What do you think of Zambian emeralds? Value vs Colombian?

[RedSpinel]

This first paragraph could be made into a pretty interesting, and long lived thread titled "Missed opportunities when buying gems" or "List the top gems you regret not buying?" Back about 8 years ago or so, the "Gem Shopping Network" was still on cable in our area, and they sold airtime to various private gem dealers and jewelers. So it was different than all the other gem TV networks, in that they mostly sold only one gem at a time, and a lot of it was by request. Each dealer would have a HUGE selection of gems in every price range you could afford, all the way up to $120,000 Alexandrites, or the best pure blue Tanzanites you'd ever seen. So this one guy would come on, often with his son whom he was grooming to take over his business. He'd travel to Chantaburi and Bangkok to buy most stones, then sell them on GSN or to jewelers. He would describe the details of his trips, and tell the history of the gem market in Thailand. He tell interesting stories about his experiences, and educate his audience about each gem type he sold. He seemed like a really good guy.

He did weekend days for a few hours usually. So one day he comes on and as he did every once in a while, he offered a fantastic deal on individual stones out of a small parcel of really nice gems. He breaks out these Zambian emeralds of around 2ct - 3.5ct range, and sells them at low wholesale prices. There were about 5 of them. He was selling it at $200 per carat! So he breaks out this 3.5ct-ish, beautiful medium-dark green Zambian emerald, which was MUCH cleaner and more transparent than 98% of the Colombian emeralds you see, and he puts it up for around $700 and change. It had only slight inclusions, was completely transparent, forest green(didnt have that minty Colombian green), and it was WONDERFUL! But......I hesitated, then someone else snagged it up, then he closed that parcel.

The next week, after huge regret for not buying one of these emeralds, he was on again, and I called and requested that same grade of Zambian emerald. So he puts up a 2.5ct stone of the same exact quality, and sets the price at around $2,500- $3,000..... He then pointed out that the prices of the previous week were just a customer appreciation, and he said he actually sold them for less than what he'd paid for them. Dont know if thats true, but he certainly couldnt have made much profit on them at $200/ct. unless he had stolen them! But we havent gotten the Gem Shopping Network around here for now 8 years or so. I dont know if that guy would still be on that network, and I dont know where it now airs.

So anyway, do you like Zambian emeralds, and how much difference is there in value between a similar size and quality Zambian emerald vs a same size and quality Colombian? You can definitely tell the difference in color, and clarity between emeralds from those 2 countries, and I think the Zambians are often cleaner/clearer and therefore they are probably more solid and more durable since they have less cracks and fissures on average, and I think most look better than Colombians. I do like the look of a top quality Colombian emerald, but they cost a fortune, and are hard to find.......

 

[T L]

Re: What do you think of Zambian emeralds? Value vs Colombia

Zambian emeralds look more like a flat green to me, without as much of the glow that the finest Colombians are known for, but they're often more transparent than Colombians, which is a plus for them. If you're talking about the finest Colombian emeralds, then for me, they are the top for emearalds because of this thing called Gota de Aceite, which gives them a certain kind of glow.

If you're talking "minty" Colombian emeralds, you are not talking about top quality ones, as the top ones are a medium dark in tone, and more transparent, and a very rich vivid very slightly bluish green. They need to be seen in person. A photo just never captures the beauty of a fine Colombian emerald.

For more about Gota de Aceite in Colombian emeralds, please read this sample chapter from this fabulous book (I own it).

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

 

[RedSpinel]

Re: What do you think of Zambian emeralds? Value vs Colombia

Zambian emeralds look more like a flat green to me, without as much of the glow that the finest Colombians are known for, but they're often more transparent than Colombians, which is a plus for them. If you're talking about the finest Colombian emeralds, then for me, they are the top for emearalds because of this thing called Gota de Aceite, which gives them a certain kind of glow.

If you're talking "minty" Colombian emeralds, you are not talking about top quality ones, as the top ones are a medium dark in tone, and more transparent, and a very rich vivid very slightly bluish green. They need to be seen in person. A photo just never captures the beauty of a fine Colombian emerald.

For more about Gota de Aceite in Colombian emeralds, please read this sample chapter from this fabulous book (I own it).

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

Thanks for posting that article, as it shows that all inclusions arent necessarily bad inclusions. Some add charater or even improvement to some stones, like Emeralds in some cases.

When I mentioned the minty-green color of colombian emeralds, I was speaking of the more common, less expensive emeralds. I've only seen the slightly blue-ish green, top quality emeralds a few times in real life. You're right in that the pictures dont do them justice.

If I could choose from 2 top quality emeralds, one from Colombia and the other from Zambia, but both were the same price, I'd choose the top quality Colombian as opposed to the top quality Zambian, but since that wont ever happen, and Zambians are cheaper and more commonly more transparent, I'd choose the Zambian emerald over a lesser Colombian at the same price(or more).

 

[T L]

Re: What do you think of Zambian emeralds? Value vs Colombia

Zambian emeralds look more like a flat green to me, without as much of the glow that the finest Colombians are known for, but they're often more transparent than Colombians, which is a plus for them. If you're talking about the finest Colombian emeralds, then for me, they are the top for emearalds because of this thing called Gota de Aceite, which gives them a certain kind of glow.

If you're talking "minty" Colombian emeralds, you are not talking about top quality ones, as the top ones are a medium dark in tone, and more transparent, and a very rich vivid very slightly bluish green. They need to be seen in person. A photo just never captures the beauty of a fine Colombian emerald.

For more about Gota de Aceite in Colombian emeralds, please read this sample chapter from this fabulous book (I own it).

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

Thanks for posting that article, as it shows that all inclusions arent necessarily bad inclusions. Some add charater or even improvement to some stones, like Emeralds in some cases.

When I mentioned the minty-green color of colombian emeralds, I was speaking of the more common, less expensive emeralds. I've only seen the slightly blue-ish green, top quality emeralds a few times in real life. You're right in that the pictures dont do them justice.

If I could choose from 2 top quality emeralds, one from Colombia and the other from Zambia, but both were the same price, I'd choose the top quality Colombian as opposed to the top quality Zambian, but since that wont ever happen, and Zambians are cheaper and more commonly more transparent, I'd choose the Zambian emerald over a lesser Colombian at the same price(or more).

You're correct, that some inclusions are not necessarily bad, but even rather desirable in some gemstones. The ones that cause the Gota de Aceite effect are a prime example.

I will say that Zambians are beautiful too, and can be a good value from what I've seen in the past. Just be careful about people trying to pass off fine Zambians as fine Colombian, and always get an origin report, if spending what you feel is a great deal of money, since Colombian origin does sell for a premium.

 

[Pandora II]

Re: What do you think of Zambian emeralds? Value vs Colombia

Colombian emeralds are predominantly coloured by chromium - this tends to give a purer hue of green but as chromium content increases the more included a stone will be.

Zambian emeralds are predominantly coloured by iron - they are therefore much less included and also tend more towards the blue in terms of colour.

I attended a couple of fascinating lectures last year by Ian Harebottle, CEO at Gemfields which owns a massive emerald mine in Zambia. They have some fabulous, fabulous stones.

There are some authorities that insist that only green beryl coloured by chromium can be considered as emerald - which would exclude much of the Zambian material. CIBJO certainly use to insist that emerald must contain chromium...

Personally I'm happy with either.

 

[colorluvr]

Re: What do you think of Zambian emeralds? Value vs Colombia

I am in NO way an emerald expert, but I attended the Intergem show yesterday in Virginia and a company called Hubert Jewelry out of Los Angeles always has a booth at the Chantilly show (at least the ones I've attended) and always has gorgeous emerald jewelry. They have a variety from "ok looking emerald jewelry" (kept behing the counter) to gorgeous ones that are usually on display. I'm talking some pieces in the 100+k range. I was talking to the owner about them and he said that almost all of his emeralds are Colombian (and the more expensive ones come with certs stating origin) but occasionally there will be a Zambian emerald that makes it's way into his collection because it has that same gorgeous color.

He showed me set consisting of a ring, pendant, and matching earrings that had huge, very pretty emeralds. They all were very similar in color and size and he pointed out to me that one of the stones was actually Zambian, while the others were all Colombian... I was really surprised because I had never seen a Zambian emerald (that I knew was Zambian) that "high end" Colombian emerald color in that size.

 

[minousbijoux]

Re: What do you think of Zambian emeralds? Value vs Colombia

Wow, TL, thanks for that source. What a great intro! From the excellent writing, I would imagine that that is not another dry book on gemology!

 

[Jeweljunke]

Re: What do you think of Zambian emeralds? Value vs Colombia

Here are a couple of photos of two of my emerald rings. The oval is 3.3ct Zambian that I've had for maybe 8 years, and the other is my newer 3.09ct Colombian, which some of you have seen before. This thread made me think about these rings, and how I love each. I have been lucky in finding these two stones and I absolutely love the color. I would say the Colombian has a tad more 'inner' glow.

 

[Jeweljunke]

Re: What do you think of Zambian emeralds? Value vs Colombia

I wonder why the 3.3ct looks smaller than the 3.09ct. Could it be the shape?

 

[T L]

Re: What do you think of Zambian emeralds? Value vs Colombia

Wow, TL, thanks for that source. What a great intro! From the excellent writing, I would imagine that that is not another dry book on gemology!

You're welcome
It's a fabulous book, and I actually saw the author speak about Colombian emeralds on a National Geographic special. He really knows his stuff as he's been in the emerald business for decades. He travels down to Colombia to deal in them.

I don't think the book is in print anymore, but you can find it second hand. It is not dry at all, and a great read. I love emeralds.

About 15 years ago, I tried on an emerald ring, it was a 5 carat Colombian stone in an old antique piece. I was at a high end antique show. It had a couple of small diamonds, but the stone was just amazing, and back then the ring cost $250,000. I will never ever forget that stone. It was like looking into a pool of vivid green satin, and it definitely had the Gota de Aceite look.

If you ever look at synthetic emeralds, they are very pretty, but they lack that 'drop of oil' glow. The Gota de Aceite ('drop of oil') look cannot be replicated by synthesis. These kinds of emeralds are very very rare. I feel, in my opinion, that fine Zambians remind me more of synthetic emeralds in that respect, but they're still very very beautiful, and have a bluish green hue.

Well, thanks for letting me talk about emeralds. I get a bit carried away since they are a favorite gem of mine.

 

[Arkteia]

Re: What do you think of Zambian emeralds? Value vs Colombia

Beautiful stones, JewelJunkie!

 

[Barrett]

Re: What do you think of Zambian emeralds? Value vs Colombia

Colombian emeralds are predominantly coloured by chromium - this tends to give a purer hue of green but as chromium content increases the more included a stone will be.

Zambian emeralds are predominantly coloured by iron - they are therefore much less included and also tend more towards the blue in terms of colour.
I attended a couple of fascinating lectures last year by Ian Harebottle, CEO at Gemfields which owns a massive emerald mine in Zambia. They have some fabulous, fabulous stones.

There are some authorities that insist that only green beryl coloured by chromium can be considered as emerald - which would exclude much of the Zambian material. CIBJO certainly use to insist that emerald must contain chromium...

Personally I'm happy with either.

HA!
I couldn't agree more, Pandora

 

[chrono]

Re: What do you think of Zambian emeralds? Value vs Colombia

JewelJunke
My guess is that it is the shape and probably also the depth. I cannot see the backview of the stone; do you have the dimension of both?

I like the fact that Zambians are very clean yet many have good rich colour. Unfortunately, they seem to lack a certain velvety quality to them. Fine Colombian material are a sight to behold, but unfortunately, so many are terribly included and so, are smaller than their African counterpart, thereby driving pricing of large untreated fine Colombian emeralds into the stratosphere.

 

[RedSpinel]

Re: What do you think of Zambian emeralds? Value vs Colombia

Wow, TL, thanks for that source. What a great intro! From the excellent writing, I would imagine that that is not another dry book on gemology!

You're welcome
It's a fabulous book, and I actually saw the author speak about Colombian emeralds on a National Geographic special. He really knows his stuff as he's been in the emerald business for decades. He travels down to Colombia to deal in them.

I don't think the book is in print anymore, but you can find it second hand. It is not dry at all, and a great read. I love emeralds.

About 15 years ago, I tried on an emerald ring, it was a 5 carat Colombian stone in an old antique piece. I was at a high end antique show. It had a couple of small diamonds, but the stone was just amazing, and back then the ring cost $250,000. I will never ever forget that stone. It was like looking into a pool of vivid green satin, and it definitely had the Gota de Aceite look.

If you ever look at synthetic emeralds, they are very pretty, but they lack that 'drop of oil' glow. The Gota de Aceite ('drop of oil') look cannot be replicated by synthesis. These kinds of emeralds are very very rare. I feel, in my opinion, that fine Zambians remind me more of synthetic emeralds in that respect, but they're still very very beautiful, and have a bluish green hue.

Well, thanks for letting me talk about emeralds. I get a bit carried away since they are a favorite gem of mine.

Are you speaking of that recent documentary about the HUGE rough emerald that was found in Brazil, I believe, but most of the program followed an emerald buyer who traveled to Colombia, in the city and to the mines, buying emeralds? That was a good show, and just started airing a couple months ago.

 

[RedSpinel]

Re: What do you think of Zambian emeralds? Value vs Colombia

Those pictures do a good job of illustrating just how much gem you get for your money when you buy emeralds, due to their low density! If those were 3+ ct sapphires/rubies, let alone Spessartite garnets or Zircons, the stones in your rings would be much smaller!

But also, from a little bit of a distance, those 2 emeralds look very, very similar in appearance(aside from their shape).

 

[T L]

Re: What do you think of Zambian emeralds? Value vs Colombia

Wow, TL, thanks for that source. What a great intro! From the excellent writing, I would imagine that that is not another dry book on gemology!

You're welcome
It's a fabulous book, and I actually saw the author speak about Colombian emeralds on a National Geographic special. He really knows his stuff as he's been in the emerald business for decades. He travels down to Colombia to deal in them.

I don't think the book is in print anymore, but you can find it second hand. It is not dry at all, and a great read. I love emeralds.

About 15 years ago, I tried on an emerald ring, it was a 5 carat Colombian stone in an old antique piece. I was at a high end antique show. It had a couple of small diamonds, but the stone was just amazing, and back then the ring cost $250,000. I will never ever forget that stone. It was like looking into a pool of vivid green satin, and it definitely had the Gota de Aceite look.

If you ever look at synthetic emeralds, they are very pretty, but they lack that 'drop of oil' glow. The Gota de Aceite ('drop of oil') look cannot be replicated by synthesis. These kinds of emeralds are very very rare. I feel, in my opinion, that fine Zambians remind me more of synthetic emeralds in that respect, but they're still very very beautiful, and have a bluish green hue.

Well, thanks for letting me talk about emeralds. I get a bit carried away since they are a favorite gem of mine.

Are you speaking of that recent documentary about the HUGE rough emerald that was found in Brazil, I believe, but most of the program followed an emerald buyer who traveled to Colombia, in the city and to the mines, buying emeralds? That was a good show, and just started airing a couple months ago.

Yes, that emerald buyer was Ronald Ringsrud, the author of that book.

 

[Jeweljunke]

Re: What do you think of Zambian emeralds? Value vs Colombia

TL, I just recently watched that show. It was fascinating. So sad about the civil unrest down there though.

 

[T L]

Re: What do you think of Zambian emeralds? Value vs Colombia

TL, I just recently watched that show. It was fascinating. So sad about the civil unrest down there though.

It was a really good show. I have to say, I was totally unimpressed by the quality of the huge Brazilian emerald, but the program divulges that Brazilian emeralds do not have that special "glow" that the Colombian emeralds have. Of course, I'm sure there are some beautiful Brazilian emeralds, but the color and opaque quality of that huge stone just was not that exquisite, and the program hinted at that as well. It was more valuable as an uncut enormous emerald specimen. In most of that episode, in the re-enactments, they showed a model of the stone, which was more crystal and transparent. I saw in the credits it was created by Chatham (the company that makes synthetics).

Your emerald rings are beautiful btw.

 

[Treenbean]

Re: What do you think of Zambian emeralds? Value vs Colombia

My lovely FI just bought that book for me. Ronald Ringsrud has his book available on his website http://www.emeraldmine.com/. I love the book and after reading it bought an almost 7ct Zambian emerald. It hasn't arrived yet but I am uber excited about it. I think another point is that Zambians are green "through and through" whereas Colombian emerald can look like they have a clear center. I like Ronald's book because he seems to love all emerald.

 

[Imdanny]

Re: What do you think of Zambian emeralds? Value vs Colombia

http://www.emeraldmine.com/.

 

[RedSpinel]

Re: What do you think of Zambian emeralds? Value vs Colombia

TL, I just recently watched that show. It was fascinating. So sad about the civil unrest down there though.

It was a really good show. I have to say, I was totally unimpressed by the quality of the huge Brazilian emerald, but the program divulges that Brazilian emeralds do not have that special "glow" that the Colombian emeralds have. Of course, I'm sure there are some beautiful Brazilian emeralds, but the color and opaque quality of that huge stone just was not that exquisite, and the program hinted at that as well. It was more valuable as an uncut enormous emerald specimen. In most of that episode, in the re-enactments, they showed a model of the stone, which was more crystal and transparent. I saw in the credits it was created by Chatham (the company that makes synthetics).

Your emerald rings are beautiful btw.

^I forgot to mention that. That huge, rough Brazilian rough emerald was completely useless for any other purpose aside from being a huge, rough emerald! It didnt even appear to be mostly emerald as I recall. At least half of it was common rock. When they first began advertising the program about 2 weeks before airing it, I just couldnt wait to see this 'beautiful' emerald, then once I saw that "boulder emerald" I was thoroughly unimpressed.

But what was even uglier was that disgusting parade of scumbags all trying to scam each other out of the stone. There are like 7 people claiming to own it, and at least an equal number of unscrupulous lawyers helping them to try and pull it off.

So the best parts of that show were definitely when they followed the "other" emerald buyer as he explained the market, etc.

Fortunately, they also did show some beautiful emeralds on that program as well, which more than made up for my disappointment at the "worlds biggest emerald".

 

[T L]

Re: What do you think of Zambian emeralds? Value vs Colombia

My lovely FI just bought that book for me. Ronald Ringsrud has his book available on his website http://www.emeraldmine.com/. I love the book and after reading it bought an almost 7ct Zambian emerald. It hasn't arrived yet but I am uber excited about it. I think another point is that Zambians are green "through and through" whereas Colombian emerald can look like they have a clear center. I like Ronald's book because he seems to love all emerald.

Wow, you must post photos when it arrives!!

 

[Arthur Kennedy]

Re: What do you think of Zambian emeralds? Value vs Colombia

Zambian emeralds look more like a flat green to me, without as much of the glow that the finest Colombians are known for, but they're often more transparent than Colombians, which is a plus for them. If you're talking about the finest Colombian emeralds, then for me, they are the top for emearalds because of this thing called Gota de Aceite, which gives them a certain kind of glow.

If you're talking "minty" Colombian emeralds, you are not talking about top quality ones, as the top ones are a medium dark in tone, and more transparent, and a very rich vivid very slightly bluish green. They need to be seen in person. A photo just never captures the beauty of a fine Colombian emerald.

For more about Gota de Aceite in Colombian emeralds, please read this sample chapter from this fabulous book (I own it).

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

Great post! But I must admit that I like the lighter slightly "minty" looking emeralds as well--- especially when they are nice and glow-y.