The Emerald of Colombia documentary of Patrick Voillot
English: youtu.be/KJWTz12LPvk
Deutsch: youtu.be/LMPlNMlKqN4
French: youtu.be/7n9VDk57p0A
Italian: youtu.be/Rq-YMngloYk
Spanish: youtu.be/wr8dXi8xrpQ
Chinese: youtu.be/R9v1gCcziEU
Russian: youtu.be/SflWAeLvzrs
Japanese: youtu.be/l7nZkTiteV8
The green triangle, situated in the north of Bogota, is one of the most dangerous places in the world.
The emerald mines of Muzo, Coscuez and Chivor delimit the green triangle and provide the finest emeralds on the planet.
Within this dangerous passionate adventure, this film takes you on the rugged trails that cross the corridors of the Andes that give access to these mines.
With a constant tension due to the proximity of the guerrillas in the middle of a conflict, often officiated by clergy, the owners of the mines organize their exploitations under the protection of large caliber guns.
The mine of Muzo, already exploited before the arrival of the conquistadors, produces the green emeralds of most exceptional quality. The vein is several hundred meters deep in the rock, whose black color contrasts with the white calcite, which contains the crystals of the emerald. Miners work in unbearable heat conditions, and under high surveillance.
Near the mine Chivor, the «esmeralderos», or emerald merchants, sell these gems.
You will enter into the new mine, La Pita, whose owners have created an actual village in the middle of the jungle.
The precious stones arrive in a Bogota on the market of the esmeralderos, and they are also cut and improved within the pharmacies of the city.
Specifically for this film, a piece of colonial religious art, the most outstanding known to this day, was let out of the safe of the Gold Museum in Bogota. Name: The Lechuga, a fine gold monstrance covered in more than 5,000 emeralds and other precious stones.
These gems have an exceptional final destination, the Place Vendôme in Paris, where we will see the jeweler Boucheron use these gems in one of their famous creations.