Sacred Emerald Buddha
By Jeffery Bergman
Primagem

...The most revered Buddha image in the world today is arguably the statue known as the “Emerald Buddha” housed in Wat Phra Keo, on the grounds of the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand. This venerable image was, according to historic legend, accidentally uncovered after a lightning strike on a Chedi in Northern Thailand’s Chiang Rai district in AD 1434. The temple’s resident abbot discovered stucco flaking off the image exposing a hidden green colored Buddha statute. The remaining stucco was duly removed reveling what the world now refers to as the “Emerald Buddha”
... Numerous texts present a variety of explanations as to the origin and source of this highly venerated image. One thing is certain, the statue is not Emerald, nor even jadeite or jade as several writers have reported, but actually a form of green jasper, a grayish-green ornamental gem material found in India and Africa.
... The “Emerald Buddha” is an historic, extensively documented and highly revered icon of the Buddhist religion. In this context, we present an entirely new “Sacred Emerald Buddha”, with no intent to compete with, or in any way lessen the importance or historic value of the most highly venerated and celebrated “Emerald Buddha” in Thailand.

... In 1994, an exceptionally large natural emerald crystal was discovered in Africa. Reports of its origin were disputed and ranged from Zambia to Madagascar. By September, 1994, this 3,600 carat crystal had been exported to Thailand in search of a suitable buyer.
... Upon arrival in Thailand, one astute gem dealer realized this was a very special crystal, and wanted to maximize its potential rather than breaking it up into smaller pieces as other competing dealers desired. After several months of intense negotiations, he finally won out. What followed was a year long quest for the best subject matter and design for this potentially world record breaking emerald crystal.
... Many ideas were tabled, but after all elements were taken into consideration, the shape of the crystal combined with Thailand as the final destination naturally suggested a standing Buddha image. After extensive historic and artistic research, the classic standing Buddha posture known in Thai as “Harm Yhard” was chosen. Traditionally, this was the Buddha’s admonition to his family members to stop quarrelling amongst themselves.
...The world suffered a great loss when the giant standing Buddha's of Bamiyan, Afghanistan were destroyed by Taliban extremists in 2001. A standing Buddha image in pure emerald, a gem highly revered by the Islamic faith, seemed an appropriate replacement, especially with the theme of the Buddha’s admonition to family members to “Stop quarrelling amongst yourselves”!
... Seeking a suitable craftsman to execute a standing Buddha image carved in fragile Emerald proved no easy task. Europeans are considered the world’s best gemstone carvers but they lack experience with Buddhist subject matter. China and Burma have many fine jadeite Buddha carvers but both locations present complicated security issues. In the end, the decision to locate an experienced jadeite Buddha carver in Thailand seemed the best solution.
... Jadeite carving factories were visited in Chanthaburi, Mae Sai, Chiang Mai and Mae Sot. Eventually two were chosen to carve prototype images in jadeite and low grade aquamarine (from the same gem family as emerald). The winner was 36 year old Aung Nyein, originally from Burma but living in Mae Sot, Thailand for 16 years. Aung had been carving Buddha images in jadeite for over 20 years, and was considered a master in his community.
...What followed were weeks of studying the crystal with high intensity lights, rulers, calipers and a sketch pad. Finally satisfied with his plan, Aung was confident to begin. Measure, mark, cut, grind, measure, mark, cut, grind. The process continued for over a week before a distinct Buddha image began to emerge from the depths of the green crystal. As the sculpting continued, smaller grinding bits were replaced by even smaller and smaller grinding bits as the fine detail of the Buddha demanded.
... Polishing the entire piece required another several weeks as Aung moved from extra fine sand paper to medium diamond powder and finally, the finest of all diamond powder necessary to obtain the high gloss finish on the Sacred Emerald Buddha’s surface. Late one afternoon in February, 2006, Aung announced he was finished. We all celebrated with a fine bottle of imported brandy.
... The last responsibility was independent gemological laboratory certification, which we have secured through GIT and GRS GemResearch SwissLab. It is with a great sense of pride, dignity and honor we present to the world the 2,620 carat “Sacred Emerald Buddha”.

GRS GemResarch SwissLab Report on the 2.620 carat Natural Emerald Buddha 70KB

GIT (Thai) Gemological Lab Report on the 2.620 carat Natural Emerald Buddha 100KB

The World's Largest & Most Famous Documented Emeralds

7,052 carat uncut Emerald Crystal from Colombia is privately owned and considered priceless.
http://www.hauer-international.com/the_emerald.htm

2,620 carat carved “Sacred Emerald Buddha” privately owned in Thailand.

2205 carat carved Emerald vase is in the Viennese Treasury, Vienna, Austria.
Schumann, W. (1997). Gemstones of the world. NY: Sterling Publishing.
http://www.jewelry.com/fashion-report-famous-emerald.shtml

Claimed “World’s Largest” carved emerald, 1,558 ct, displayed in the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh PA, USA.
http://www.post-gazette.com/seen/20021125event1125fnP1.asp

1,965 carat uncut Russian emerald displayed in the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History, USA.
http://emeraldstone.com/history.html

1,861.9 carat uncut and un-named emerald from Hiddenite, N.C., USA is privately owned.
http://www.georgehoward.net/emeralds.htm

Five unnamed large emerald crystals from Muzo, Colombia are stored in the vault of the Banco Nazionale de la Republica, Colombia, weighing from 220 carats to 1,100 with the largest at 1,796 carats.
http://emeraldstone.com/history.html

1,759 carat uncut ‘Guinness Emerald Crystal‘ from Columbia, owned by Banco Nazionale de la Republica, Colombia.
http://famousdiamonds.tripod.com/guinnessemerald.html

1,383.95 carat uncut “Duke of Devonshire” from Colombia now in the British Museum of Natural History.
http://www.jewelry.com/fashion-report-famous-emerald.shtml
http://emeraldstone.com/history.html

964 carat cut "Isabella Emerald" from Colombia, owned by A.D. Adventures Inc., W. Palm Beach, FL.
http://www.emeraldtreasure.com/intro.html

858 carat uncut “The Gachala Emerald” from Colombia is in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.
http://www.jewelry.com/fashion-report-famous-emerald.shtml

858 carat uncut “The Empress Caroline”, Hiddenite, N.C., USA is privately owned.
http://www.tarheelclub.org/may04.doc

632 carat uncut “The Patricia” Emerald from Colombia is in the Museum of Natural History in New York.
http://www.jewelry.com/fashion-report-famous-emerald.shtm
http://emeraldstone.com/history.html

398 carat emerald of hexagonal form is in The Al-Sabah Collection in the Kuwait National Museum.
303 carat emerald bead is in the Crown Jewels of Iran.
250 carat hexagonal emerald is in the Crown Jewels of Iran.
235 carat emerald bead is in The Al-Sabah Collection in the Kuwait National Museum.
http://www.christies.co.uk

Famous “Moghul” Emeralds (Also spelt: Mogul, Mughal)
430 carat carved Moghul emerald sold by Fred Leighton Jewelers for “several million dollars.”
http://flybmi.whatsonwhen.com/sisp/index.htm?fx=destination&loc_id=133259§ion=shop
http://www.expedia.co.uk/lonelyplanet/Las-Vegas/shopping.aspx

Emerald, gold and enamel Mughal wine cup (7cm) sold at Christies for US$2,963,665.00.
http://www.islamictourism.com/news_E.php?id=319&width=1280&height=1024

217.80 carat carved “The Mogul Emerald” sold at Christie’s for US$2.2 million, now in the Museum of Islamic Art, Qatar.
http://www.gia.edu/gemsandgemology/wd_620ar_82_this_weeks_news_details.cfm

161.20 carat carved Mughal emerald fetched $1.09 million at Christie's in 1999.
http://www.christies.co.uk/departments/specialists.asp?DID=33

Jeffery Bergman
Primagem
C.S. Building Suite 202
35 Surasak Road, Silom
Bangrak, Bangkok 10500
Kingdom of Thailand
Ph: 66 (0) 2238-2033 & 34
Cell: 66 (0) 9811-7074
E-mail: Jeffery@Primagem.com
URL: www.Primagem.com

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