One of the first gems cut from the famous James Hill recovery in Hiddenite, North Carolina, the Princess of Carolina is a 3.37 carat untreated fine quality North American emerald that was hand selected by Marcial de Gomar from an extremely small amount of gem rough material. It was featured along with its sister gem, the “Heart of Carolina,” in the JCK June 1999 issue. This emerald comprises a part of the original “Royal Family” of Carolina emeralds, consisting of the “Queen of Carolina” and the “Prince of Carolina,” which were also among the first gems cut from the recovery.

 

James Hill, the owner of North American Emerald Mines, sought out Marcial de Gomar in Key West and invited him to North Carolina to perform an assessment on the feasibility of finding emeralds on his property that has now become the North American Emerald Mines. Marcial’s advice after examining the possibility of the presence of emerald bearing veins was a strong encouragement to proceed with mining operations. Noting some similarities with the characteristics of the Chivor emerald mine in Colombia, he suggested to James where to start digging. The results of his recommendations were these especially fine quality emeralds, the very first recovery at that site.

 

The Princess of Carolina is an untreated North American emerald similar in quality to Colombian emeralds. Some other emeralds from the same recovery were snapped up at more than $50,000.00 per carat as far back as the late 1990s and early 2000s. There have been few quality gems recovered from that location since, and the prices have sharply risen by the demand for a true American emerald. The initial success of the mine and the discovery of these prize collector specimens, including the Princess of Carolina, are due in large measure to Marcial’s contribution of his knowledge and experience to this project.

 

Accompanied by AGTA certificate.