Study of an ‘Egyptian’ Emerald from the Mineralogy Museum at the Paris School of Mines
Résumé
A 3.19 ct rectangular faceted emerald, reportedly from Egypt, has been in the collection
of the Mineralogy Museum at the Paris School of Mines (Mines Paris – PSL) most likely since the midto
late nineteenth century. Its microscopic features (e.g. multiphase inclusions with jagged outlines
and gota de aceite structures), and its chemical and spectroscopic characteristics (e.g. mainly
related to Cr and V rather than Fe, as well as a low alkali content), are consistent with emeralds from
Colombia and completely different from those of known Egyptian stones. Apparently, the species
and variety of the specimen were correctly established when the gem arrived in the collection,
but its origin was not. The locality may have been deduced from the relatively low gem quality of
this faceted emerald, resembling those that were discovered around the same time (early to midnineteenth
century) in Egypt.