Emeralds have a powerful place in the world of gemstones as the most famous members of the Beryl family. Ancient myths credit this brilliant green stone with magical properties, from the ability to predict the future, to detecting falsehoods. Emeralds were even worn as protective talismans and were believed to cure fatal diseases. The emerald is also considered the birthstone for the month of May, its spring green colour symbolising rebirth and renewal.

In Hindu texts, the emerald was one of the navaratna stones, representing the planet Mercury. In Persian culture they symbolised goodness and purity. But it was in medieval Europe that this gemstone was perhaps considered the most sacrosanct, according to Hettie Judah: Jewels as symbols of political power are something more potent than a mere display of wealth. Sumptuary laws of Byzantium, and many from medieval Europe, forbade the wearing of gemstones such as emeralds by those outside the circles of the court; money alone could not purchase the right to wear jewels. (Joanna Hardy and Jonathan Self, Emerald: Twenty-one Centuries of Jewelled Opulence and Power, London: Thames & Hudson, 2014, p. 19)