Welcome, May, and your birthstone, the Regal Emerald.
Emeralds—one of the four "Cardinal Gemstones"—are called "The Jewel of Kings," and they enjoy a long and illustrious history. Egyptians mined them from 1500 BC and legend has it that Cleopatra decorated her body and her palace with the gemstone. They have been mined in Austria and India since the 1300's and, in 1535, were discovered by Spanish explorers in Columbia (which remains the largest source of emeralds to this day). Emeralds have been credited with increasing fertility, providing immortality, conferring riches, power and eloquence, strengthening memory, counter-acting poisoning or infection, and empowering its wearer to predict the future.
Emeralds are a variant of the gemstone Beryl and their green color is due to the chromium impurities within the stone's structure. The best (most valuable) emeralds have a deep, saturated green color and are bright and highly transparent. But emeralds are highly susceptible to "fissures" and other flaws; thus, the industry allows emeralds to be graded "by eye," that is, without the use of magnification. If an emerald appears to be free of inclusions to the naked (trained) eye, they are considered flawless. Perfect emeralds are very rare.
The West German Modernist vase, shown above, is not made of emerald—but it shares emerald's lovely green coloration. The vase was made in the Fifties by Wilhelm Kagel in the German resort town of Partenkirchen, Bavaria. The hand-incised decoration is called "sgrafitto," the Italian word for "scratched," which is used as applied decoration to plaster, glass, tile or ceramics. Click on the photo above to learn more about this handsome vase.
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
To arrange a visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only), please call 917-446-4248.