Emeralds EXPLAINED: Color, Cracks, and the Oil Secret

Happy May, friends. Emerald is your birthstone — and it's one of the trickiest stones in the whole trade. It's hard, but it fractures easy. It comes out of the ground full of what the French call "jardin" — "garden" — little branches of inclusion that real emerald collectors actually want. After 40 years and 18,000 rings, Todd has set hundreds of emeralds and has some honest things to say about which ones are worth the money. Lyra asks the questions. Todd answers from the bench. By the end you'll know why Cleopatra was the emerald lady, why the emerald cut exists in the first place, why Jackie Kennedy's engagement ring from JFK was a 2-carat emerald, and why Todd is going to get in a little trouble for his take on lab-grown emeralds. Chapters: 0:00 Intro — Todd, Lyra, and the largest emerald ever found 0:47 What makes an emerald an emerald (and the "garden" inside) 2:20 The beryl family — aquamarine, morganite, bixbite, emerald 2:36 Hard but fragile — setting and caring for emeralds 3:24 Why emeralds are oiled (and why bleach kills them) 4:02 Cleopatra, the 1500 BC mines, and the emerald cut 6:08 How emeralds come out of the ground (Colombia vs Africa) 6:34 What actually makes an emerald valuable 9:57 Lab-grown vs synthetic vs natural — Todd gets honest 13:15 Three billion years old (and Elizabeth Taylor's $6.5M necklace) 15:11 Why a jeweler picks emerald as a center stone 16:30 Happy birthday, May people Shop emeralds Todd has for sale right now: https://shr.pn/emeralds Visit the studio online: 🔗 Wedding rings & bracelets: https://handwovenbands.com 🔗 Art rings, wands, and rare gems: https://toddalan.com Follow Todd: 📷 Instagram (@todd_alan_gallery):   / todd_alan_gallery   🎵 TikTok (@todd_alan_studios):   / todd_alan_studios   📌 Pinterest (@toddalanstudios):   / toddalanstudios   👤 Facebook (@HandWovenBands):   / handwovenbands   📺 Please subscribe to my youtube channel! New videos every other week from my Sarasota jewelry studio.    / @toddalanstudios   #ToddAlanStudios #MasterJeweler #Emerald #MayBirthstone #GemstoneEducation