[Necklace] The Mackay emerald is the largest set emerald in the Smithsonian's collections. In 1931 Clarence H. Mackay presented the art deco ensemble to his wife, Anna Case, a New York Metropolitan Opera star, as a wedding gift.

The emerald has several cracks and inclusions of other minerals, including parisite. Parisite reveals that it was mined at Muzo, Colombia, the only site known where the minerals occur together.

Courtesy of the National Museum of Natural History, bequest of Anna Case Mackay, 1984.

Mackay Emerald Necklace, about 1930-31, designed by Cartier, Inc., United States, platinum with emeralds and diamonds


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