gems, beryl, emerald, Austria, Habachtal

A detailed historical study of the emerald mine in the Habachtal, Pinzgau, Salzburg, tracing the exploitation of Austria’s best-known emerald deposit through documentary, archival, and photographic evidence. Schmetzer reconstructs the ownership and operation of the mine, including the activities of early owners and miners, the limited exploitation following the death of Goldschmidt in 1871, the acquisition of the property in 1896 by the London-based Emerald Mines Limited and its mining activities around the turn of the twentieth century, and subsequent changes in ownership and mining after the First and Second World Wars. The study follows the mine through the period of Hans Zieger, the later ownership of Munich lawyer Karl Gaab, and its management since 1985 by the Steiner family of Bramberg. Particular attention is given to the individuals, families, companies, and collectors associated with Habachtal emeralds, supported by numerous historical photographs, documents, maps, specimens, and previously unpublished archival material. Appendices discuss historical Habachtal emerald specimens preserved in collections, including that of the Archabbey of St. Peter in Salzburg, and provide additional documentation relating to the mine and its personnel.

gems, beryl, emerald, Colombia, crystallography, morphology

The morphology of Colombian emerald, including growth and dissolution features of their faces, gives insight into growth and post-growth history of individual crystals. A collection of 15 isolated crystals and seven emeralds in matrix was studied by optical methods. The authors observed layered growth of prismatic, dipyramidal, and basal sectors that leads to crystals with prismatic to columnar or rarely pyramidal habit. In the latter case, prismatic growth sectors were not developed. The visual appearance of the crystal faces at the surface was influenced by etch patterns with the formation of cavities, pits, pointed hillocks, and stepped grooves, followed occasionally by layered overgrowth. Skeletal growth led to the formation of cavities in crystals, some of them resembling empty cups with planar bottoms. In these crystals, the basal faces showed indentations or deep cavities, surrounded by shells or rims of emerald, bound on both vertical surfaces by prism or dipyramidal faces. Emeralds in the form of slightly conical empty tubes also belong to the latter group. Possible relationships to trapiche emeralds and samples exhibiting the gota de aceite effect are discussed.

gems, beryl, emerald, Afghanistan, Panjshir

Quality and origin are important factors influencing the price of emeralds. Emeralds from different localities exhibit distinct gemmological characteristics that serve as key indicators for origin determination. This study investigates emerald samples from the Panjshir mining area in Afghanistan, using advanced analytical methods including optical microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, micro UV-visible–near-infrared spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy to examine their gemmological features, internal inclusions, chemical composition, and color origin. The color of the Afghan emeralds ranges from light green to dark green, with crystals commonly forming short hexagonal prisms or tabular shapes. Black and brown associated minerals are visible externally. Under the Chelsea filter, most samples exhibit localized red reactions. The primary inclusions are multiphase fluid inclusions—needle-like, shuttle-shaped, or tubular—containing rock salt, potassium salt, and solid minerals. Raman spectroscopy indicates that the liquid phase is predominantly H₂O, while solid inclusions are mainly calcite and hematite. Other mineral inclusions include hematite, calcite, amorphous carbon, quartz, carbonaceous matter, and apatite. LA-ICP-MS analysis shows that the main chemical components are BeO, Al₂O₃, and SiO₂, with trace elements including Ca, Mg, Ti, Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, Cr, and V. Infrared spectroscopy reveals the presence of both Type I and Type II water, with Type II water showing stronger absorption, indicating a predominance of Type II water in these emeralds. This correlates with the high alkali metal content measured by LA-ICP-MS, as Type II water content is positively associated with alkali levels in beryl. UV-visible spectra confirm that Cr³⁺ and V³⁺ are the chromophores responsible for color. The gemmological, spectroscopic, and chemical characteristics of these Afghan emeralds provide a scientific basis for origin determination.

gems, beryl, emerald, Afghanistan, Pakistan, emerald origin, Chitral, Swat, Khaltaro, inclusions

Emeralds from various deposits in Pakistan (Chitral, Swat, and Khaltaro) and Afghanistan (Panjshir and Laghman) were examined and compared. In addition, we compared the lighter-coloured Chitral emeralds from our previous study to newly acquired, more deeply coloured samples from Chitral. The specimens were characterised by Raman, FTIR, and UV–Vis–NIR spectroscopy. Chemical analyses by EPMA and LA-ICP-MS also were performed on the samples from Chitral and Khaltaro. Distinguishing features of our Chitral emeralds include a lack of three-phase inclusions, a strong Fe²⁺-related absorption at about 830 nm in the UV–Vis–NIR spectra, and elevated Cs and Li contents. These characteristics may provide clues for geographic origin determination.

gems, corundum, history.1, ancient lapidaries

In early modern Europe precious and semiprecious stones were valued not only for their beauty and rarity but also for their medical and magical properties. Lorenzo de’ Medici, Philip II of Spain, and Popes Leo X and Clement VII were all treated with expensive potions incorporating ground gems such as rubies, diamonds, and emeralds. Medical and magical/astrological lapidaries, texts describing the stones’ occult and medical qualities as well as their abilities to ward off demons and incantations, were essential resources for their use. First published in Venice in 1502, Camillo Leonardi’s Speculum Lapidum is an encyclopedic summary of all classical and medieval sources of lithotherapy. In describing the natural, manifest, and occult properties of precious and semiprecious stones as well as their graven images and applications, the Speculum Lapidum provides tremendous insight into the role that medical astrology and astral magic played in the life of an Italian court in the early modern period. Liliana Leopardi’s English translation, complete with critical apparatuses, gives unprecedented access to this key text within the magical lapidary genre. A vital addition to the existing canon of lapidaria in translation, Leopardi’s work will be of special importance for students and scholars of the history of magic, medicine, religion, and Renaissance humanism, and it will fascinate anyone interested in the occult properties of precious and semiprecious stones.

gems, chrysoberyl, alexandrite, beryl, emerald, phenakite, Russia, Ural Mountains, Malysheva

Schmetzer and Burlakov examine the history of the discovery, description, and naming of alexandrite and phenakite from the emerald mines of the Urals, using surviving correspondence and contemporary publications to distinguish documented events from later legends. Phenakite was obtained by Yakov Vasilievich Kokovin and passed through Lev Alekseevich Perovskii to Nils Gustaf Nordenskiöld in 1832; because of its resemblance to quartz, Nordenskiöld named the new beryllium silicate phenakite, from the Greek for “deceiver,” although it had already been known locally as Kokovinite in honor of Kokovin. The first color-changing chrysoberylls were found in 1833 and likewise passed from Kokovin through Perovskii to scientists including Franz von Wörth and Nordenskiöld. Correspondence from 1834 records both their characteristic cyclic twinning and their change of color between daylight and candlelight. The material continued to be called chrysoberyl or cymophane in scientific correspondence and publications through the 1830s; the name alexandrite first appeared in the 1842 jubilee volume of the Russian Imperial Mineralogical Society, where the naming in honor of Crown Prince Alexander, later Tsar Alexander II, was attributed to a proposal by Nordenskiöld. The authors show that the often-repeated claim that alexandrite was discovered on the Crown Prince’s coming-of-age day in April 1834 cannot be correct, since the crystals had already been found in 1833. They likewise reject as legend the story that Nordenskiöld discovered the color change after dropping what he thought was an emerald and finding it by candlelight. Surviving documents do not establish who first observed the color change, nor do they establish precisely what role Perovskii played in the eventual naming of alexandrite. The article also reviews the Ural emerald deposits and the occurrence of alexandrite and phenakite within them, noting that both minerals were reported from all six mining districts examined by Grewingk in 1854, with the best phenakites from the Starsky area and fine alexandrites from the Sarewtinsky mines.

gems, beryl, emerald, Austria, Habachtal

A pectoral cross with nine emeralds and a ring containing one emerald were donated in 1786 to newly elected Abbot Dominikus Hagenauer of St Peter’s Abbey, Salzburg, Austria. Both jewels were examined by microscopy and with a portable X-ray fluorescence unit. The emeralds’ inclusion patterns and chemical properties indicate they are of Colombian origin, although oral tradition has assumed they came from Austria’s Habachtal deposit. The faceting style of the accompanying diamonds indicates that the ring might be somewhat older than the pectoral cross.

gems, beryl, aquamarine, emerald, morganite, heliodore, goshenite

Treatments of beryl became commercially important at the beginning of the 20th century. By thermal enhancement, iron bearing beryls change from yellow, yellowish-green and green to blue colours. Furthermore, disturbing yellow or orange hues in morganites can be removed. Besides this, artificial irradiation is of relevance, to intensify yellow and pink colours, as well for special beryls with colour centres (Maxixe beryl resp. beryls of the Maxixe-type). In many cases, the limited detectability of these enhancements is problematic.

gems, beryl, aquamarine, morganite, heliodore, goshenite

The first part of this special issue deals with the origin of the term beryl as well as the denomination of the as gemstones significant varieties, except emerald. Following is a survey of the relevant physical properties that determine crystal structure, crystal chemistry and crystal morphology, as well as gemmological characterization. After a short description of the most important inclusion features the formation conditions and the occurrences are presented, specified for beryl in gem quality. Subsequently the application of the mineral beryl as well as exceptional and famous beryls are described.

gems, beryl, emerald, Afghanistan, Central Asia, Pakistan, China

Giuliani and Pardieu trace the historical “emerald route” across Central Asia, examining the movement of emeralds through the commercial networks that connected South and Central Asia with the wider Eurasian world. The brief contribution places emerald within the long-distance exchange routes crossing the region and considers how stones from Asian sources circulated through trading centers before reaching distant markets. It highlights Central Asia’s importance not simply as a potential source region but as a crossroads through which gemstones, merchants, and cultural influences moved between East and West. The article provides a concise historical and geographical context for understanding the circulation of emeralds along the trade routes of Central Asia.