The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC is home to so much that’s rare and smashing in the world.The collection of gems is a spectacular sight in the Museum of Natural History.
There you can see wonderful crystals and minerals in their natural form, as well as some of the most incredible pieces of jewelry ever created. There are crowns worn by royalty, gigantic diamond earrings worn by the doomed French queen Marie-Antoinette.
They’re all stunning and amazing, but nothing is more mysterious than the rare earth-green of the emerald. The Smithsonian is home to the most fabulous emeralds ever known, and we are incredibly lucky to have them in this country.
One doesn’t normally associate gorgeous jewelry with the time of the Spanish Inquisition. But in the Smithsonian Institution’s collection of gems, there’s a beautiful necklace holder stand and a necklace badge holder of diamonds and emeralds.
It’s a impressive double row of diamonds and emeralds ending in a candelabrum of emeralds. There is sadly very little info about the provenance of these necklace holders. The massive diamonds and Columbian emeralds were most likely cut in India in the 17th century.
This makes them an early example of gems that are cut from the Smithsonian's Collection. There are really only legends surrounding this wall necklace holder display stand were used in this era. They indicate that it was worn at times by Spanish and French dignitaries.
In the early 20th century, it was purchased by the Maharajah of Indore, whose son sold the necklace in 1947 to Harry Winston. Winston afterwards sold the necklace to Mrs. Hubbard Cora Williams of Pittsburgh. She left it to the Smithsonian in 1972.
Emeralds are a kind of crystal known as beryls. Beryls are normally clear crystals, but when infused with chromium or vanadium, they reach diverse gradations of green. The purest green is the most rare emeralds and many people essentially like an emerald that has a blue-green hint.
Before the 16th century, the sole known emerald deposits were in Cleopatra’s Egyptian mines. But after emeralds were found in Columbia, those became the gold standard in emeralds.
Columbian emeralds have been discovered by archaeologists among artifacts of such clans as the Inca, Maya, Aztec, Toltec and the lesser-known Chibcha Indians. Emeralds are among the rarest of gemstones and can be dearer per carat than even the finest diamonds!
They are definitely a hard mineral, with a Moh’s hardness scale of seven or eight ( compared with a diamond’s ten ). While most emeralds are found in Africa and Russia, there were findings of emerald deposits in North Carolina!
Related posts:
- The Pearl Necklace — A Timeless Beauty
- Emerald Necklace – Common Questions and Answers About Emerald Necklaces
- Getting A Journey Diamond Necklace
- The Glory Of A Pendant Necklace
- Things You Must Know On all sides The Napoleon Diamond Necklace
- Matthews Simple Advice To Follow While Selecting A Great Looking Necklace And Earring Set
- Legendary Pearls Throughout History
Filed under: jewelry