Emeralds are a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6,) colored green by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes vanadium.[1] Beryl has a hardness of 7.5 - 8 on the 10 point Mohs scale of mineral hardness.[1] Most emeralds are highly included, so the
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald