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Education on emeralds

Atwater

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
May 11, 2010
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515
From the photos, I suspect the top one is better color. The bottom one is very nice though. I wouldn’t kick either of them out on a cold night! Lol!
The 1.73 is seriously beautiful...
I think I will like the 1.73ct more as well. I will post pictures once I receive George's side-by-side comparison video.
 

Atwater

Brilliant_Rock
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Another question I have is how emeralds hold color in generally? I likely will make my decision during the meeting, and I will be able to check it in day light and artificial light. Is there anything I need to pay special attention to?
 

T L

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Another question I have is how emeralds hold color in generally? I likely will make my decision during the meeting, and I will be able to check it in day light and artificial light. Is there anything I need to pay special attention to?

I think you’ll know if it’s a good emerald once you see it, but if it looks great in sunlight, it will look a even better in incandescent. Check it outdoors as well as inside, and in natural light, but not direct light, like near a window.
 

Rad_Fan

Ideal_Rock
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Another question I have is how emeralds hold color in generally? I likely will make my decision during the meeting, and I will be able to check it in day light and artificial light. Is there anything I need to pay special attention to?

You will be viewing more than 2 at once, right? I thought the above 2 are just testers to narrow down what you like?

Can't wait! :dance:
 

Atwater

Brilliant_Rock
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I think you’ll know if it’s a good emerald once you see it, but if it looks great in sunlight, it will look a even better in incandescent. Check it outdoors as well as inside, and in natural light, but not direct light, like near a window.
Thank you for the advice!


You will be viewing more than 2 at once, right? I thought the above 2 are just testers to narrow down what you like?

Can't wait! :dance:
Yes. George says he will bring more to show me.
 

Atwater

Brilliant_Rock
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Here is the comparison of the two emeralds with a whitish background. The video was taken in natural day light, or "dull, greyish day light in a cloudy day" as described by George.

The chivor is clearly more blue and cleaner; the muzo seems a richer green.
Compare1.JPG Compare2.JPG
 

Rad_Fan

Ideal_Rock
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That's a hard one for me! :bigsmile: Hope you could see the sheen/foil/glow of each when viewing in person.

How are you going to set it?
 

T L

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Is there a photo of them on their tables, face down???
 

Atwater

Brilliant_Rock
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That's a hard one for me! :bigsmile: Hope you could see the sheen/foil/glow of each when viewing in person.

How are you going to set it?
I have not really thought about setting it yet. But it will be in white gold or platinum.
 

Atwater

Brilliant_Rock
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Is there a photo of them on their tables, face down???
No. I did not ask for it. Is it related to the cut? The 1.73ct muzo is 7.88x7.26x4.57; the 2.2ct chivor is 8.2x7x4.2. I was wondering if the chivor is too shallow and whether that is a window.
 

T L

Super_Ideal_Rock
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They’re very beautiful, and very clean. I suspect the Muzo is finer color because it’s slightly darker. It’s hard to tell from photos.
 

T L

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Seeing them face down not only verifies if the cut is shallow, but I think it’s probably the best way to see the true body color.
 

Atwater

Brilliant_Rock
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They’re very beautiful, and very clean. I suspect the Muzo is finer color because it’s slightly darker. It’s hard to tell from photos.
Can you tell from these photos about the glow? I would definitely want one that glows.
 

Atwater

Brilliant_Rock
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Here is how they look in fluoresent light. Maybe this is the worst light for them?
Compare_fluoresent.JPG Compare_fluoresent2.JPG
 

DauphineMucha

Shiny_Rock
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Oct 13, 2010
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This is coming from my amateur POV...both of these don’t look as “lively” as those shown on his Instagram account and he is known to video and photo emeralds well.

But if @T L and other experts say they should be good, maybe they are.
 

Sungura

Brilliant_Rock
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@Atwater I don’t know how many emeralds George is bringing to the US this trip but I would ask him to bring more than two that meet your general specifications
 

ordinaryrainbow

Shiny_Rock
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Here is the comparison of the two emeralds with a whitish background. The video was taken in natural day light, or "dull, greyish day light in a cloudy day" as described by George.

The chivor is clearly more blue and cleaner; the muzo seems a richer green.
Compare1.JPG Compare2.JPG

They are both beautiful. Are you leaning more towards one than the other?
 

T L

Super_Ideal_Rock
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F7E4CCA0-FFF5-4E38-8745-BF7C58044614.jpeg 2D16CDE5-D13C-47BF-9EC2-76FBDDAFF286.jpeg
This is coming from my amateur POV...both of these don’t look as “lively” as those shown on his Instagram account and he is known to video and photo emeralds well.

But if @T L and other experts say they should be good, maybe they are.
It’s really difficult to photograph emeralds, and they often look flat or tsavorite like in photos and videos. The famous Rockefeller emerald looked tsavorite like in a recent video by the auction house, but I know it’s not. Here’s a photo of it showing its sheen in what is probably artificial light, and one
Where it’s not as much. If the video was taken in natural diffused light, it will be harder to see any sheen in camera in my experience. You need to see them in person.
 

DauphineMucha

Shiny_Rock
Joined
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386
If you like the Rockefeller look, ask George if 1.73 ct preforms similarly and/or ask to see more of those.

If you like more medium tone glowy type, show him examples of what you like and ask him to show you those. You have said at the beginning that you seem to prefer the medium tone.

It’s personal preference imo.

Perhaps you don’t really need to decide among just these 2 right now since you have the advantage of meeting him in person and he has a large inventory to choose from.
 

Rad_Fan

Ideal_Rock
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It’s personal preference imo.


+1

Also wanted to say that you might want to view the gems from an arm length during selection. Once the gem is set, you will be mostly enjoying it from that distance. Sometimes I got caught up from viewing the loose stone so closely and forgot that I only see it like that with my loupe only.
 

Atwater

Brilliant_Rock
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515
@Atwater I don’t know how many emeralds George is bringing to the US this trip but I would ask him to bring more than two that meet your general specifications
Yes, he will show me more. The videos are also to provide me comparison of his videos with the stones to get an idea of the differences. George is really nice and responsive. He assures me that there is no need to make my decision during the meeting. We will look at stones and discuss about them. He will know more what I like and I may adjust my criteria. If I do not choose any, he will go back to Columbia with better ideas of what I want and keep searching for me.
 

Atwater

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
May 11, 2010
Messages
515
They are both beautiful. Are you leaning more towards one than the other?
I like the 1.73ct muzo more.

F7E4CCA0-FFF5-4E38-8745-BF7C58044614.jpeg 2D16CDE5-D13C-47BF-9EC2-76FBDDAFF286.jpeg
It’s really difficult to photograph emeralds, and they often look flat or tsavorite like in photos and videos. The famous Rockefeller emerald looked tsavorite like in a recent video by the auction house, but I know it’s not. Here’s a photo of it showing its sheen in what is probably artificial light, and one
Where it’s not as much. If the video was taken in natural diffused light, it will be harder to see any sheen in camera in my experience. You need to see them in person.
Yes. George says that these two both have excellent color, excellent clarity, and very good cut. There will be more intensely saturated emeralds but they will also be more expensive. These are emeralds with very good quality.


Perhaps you don’t really need to decide among just these 2 right now since you have the advantage of meeting him in person and he has a large inventory to choose from.
No, I do not need to decide among them two, and I do not have to decide in this meeting. Previously, I wanted to make a decision during the meeting and "get it done with", but I am more relaxed now. I like that George makes it sound we are on a journey together and we will find an emerald that I feel deeply connected with.
 

Atwater

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
May 11, 2010
Messages
515
+1

Also wanted to say that you might want to view the gems from an arm length during selection. Once the gem is set, you will be mostly enjoying it from that distance. Sometimes I got caught up from viewing the loose stone so closely and forgot that I only see it like that with my loupe only.
Thanks a lot for the advice!
 

ordinaryrainbow

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Sep 6, 2016
Messages
197
Do (non-top quality) emeralds have extinction or windowing? I see that come up often in threads about sapphires but haven’t seen it discussed in these emerald threads.
 

T L

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Top emeralds have the “butterfly wing effact” or “Gota de aceite” look, which consists of micro inclusions that make them look very velvety. They don’t have much extinction if this is all over the gem, and glow back with this velvety richness. However, yes, some dark emerald can be extinct or dead in parts. I saw one such emerald at Tiffany &Co yesterday. I wouldn’t consider it a top emerald though, even though it was eye clean and duck neck color. It looked exactly like a synthetic stone, which was quite disconcerting to me.

Do (non-top quality) emeralds have extinction or windowing? I see that come up often in threads about sapphires but haven’t seen it discussed in these emerald threads.
 

T L

Super_Ideal_Rock
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51D7F499-8C99-4588-BD5B-A946E752360F.jpeg DB8ED771-EA64-4CD6-9C75-8B9488BE7BF3.jpeg I also don’t know if everyone can see it, but there’s a slight hazy effect that f you look at the Rockefeller emerald’s back facets where they’re reflecting light. I’m posting an up close photo. Look at a synthetic in comparison, see how sharp those back facets look, That hazy appearance, yet still clean, is what you want.
 
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