Collecting EMERALDS

With the cinematic release of Wicked: For Good, these gems are in the spotlight, but their allure has been celebrated for millennia...

- FEATURE EMMA LONGSTAFF

As co-head of the UK jewellery department at Bonhams, Kate Flitcroft works with many rare and valuable gemstones.

Among the many jewels she's encountered, she's captivated by carved emeralds from the Mughal Empire, a powerful dynasty that ruled India from the mid-16th to the 18th century. From the mountains and rainforests of Colombia, Spanish traders carried the precious stones on an epic journey, travelling thousands of miles across land and sea to India. There, craftsmen carved them with intricate floral motifs or religious verses, before they were set into jewellery, caskets, or ceremonial weapons for the Mughal royals. The colour green was considered sacred, symbolising paradise and eternal life, and emeralds were believed to promote wisdom and healing,' explains Kate. Centuries later, there's something otherworldly about them. The stones still have an aura of the divine.

Emeralds, like aquamarines, are part of the beryl family of gemstones. On the Mohs scale - a ten-point exponential scale used to grade minerals' ability to scratch or be scratched by other substances - diamonds, at the top, are a 10, and emeralds are rated 7.5. 'It's this relative softness that made them suitable for the kind of elaborate carving perfected by Indian master craftsmen,’ notes Kate.