Muzo Emerald

Discovered in the steamy jungles of Colombia, the mesmerising, inimitable glow of the Muzo emerald has made them sought after and fought over for centuries.

‘Muzo’ is a word that is inextricably linked to the world’s finest emeralds, and has been for centuries. Located high up in the Andes, 60 miles north-west of Bogota, Muzo was home to a tribe of warriors who became known as the ‘emerald people’ thanks to their ability to extract the vibrant green stones that populated their land. The Inca empire set the lucid green gems into jewellery of gold. In 1886, treasure seeker Barth Blake wrote about his discovery of lost Inca gold, which included "golden vases full of emeralds”.

After the Spanish conquest in the 16th century, the conquistadors took over the Muzo mine and so began a long and bloody period of fighting over the gems, sought after as they were by Indian and, later, European sovereignty alike.

Although the disputes raged throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, it was during this period that the most spectacular Muzo emeralds were discovered. Mining by hand meant that the fragile emerald crystals were less likely to be damaged and the chemical composition of veins close to the surface produced stones of an intense, blueish green, with a noticeable streak of fluorescence that distinguishes them from the yellow-tinged stones mined today.