Crazy high priced Panjshir emeralds, wonder why?

[bazargan]

Hei guys,
Do you have any clue why Panjshir emeralds are high priced, Even though not mined correctly and most likely full of micro cracks?

 

[Marlow]

What do you mean with

Crazy high price???

Not mined correctly????

Micro cracks ( Compared to other locations?)

 

[Marlow]

And yes, I know why they are highly priced.....

 

[LoversKites]

Hei guys,
Do you have any clue why Panjshir emeralds are high priced, Even though not mined correctly and most likely full of micro cracks?

Clarity is not a huge issue when it comes to emeralds, moderately included gems are the norm.

IIRC Panjshir emeralds carry a premium because of their origin (am I wrong?). Same as with Burma and rubies. Some might try market this aspect and charge a high price even if the material is not as good as from other places.

Or perhaps the vendor you're looking at is overpriced.

Sometimes I marvel at how rich in minerals the lands of Afganistan, Pakistan, and that general geographical region is.

 

[bazargan]

What do you mean with

Crazy high price???

Not mined correctly????

Micro cracks ( Compared to other locations?)

I was in a trade show and wanted to get an idea about Panjshir emerald prices. Almost all the gem retailers were complaining about its high price. I have the ability to export rough from there in the future after i study well about gems and rough. I have an Afgan friend who is from panjshir and as you might know, having contacts there, you are much more welcome, accepted and safer. Well, i have a long way to go to reach this point. But it is always good to educate yourself.
Not mined correctly as they use explosives to reach the beautiful green crystals.
Yes compared to other locations. Again maybe because of impropper mining?

 

[Marlow]

O.K.

I cannot post my opinion here about the reasons why they mine emeralds and other minerals in Afghanistan like they do it - would be extremely rude and political incorrect....

They are highly priced course they are extremely beautiful!!! And unfortunately is Panjshir in Afghanistan....

I bought many small gems from a german vendor imported long time ago - the color is awesome. The green is not as bluish like fine qualities from COL - they are pure green - a sweet fantastic color - I love them....

 

[MJO]

This is why the best Panjshir emeralds are priced high it is a 3.645 ct.

http://litnon.com/viewgem.php?gemid=209&id=43616

The explosives used are from unexploded shells because they don't have heavy equipment to remove the overburden,

 

[eastjavaman]

Not mined correctly????
it is probably the same reason why they do not use wrecking ball to demolish a building, detonating the building would be time saving and cost efficient.

 

[Marlow]

No, they mine several beautiful undamaged item - Aquamamarin, Topase etc - put all together in a big bag and wonder why they items
are rubbish after that treatment and nobody wants to pay the high prices they want.

Or they use to much dynamite - it is a intellectuel and cultural problem....

 

[Edward Bristol]

Nice colour!

 

[JewelFreak]

That shows why they are highly valued (different from high-priced, but they coincide here).

It is treated with ExCel. That's a fracture filler, no? So if it needs that, it's not as clean as it looks in the photo. And is this true, from the listing?

This stone has been treated with a newer patented processes known as ExCel. This is a reversible treatment that allows the emerald to be ultrasonically or steam cleaned. The ExCel process carries a lifetime guarantee. It is the currently the best emerald treatment on the market and hailed as superior to oil by most major gemological laboratories.

 

[chrono]

It all depends on your definition:
1. Is it expensive for the quality or is it expensive due to the (high) quality?
2. Mining is hard work and with the terrain being a challenge and lacking good equipment, they do what they can (although it is painful to read).
3. Inclusions are very normal in emeralds. In fact, the more chromium (which gives it that luscious and intensen blue green colouration) an emerald has, the more inclusions it will have due to the way it interferes with the crystal growth.

 

[Marlow]

http://www.gia.edu/cs/Satellite?blobcol=gfile&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=MDT-Type&blobheadername3=Content-Type&blobheadervalue1=attachment%3B+filename%3DSP91A2.pdf&blobheadervalue2=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobheadervalue3=application%2Fpdf&blobkey=id&blobtable=GIA_DocumentFile&blobwhere=1355958370564&ssbinary=true

This is a bit older but still a very interesting article.

Mining is of course hard work but the problem with many minerals and rough gems is how they are treated from the mine to the vendor.
You know these extremely fine specimen from Stak Nala - Tourmaline and Aqua. Many vendors tried to help them, educate them - sometimes it was really dangerous to do this.

In Panjshir they use to much dynamite - they need real experts but the political situation is ... you know it.

A pity course they are so close to fine columbian emeralds - a bit different but equal - not number two!!

 

[T L]

A pity course they are so close to fine columbian emeralds - a bit different but equal - not number two!!

You think??? I'm not seeing it. Muzo emeralds have that characteristic "glow" that just doesn't occur anywhere else. Those Afghan emeralds are a pretty medium bright green color, but not exceptional like these gems, and I've never seen emeralds like this except from the Muzo mine.

 

[Marlow]

Yes, I think they are equal - and I think you really love Muzo emeralds!!!

 

[T L]

Yes, I think they are equal - and I think you really love Muzo emeralds!!!

What gave you that idea??

 

[MJO]

I know the litnon emerald very well because I owned it. I saw it before treatment and after. The only difference is you can see a slight line in the stone and the excel dulls this to the naked eye. It also lessens the chance of the stone cracking if knocked. As the cert says it is faintly enhanced. I am not saying it is perfect but it the color is as good as a Colombian emerald and the clarity is much better than most. Besides excel is reversible. It has held up for 10 years without a problem. They are now using excel in tourmalines so make sure you have those Paraiba tourmalines checked for it.

 

[Marlow]

I know the litnon emerald very well because I owned it. I saw it before treatment and after. The only difference is you can see a slight line in the stone and the excel dulls this to the naked eye. It also lessens the chance of the stone cracking if knocked. As the cert says it is faintly enhanced. I am not saying it is perfect but it the color is as good as a Colombian emerald and the clarity is much better than most. Besides excel is reversible. It has held up for 10 years without a problem. They are now using excel in tourmalines so make sure you have those Paraiba tourmalines checked for it.

-----------

Qed - TL

And listen....


This is a natural Emerald from the world famous Panjshir Valley in Afghanistan. Panjshir Emeralds are considered by many connoisseurs to be the finest Emeralds on the planet. This beautiful gem has a color rating of 3-4, 90% average brilliance and is only faintly enhanced.

So I am a connoisseur!!!

A beautiful emerald, MJO - very large and clean for Panjshir!!!

 

[eastjavaman]

Yes, I think they are equal - and I think you really love Muzo emeralds!!!

What gave you that idea??

Are you sure those are not Kryptonite?

 

[MJO]

I know the litnon emerald very well because I owned it. I saw it before treatment and after. The only difference is you can see a slight line in the stone and the excel dulls this to the naked eye. It also lessens the chance of the stone cracking if knocked. As the cert says it is faintly enhanced. I am not saying it is perfect but it the color is as good as a Colombian emerald and the clarity is much better than most. Besides excel is reversible. It has held up for 10 years without a problem. They are now using excel in tourmalines so make sure you have those Paraiba tourmalines checked for it.

-----------

Qed - TL

And listen....


This is a natural Emerald from the world famous Panjshir Valley in Afghanistan. Panjshir Emeralds are considered by many connoisseurs to be the finest Emeralds on the planet. This beautiful gem has a color rating of 3-4, 90% average brilliance and is only faintly enhanced.

So I am a connoisseur!!!

A beautiful emerald, MJO - very large and clean for Panjshir!!!

Thank you it is unbelievable in person. For decades emerald dealers were buying Panjshir Emeralds and transporting them to Columbia and selling them as Colombian since people are willing to pay more for Colombian. Back then certs didn't contain origins.

 

[partgypsy]

I think what is the most beautiful emerald source (muzo, chivor, Panjshir, even Zambian) is a subjective topic. And we need to remember that there are good and poor examples of stones in each of these regions, and judge the stone individually. I personally like the look of chivor stones over Muzo, even though that is not "correct".

I think part of the higher price of the Panjshir emeralds is primarily a) availability (there are less available, and b) they are from a new region and people including collectors may want to have one (curiosity), and third is subjective (how good are they?). I have not heard there was any widespread importation of Afgani emeralds into Columbia, to be re-labeled Columbia, if so that is a new one on me.

 

[T L]

I think what is the most beautiful emerald source (muzo, chivor, Panjshir, even Zambian) is a subjective topic. And we need to remember that there are good and poor examples of stones in each of these regions, and judge the stone individually. I personally like the look of chivor stones over Muzo, even though that is not "correct".

Sure, there are poor Muzo stones, but when I referred to Muzo emeralds, I meant the finest qualities of course. I prefer Muzo to Chivor, but yes, it's subjective. Muzo is still the trade ideal which people may or may not agree with. I personally don't agree with all trade ideals for other gem species.

One of the most gorgeous gems I've ever seen was a five carat Muzo emerald in an antique piece. It was worth $250K about 20 years ago. It took my breath away, and I've seen many fine Muzo examples since. I guess I have to see some Afghan specimens in person, but the ones I was referring to were on the top of this page, which are depicted as a nice bright green, but not the deep velvety glowing green I'm so used to in Muzo stones. I'll hold my judgement though as I'm not an expert in Afghan emeralds. I was really just questioning if Afghan emeralds were as good as Muzo stones, and if knowledgeable people say they are, I respect that. I respect everyone's opinion on the subject of course, and we all like what we like.

 

[Marlow]

TL



Deep velvety glowing green - not in a Panjshir !! That is right - my small ones have a perfect balanced ( to my eye) green - neither "cool" nor "warm" - a crisp vivid color ( hope you understand what I mean).

We compared the 7 stone lot I purchased with similar sized fine colombian stones - was very interesting to see the difference.

TL - do you have extra LAPIS No 21 ( Smaragde der Welt) ??

http://www.lapis.de/mineralien_buch/de/Lapis/extraLapis/Band-20-30/extraLAPIS-Nr-21-Smaragde-der-Welt.html

 

[T L]

TL



Deep velvety glowing green - not in a Panjshir !! That is right - my small ones have a perfect balanced ( to my eye) green - neither "cool" nor "warm" - a crisp vivid color ( hope you understand what I mean).

We compared the 7 stone lot I purchased with similar sized fine colombian stones - was very interesting to see the difference.

TL - do you have extra LAPIS No 21 ( Smaragde der Welt) ??

http://www.lapis.de/mineralien_buch/de/Lapis/extraLapis/Band-20-30/extraLAPIS-Nr-21-Smaragde-der-Welt.html

I guess when I mean "deep velvety green," I'm referring to the "drop of oil" look that the finest of Colombian stones have. It is best explained in this article from emerald expert Ronald Ringsrud. Therefore, while an emerald may be clean, and have great green saturation, it is this additional effect that I've never seen in any other emerald origin, except for the finest Colombian stones, "gota de aceite."

http://www.emeraldpassion.com/sample.htm

I own the book this article was taken from.

 

[Marlow]

yes , a wonderful book - like it very much!!!

I understand what you mean.

 

[bazargan]

Wow im just sitting back and enjoying priceless opinions and information writen here from professional experts.
I suggest you watch this short document about Panjshir emeralds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nk_CWLsPQS8

 

[MJO]

I think what is the most beautiful emerald source (muzo, chivor, Panjshir, even Zambian) is a subjective topic. And we need to remember that there are good and poor examples of stones in each of these regions, and judge the stone individually. I personally like the look of chivor stones over Muzo, even though that is not "correct".

Sure, there are poor Muzo stones, but when I referred to Muzo emeralds, I meant the finest qualities of course. I prefer Muzo to Chivor, but yes, it's subjective. Muzo is still the trade ideal which people may or may not agree with. I personally don't agree with all trade ideals for other gem species.

One of the most gorgeous gems I've ever seen was a five carat Muzo emerald in an antique piece. It was worth $250K about 20 years ago. It took my breath away, and I've seen many fine Muzo examples since. I guess I have to see some Afghan specimens in person, but the ones I was referring to were on the top of this page, which are depicted as a nice bright green, but not the deep velvety glowing green I'm so used to in Muzo stones. I'll hold my judgement though as I'm not an expert in Afghan emeralds. I was really just questioning if Afghan emeralds were as good as Muzo stones, and if knowledgeable people say they are, I respect that. I respect everyone's opinion on the subject of course, and we all like what we like.

See link below. This artical was written around the time I obtained the litnon Panjshir Emerald.

http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav101502a.shtml

Even though Afghanistan was functioning without a government or a banking system, emeralds found their way into the world marketplace. ``Our biggest regular customer was a company in Poland called Intercommerce www.intercommerce.com.pl,", says Mohammadi. "We never knew exactly what this Polish company did with our emeralds. I don't think they were ever sold as Afghan emeralds. But what could we do? We needed the money." Mohammadi says Colombian traders "offered the Polish a lot of money for hushing up the fact that our emeralds were the fabulous Afghan emeralds, and keeping silent on their superior quality." The Polish company is still in business, though it is unclear what their relationship is to Mohammadi or the new Afghan government.

"Between 1997 to 2000 three emerald experts from the United States, France and Poland, visited our emerald mines," he claims. "They told us the Panjshiri emerald is of better quality and color than the Colombian emerald."

 

[Marlow]

Wow im just sitting back and enjoying priceless opinions and information writen here from professional experts.
I suggest you watch this short document about Panjshir emeralds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nk_CWLsPQS8

Very good and interessting!!! Thank you - and again what a pity that so many material is destroyed using to much dynamite.

 

[bazargan]

Wow im just sitting back and enjoying priceless opinions and information writen here from professional experts.
I suggest you watch this short document about Panjshir emeralds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nk_CWLsPQS8

Very good and interessting!!! Thank you - and again what a pity that so many material is destroyed using to much dynamite.

Yep. I was sad for few days after watching this video! As the guy mentions almost all those beautiful large pieces are destroyed by the blast of explossions.

 

[partgypsy]

Terrible to hear about large stones being destroyed; hopefully they will transition to more "sensitive" ways of accessing the rough.