What countries mine the best emerald based on cost/carat ?

[Simon_Roache]

Everyone says that good Colombian emerald is long gone and has to be treated in order to have any real value. Is this true ? Has anybody bought emeralds from other countries that seem to sell for a high per carat cost when cut ? I''ve heard that emerald from Afghanistan and Pakistan, on average, is superior to the Colombian emerald. Does anyone have personal experience buying and selling emerald from either one of these countries ? I''d love to hear any information that anyone has.

 

[Jimmy_Broadbent]

This is a great Board. It seems that majority of discussions bring out gem experts who provide excellent advise and opinions.

I wanted to add my interesting story here. Emerald is all I do, so I have quite a bit to say:

I have spent the last 20 years buying and selling rough and cut Emeralds. My travels regularly take me to Africa, North America (the Carolinas), South America and the Middle East, Russia and Asia. Through the contacts I established, I have been able to have access to a wide range of rough emerald parcels from all over the world. However, last 6 months became an eye opener. I was able to visit an emerald mining operation in Swat Valley, Pakistan because of some contacts I met in my travels. Having been to many emerald mines, I was totally blown away by the vivid, rich color of local stones. They did not come cheap but the colour was on par or better than good quality Panjshir emerald and it was without question better than Colombian emerald for one huge reason, none of the emerald had to be treated when cut. Colombian emerald almost always has to be treated. High quality Swat and Panjshir emerald rarely needs to be treated. In recent years, it has been my experience that untreated, eye clean emerald with great colour always commands a 50% to 100% premium over treated emerald, whether or not it is from Colombia.

Although I buy parcels occasionally which include smaller stones, since my partner is a cutter, we have made a business out of buying 25 ct and larger stones. The largest we have bought to date was 402 cts (back in 1986).

On my recent trip, I bought a parcel of 4 large stones. They ranged between 41 carats, all the way to 148 carats. My partner and I jointly decided not to sell any of the rough as rough this time and here is what we got in final sales prices for cut and polished stones. Basically the overall yield after cutting/polishing was 30%.

The smallest stone yielded an 11.48 ct stone, which sold to a jeweler at $9200/ct. He incorporated it into a high end bracelet with other expensive stones and had the bracelet pre-sold to a high-end buyer.

My second largest stone finished at 13.72 ct. Price sold was $7900 / ct to an investor that a gemologist was buying on behalf of.

The third stone came in at 15.13 cts and brought 17,800/ct. It is a very amazing piece and was bought by a collector.

My final stone I am going to set into jewelry and sell at auction. The stone yielded 47 ct. I have had the stone appraised at a value of $27,000 ct, although when stones are this large, there is a possibility of not getting this figure, and a possibility of getting up to 25% more than this.

So, to answer the question what is the upper end? I have seen emerald hit $40,000 / ct at auctions and often in the $10,000 to $25,000 / ct range when one is talking about excellent quality, untreated, large stones with great colour. Even treated Colombian stones have brought this price at auction.

I used to buy rough emerald for other people but I do not do this as much anymore. These days my focus is buying rough and cutting the stones for profit. I travel over 100,000 miles a year in search of rare emerald and this is my niche. The pros and cons are the money is good, but I get very sick at least two to three times a year from the various areas I travel to and the travels are often quite dangerous. The above is strictly my experience, but I read every major auction report every year and the prices I always get from investors, collectors and at auction have been consistent now for some time other than a bit of a drop off a few years back. Emerald seems to be back and very strong these days and in good economies always does well.

Most anyone who frequents the major auction circuits will see the type of prices referenced above. When dealing in smaller stones, I have still seen stones in the $3000/ct + range.

 

[pyramid]

Decided to put my question in a new topic.

 

[pyramid]

.

 

[Sagebrush]

Simon,

You have posed an interesting question. However, as a consumer you should approach the question from the opposite angle. If I understand you want to buy a fine stone, that is, your objective is gems not geography.

Fine emerald comes from many sources. Jimmy has provided good information on Swat Valley stones. I have seen them, the best are exceptional and will stand toe to toe with the finest in the world. Colombia still produces fine emerald, I have bought them, they are beautiful. Fine stones are likewise found in Zambia and Brazil Origin should not be your focus.

Your two concerns should be, quality of the given stone and level of treatment. Emerald is difficult. You can look at two stones side by side, they might look similar to the eye but one is untreated and the other heavily treated. You might buy the heavily treated one at a lower price thinking you have gotten a bargain.

So if you are spending good money make sure every stone you consider has a certificate from an independent gem lab, AGL, GIA, AGTA, GRS, and that you compare apples to apples. As Jimmy correctly points out you will pay a premium for untreated stones. I have seen asking prices for untreated top gem Colombian emerald at Tucson that would translate into a retail price of as much as $30,000 per carat. By agreement most labs use a standard five step approach to grading treatment from none to prominent. I buy only "faint" or "minor".

Forget the country, look at the rock, then scan the cert.

 

[valeria101]

Date: 6/26/2005 11:51:48 PM
Author:Simon_Roache

I''ve heard that emerald from Afghanistan and Pakistan, on average, is superior to the Colombian emerald.

I would not use those words "on average" - any location gives the widest range of qualities, from wonderful to unfit for jewelry use. If there is more of one or another from here or there might not even count (to anyone but the miners) because the relative quantity of gem grade is so small anyway...

Did anyone mention Madagascar ? Emeralds come from there too. Not many and I am not very familiar with the source- all I have ever seen or heard about these stones makes me think that larger, relatively clean, lighter blueish tinted green are likely. Well, whatever likely means in this case.

It may not be possible to walk around asking for emeralds from a certain locality, but some gemologically-inclined shops may specialize ina source or another. It would be nice to have a menu of emerald from all over the place at least in one spot (think... museum, data bank, refference collection, not quite jewelry shop) to peruse. Except the Net and its second hand expereince, of course.

Just a thought. You might want to get Richar Wises'' book, not just the post above

 

[AGBF]

I just found this thread. The thread about Hest88''s demantoid has me looking at green stones recently. Just yesterday, when I was in a jewelry store with my daughter (to have a new clasp put on a strand of freshwater pearls she owns) I was drawn to the emeralds. I have to say that in this particular store the estate emeralds looked a lot better than the emeralds in the new rings. The emeralds in the new rings were paler.

I bought emeralds at a retail jewelry store in Colombia. It was a store to which my Colombian hostess stered us. I then knew nothing about gems of any kind.

The jeweler empited small bags of cut emeralds onto the counter for us to see. He had a microscope with which we could check for inclusions.

The result was that I chose several emeralds that were not very deep green and had no visible inclusions. I now realize that the color is not fine and I have no idea with what those stones may have been treated! On the other hand, I did not pay a huge amount and I bought them for my new baby and myself and I had a lot of fun. That jewelry I had made (there) from the stones I picked has great sentimental value!

Deb