what is the difference between an emerald from Zambia is an emerald from Colombia

[feuille]

Hello everyone,

I am interested in more and more emeralds and I ask myself a question that is the difference between emeralds from Zambia and Colombia?
What is the most valuable, is the most valuable is the most expensive?
I see more emeralds from Zambia everywhere.

THANK you in advance for all your opinions.

Another thing that do you think about this emerald Zambian?

 

[arglthesheep]

Hi feuille,
your questions are difficult to answer. From both origins come very nice and expensive stones. It always depends on the quality of the single stone. That said, clarity, color, size and enhancement (and cut) would dictate the price for the single stone. From colombia come very big emeralds which i did not see in that quantitiy from Zambia. Zambia is producing nice emeralds, also ethiopia is a new source in the last years for nice emeralds too. Same like Afghanistan/Pakistan, Australia, Russia and many more. You have to decide if you want to go for quality than origin doesn´t really matter.
For your stone (but just my personal opinion): the stone is nice but in my opinion not much fire in this. I personally prefer the lighter colored cleaner stones, as they have much fire in them. But for some the color is main approach.

 

[whitewave]

Don't forget Sandwana emeralds. i await my delivery from Ed at Wildfish gems.

 

[Bron357]

Columbian emeralds are the only ones found in sedimentary rocks and analysis has shown their colouration is linked to chromium impurities rather than Vanadium. Columbian emeralds are so highly regarded for their clear green / blue green colours and can be usually be identified by their inclusion types and color. Upon closer chemical analysis it is possible to go so far as identify the actual location they are from ie Munoz. As with all emeralds, value can be variable according to size, hue, tone, clarity and of course origin.

 

[T L]

Color. Zambians, although can very nice, cannot match the color of the finest Muzo emerald. The fiinest Muzo emeralds also have microscopic inclusions that give the appearance of satin in the stone. There's a name for this, but I cannot remember it right now. It is highly prized, and sought after.

Zambians also get their green color primarily from vanadium I believe, whereas it's primarily chromium in Columbian stones. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Of course you must compare apples to apples. I'm sure some Zambians are way nicer than some Colombians. I'm just talking about fine qualities in each locale.

 

[Nosean]

@TL

You mean "Gota de Aceite" I think.

@feuille

You can find fine emeralds from many sources and of course ugly ones too...

So it make no sense to say which are better or higher priced.

@whitewaves

The location is Sandawana

The emerald you post here is a good example and should be a warning that a high price is not automatically a high quality.
Neither color nor clarity or size are outstanding.

A medium commercial quality.

 

[whitewave]

Lol

 

[T L]

@TL

You mean "Gota de Aceite" I think.

Yes!!

 

[Nosean]

https://www.gia.edu/doc/Gota-de-Aceite_-Nomenclature-for-the-Finest-Colombian-Emeralds.pdf

 

[whitewave]

@kgizo

 

[whitewave]

https://www.jckonline.com/magazine-article/green-boom-why-colombian-emeralds-are-2017s-hottest-rock/

“Colombian gems are beautiful, but that’s just one type of emerald and not to say that other origins are inferior,” Shah says.

Gary Schuler, chairman of the jewelry department at Sotheby’s in New York City, sides with Shah. “Colombian emeralds have traditionally been the most prized,” he tells JCK. “But you must always be focused on the stone itself, not the piece of paper.”


And an ongoing consideration with emeralds:

"One continuing area of concern for gemologists is a duplicitous scheme in which untreated emeralds are submitted to labs in order to receive a report identifying them as bearing “no treatment.” Once the prized grade is received, the emeralds are subjected to treatment. Or stones are partially cleaned to get a better or higher clarity enhancement grade and are then filled. Shane McClure, global director of colored stone services for the GIA, even gave a presentation on this issue at a conference in Thailand a couple of years ago to attempt to find solutions to the problem.

Christopher Smith, president of New York City–based American Gemological Laboratories, has seen the tactic enough that five years ago, he added cautionary terminology to his reports. For stones identified as having open fissures and no treatment or fissures that are only partially filled, they now bear comments stating that at the time of testing, the emeralds “had fissures that were not filled or only partially filled,” says Smith. “This is not an everyday occurrence, but it is fraudulent and happening more,” he insists."

 

[lambskin]

I would go with the color and quality of the stone vs origin. Now rubies are found in Africa and are getting top dollar like their Burmese counterparts. I do not like the emerald posted in your video as it is too dark and the top half looks black with no light getting in or out.

 

[Anne111]

Isn't this 'treatment after report fraud' a problem in all gems? Why only in emeralds?

 

[Sagebrush]

As several others have pointed out, origin is a very poor basis upon which to select a gemstone. Still, you can make a couple of generalizations about Zambian emeralds. They tend to be lighter in tone and higher in clarity than emerald from Colombia. Bright and lively rather than rich and verdant.

I see that the term "old mine" had made its way into the conversation. I disagree somewhat with Ringsrud on the use of the term. Old mine is a look, a quality not an indication of age or origin and it is perfectly ok to use it to describe emeralds that exhibit the drop of oil (gota da aceite) effect. In fact, that is the only time it is proper to use the term.

 

[T L]

Emeralds are also sometimes irradiated by the way. It's a lesser known treatment in these gems. AGL caught this treatment on stone that the GIA missed.

 

[Arkteia]

Thanks for letting me know!