Emerald
The Emerald is the birthstone of May. It is usually used in jewelry as a gift for the 20th and 35th wedding anniversaries. It is the zodiacal stone corresponding to Cancer. In Vedic astrology, it is associated with the planet Mercury.
It is believed that this stone was already marketed in 4000 B.C. in Babylon, and was dedicated to the goddess Venus. It is the symbol of immortality and faith.
The Emerald belongs to the BERYL family. This beautiful green colored stone owes its color to chrome (and sometimes to vanadium).
The name of the Emerald derives from a Persian word that later appeared in Greek as “smaragdos” (meaning “green colored“), and then later in Latin as “smaragdus”. The term Emerald was used to refer to a green mineral, often not in association with the Emerald we know today.
Historically, the first place that Emeralds were extracted was the mines in the Red Sea, in Egypt (the mines of Cleopatra). The exploitation of these mines can be traced back to 2000 B.C.
