Hello PriceScope Community,
First, I would like to compliment everyone on what a polite, friendly, and well-informed space this is. I have been lurking for the past year reading as much about Emeralds as possible in an attempt to educate myself on this topic before I started to commit to this process. My boyfriend, (who, I should add, is an otherworldly saint for putting up with me and really wishes that he would have gotten off easy with a diamond) and I have been dating for seven years. We probably would have been (officially) engaged and married at this point if it weren't for me wanting, then obsessively reading about, changing my mind, and finally accepting the fact that I want a gemstone that is widely considered to be a terrible decision to use as an engagement ring. I know that I need to source the stone first, and before I reach out to someone at AZ Emeralds or Embassy Emeralds to help me find my stone, I wanted to see if the Pricescope community would be willing to help me manage my expectations so I can be more focused with my search and design process.
Before I go on...to reiterate, I know that Emeralds should not be used in engagement rings. I do not plan on wearing it except on special occasions, and will take it off as soon as I enter my home. I understand the pros and cons of oiling and how Emeralds need to be treated and (not) cleaned. I have looked into and decided against Tsavorites and Tourmalines and other green stones. I will be treating this ring like my own personal bubble boy.
Okay! Now that all of that is out of the way
I have never really worn rings, so I can't really say exactly how large I want the stone to be. My boyfriend thinks bigger is better, but I certainly do not feel that way (color is king to me) and I want to stay away from the general cocktail ring aesthetic. I want something that looks nice and proportional on my 6.5 finger (perhaps give or take a 2 carat stone) and don't want a halo, full bezel, or side stones. Our budget is $11,000-$12,000 for both the stone and setting; however, I want the bulk of that to be allocated to a high quality Emerald.
As for the type of treatment and the extent of treatment that we would consider, I assume oil and light to moderate treatment, and the lighter the treatment, the better. As for origin, I had initially assumed Colombian and given my preference for blue undertones, Chivor origin. However, I'm completely open to other countries of origin if it produces high quality Emeralds with blue undertones.
Here is my theoretical wish list:
For color, I would like a richly saturated green stone with blue undertones, absolutely no yellow undertones. I would like the stone to have as high clarity as reasonably expected so i'm assuming that would mean lightly to moderately included, but I'm not sure if that is reasonable given our budget.
I prefer emerald, square, and cushion cuts (I think this is lovely [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-story-3-6ct-cushion-cut-emerald-in-vc-trueste-setting.170175/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-story-3-6ct-cushion-cut-emerald-in-vc-trueste-setting.170175/[/URL] ).
As for the setting, I'm extremely annoyed with myself for this, but the settings that would be good for protection just don't appeal to me. I love the classic look of solitaire settings and since I want an Emerald with blue undertones, I assume I'll prefer platinum over yellow gold. I have fallen in love with a setting that looks like it could potentially be protective but I don't know how feasible it would be with an Emerald, what kind of cut aside from round could work, nor do I know how expensive it would be. http://www.linhardtdesign.com/custom_14.php I think I prefer the general aesthetic of that setting, namely the gorgeous cup.
I would consider having a pave setting on the band but I'm not sure if that would be overkill or push it to a cocktail ring look, but I do know that I like the look of lots of tiny diamonds (is that called a bead setting?). However, having diamonds on the band is very much a tertiary feature/afterthought, and does not take precedence over any of the aforementioned features on the wish list.
We live in Los Angeles and plan on making a second trip to the jewelry district this weekend to meet with some vendors (we will be armed with the loupe that I bought for this occasion that I have no idea how to use, haha). However, very few places seem to have an array of Emeralds to compare, and the one LA Emerald specialist (Esmeralda Gems) that I have found doesn't seem to be keen on returning calls or having a functional contact form on his website. Would anybody happen to have any recommendations for who I could reach out to set up an appointment so I can actually see a range of stones in person? It looks like there is an International Gem show in LA on April 11th-13th...is this my best bet?
And finally in terms of lab reports: I assume that I need the AGL prestige report for insurance purposes. When in the process of negotiating with the Emerald seller do I request this? Do we make the sale contingent upon the report or do we finalize the sale and then ask for the report? The latter seems risky to me.
Again if anyone would be so kind to give me guidance, I would be incredibly appreciative of you sharing your knowledge and advice with me. To recap, I would be very grateful if you could give me your thoughts on the following:
Does what I want in a stone seem possible given our budget?
Does anyone have any recommendations for a reputable jeweler based out of LA that would be able to source multiple Emeralds for us to compare in person and eventually purchase?
Does anyone know anything about Esmeralda Gems? There are no reviews online and a brief search on this site yielded no results.
What do you think of the Linhardt Design "Babycake" setting? Would this be a replicable design and if so, would it make sense with the shape of a cushion cut emerald? If not, can anyone suggest a similar setting aesthetic that would work with a square, emerald, or cushion cut Emeralds?
I would like to avoid windowed stones, is that possible with Emeralds?
Again, any advice or thoughts on this would be incredibly helpful! Thank you in advance, and I look forward to hearing your input.
First, I would like to compliment everyone on what a polite, friendly, and well-informed space this is. I have been lurking for the past year reading as much about Emeralds as possible in an attempt to educate myself on this topic before I started to commit to this process. My boyfriend, (who, I should add, is an otherworldly saint for putting up with me and really wishes that he would have gotten off easy with a diamond) and I have been dating for seven years. We probably would have been (officially) engaged and married at this point if it weren't for me wanting, then obsessively reading about, changing my mind, and finally accepting the fact that I want a gemstone that is widely considered to be a terrible decision to use as an engagement ring. I know that I need to source the stone first, and before I reach out to someone at AZ Emeralds or Embassy Emeralds to help me find my stone, I wanted to see if the Pricescope community would be willing to help me manage my expectations so I can be more focused with my search and design process.
Before I go on...to reiterate, I know that Emeralds should not be used in engagement rings. I do not plan on wearing it except on special occasions, and will take it off as soon as I enter my home. I understand the pros and cons of oiling and how Emeralds need to be treated and (not) cleaned. I have looked into and decided against Tsavorites and Tourmalines and other green stones. I will be treating this ring like my own personal bubble boy.
Okay! Now that all of that is out of the way
I have never really worn rings, so I can't really say exactly how large I want the stone to be. My boyfriend thinks bigger is better, but I certainly do not feel that way (color is king to me) and I want to stay away from the general cocktail ring aesthetic. I want something that looks nice and proportional on my 6.5 finger (perhaps give or take a 2 carat stone) and don't want a halo, full bezel, or side stones. Our budget is $11,000-$12,000 for both the stone and setting; however, I want the bulk of that to be allocated to a high quality Emerald. As for the type of treatment and the extent of treatment that we would consider, I assume oil and light to moderate treatment, and the lighter the treatment, the better. As for origin, I had initially assumed Colombian and given my preference for blue undertones, Chivor origin. However, I'm completely open to other countries of origin if it produces high quality Emeralds with blue undertones.
Here is my theoretical wish list:
For color, I would like a richly saturated green stone with blue undertones, absolutely no yellow undertones. I would like the stone to have as high clarity as reasonably expected so i'm assuming that would mean lightly to moderately included, but I'm not sure if that is reasonable given our budget.
I prefer emerald, square, and cushion cuts (I think this is lovely [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-story-3-6ct-cushion-cut-emerald-in-vc-trueste-setting.170175/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-story-3-6ct-cushion-cut-emerald-in-vc-trueste-setting.170175/[/URL] ).
As for the setting, I'm extremely annoyed with myself for this, but the settings that would be good for protection just don't appeal to me. I love the classic look of solitaire settings and since I want an Emerald with blue undertones, I assume I'll prefer platinum over yellow gold. I have fallen in love with a setting that looks like it could potentially be protective but I don't know how feasible it would be with an Emerald, what kind of cut aside from round could work, nor do I know how expensive it would be. http://www.linhardtdesign.com/custom_14.php I think I prefer the general aesthetic of that setting, namely the gorgeous cup.
I would consider having a pave setting on the band but I'm not sure if that would be overkill or push it to a cocktail ring look, but I do know that I like the look of lots of tiny diamonds (is that called a bead setting?). However, having diamonds on the band is very much a tertiary feature/afterthought, and does not take precedence over any of the aforementioned features on the wish list.
We live in Los Angeles and plan on making a second trip to the jewelry district this weekend to meet with some vendors (we will be armed with the loupe that I bought for this occasion that I have no idea how to use, haha). However, very few places seem to have an array of Emeralds to compare, and the one LA Emerald specialist (Esmeralda Gems) that I have found doesn't seem to be keen on returning calls or having a functional contact form on his website. Would anybody happen to have any recommendations for who I could reach out to set up an appointment so I can actually see a range of stones in person? It looks like there is an International Gem show in LA on April 11th-13th...is this my best bet?
And finally in terms of lab reports: I assume that I need the AGL prestige report for insurance purposes. When in the process of negotiating with the Emerald seller do I request this? Do we make the sale contingent upon the report or do we finalize the sale and then ask for the report? The latter seems risky to me.
Again if anyone would be so kind to give me guidance, I would be incredibly appreciative of you sharing your knowledge and advice with me. To recap, I would be very grateful if you could give me your thoughts on the following:
Does what I want in a stone seem possible given our budget?
Does anyone have any recommendations for a reputable jeweler based out of LA that would be able to source multiple Emeralds for us to compare in person and eventually purchase?
Does anyone know anything about Esmeralda Gems? There are no reviews online and a brief search on this site yielded no results.
What do you think of the Linhardt Design "Babycake" setting? Would this be a replicable design and if so, would it make sense with the shape of a cushion cut emerald? If not, can anyone suggest a similar setting aesthetic that would work with a square, emerald, or cushion cut Emeralds?
I would like to avoid windowed stones, is that possible with Emeralds?
Again, any advice or thoughts on this would be incredibly helpful! Thank you in advance, and I look forward to hearing your input.
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