Four Treasures Reference Database
Record No. 29539
Origin of Emeralds in a Late-Eighteenth-Century Pectoral Cross and Ring from St Peter’s Archabbey, Salzburg, Austria
Journal Article
Schmetzer, K. and Gilg, H.A. (2022) Origin of Emeralds in a Late-Eighteenth-Century Pectoral Cross and Ring from St Peter’s Archabbey, Salzburg, Austria. Journal of Gemmology, Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 272–283.
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gems, beryl, emerald, Austria, Habachtal
A pectoral cross with nine emeralds and a ring containing one emerald were donated in 1786 to newly elected Abbot Dominikus Hagenauer of St Peter’s Abbey, Salzburg, Austria. Both jewels were examined by microscopy and with a portable X-ray fluorescence unit. The emeralds’ inclusion patterns and chemical properties indicate they are of Colombian origin, although oral tradition has assumed they came from Austria’s Habachtal deposit. The faceting style of the accompanying diamonds indicates that the ring might be somewhat older than the pectoral cross.