Emerald comes in many shades of green, from a deep forest green to an insipid pale watery green. The most sought after are the rich velvety green colors. A characteristic of emeralds is that they tend to have inclusions in the stone. Inclusions are small specks which are found in precious stones. Every stone is unique and in emerald a perfect stone is extremely rare indeed. As early as 2000 BC, near the Red Sea in Egypt, the Cleopatra Mines were being worked. Emeralds were highly sought after by the Ancient Egyptians and also by the Incas. Fine emeralds come from Brazil and Columbia. Other places they have been found are Russia, Australia, Africa, Pakistan and India. A word of warning though to everyone who owns a piece of this beautiful stone, emeralds are treated with an oil which soaks into the stone and affords it protection. You have to be careful how you clean emeralds and don't accidentally take out the protective oil. Do not ultrasonic clean emeralds and be careful with the baths of jewelry cleaner as these methods may strip the stones of their oils. Fidelity, goodness and love are associated with emerald. Emerald features in engagement and eternity rings, set together with diamonds. Emerald is the 55th wedding anniversary stone.