The Beauty of Green... Emerald, Tourmaline & Tsavorite

When people think of emeralds many associate them as the May birthstone. The first known emerald mines were in Egypt and Cleopatra was known to use them in her royal adornments. (Cleopatra’s famous emerald collection might actually have been peridot, but that is another story.) Legend has it that they give the wearer the power to be more intelligent and quicker witted.

What you may not know about emeralds is that they are not known as a “tough” gem as it is called in the jewelry industry. Most emeralds have fractures and have been fracture-filled with oils or resins to improve their clarity and color. However, this makes it so they have a thermal sensitivity and extreme temperature changes like we have here in Minnesota can cause them to break more easily. Because of the brittle nature of this gemstone, it is not one we use often in our pieces here at Mark Michael Diamond Designs.

There are a couple of gemstones Mark loves to use in his custom designs that also come in stunning green hues. They are called tourmaline and tsavorite.

Tourmalines come in an amazing variety of colors and have one of the widest color ranges of any gemstone species. The rich green you can see in our gallery and in the ring shown above is one of the many colors we use in our custom designs.

Tsavorite is a part of the garnet family. Its intense green color makes it a high-quality alternative to emerald. Only a few sources of tsavorite have been discovered and because of its color it is one of the most sought-after garnets. The exotic bright green in the necklace shown above is one of the pieces you can see in our gallery that showcases the brilliance of this gemstone.