Jardin, the French word for garden, is the trade term for the network of fissures, mineral inclusions, growth tubes and other internal characteristics that occur in emerald and which together resemble, when viewed under magnification, the tangled foliage of a small garden seen from above. The term is descriptive rather than disparaging and is used by GIA, by trade laboratories and by serious dealers in describing emerald clarity.

Composition of the Jardin

The jardin in a fine emerald can include several distinct types of internal feature. Three-phase inclusions, consisting of liquid, gas bubble and solid crystal trapped within a fluid-filled cavity at the time of growth, are a diagnostic feature of Colombian emerald and are often present in significant quantities. Healing fissures, where partly closed fractures have been refilled by later mineral solution, produce reflective veil-like inclusions. Pyrite, calcite, mica and other host-rock minerals appear as discrete crystal inclusions. Growth tubes and zoning stripes complete the impression of a small garden.

Significance for the Trade

Almost all natural emerald exhibits a jardin to some degree, and the relative absence of one is a strong indicator of synthetic origin or, less commonly, of an exceptionally clean and therefore very valuable natural stone. The character of the jardin can also indicate origin, with the three-phase inclusions of Colombian material distinguishing it from the typical pyrite, mica and growth-tube inclusions of Zambian and Brazilian material, although laboratory analysis is always needed for a definitive origin determination.

Position within Clarity Grading

Emerald clarity grading takes the universal presence of the jardin into account, and emerald clarity standards are correspondingly more permissive than those for diamond, ruby or sapphire. The trade therefore distinguishes between a beautiful jardin and an obstructive one, with the test being whether the inclusions interfere materially with the visual appearance of colour and life in the stone.