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Colombian Emeralds: A Tale of Smuggling and Poison Arrows

Christina Ochoa

 

Emeralds can be found in several locations around the world, but the vast majority are found in Colombia. The emerald supply chain during the colonial era began in the Colombian mines, worked primarily by enslaved indigenous Muzos. The raw emeralds were then shipped to Lisbon or Seville in cargo or slave ships, often smuggled and hidden between other commodities to avoid royal taxation. Once at these port cities, gem cutters, goldsmiths, and polishers would refine the emeralds and mount them onto jewelry. While many of these finished products went to upper nobility and European monarchs who adopted these jewels for their crown collection, some of the biggest consumers of Colombian emeralds were Indian royalty and the Safavid Empires in Persia. Many jewels that were considered to be Indian emeralds, have recently been investigated and found to be Colombian emeralds. The true scope of the Colombian emerald trade is unknown, due to how expansive its smuggling was. It is clear, however, that the steady flow of emeralds had a strong impact on jewel markets around the world.

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No one knows exactly why there is such an abundance of emeralds in Colombia, but the unique conditions found at emerald mines create a perfect environment for many valuable emeralds to be created. For example, how deeply green an emerald is depends on the amount of light it receives, and many of the mines in Colombia have ample tree coverage to protect the stones from overexposure. The fact that Colombia continues to export emeralds from the same mines is a testament to the richness and proliferation of its mineral deposits.  [1]

 

Since the early years of conquest, in 1537, when Spaniards first found emeralds in the Muzo area, they struggled for continued access to the mines. Staunch Muzo resistance to the Spanish incursions kept the mineral riches hidden from Spanish explorers for 20 years. On one occasion, the Muzos used their poison darts and arrows to fend off the Spaniards, killing 44 out of 64 conquistadores sent to take control of the region. While indigenous efforts ultimately could not prevent the Spanish from colonizing them and taking control of the mines, their vigorous resistance gained the Muzos notoriety for being ferocious warriors. [2]


Smuggling was one of the most prolific ways to export emeralds due to the ease with which they could be hidden. In vessels loaded with cargo that produced small profit margins, it was common​

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Raw emerald still in matrix on display.

for merchants to smuggle emeralds in hopes of enlarging their profits. The practice, commonly conducted on slave ships, was also risky. In addition, while the scarcity of evidence makes any conclusion far from definitive, it is feasible that whenever the official emerald trade subsided, smuggling grew in popularity and outnumbered the amount of emeralds being exported by legal means. [3]

 

The most notorious example of this trend was found in the shipwreck of the Spanish Galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha. The ship sank in 1622 when a hurricane damaged it as it was crossing the Florida Straits, losing tons of gold and silver it was carrying. The Spanish sent pearl divers to try to recover the ship but, despite their best efforts, were unable to find the Atocha. In 1985, two divers who thought they discovered a coral reef stumbled upon the hull of the Atocha. Investigators sent to recover the sunken treasure later realized they had discovered over 2,300 rough emeralds that weren’t on the ship’s registry. The pervasiveness of emerald smuggling was a prominent force in diluting the emerald market and preventing royal policies from slowing down the emerald trade. [4]​

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Diver finds crucifix with emeralds in the Atocha wreck, 1986.

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Smuggled emerald treasure recovered from the Atocha shipwreck, 1986.

 

Emeralds’ untaxed and unmarked quality allowed merchants to lie about their origin and sell them at a higher price mark. While we now know Colombian emeralds to be the best in quality, during colonial times anti-New World sentiments hindered the popularity of Colombian emeralds in the eyes of their European buyers. Colombian emeralds were marketed as either “Peruvian/New World” or “oriental.” Those that were of lower quality and had a harder time being sold in India were labeled “Peruvian,” and those which were of the highest quality were marketed as “oriental” regardless of actual origin. Europeans’ lack of knowledge about emeralds partially explained their inability to properly identify an emerald’s provenance. Furthermore, classifying the best emeralds as “oriental,” regardless of their actual origins, paralleled similar practices with peals. Some of the early colonizers believed it possible to test if a stone was an emerald by how well it stayed together if hit with a hammer, but given the fragility of emeralds, this practice resulted in shattering many gems. The colonizers treated emeralds and all the gems they found in the New World as if they were diamonds, and it took learning from indigenous populations and merchants from the East to understand how to value emeralds as a prized commodity in their own right. [5]

 

Today, Colombian emeralds are well known to be the most valuable and high-quality emeralds across the world. The Muzo and Chivor mines continue to export emeralds in high quantities. In 2018 Colombia exported 639 kg (1,410 lbs) worth of emeralds. The meaning of these gems has changed, and now an emerald’s Colombian origin is something to highlight rather than a quality to hide. The true reach and volume of the colonial emerald trade is still being discovered, and perhaps may never be known, but what is for sure is that Colombian emeralds set the standard and shaped the modern global market. [6]

 

Notes 

 

1 Lane, K. E. (2010). The Colour of Paradise: Emeralds in the Age of the Gunpowder Empires. Yale University Press.

2 Pogue, J. E. (1916, September). The Emerald Deposits of Muzo, Colombia. Pala International. http://www.palagems.com/emerald-colombia.

3 Brazeal, B. (2014). The History of Emerald Mining in Colombia: An Examination of Spanish-Language Sources. The Extractive Industries and Society, 1(2), 273–283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2014.08.006

4 Kane, R. E., Kammerling, R. C., Moldes, R., Koivula, J. I., McClure, S. F., & Smith, C. P. (1989). Emerald and Gold Treasures of the Spanish Galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha. Gems & Gemology, 25(4), 196–206. https://doi.org/10.5741/gems.25.4.196

5 Lane, K. E. (2010). The Colour of Paradise: Emeralds in the Age of the Gunpowder Empires. Yale University Press.

6 Alves, B. (2019, June 24). Volume of emeralds exported in Colombia by region 2018. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/807469/colombia-volume-emeralds-exported-region/.

 

Bibliography

 

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