The primary birthstone for the month of May is the deep green form of the mineral beryl that goes by the name emerald.

The Origins and Cultural Significance of Emeralds

The word “emerald” was derived from a word in Vulgar Latin (esmaraldus), a variant of the Latin “smaragdus”, which was a word taken from the Ancient Greek term smaragdos, meaning “green gem”.

Emerald mines were first said to be discovered in Egypt from around 330 BC and lasting into the 1700s. The gemstone’s striking color was said to have endeared the gem to everyone from sultans to royals, including Cleopatra herself. While Egypt was once considered a solid source for emerald mines, the area was exploited by both the Roman and the Byzantine Empires before eventually taken over by Islamic conquerors, leaving nothing more than ruins in the area today.

Colombia is now the world’s largest producer of emeralds, providing 50 to 95 percent of the world’s production. Zambia is the second largest producer, contributing 20 percent of the emeralds on the market. However, emeralds have been found in smaller amounts all over the world in countries like Afghanistan, China, Ethiopia, India, Madagascar, Spain, and even the United States.

In the U.S., the stone has become incredibly popular, especially following the #MeToo movement. Emeralds have been getting a lot of exposure on the red carpet and in the news of late because of their connection to the social movement. Emeralds are said to signify “hope, renewal, and growth”, which is what tied them to the women’s suffrage movement in the oughts of the 1900s. Now, that link endears the stone to proponents of women’s rights today.

Noteworthy Emeralds

One of the most famous and most valuable emeralds in the world was discovered in 1967 in a mine in Gachalá, Colombia. Known as the Gachalá Emerald, the intense green gemstone weighs a whopping 858 carats and measures 5 centimeters across. This uncut gem is now part of the Smithsonian galleries in Washington, D.C, along with other famous emerald gemstone jewels like the Hooker Emerald, which once belonged to the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Abdul Hamid II, and the Chalk Emerald.

The Properties and Hardness of Emeralds

Emerald’s color is unmistakably green thanks to amounts of chromium and even vanadium in the mineral, and the gem’s chemical formula is Be3Al2(SiO3)6. Like all gemstones, emeralds are graded using what is known in the jewelry world as the “four Cs”: the stone’s color, clarity, cut, and carat weight are the major factors in determining the value of a gemstone. However, when grading colored gemstones other than white diamonds, the richness of hue is usually considered the most important characteristic, and while this fact does remain true for emeralds, the stone’s clarity is also incredibly important, since the majority of emeralds mined are highly included, making them prone to breakage.

Emeralds are one of the rare gemstones that look suitable when set in a variety of metal colors and mounting styles, though most often, emeralds are accompanied by white diamonds and set in platinum or in high carat yellow gold. Jewelers commonly recommend against having an emerald as the center stone for an engagement ring, since the stone is only about a 7.5 on the Mohs hardness scale. The stone’s soft quality makes it dangerous to wear on an everyday basis since it would get chipped or scratched easily.

Surprise Mom this Mother’s Day with one of these watches by Rolex, Cartier, Chanel, and more from her favorite designers and watch brands.

Make your Mother’s Day gift extra special with these personalized jewelry gift ideas for her.

TrueFacet wants to keep all our shoppers and readers informed of the latest trends and industry news and to introduce you to new opinions and perspectives in the world of fine jewelry and watches. In turn, we’re bringing on board a handful of fresh expert voices, including TrueFacet’s new executive editor Roberta Naas. Stay tuned for interviews with even more industry movers and shakers on The Loupe!

Roberta Naas is a widely respected figure in the watch industry.

During any given SIHH or Baselworld or other industry trade show, Roberta can be found zipping about the fair, taking appointments with the world’s biggest brands and influential CEOs every 30 minutes on the hour and half hour. Her time is as in-demand as that of these top-level executives who always want to remain on Roberta’s radar, showing off their latest collection and innovations.

The industry holds Roberta in high esteem, revering her for her decades of experience and vast historical and technical knowledge. Roberta has been covering watches and fine jewelry for more than 30 years, penning articles for the likes of Robb Report, Forbes and Elite Traveler and authoring six books of her own. In 2008, Roberta was awarded the Gem Award for Excellence in Watch Writing by the Jewelry Information Center.

And, perhaps most impressively, Roberta is credited as the first female watch editor in America and, as an industry stalwart, has bravely pushed against the “Boys Club” attitude. Roberta pioneered the way for more female writers, executives and leaders in the traditionally male-dominated industry.

TrueFacet is very excited to have Roberta join The Loupe’s masthead as our new executive editor. With her unparalleled experience and wealth of knowledge, Roberta will be a great resource via her articles for new and seasoned watch collectors, keen to learn more of the ins and outs of this fascinating hobby.

We sat down with Roberta to learn more about the changing industry and the mesmerizing amethyst gold brooch she quite literally broke the bank on early in her career…

Name: Roberta Naas
Hometown: Hawthorne, NJ
Current Residence: Randolph, NJ

Title and Publications: Forbes and Forbes.com, Elite Traveler, RobbReport.com, Modern Luxury/Niche Media Magazines, DuPont Registry, WatchTime, Journal.hautehorlogerie.com, Monochrome-Watches, WorldTempus.com, New York Times WYT section, Newsweek special sections, and more.

First Big Jewelry Purchase: I was in my very early 20’s and I was in Hong Kong for a jewelry and watch show. I came across the most stunning 10-carat amethyst pendant in a raised 18-karat gold setting. It was remarkable. I couldn’t afford it and, after the proper amount of time spent nearly drooling over it, walked away. The last day of the show, I went back for a final look and I couldn’t find it. That was the moment I knew I had to have it, when it was nowhere to be found. Stricken, I asked the designer if it had been sold, and he told me that he knew I would be back, and put it aside. To the tune of thousands more than I could afford, I bought that pendant, and to this day I wear it proudly, and often.

Dream Purchase: That’s easy. I want the famed and highly exotic vintage Cartier Sapphire Panthere Brooch, where the majestic diamond-and-sapphire panther sits atop a stunning 150-carat cabochon star sapphire orb. It belonged to the Duchess of Windsor, and I believe it was made in the late 1940’s. That’s the dream piece for me.

The moment I knew I was hooked on watch/jewelry collecting was… When I walked into my first summit meeting of watch and jewelry executives at a luxury show. These were all competitors sitting around a huge table in a single room together, sharing design ideas and secrets, and opening up about concerns to one another. On the table were so many incredible colored stone and diamond jewelry pieces, and watches galore. I didn’t embrace collecting that day; I embraced the industry, the people, the camaraderie and the excitement and enthusiasm that remain to this day. I was hooked on the jewelry and watch world that surrounded me, and I am still passionate about the craft, the jewelry and watches, and the exceptional people of this world.

The biggest change I’ve seen in the industry is… There are so many that I could probably fill a book. From changes in product to evolutions in technology and craftsmanship, and right down to the way jewelry is marketed and sold. Instead, I think it is important to talk about the one thing that remains the same: The passion of those who design and create these wonderful works of wearable art. Anyone can buy a piece of jewelry, but it has to have a heart and a soul, a story, something that talks to you – or it is just a piece of stone and metal. Designers pour their emotions and spirit into the pieces they make in the hopes that the consumer will find the same spirit and make an emotional connection. That synergy is what keeps the industry thriving.

#1 Piece of Advice to Shoppers: Not every purchase is a major purchase; some can be small – yet all are special. When it comes to buying jewelry or watches there is no right or wrong, only personal taste and a connection to the design, or to the message it conveys to you. Even when investing in a big-ticket item, you have to love it. Wearing watches and jewelry is a way to make a statement, to project the true you, so don’t be afraid to buy the piece nobody else likes. Buy for the way a piece will make you feel when you’re wearing it … fun, fashionable, sophisticated, daring… and so much more.

More and more women are reevaluating luxury goods as an investment opportunity—and a wearable investment opportunity at that. But, before you go spending your budget on a fresh-from-the-store piece, consider shopping fine pre-owned jewelry instead.

Pre-owned jewelry is a savvier investment than buying a piece at full-price and here’s why.

 1. You will save a lot of money.

By far, the number one reason to shop pre-owned jewelry is to save a significant sum. Just like how a brand new car immediately depreciates once you drive it off the dealership lot, the value of your new Tiffany & Co. charm bracelet plummets the second it leaves the store. Going the pre-owned route allows you to smartly circumvent that (rather disheartening) drop-off in value and save yourself some serious cash.

2. You can make your budget go further.

While retail prices are firmly set (and will never go on sale), there is a much wider price range for pre-owned jewelry. If you have a set budget and a specific style in mind, it’s easier to find a pre-owned version that will satisfy both criteria. Similarly, if your budget won’t allow you to get the lavish jewels of your dreams, shopping pre-owned jewelry will help push that high-ticket item into your budget.

3. You can upgrade your collection worry-free.

After you sink a pretty penny on a piece of jewelry, it can be next to impossible to let it go: you’ll find yourself hanging onto it longer the more you spent on it. But pre-owned jewelry carries less of that sunk cost and dampens the fear that you need to cling to pieces you don’t even like anymore simply because they were expensive.

Pre-owned jewelry saves you money from the get-go so you don’t feel as financially affected. Moreover, online marketplaces like TrueFacet make it simple to sell or trade-in the jewelry that no longer suits your style, that way, they help you recoup a part of your initial investment.

The tourbillon movement was developed and patented by Abraham-Louis Breguet in 1795. Today, the tourbillon is still regarded as one of the most complicated—and therefore most expensive—movements. We take a beginner’s look at how a tourbillon movement works and the updated flying tourbillon.

How to Pronounce Tourbillon
Tourbillon is the French word for whirlwind so, given its origins, it’s pronounced “tour-be-on”—slightly different than the Americanized, “tour-billion”.

Just the Basics: An Overview of the Tourbillon
The tourbillon is a mind-bendingly complicated movement but here is a simplified look at its marvelous complexity.

Before the tourbillon, the time-keeping accuracy of pocket watches was heavily affected by gravity. Gravity would “pull” on the pocket watch’s delicate balance spring. The balance spring acts like a pendulum of sorts and controls the speed at which the balance wheel oscillates. This, in turn, maintains the rate of the movement of the hands. So, when gravity “pulls” on the sensitive balance spring, it throws off the timing regulator and the watch is less accurate.

The tourbillon movement was designed to offset gravity’s effect on a watch’s accuracy by rotating all of the time-keeping components a full 360 degrees over a set period of time. Unlike a traditional balance spring that only moves in a back-and-forth motion, the full range of the tourbillon theoretically means a watch will pass through both the slow and fast positions (or the positions when gravity will slow down or speed up time) so the time-bending positions will effectively cancel each other out.

A Quick Look at the Flying Tourbillon
Breguet’s original tourbillon was so complicated that only the most elite watchmakers at the time could build even a tourbillon, let alone improve upon it. So, when Alfred Helwig, an instructor at the German School of Watchmaking, introduced the flying tourbillon in 1920 (nearly 100 years after Breguet’s death), it was a brilliant breakthrough in haute horology design and technology.

To understand a flying tourbillon, think of a gyroscope and imagine the tourbillon inside a cage at the center of the gyroscope. In this setting, the flying tourbillon is cantilevered and supported on only one side, instead of being held in place by a bridge at the top and bottom. This allows for the flying tourbillon’s balance wheel to move in three dimensions, unlike the traditional tourbillon that only moves in two dimensions.

If you’re eager to learn more about watch movements and complications, read our post “Understanding the Tachymeter Bezel” here.

Widely considered to be the most famous diamond in the world, the Hope Diamond seems to have brought forth many things, but hope wasn’t one of them. The 45.52 carat steel blue diamond has intrigued the world since its discovery centuries ago. Legend has it the diamond came from the eye of a sacred idol known as Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god, found in the coleroon River in India. According to the legend, it was taken from the statue by a French adventurer-jewel trader around 1662, Jean Baptiste Tavernier, and renamed The Tavernier Blue.
This was the start of the fabled curse, which foretold bad luck and death, not only for the owner, but for all who touched it.

Tavernier purchased the stone and smuggled it to Paris, where he later sold it to King Louis XIV. The king’s master cutter and court jeweler, Sieur Pitau, recut the Tavernier Blue to enhance its beauty with 63 new facets that equaled 69 carats. The cutting took two years. It was recorded in the royal inventory and renamed the French Blue. Louis XIV had it set in gold and wore it simply from a ribbon hanging from his neck or in a brooch.

When King Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, were imprisoned after the outbreak of the French Revolution, the crown jewels were put in a warehouse, publicly exhibited, and then, in September 1792, stolen over the course of five days. On January 21, 1793, Louis XVI was guillotined. Nine months later, on October 16th, his wife Marie Antoinette was also guillotined, and these beheadings are commonly cited as one of the most prominent results of the diamond’s “curse.”

The French Blue disappeared for a while, only to turn up 20 years later in London in 1812, and renamed the Hope Diamond after the Hope family who owned it for most of the 19th century. It stayed in the Hope family until descendant Lord Francis Hope sold it in 1901 to pay off the debts of his lavish lifestyle. Francis bet badly on horses and business enterprises. He lost his fortune and his wife, and, after a series of court cases, was allowed to sell the Hope Diamond to Joseph Frankel’s Sons & Company. Frankel’s and Francis Hope both died in poverty, and some believe that this was because of the Hope Diamond curse.

The Hope Diamond was finally sold, at a bargain price, to other diamond dealers, coming to the Cartier brothers in Paris.

In 1911, the diamond was purchased by Evalyn Walsh McLean, a young Washington socialite heiress who bought the Hope Diamond from Cartier for $185,000. Cartier may have embellished the ‘cursed by a Hindu god’ story in order to sell the diamond to the immensely wealthy Evalyn. Sadly, McLean’s later life provided fodder for more rumors surrounding the cursed diamond. During that time, her young son died in a car accident, her daughter committed suicide, and her husband was confined in an insane asylum.

Now, is the diamond curse a karma inspired event for sacrilegious theft or are the unfortunate events that befell its owners merely a string of coincidences? Was Pierre Cartier embellishing the story of the curse to pique Evalyn Walsh McLean’s interest in buying the diamond?

Mrs. McLean’s jewelry collection, which included the Hope Diamond, was purchased by Harry Winston Inc. of New York. The Hope Diamond was shown at many exhibitions and charitable events, before being donated to the Smithsonian, and moved onto a rotating pedestal inside a cylinder made of bulletproof glass, casting its spell over seven million visitors a year.

Earlier today, TMZ reported that New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees is filing a lawsuit against Vahid Moradi of CJ Charles Jewelry in San Diego. Brees claims that he purchased $15 million dollars’ worth of jewelry from Moradi but was horrified to learn they appraised for far less, roughly $9 million dollars less in fact.

And cautionary tales like this motivate TrueFacet to bring transparency to the fine jewelry and watch marketplace. Here are the key lessons TrueFacet shoppers can glean from Brees’s bad shopping experience:

LESSON #1: Fine jewelry and watches can be an investment opportunity, but they’re never guaranteed to return on investment.
In his suit, Breees claims the fine jewelry was marketed to him as a long-term investment opportunity, something that he could profit from in 10-15 years. But shoppers should always remember: purchasing fine jewelry at full retail price is not always the amazing investment opportunity a salesperson may make it out to be.

This is why TrueFacet urges customers who hope to capitalize on a luxury watch or fine jewelry purchase to go the pre-owned route by bypassing a significant depreciation and saving money from the onset. To learn more about why pre-owned jewelry is a savvier investment opportunity than shopping traditional retail, read our post 5 Reasons to Buy Pre-Owned Jewelry and Watches here.

LESSON #2: Always seek an appraisal.
Drew Brees’s story and following lawsuit illuminates how important it is to get your recent purchase appraised right away. (At present, it is unclear why Brees did not immediately get his big-ticket buys valuated.) Had Brees promptly received his appraisal and seen how vastly different the amount he paid and the amount his items were valuated at, he could have returned the item quickly—and would not have continued to throw so much money down the drain.

So, what you should glean from this is: to ensure that you paid the fair market value, bring your item to a third-party (like another jeweler) to appraise your item. Check out our expert tips in how to find a jeweler or jewelry repairperson you can trust here.

LESSON #3: Research the fair market value before you buy any piece of jewelry or watch.
There is a significant retail markup in fine jewelry, sometimes marked up double or triple the original value. It seems like Brees may have been unclear of these steep, albeit common, markups and felt duped.

In turn, we strongly encourage you to thoroughly research the fair market value before spending—especially if you’re shopping for unbranded fine jewelry. (Jewelry from big name brands like Cartier and Tiffany & Co. have a standard price tag, set by the brands directly.) We further break down how jewelry valuation works and how to know if you’re getting a fair price for your jewelry in our post here.

To learn more about jewelry valuation works and what TrueFacet does to ensure you only pay the fair market value, feel free to call us at 1-800-690-3736 to speak with a concierge associate.