The Green Mile

There’s a reason the emerald has been loved and admired for centuries. With the resurgence of the popular gem, Vogue creates the smart girl’s guide to finding your shade of green.

- Shruti Thacker

Growing up, I hated jewellery—the exception being the one emerald necklace that was the pride and joy of my mother’s collection. When it was time for my own wedding shopping, naturally, emeralds would be the stars of my trousseau. But where does one start? If diamonds have their 4Cs—cut, colour, carat and clarity—spelled out for consumers, do the same standards apply to emeralds, too? In my quest to understand the green gemstone, I travelled to Gemfields’ largest emerald mine in Zambia. Two layovers and a three-hour car ride in the middle of the night later, I landed at the centre of Ndola, Africa, and headed to the Kagem mine in the copper-belt province of Zambia. The 41sqkm mine, which produces approximately 25 percent of the world’s emeralds, seemed like the perfect place to understand the nuances of the gem.