Help me quick CS experts! Chrysoberyl? Thinking about purchasing this ring.

[Mreader]

I’m in an area of Tennessee that has an amazing jewelry store. It has been a long time since I’ve been able to see really cool pieces in person. I saw this ring and I really like it because it looks a lot like an emerald to me and is in the simple solitaire bezel design I wanted before. Though it’s white gold and not yellow. anyway the stone is called Chrysoberyl. I’ll look up more research later when I’m able to but was curious about what you thought about this ring for the price. They want $650. It’s three ct and it’s in white gold and it’s vintage probably from the 40s. I only have one good picture.

 

[pokerface]

Holy cow, if there's any chance that's for real, take it and send it for a lab report, stat. What's the return policy? How did the jeweler ID the stone? $650 even for a lab stone with (I assume) 14k gold is not a bad deal. If it's a real chrysoberyl, it's worth thousands. It's gorgeous, and I hope not too good to be true!

 

[Efleon]

I’m in an area of Tennessee that has an amazing jewelry store. It has been a long time since I’ve been able to see really cool pieces in person. I saw this ring and I really like it because it looks a lot like an emerald to me and is in the simple solitaire bezel design I wanted before. Though it’s white gold and not yellow. anyway the stone is called Chrysoberyl. I’ll look up more research later when I’m able to but was curious about what you thought about this ring for the price. They want $650. It’s three ct and it’s in white gold and it’s vintage probably from the 40s. I only have one good picture.

Love it!
Sounds like a good deal
I was researching cryspberol (sorry trying to type quickly) and I think it’s very hard on the mohs even tho it’s in the beryl fam,
I would grab it!
Looks very saturated and I think most are light yellowy greeny

 

[Mreader]

Love it!
Sounds like a good deal
I was researching cryspberol (sorry trying to type quickly) and I think it’s very hard on the mohs even tho it’s in the beryl fam,
I would grab it!
Looks very saturated and I think most are light yellowy greeny

Yes it is hard I saw that when I googled.

 

[Mreader]

They said it’s not related to beryl like aqua or emerald they said it’s closer I alexandrite

 

[Mreader]

Holy cow, if there's any chance that's for real, take it and send it for a lab report, stat. What's the return policy? How did the jeweler ID the stone? $650 even for a lab stone with (I assume) 14k gold is not a bad deal. If it's a real chrysoberyl, it's worth thousands. It's gorgeous, and I hope not too good to be true!

Hmmmm. If that’s the case I can’t imagine why it’s that cheap then...I know zero about that stone and had never heard of it before. I just thought it was a lighter emerald until they told me. I don’t know how they identified it and I am not in the store now. I was thinking of calling them to hold it if they could.

ETA - it’s on hold. I don’t know how they identified the stone. It was a place a just wandered in.

 

[Efleon]

Hmmmm. If that’s the case I can’t imagine why it’s that cheap then...I know zero about that stone and had never heard of it before. I just thought it was a lighter emerald until they told me. I don’t know how they identified it and I am not in the store now. I was thinking of calling them to hold it if they could.

ETA - it’s on hold. I don’t know how they identified the stone. It was a place a just wandered in.

Sorry. Didn’t realize it’s not beryl fam.
But regardless, it sounds like you have a case of the “oh no I will be sad if it’s not there when I go back” so if they will hold it then great.
If you go back, please send more pics....

 

[Mreader]

Sorry. Didn’t realize it’s not beryl fam.
But regardless, it sounds like you have a case of the “oh no I will be sad if it’s not there when I go back” so if they will hold it then great.
If you go back, please send more pics....

I didn’t know either! And when I google it like you say it’s not the color at all like this one. Hmmmm. It’s just I was looking for a big simple emerald and couldn’t find what I liked for budget. Which led me to small emerald and to two green tourmalines lol.

 

[Mreader]

@T L @chrono @Bron357 thoughts? Feel
Free to tag other CS peeps I may be missing.

 

[natasha-cupcake]

I love chrysoberyl--it's such a beautiful choice in gems! I'm no expert, but that doesn't look like chrysoberyl to me. If it is, I think maybe it could be synthetic??? It's a different sort of green, then what I've seen in chrysoberyl. I do think it's a lovely gem and a very pretty ring, though.

Maybe some of the collectors/colored stone experts on here can weigh in. I'm thinking of maybe @T L , @Nosean, @landscape, @Lexililac . I know there are other people here that might know a lot about chrysoberyl, but I can't think of them off of the top of my head.

 

[zhazha]

I love chrysoberyl but this one’s color doesn’t look like typical chrysoberyl… green ones could be super expensive at this size maybe it is a great deal.

 

[Mreader]

@natasha-cupcake and @zhazha yes when I look online the colors don’t look the same at all so now I really doubt that’s what it is. So now I wonder what it is.

 

[GimmeSomeSugarBakes]

Vandium chrysoberyl, maybe?

 

[natasha-cupcake]

Vanadium chrysoberyl of that size and color saturation would be pretty pricey. That's one reason why I thought it might be synthetic. If the jeweler knew enough to call it chrysoberyl, I would imagine that he or she would be aware of vanadium pricing. Though, you never know...

 

[Mreader]

Vanadium chrysoberyl of that size and color saturation would be pretty pricey. That's one reason why I thought it might be synthetic. If the jeweler knew enough to call it chrysoberyl, I would imagine that he or she would be aware of vanadium pricing. Though, you never know...

The color looks more like vanadium but yeah it’s expensive. The guy behind the counter didn’t seem that knowledgeable- he looked up some stuff on his phone when I asked more questions hahaha. I’m guessing synthetic or they are really clueless. They mostly had diamonds. LOTS of old cuts. That’s what drew me in the store. I may call and ask who does th verification for their gems just to see what I can find out. It really looks like a mid tone emerald to me. But even so $650 would be too cheap for emerald that size. I’m cool with that price even for lab. But I don’t want to buy glass.

 

[musicloveranthony]

I’m confident that isn’t chrysoberyl. A natural emerald of that size, color, and clarity would cost as much as my house. It’s probably a synthetic

 

[Mreader]

I’m confident that isn’t chrysoberyl. A natural emerald of that size, color, and clarity would cost as much as my house. It’s probably a synthetic

Agree. I wish it just said “lab emerald” bc then I would be ok w it. But now that it’s labeled something that it likely is not, it worries me about what the heck it is. The setting definitely looks old.

 

[T L]

I suspect synthetic spinel. I highly doubt that’s a chrysoberyl. I would not purchase without a lab report.

 

[Mreader]

Btw guys I hope you don't think I'm too dumb for not even knowing what chrysoberyl was. When I saw the price and heard the term, I was thinking it was some inexpensive type gem and not the total opposite. If I had known about chrysoberyl and its price and then heard the price of this ring it would have raised alarm bells then and there. But my curiosity is piqued so I emailed them asking how they id the gem and also saying it doesn't look like the typical color of chyrsoberyl. Someone called me back. He said that what they use to gem id is both the tool that tests hardness and then a refractometer and go from there. He doesn't send off to lab unless it's something super expensive. He said something to the effect of "It this were alexandrite it would be worth thousands and obviously would send it to lab to verify". He didn't seem to understand (or perhaps just feigning not understanding???) that chrysoberyl is also super expensive. He said it could or could not be lab; at the price point it wasn't worth sending off to find out. He just said the testing they did came back as that type of stone.
He did not seem to be pushy at all btw and wasn't trying to convince me to buy it or anything like that. I also asked where he got the piece; he said he buys many pieces from antique dealers. I would say 70% of their shop was antique and old cut stones. Not that many colored stones.

I know these types of testers don't replace a lab by any stretch of the imagination. I am curious though as to what type of gem it could be...

 

[pokerface]

I agree that if it's not chrysoberyl, it's most likely to be synthetic spinel. I believe spinel would fall under the same refractometer reading as chrysoberyl, but chrysoberyl is harder than spinel. I would go back with a loupe and ask about the possibility of synthetic spinel. Sometimes people ask questions about rings that are very obvious synthetics, and in those cases, I do not recommend a lab report. I am curious here just because this does not look like a typical synthetic, and the price is not bad even if it is.

 

[Mreader]

I agree that if it's not chrysoberyl, it's most likely to be synthetic spinel. I believe spinel would fall under the same refractometer reading as chrysoberyl, but chrysoberyl is harder than spinel. I would go back with a loupe and ask about the possibility of synthetic spinel. Sometimes people ask questions about rings that are very obvious synthetics, and in those cases, I do not recommend a lab report. I am curious here just because this does not look like a typical synthetic, and the price is not bad even if it is.

What would I be looking for if I looked at it with a loupe?

It also goes to show that it’s sort of scary when you think of an established store like this one selling gems that may or may not be lab. And they don’t know or don’t try too hard to know. Like wow.

 

[pokerface]

If you don't know what you're looking for, it would be a better bet to see if the jeweler has a UV light. A synthetic spinel would glow bright green.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

I so what this to be a good deal for you
good luck

 

[Mreader]

Whoa I googled synthetic spinel and in this image the stone looks so similar to the one in the ring I was looking at!

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

US $650 today is NZ$895
I would never see anything that nice in a store down the mall for that amount of money even if its synthetic

If it was me, I'd buy it
but I'd rather be sure of what it actually is

 

[Mreader]

US $650 today is NZ$895
I would never see anything that nice in a store down the mall for that amount of money even if its synthetic

If it was me, I'd buy it
but I'd rather be sure of what it actually is

@Daisys and Diamonds still a bit tempted but don’t know. Here’s another from Lang’s. It’s the shape and cut that is so familiar. I think T L nailed it.
Another one!

 

[qubitasaurus]

It's beautiful. I doubt it's crysoberyl though. The size, clarity and colour is just too uncommon for crysoberyl. The cheap mount (for what should be a 30-50 k stone if it is indeed real) seems unrelistic. You could check flourescence as it needs to contian vanadium to exhibit that colour naturally (actually maybe you wont learn much from this as apparently relative amount of different dopants iron/vanadium/chromium effects the level of flourescence). But many synthetic spinels also flouresce so I dont think this will tell you much. It's honestly very very unlikely not to be synthetic or another type of mineral. But its pretty so buying it for fun could be interesting.

 

[Mreader]

It's beautiful. I doubt it's crysoberyl though. The size, clarity and colour is just too uncommon for crysoberyl. The cheap mount (for what should be a 30-50 k stone if it is indeed real) seems unrelistic. You could check flourescence as it needs to contian vanadium to exhibit that colour naturally (actually maybe you wont learn much from this as apparently relative amount of different dopants iron/vanadium/chromium effects the level of flourescence). But many synthetic spinels also flouresce so I dont think this will tell you much. It's honestly very very unlikely not to be synthetic or another type of mineral. But its pretty so buying it for fun could be interesting.

Yes based on all replies and more research I agree. Thanks goodness for PS! I would want to spend less for it just to be for fun lol.

 

[Efleon]

I love this collective mystery hunt!
I agree @T L nailed it.
Just a thought, since you know what it is now, you could negotiate a much different price with them.
But, again, maybe not since they sounded pretty clueless....but hey, ya’ never know nothing ventured nothing gained....

 

[Mreader]

I love this collective mystery hunt!
I agree @T L nailed it.
Just a thought, since you know what it is now, you could negotiate a much different price with them.
But, again, maybe not since they sounded pretty clueless....but hey, ya’ never know nothing ventured nothing gained....

I’m terrible at that sort of thing! If I could get it for 3-400 I would probably go for it but would feel funny asking. I will probably just send an email saying what I suspect it is and leave it at that!