Accession Number

2011.002.0011

Description

0.65 carats. Recovered from Santa Margarita shipwreck in lead box containing several thousand pearls.

Exhibition Label

Case/Object Caption (2023):

When conquistadors captured the emerald mines at Muzo, in present-day Colombia, emeralds were worth more than rubies or diamonds. Deep in color and exceptionally fine, Muzo emeralds are still considered the finest in the world. The largest emerald in this display was also the largest one found on the 1622 galleons, weighing 78 carats.

In the early 1500s, conquistadors discovered oyster beds along the coasts of Venezuela and Panama. At first, they enslaved local divers to collect the pearls but, when Indigenous slavery was outlawed in the 1550s, they imported enslaved Africans to do the dangerous work. These pearls were among thousands found inside a lead box.

These gems were not recorded on the galleons’ manifests. They were being smuggled!