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Advice for purchasing an emerald

  • Thread starter Thread starter SparkliesLuver
  • Start date Start date
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SparkliesLuver

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Hi, everyone. At some point I'd love to own an emerald for an occasional wear right hand ring. I've read a little about them, but I'd absolutely love to hear the advice from everyone here; there's an abundance of real-life experience that lives here that I can't find anywhere else. Before such a big purchase, I'd like to learn as much as I can and feel confident in what I'm doing.

My ideal emerald is pretty much like the one Lukasz found. It's beyond perfect. :love: The cut is wonderful and the bluish green tint is exactly what I want. Not to mention that inner glow. Not sure if I can reference his post, but: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-story-az-emerald-victor-canera-leon-mege-more.170177/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-story-az-emerald-victor-canera-leon-mege-more.170177/[/URL]

I'm also drawn to this one: http://www.litnon.com/index.php?page=viewgem&id=10000

-Are there any preferred origins? I've seen some from Brazil and of course Colombia. What's the difference?
-Is it unrealistic to try to find an emerald that's 100% untreated?
-Are there any recommended vendors specifically for emeralds?
-What else do I need to know?

Thank you in advance. I'm excited to learn. :read:
 
I wouldn't specify a particular origin although there are general characteristics for each location. For the most part, Brazilian emeralds will be cleaner than Colombian emeralds but probably will not have colouration that is as fine. Many Zambian emeralds do not need treatment but as mentioned prior, the cleaner gems tend to be lighter both in tone and saturation. It is possible to find a very fine untreated emerald but it takes time and a LOT of money.
 
Thank you, Chrono. I definitely don't mind quite a bit of jardin; however, I don't believe I've found where that line is yet (for myself). But I also haven't seen as many in person as I'd like in order to make that decision, either. I tend to shy away from the ones that are really light in tone and saturation. I'm also fairly skeptical of emeralds with great clarity, such as VS. Maybe I shouldn't be, I don't know.

Time is on my side as I'm not in a hurry, but unfortunately I don't have A LOT of money. haha If only I had the best of both worlds. ;)

If anyone has an emerald they'd care to post pictures of and describe, please feel free. Seeing them always helps, even if it is online.
 
O.K. Sometimes I am a smarta** but emerald is THE gem you need to see when you buy it.

They could be grey, they could have an inclusion or fracture you can't see on a picture,

I don't like the mastercutgems emerald - one corner sleepy and they other clear. Color is a bit grey.
The embassyemerald is to expensive. The Litnon is .... I like the vendor but this stone....

Visit a gem show around - opal and emerald is a gem some vendors are specialized on - course they are really difficult.
Compare many stones, talk to the vendors and you will find your emerald.

Maybe buy Ronald Ringsrud "Emeralds - A passionate Guide" ---- THE emerald book!!!!
 
DK: Thank you for chiming in! I've actually looked at that one from Mastercut Gems before, but it's now sold.

Marlow: I think my eye needs trained in emeralds. I need to do more looking in-person because I don't think I've ever seen an emerald with a grey color to it. I'd love a diagram or something to show me where or how you see grey -- if that's even possible. :oops: Or a comparison might work too.

The Embassy Emerald was nice, I thought, but it did seem a bit pricey to me as well. I'll look at what else they have though. Please feel free to share your thoughts about the one from Litnon. haha

Thanks for pointing out the book. I'll definitely check it out.
 
When a cool coloured gem isn't well saturated, it looks grayish. In the case of emeralds, they don't look literally gray but looks sort of olive-y. The EE emerald is quite windowed although the colour is nice. The Litnon emerald has little to no transparency, with large black inclusions which are distracting to my eye.
 
Oh, okay. That does make sense when you describe the color like that. Interesting.

I think I was liking the color of the EE one but wondered about the windowing.

So there should probably be a balance between transparency and inclusions? Is that totally a personal preference or are there industry "standards" about that? I agree about the black inclusions - I don't much care for those.
 
Emerald is soooo difficult - our eyes are so sensible for green and for example I can show a beautiful tsavorite from my collection
eyeclean, fresh green - then you see the next one - you will forget the first one - much better !!!
And then my "kryptonite" - handselected among hundreds of tsavos - pure green - best of the best!!!
But the first one is still a top gem!!! Hope you understand!

Sambian emeralds are interesting - best qualities have a very good color and a fantastic clarity.

Columbian emeralds are still interesting course of specialized vendors - my vendor offers from 150EUR pct - and these stones are nice!! - to several thousand EUR - I bought nice cat eyes and trapiche too.

Do you have a show around in your area??
 
The trade standard for emerald clarity is that the gem be transparent.
Transparent > Translucent > Opaque
Having some inclusions is normal and to be expected unless one has a generous budget or the gem is small or light toned. As always, the cleaner, the more valued it is, when all else is equal (colour, treatment, etc).
 
Marlow: I believe I do understand. Which is why I figured I should start learning and seeing as many as I can so hopefully one day in the future I can make a solid, well-informed purchase. Maybe my budget will have increased by then, too. ;)

I'm not sure. I live in the States, more specifically the Midwest. Unfortunately I live in the wrong part of the country for this, it seems. :( There might be something in Chicago, IL though. I'll have to look more.

I was going to ask for the site of your vendor but you just did that. haha You read my mind. Thank you!

Thank you, Chrono. I wondered if transparent or translucent came first.
 
Transparent means you can see clearly into the gem easily.
Translucent means there is some silk or inclusion or obstruction that only allows you to see into the gem when backlit. Most cabochons fall into the translucent category.
Opaque means it is difficult or impossible to see into the gem due to numerous inclusions.
 
All categories ------ page 17

They are large but you see what is possible. And believe me - the pics are 20 % of the beauty of these gems!
 
I didn't read all the posts, so I apologize if this was mentioned, but I don't think Brazilian emeralds are anywhere near as fine as Colombian. Of course, there's poor Colombian material as well, but I would avoid Brazilian stones. They're typically used in mass produced emerald jewelry and highly treated.

Zambian material is nicer than Brazilian, but not as fine in color as Colombian, although it tends to be cleaner than Colombian.
 
In smaller stones ( below 0,5 ct) I have seen and bought top material from columbia, brazil, afghanistan and some african sources like Sambia and even Madagascar.

A good deal are sambian emeralds course many indian vendor offer a lot of different qualities up top clarity and color. The color to my eye is a tiny little bit more bluish and sometimes not so vivid. But you get many shapes and clarities.

I have seen many afghan emeralds ( Panshjeer) with a beautiful pure vivid green - small and a risk for setting course many have tiny cracks parallel to c-axis. The vendor ( a german) bought hundreds of crystal some time ago a let them cut.

Now - I would not buy emerald directly from Pakistan and Afghanistan course I have an ethical problem - there are rumors that the Taliban control the Swat mines ( Pakistan).

Russian emerald is overpriced. Brazil and Columbia - I agree with TL ( but some small brazilian stones - my best - are awesome) - many brazilian stones have a lower quality. Larger than 1 ct I haven't seen a top one - the smaller material was as expensive as columbian
emerald.

Columbia produces enough top material and what Burma is for rubies or Kashmir for Sapphire is Columbia for emeralds.
 
Wow, thank you everyone. It was great to login and see so many responses. :)

It was fun to look through their site, Marlow. They indeed have some beautiful things; they have three emeralds that stand out to me.

Sounds like I'll probably stick with Colombian (when the time comes to purchase) but right now I'll keep digging and learning about other areas, too.

I know Dana has many that he plans to list before the end of the year. I don't know if I'll be ready to purchase when that happens, but at least it should be a good learning experience.
 
There is a pretty bad chip on one side of the cabochon. Open the picture in the lower left side (at the end of the page) and you will see it on the upper left side of the stone.
 
Yes, there is! Thank you for pointing that out.

That aside (since I'm not buying it), what do you think of the color? Again, just trying to get a feel for others' opinions with more experience. Should I be able to find a transparent cabochon or is that not realistic?
 
As chrono said transparency is important transparent, translucent , opaque
but there are huge differences in price between different levels of transparency too but price is usually commanded by color first
Jardin can soften the extinction
Too many inclusions causes loss of transparency which is still ok if you like the soft look it still looks good with a rich color.
If limited to budget look for under a 1ct well cut stone as they face up more than a 1ct diamond .
I personally feel that emeralds from other regions even including fine Afghanistanian goods while are still nice gems is a different gem to the Colombian Emerald , the glow of florescence from colombian emeralds has this somewhat magical affect.
Saying that Colombia actually produces the majority of commercial goods on the market and many of the Emeralds from there are weak color and dont have that glow .
Muzo is the famous mine for its color and then La pita has good color, Chivor blueish green but super crystal or transparency, cosquez yellowish green .
Zambia and brasil ,too much Iron kills florescence
 
Treasurehunter: Thank you for your insight. The bluish green is really what I'm looking for...in an ideal world. Then add in that florescence glow and I'm in heaven. :love: I might want to focus my efforts on those from Chivor. Not sure if that's being too picky. With my luck, it probably is. haha

For this project, size wouldn't necessarily matter, but I wouldn't want to go too small either (> .5 ct). So, as you said, looking for a carat would be fine with me.
 
I wasn't planning on purchasing one right now, Chrono, since I'm a total novice. :oops: I feel like I might be jumping the gun a bit, if that makes sense.

If I had to say right now though, it'd probably be around $2k (plus or minus, some) for the right stone. I was hoping to have closer to $5k when the time came. Ideally I'd love to have the stone be > 7mm. But, as everyone has said, color is most important, so I'd consider smaller if the color was ideal.
 
Chrono said:
Budget and mm size?
<a class="vglnk" title="Link added by VigLink" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.embassyemeralds.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&manufacturers_id=&products_id=577"><span>http</span><span>://</span><span>www</span><span>.</span><span>embassyemeralds</span><span>.</span><span>com</span><span>/</span><span>index</span><span>.</span><span>php</span><span>?</span><span>main</span><span>_</span><span>page</span><span>=</span><span>product</span><span>_</span><span>info</span><span>&</span><span>manufacturers</span><span>_</span><span>id</span><span>=&</span><span>products</span><span>_</span><span>id</span><span>=</span><span>577</span></a>
Click to expand...

By the way, that one is gorgeous. The color and clarity are superb. I feel like it's missing that bluish green tint though that I had my heart set on. Or is it just my eyes? I should consider all at this point, though. :)
 
The problem is that the nicest emeralds photograph very poorly...
 
SparkliesLuver|1409063869|3739492 said:
Chrono said:
Budget and mm size?
<a class="vglnk" title="Link added by VigLink" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.embassyemeralds.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&manufacturers_id=&products_id=577"><span>http</span><span>://</span><span>www</span><span>.</span><span>embassyemeralds</span><span>.</span><span>com</span><span>/</span><span>index</span><span>.</span><span>php</span><span>?</span><span>main</span><span>_</span><span>page</span><span>=</span><span>product</span><span>_</span><span>info</span><span>&</span><span>manufacturers</span><span>_</span><span>id</span><span>=&</span><span>products</span><span>_</span><span>id</span><span>=</span><span>577</span></a>
Click to expand...

By the way, that one is gorgeous. The color and clarity are superb. I feel like it's missing that bluish green tint though that I had my heart set on. Or is it just my eyes? I should consider all at this point, though. :)
Click to expand...

The blue is there. :))
 
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