Help me find / decide on a round emerald.

[elle_71125]

I picked up a preloved setting about a year ago and I’ve been keeping my eye out for a round emerald since then.
If I did my PS research correctly, @Spring Day originally set the ring with a diamond that was 8.07x8.17.
Then @AnastasiaBeaverhausen set it with a 7.74x7.83x4.84 diamond.

I found an emerald from gemfactor_emeralds on Instagram.
7.9mm round / 5.7mm depth
Muzo - minor oil.

I‘m not exactly an emerald aficionado so I could use some help. Has anyone here dealt with / purchased from Gemfactor Emeralds?
I’d love to hear your thoughts & opinions. What do you guys think of this emerald? He said it comes with a GRS Swiss lab certification. Are there any questions I should be asking?

I’m also open to other round emeralds, if you guys have seen any.

Ps. @Spring Day do you remember the depth on your diamond?

Vendor photos:

 

[Rfisher]

I can’t help you - not knowledgeable
But daaang woman!

It looks lovely! And
In that setting
Hubba hubba
:swoon:

 

[Mreader]

I can’t help you - not knowledgeable
But daaang woman!

It looks lovely! And
In that setting
Hubba hubba
:swoon:

Same omg. I know the setting you’re talking about- wowza. That will be a showstopper! But emeralds can be deep so knowing the depth of the original stone would be important!

 

[elle_71125]

With a little help from a friend, I’m pretty sure the original diamond was 8.07x8.17x4.91.

Here’s the setting I'm referring to (Not my pics).

 

[Mreader]

With a little help from a friend, I’m pretty sure the original diamond was 8.07x8.17x4.91.

Here’s the setting I'm referring to (Not my pics).

Ooooooohh ahhhhhhh someone photoshop that emerald in there!

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Omg it's booooootiful

I'm useless for advice but you make that work girl so I can see the ring after!

 

[T L]

It looks very nice! I know nothing of the vendor, but with any emerald, I would just verify if there are any surface reaching cracks that compromise durability, or on the table. Is it oiled only, or does it use a modern resin? That is also something that people often care about.

 

[Rfisher]

Wouldn’t GRS disclose the difference between oil vs excel vs opticon or the like? Idk.
I guess the age of the report would come into question at that point as well. What might have been done afterwards.

 

[CBianco]

I'm not an expert either but it looks really pretty! And emeralds almost always look better in person than pictures. I've heard some good things about that vendor before, and GRS reports are reliable for emeralds

 

[HockeyMama]

May I intrude to ask a question? I know emerald crystald are rectangular and naturally lend themselves to elongated shapes. Is there one shape that maximizes an emerald's beauty? The eponymous emerlad cut or cushion? Are rounds and asschers et al equally beautiful, just perhaps more expensive because of wasted rough? This is the first round emerald I've seen among y'all colored stone experts. It seems really beautiful to my eye.

 

[elle_71125]

I can’t help you - not knowledgeable
But daaang woman!

It looks lovely! And
In that setting
Hubba hubba
:swoon:

Thank you. I’d really love set an emerald in that setting, but rounds are hard to come by. I do love the look of this one.

Same omg. I know the setting you’re talking about- wowza. That will be a showstopper! But emeralds can be deep so knowing the depth of the original stone would be important!

The depth is one of the things I’m really concerned with right now. I have a hard time with preloved settings because it’s tough to know exactly what will fit. It is a gorgeous setting though and I think it would look magnificent with an emerald.

Omg it's booooootiful

I'm useless for advice but you make that work girl so I can see the ring after!

Lol. I’m dreaming right along with you.

It looks very nice! I know nothing of the vendor, but with any emerald, I would just verify if there are any surface reaching cracks that compromise durability, or on the table. Is it oiled only, or does it use a modern resin? That is also something that people often care about.

Thank you for the excellent advice TL. I truly appreciate it.

Wouldn’t GRS disclose the difference between oil vs excel vs opticon or the like? Idk.
I guess the age of the report would come into question at that point as well. What might have been done afterwards.

I thought it had a GRS certificate already, but I reached out and he said he will be sending it in on Monday for certification. He did say Muzo, minor oil so I have to assume he has a lesser known certification as well. On the good side, it would be a new certificate.

I'm not an expert either but it looks really pretty! And emeralds almost always look better in person than pictures. I've heard some good things about that vendor before, and GRS reports are reliable for emeralds

Thank you. I’m hoping there is somebody on here who’s worked with them before. A little reassurance goes a long way. Lol. I hadn’t heard of a GRS report before (I’m used to AGL and GIA) so it’s nice to hear they are reliable / trusted.

May I intrude to ask a question? I know emerald crystald are rectangular and naturally lend themselves to elongated shapes. Is there one shape that maximizes an emerald's beauty? The eponymous emerlad cut or cushion? Are rounds and asschers et al equally beautiful, just perhaps more expensive because of wasted rough? This is the first round emerald I've seen among y'all colored stone experts. It seems really beautiful to my eye.

That’s an excellent question. I wish I could be the one to answer it, but I’m not that knowledgeable about emeralds. I do know rounds have the most waste in general so they are usually more expensive. I hope someone chimes in with an answer for you. I’d love to know as well.

 

[LilAlex]

Pretty stone and pretty mounting. If it's minor oil, that's good. GIA gives grades of treatment but I forget what GRS does; I know some are just present or absent, which is typically not sufficient.

Whether it is "ideal" color or not, it only needs to look beautiful and I suspect it will.

The only other factor -- if all the previous "contents" of that mounting have been diamonds -- is that diamonds are more interchangeable based on diameter alone than are RBC-cut colored stones. I can only see the prongs but not the rest of the mounting. Do you have a sense for much additional surgery might be involved to accommodate a deeper or shallower-cut emerald?

Oh, wait -- one more. I do not see many brilliant-cut colored stones -- most are step cuts or mixed cuts (with a brilliant crown and a step-cut pavilion). The complex pavilion here can hide a lot of inclusions in the refections. That can be a good thing, appearance-wise, or a less good thing, quality-wise. I can not tell from the photos. When you see it in person, make sure you are comfortable with the level of transparency, etc. I bought a small sapphire many years ago with a Portuguese-cut pavilion and the million reflections were doing a lot of heavy lifting in concealing the many flaws! OTOH, this may be one long unnecessary warning.

 

[T L]

Make sure they specify origin on the report.

 

[maru8888777]

I haven't bought from them before, but know they own mines in Chivor and specialize in Chivor emeralds. Yours is (and looks like) a Muzo emerald, which many people prefer. It's very bright, the crystal is nice, and the color is beautiful... perhaps a little lighter than "Old Mine, Muzo," for GRS, but it's hard to tell.

My impression is that these folks are reputable and have fair prices (I've inquired before) for very high quality material.

 

[Autumn in New England]

I don't know... it looks pretty spectacular to me! Woohoo for you!!

 

[Neptune]

I will eat this, haha

 

[dk168]

The stone is pretty, and it ticks a lot of boxes for me for its colour, clarity, cutting and size. It will look great in the pre-loved setting you have in hand.

However, personally, I prefer my Emeralds to be emerald cut, that's just me, sorry!

DK

 

[elle_71125]

Pretty stone and pretty mounting. If it's minor oil, that's good. GIA gives grades of treatment but I forget what GRS does; I know some are just present or absent, which is typically not sufficient.

Whether it is "ideal" color or not, it only needs to look beautiful and I suspect it will.

The only other factor -- if all the previous "contents" of that mounting have been diamonds -- is that diamonds are more interchangeable based on diameter alone than are RBC-cut colored stones. I can only see the prongs but not the rest of the mounting. Do you have a sense for much additional surgery might be involved to accommodate a deeper or shallower-cut emerald?

Oh, wait -- one more. I do not see many brilliant-cut colored stones -- most are step cuts or mixed cuts (with a brilliant crown and a step-cut pavilion). The complex pavilion here can hide a lot of inclusions in the refections. That can be a good thing, appearance-wise, or a less good thing, quality-wise. I can not tell from the photos. When you see it in person, make sure you are comfortable with the level of transparency, etc. I bought a small sapphire many years ago with a Portuguese-cut pavilion and the million reflections were doing a lot of heavy lifting in concealing the many flaws! OTOH, this may be one long unnecessary warning.

Thank you. I think I will reach out to Sako to see what he thinks (aka, what would be involved in making it fit that setting). If it doesn’t work, I may pass on the emerald.

Excellent point on clarity. I will have to follow up on that. Emeralds are well known for having more inclusions, but I certainly don’t want anything too distracting or anything that will compromise the stones integrity.

Make sure they specify origin on the report.

Excellent point. I will be sure to do that. I don’t want to pay Colombian prices if it’s from somewhere else. He said he will be sending it to GRS this week so I’ll be sure to bring that up.

I do wonder if I would need an AGL report in addition to a GRS report. I’m not familiar with GRS or how strict they are with grading.

I haven't bought from them before, but know they own mines in Chivor and specialize in Chivor emeralds. Yours is (and looks like) a Muzo emerald, which many people prefer. It's very bright, the crystal is nice, and the color is beautiful... perhaps a little lighter than "Old Mine, Muzo," for GRS, but it's hard to tell.

My impression is that these folks are reputable and have fair prices (I've inquired before) for very high quality material.

Thank you. I actually prefer a lighter emerald (lighter than this one), but there was something about this one that caught my eye. They do seem to have very nice quality emeralds. I’ve been following them, JR Colombian emeralds, and Muzo emeralds for quite a while.

I don't know... it looks pretty spectacular to me! Woohoo for you!!

Thank you. I think it looks beautiful. I just don’t know if it will fit into the setting. I’m going to reach out to Sako for his opinion tomorrow.

I will eat this, haha

Lol. It does look delicious, doesn’t it?

The stone is pretty, and it ticks a lot of boxes for me for its colour, clarity, cutting and size. It will look great in the pre-loved setting you have in hand.

However, personally, I prefer my Emeralds to be emerald cut, that's just me, sorry!

DK

Hey, we all have out preferences. Lol. I’ve actually wanted an elongated cushion cut emerald for years now, but I haven’t found one that speaks to me and fits my budget. Maybe one day.

I wouldn’t usually choose a round emerald, but I just feel like this setting is begging for one.

 

[newdiamondworld]

I have a stone from them. Can’t say much about the enhancement part, my stone has no oil. My transaction was pretty smooth…there were some issues with shipping though because my info was misspelled - I had to work with fedex to correct
plus, I had to do extra paperwork to get it out of customs because my value was over $2500 which I didn’t know was required until I saw that my package was flagged. Other than that, no issues. Vanesa was very friendly and professional

 

[elle_71125]

Just popping in with an update. The emerald is off to GRS lab for certification.

I asked about the clarity and if there were any surface reaching inclusions that would affect the integrity of the emerald. They told me the emerald is very clean. It has some tiny inclusions and only a few fissures reaching the surface (hence the minor oil treatment). The report is supposed to show both the level of treatment and the type of treatment. It will likely take a couple of weeks to hear back on that front.

In the meantime, I’ve also reached out to Sako to get his opinion on the setting aspect. Fingers crossed because I think this emerald would look amazing set in there.

 

[Autumn in New England]

Just popping in with an update. The emerald is off to GRS lab for certification.

I asked about the clarity and if there were any surface reaching inclusions that would affect the integrity of the emerald. They told me the emerald is very clean. It has some tiny inclusions and only a few fissures reaching the surface (hence the minor oil treatment). The report is supposed to show both the level of treatment and the type of treatment. It will likely take a couple of weeks to hear back on that front.

In the meantime, I’ve also reached out to Sako to get his opinion on the setting aspect. Fingers crossed because I think this emerald would look amazing set in there.

You have a great eye for CS, @elle_71125 ...

 

[elle_71125]

You have a great eye for CS, @elle_71125 ...

The same can be said for you @Autumn in New England .

 

[Spring Day]

So it was you who bought the setting! So glad an emerald is going in there! My fave and my birthstone! So bad news is the diamond that was originally in there was pretty shallow. I'll attach the original GIA report but you are correct that it was 4.91mm. Hopefully there is a killer emerald out there thats a bit on the shallow end but with amazing specs. Can't wait to see this come to fruition! Gemfactor is amazing and every encounter I have had with them has been top notch. Have you asked them if they have anything in inventory with your desired specs? They have a cushion emerald that is almost 4cts with insignificant oil that would be the end all to my emerald obsession but alas is almost $17k but when I inquired they were quick to find me very similar stones for a fraction of the cost. Good luck! Lemme know if you have any other questions and I'll be happy to answer!

 

[Autumn in New England]

The same can be said for you @Autumn in New England .

 

[elle_71125]

So it was you who bought the setting! So glad an emerald is going in there! My fave and my birthstone! So bad news is the diamond that was originally in there was pretty shallow. I'll attach the original GIA report but you are correct that it was 4.91mm. Hopefully there is a killer emerald out there thats a bit on the shallow end but with amazing specs. Can't wait to see this come to fruition! Gemfactor is amazing and every encounter I have had with them has been top notch. Have you asked them if they have anything in inventory with your desired specs? They have a cushion emerald that is almost 4cts with insignificant oil that would be the end all to my emerald obsession but alas is almost $17k but when I inquired they were quick to find me very similar stones for a fraction of the cost. Good luck! Lemme know if you have any other questions and I'll be happy to answer!

Thanks for chiming in @Spring Day . I would love to have a cushion cut emerald one day too. I had my eye on a 4ct one from jrcolombian emeralds, but unfortunately it was WAY outside of my budget.

The round would be specifically for this setting. I’ve reached out to Sako to get his opinion, but I’ll admit the depth has me worried. I was hoping your diamond was a bit more deep, but no such luck. Lol. You had a good idea though. I think I will ask if he has any other rounds that might fit the bill. Thank you.

 

[rockyrookie]

Hi! Not sure if you’re still looking - JR Colombian Emeralds just posted a beautiful 1.55ct 8x8 vivid Muzo round on their IG stories. They said this stone is spready so it could be shallow. The colour looks gorgeous!

 

[elle_71125]

Hi! Not sure if you’re still looking - JR Colombian Emeralds just posted a beautiful 1.55ct 8x8 vivid Muzo round on their IG stories. They said this stone is spready so it could be shallow. The colour looks gorgeous!

Thank you. I just looked it up on their website and it’s 7.92mm x 8.02mm x 4.72mm so it would very likely fit. I’m still waiting to hear back from Sako on if he thinks the other one will fit, but I really appreciate you sharing this one in case it doesn’t.

 

[elle_71125]

I just heard back from the emerald seller with the report. It's a pretty basic report, but it states minor oil (No resin) and origin in Columbia.

I also heard back from Sako, who thinks he can make it work in my preloved setting.

What do you guys think? Anything else I'm missing or should be asking? I've never purchased anything of value from overseas before so I'm a bit nervous about it.

 

[Mreader]

That is a toughie. The JR emerald is 1mm different which is a lot in terms of gem measurements. How do the prices of the two compare? JR is local so it would be easier to buy that one first to check it out perhaps?

 

[elle_71125]

It’s obviously personal preference, but I think the round from gem factor is nicer / cleaner. I like that it’s minor oil and it doesn’t look to have any windowing. Plus, it seems to have a nice depth of color…not too light, not too dark.

I’ve worked with JRColumbian Emeralds before and Natalie is beyond sweet so I absolutely recommend them to anyone. She shares lots of pics & videos. This round, in particular, has a pretty color, but I do notice a bit more in the way of jardin/ inclusions.

Here’s the videos, if anyone is interested in comparing the two rounds.

Gemfactor Emeralds:

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JRColumbian Emeralds:
https://jrcolombianemeralds.com/col...o-green-natural-round-loose-colombian-emerald