Reading a Jardin: The Language of Colombian Emeralds

The French word 'jardin' means garden, and in emeralds it refers to the mossy tapestry of internal inclusions unique to each stone. In Colombian Muzo emeralds, this jardin is not a defect but a certificate of authenticity: three-phase inclusions of liquid, gas and crystal that cannot be replicated in a laboratory. Reading a jardin correctly separates a $5,000 emerald from a $500,000 one. In this piece our senior gemologist walks through six identifying markers he uses under 10x magnification.