The Chalk Emerald is a rectangular step-cut

emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr., and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991). ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York ...

, mined in

Muzo Muzo () is a town and municipality in the Western Boyacá Province, part of the department of Boyacá, Colombia. It is widely known as the world capital of emeralds for the mines containing the world's highest quality gems of this type. Muzo ...

, Colombia. It was one of many

Colombian emeralds Emeralds are green and sometime green with a blueish-tint precious gemstones that are mined in various geological settings. They are minerals in the beryl group of silicates. For more than 4,000 years, emeralds have been among the most valuable o ...

shipped to India by the Spanish in the 16th and 17th centuries. Ownership of the stone after its arrival is unrecorded until its sale by

Jagaddipendra Narayan Sir Jagaddipendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur, (15 December 1915 – 11 April 1970) was Maharaja of Cooch Behar, in India. He served in British forces during World War II and ceded full ruling powers to the Government of India in 1949. Early li ...

, the

Maharaja Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent, Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and Medieval India, medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a pri ...

of Koch Bihar, to a British gem broker in 1959. Jagaddipendra stated that the stone was formerly the centerpiece of an emerald and

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...

necklace A necklace is an article of jewellery that is worn around the neck. Necklaces may have been one of the earliest types of adornment worn by humans. They often serve ceremonial, religious, magical, or funerary purposes and are also used as sy ...

worn by his mother,

Indira Devi Indira Devi (born as Indira Raje; 19 February 1892 – 6 September 1968) was the Maharani of the princely state of Cooch Behar State, Cooch Behar, British India. She was born a princess of Baroda State, Baroda as the daughter of Maharaja Sayaji ...

, to various state functions. The emerald was purchased by the American jeweler Harry Winston, who recut it from its original weight of , and added a

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

setting to attach it to a

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

ring (The) Ring(s) may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell Arts, entertainment, and media Film and TV * ''The Ring'' (franchise), a ...

of his own design. Surrounding the Chalk Emerald itself are sixty pear-shaped diamonds, totalling . The ring was sold in 1962 to Oscar Roy Chalk—an entrepreneur from New York for whom the emerald is now named—for his wife Clair to wear to a state dinner at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

in honor of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

. Supposedly, she turned the ring around during the event so as to not upstage the less-impressive emerald ring worn by the Queen. The Chalks donated the ring to the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

in 1972, and it is now part of the Smithsonian's National Gem and Mineral Collection on display in the

National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. With 4.4 ...

in Washington, D.C.Smithsonian Institution
Chalk Emerald
National Museum of Natural History website, retrieved 29 December 2022.

References

External links

{{Colombian emeralds Individual emeralds Colombian emeralds Individual rings Jewelry in the Smithsonian Institution Baroda State