It was the year 1622 when a fleet of ships, heavily laden with copper, silver, gold, tobacco, gems, jewels and indigo, departed from Spanish ports in then New Granada and Havana.

Heading for Spain six weeks later than planned, the 28-ship convoy was ravaged by a severe hurricane and one galleon, the Nuestra Señora de Atocha, was smashed against the rocks, breaking open its hull and spilling all its treasure into the sea.

Although the Spanish dispatched another five ships to salvage the wreckage, it was too deep for them to dive. Six weeks later, another hurricane dispersed the treasure even further.

Now, after a rather long wait, a collection of rare and exquisite emeralds salvaged from the wreckage by treasure hunter Mel Fisher will be up for auction on April 25 in New York.

The star of the collection is an extremely rare 887-carat gem, La Gloria, which auction house Guernsey bills as “one of the largest museum-quality emeralds in the world”:

It is estimated to fetch between a casual $4 million and 5 million. The Telegraph detailed what else will be on sale:

According to the Guernsey’s auction website, the Marcial de Gomar Emerald Collection consists of more than twenty loose emeralds (both cut and rough) plus thirteen pieces of emerald jewellery.

The website writes the stars of the collection are “La Gloria, which, at 887 carats, is one of the largest museum-quality emeralds in the world; the Marcial de Gomar Star, the largest recorded star emerald (among only eleven in the world, according to experts) and perhaps the first of its kind as a double-sided star emerald; and the Tears of Fura, an impressive matched pair of extremely large teardrop-shaped Muzo emeralds.”

Included in the Guernsey’s sale are the Nine Pillars of Andes, a group of nine rough stones totaling over 91 carats and carrying an estimated price of $2.5 million to $3.5 million.

The 4.39 carat Queen of the Sea is estimated to sell for $250,000 to $350,000.

All the items were once privately owned by Manuel Marcial de Gomar, who has more than 50 years in the emerald business, and so was paid in emeralds to appraise them when Fisher recovered them from the wreck.

While not everyone is as highly skilled as Gomar or as into exploring as Fisher, thus never getting the chance to even hold such a glorious gem in their hand, there are other ways.

Diamond Jewellery International might not have historical gems in their volts, but they sure do have a comprehensive range of gems available, as well as onsite designers, master goldsmiths, gemologists, CAD specialist and 3D printers to give you a transparent view of the time and effort that goes into every single piece of jewellery.

Yes, yes, that does mean you can create a piece of jewellery inspired by the Conquistadora.

Do it.

[source:telegraph]