter, discovered by the Little Pairing Chivoreño in 1920, today rests at the Museum of Natural History in New York (United States) by donation of Mr. Fritz Klein, who was legal management of the exploitation on that date.
- Emeralds of the Lady of Atocha
The Spanish Galleon who shipwrecked in 1622 carried with him items in silver, bronze and gold full of emerald that is suspected to have been extracted in what was Chivoreño territory with it.
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.
