Millennial leggings of Colombian emeralds: Muzo

Next to the mines of Coscuez, in Boyacá, Muzo completes one of the most important emerald deposits in this area of the center-east of the country. In this mine, from which 70% of the world's emeralds are extracted, some of the best quality Colombian emeralds have been found.

The journey to get to Muzo takes approximately six or seven hours from Bogotá. The crossing begins with the northern exit of the Colombian capital. Once traveled 60 miles and encounter a region of cold cliffs that give way to jungle valleys, you will have found the deposits of the world's finest emeralds.

It is countless characteristics that make the mines and emeralds of Muzo unique, so then we will tell you everything you need to know about this site if you have among your plans to visit this famous place.

History of Muzo

Before the Spanish conquest of the eastern Colombian Andes, the Muzo region was inhabited by the people of the same name. There they extracted emeralds in the pre-Columbian era, giving this place the name of the People of Emerald.

Historians have estimated that the Muzos settled in the area around 1000 A.D., where for decades, with hard tropical wood and water sticks, people extracted the emeralds from the formations that bear the name of the municipality.

The Spaniards were very interested in the emeralds of Muzo, proving to be the highest quality emeralds in the world. For this reason, they established orders to guard the valuable precious stones and used the indigenous people as slave labour for the extraction of minerals.

The extraction methods in the mines of Muzo and the quality of its stones have been characteristic of this area for millions of years. It is estimated that even today, 70% of the national emeralds of high value and tone will be extracted from this site.

Emeralds of Muzo

Muzo's areas are usually between 800 and 1000 metres above sea level. It is estimated that the deposits of the deposits of the mine deposits have a training period of 32 million years.

The extraction of the emeralds has been carried out for several years in tunnels, of these tunnels located at the Muzo site have been found the best quality emeralds in the world called oil drip.

This is due to its impressive combination of intense green colour, its purity given by the calcite that brings the characteristic aspect of this type of emerald, its vibrant fire and its almost perfect geometry.

These ideal qualities of Muzo's raw stones stand out when illuminated by a talented gem carver and give way to the radiant facets of the world's most precious carved emeralds.

An emerald of Muzo is comparable to the primary origin of a ruby of Burma, a Golconda diamond or a Kashmiri sapphire.

In fact, progress has been made in modern methods of emerald extraction, which has contributed not only to more efficient mining, but also to increasing standards of quality and exports.

Famous emeralds of Muzo

• Emerald Catalina the Great

This emerald is the second largest raw emerald in the world is native to the one recognized for its valuable emerald mine of Muzo, it is of intense green color, weighs 4,700 carats is unique and pure what makes it the most valuable in the world; these characteristics have positioned it in this way according to studies of prestigious institutions such as: GIA (Gemological Institute of America) and Switzerland Gobelin.

• The Devonshire

One of the most famous uncarded emeralds in the world comes from Muzo's mines. It is an emerald of 1,383.95 carats (276,790 g) and was a gift to the sixth Duke of Devonshire by Emperor Dom Peter I of Brazil in 1831.

• Emerald Fura

It is the second largest after the emerald Teodora, found in 1999 along with another smaller emerald called Tena in the Muzo mines in Colombia. It is famous for its nearly 15,000 carats and intense green color. From this discovery there is the ancient legend of Furatena.

• Emerald Tena

This emerald owes its name to an indigenous legend of Furatena, was discovered along with a larger emerald named Fura, that legend is native to the towns of the mountains of Colombia. Its butterfly green makes it more striking and valuable; and it weighs about 2,000 carats. It was sold in New York for $2 million.

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.