The immense uncut Peruvian emerald, given by Rudolph II. to the Elector of Saxony, is still preserved in the Green Vaults at Dresden.
Queen Elizabeth of England sent to Henry IV., the champion of the Reformed faith, a beautiful emerald, which she herself had worn. She gave it as a token of esteem, and reminded the gay monarch that the gem possessed the virtue of not breaking so long as faith remains entire and firm.
It has been stated that the Emperor Charlemagne regarded the gift from the Empress Irene as the dearest of all his talismans. This treasure consisted of a piece of the true cross, enclosed in a large emerald, which was attached to a strong chain of golden links. When his sepulchre was rifled of the treasures deposited with the deceased monarch, this relic was removed with the rest of the jewels; and in 1811 was presented to Napoleon by the Burghers of the city of Aix-la-Chapelle. Bonaparte one day playfully threw it over the neck of Queen Hortense, declaring that he had worn it on his breast in the bloody battles of Austerlitz and Wagram, as Charlemagne had worn it on the field of battle in the Middle Ages. Hortense wore it until the day of her death.
The emeralds of the French Crown at the time the famous inventory was taken in 1781, do not appear to have been of very great purity. Several of them exhibited fine color, but had many faults. Five of the best were valued at that time at fifty thousand francs, or ten thousand dollars, each.
In the famous Hungarian crown, the large sapphire is surrounded with four green stones of oblong form, whose species are unknown. It is also a mystery how they came there, as they are not mentioned in the inventory made of the jewel when Queen Elizabeth of Hungary pledged it to the Emperor Frederick IV.
The Sultan of Turkey is known to possess some exquisite emeralds; and Rambusson, a French writer on gems, declares that they are the finest in the world. One of them is said to weigh one hundred and twenty-five ounces, and is probably another lump of antique glass. Another of three hundred karats weight, and of less doubtful character, is a gem of great purity and perfection of color. It adorns the handle of a poniard.
In the museum at Florence there is a small vase carved in emerald, and also another ornament of similar form, fashioned from a fine beryl. The mineralogical collection at Munich boasts of some immense emeralds which are supposed to have been obtained from Spain, and part of her Peruvian booty. There are also some splendid specimens of uncut emeralds in the cabinet of minerals at Vienna. The Saxon and the Papal crowns contain very beautiful emeralds.
Probably the most beautiful specimen of the natural emerald in the world is that presented to the renowned shrine of Loretto in Italy, by Don Pierre Daragon, when Spanish ambassador at Rome. He was formerly viceroy in Peru and obtained the treasure at that time. The specimen is a mass of white limestone, crowned with great crystals of emeralds more than an inch in diameter and of exquisite color and lustre.
The name of Emerald Isle is generally supposed to have been derived from the ever green appearance of its shores but an antiquary asserts that it arose from the ring which was set with “Optimo Smaragdo,” and which Pope Adrian sent to King Henry II. as the instrument of his investiture with the dominion of Ireland.
There is a very fine and large crystal of emerald in the museum at Leiden, but its history is unknown.