95.51 carats (total weight). Extremely large and well-matched pair of gem-fine teardrop shaped Colombian emeralds from Muzo mines.

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The name of these breathtaking twin gems (and the title of Marcial de Gomar's autobiography), honors the two Colombian mountain peaks of Fura and Tena, considered sacred by the Muzo people and named after the two progenitors of humanity, Fura (woman) and Tena (man). Muzo belief states that, at their death, Fura's tears became emeralds that took on the green of the jungles and the fire of the lightning bolt.

In the Bogota emerald market, it has always been accepted that a fine quality emerald over one carat and as much as three carats is a very large emerald, unlike other precious and semi-precious stones which are frequently found in large sizes. Emeralds usually do not occur in large crystals, and when they do, they often lack a deep green color or have little or no fire. Additionally, even when a long sought after larger rough emerald is finally recovered, the average loss in faceting it into an emerald cut is 66 percent. The loss will be even greater if a different cut, such as a pear shape or a round, is desired.

For all of these aforementioned challenges, the presentation here of not only one, but two unusually large emeralds is a treasure for the eyes. A visually matching pair of teardrop shapes such as these Tears of Fura is an occurrence that may take many centuries to replicate. The largest emerald recoveries from the Muzo mines went from the Spanish Crown in the 16th and 17th century to the grand collections of Catherine the Great in Russia, and the Shah of Iran. According to Mr. Marcial, who has personally seen both Collections, splendid as they are, neither has a pair of teardrop shaped emeralds to equal the exquisitely matched Tears of Fura, in which the intense green of the Muzo jungles and the fiery lightning of the Andes are ever present. Adding further to their unique status, this pair was chosen to receive the standard clarity enhancement (a common practice for Type III gems, employed as far back as the reign of Cleopatra) using the patented Excel process, considered by many to be a lasting and more stable yet reversible clarity enhancement, perfected by Arthur Groom & Co.

The GIA Notable Letter that accompanies this lot notes that “the exceptional color and size of these emeralds are distinctive. The further distinction of being a well-matched pair of considerable size makes these two Colombian emeralds a rarity.”

Accompanied by GIA Report 2185154015 of February 24, 2017 and GIA Notable Letter of February 24, 2017.

Note: Due to the inability of current technology capturing the blue green hues and light dispersion in emeralds accurately, digital and particularly print images, do no justice to the true beauty, color and fire of Colombian emeralds. These magnificent specimens truly need to be seen with the naked eye to be appreciated to their full extent.