What makes an emerald valuable ?

[tuquefbensaib]

This article shows a 14 million dollar emerald necklace!

(have a look :
http://www.chinese-tools.com/china/crazy/2008-09-24-emerald-necklace.html)

I didn''t know emeralds could be so pricey

What''s so special about these that can justify just a price?

 

[Harriet]

I can't figure it out either. The beads are matched, sizable and apparently clear, but the colour isn't great.

 

[marcy]

I would say value of an emerald is determined by color, clarity then cut. This doesn''t "cut" it in any of the above.

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 10/1/2008 10:09:27 AM
Author:tuquefbensaib
This article shows a 14 million dollar emerald necklace!

(have a look :
http://www.chinese-tools.com/china/crazy/2008-09-24-emerald-necklace.html)

I didn''t know emeralds could be so pricey

What''s so special about these that can justify just a price?

Top class rubies, sapphires and emeralds can easily cost a small fortune and far, far more than a similar sized white diamond.

That said, in my book, these one''s don''t cut the mustard...

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Hmmm....that necklace looks more like Jade to me.

It could be the size of the stones required to create the beads, the consistency in color within 1 bead as well as bead-to-bead, etc. It also doesn''t mention how the beads were created-by hand or machine.

 

[geckodani]

Huh, not impressed with that necklace. I agree - it looks like Jade to me.

 

[Harriet]

If it is jadeite, the price makes more sense (to the extent it makes sense). Green green jade is revered by the Chinese.

 

[Richard M.]

Date: 10/1/2008 10:09:27 AM
Author:tuquefbensaib
This article shows a 14 million dollar emerald necklace!
What''s so special about these that can justify just a price?

To get a quick and unforgettable lesson in the true rarity and high cost of fine colored gemstones, try to duplicate the piece. Finding a single emerald bead of that quality, size and color would be difficult. Creating a piece with 57 matched beads would be a colossal undertaking!

In 1987 Van Gogh''s wonderful painting, Irises, fetched a record $49 million. It hangs in a museum near me and I greatly admire it. What gives it its value? Someone was willing to pay that much for such a beautiful rarity. It remains to be seen whether anyone will actually pay $14 million for the emerald necklace, so at this point we know its "price" but its "value" is theoretical. Actual value is established when money actually passes hands between a willing buyer and a willing seller.

 

[Sagebrush]

All,

Jadeite, I agree! The color is quite different between the product shot and the shots taken on the model. With both jade and emerald, transparency, what I call "crystal" (one of the four cs of connoisseurship) in my book is an important criterion of value. Not talking clarity here but the old term "water".

For example, "old mine" emeralds have a honey like transparency and this can increase the price exponentially. Think of it is analogous to the effect that the sleepy appearance of Kashmir sapphire has on price.

 

[Richard M.]

Richard,

I agree the translucence and hue in the images more resemble jadeite or even fine chrysoprase than emerald. It''s also more logical to assume jadeite would be made into beads than fine emeralds.

Here''s an amazing 15.59 ct. emerald cabochon of excellent transparency for comparison purposes. There can be enormous variations in image color accuracy and other details due to lighting, digital CCD type and quality, and manipulation so I don''t generally try to make IDs on the basis of images.

Richard M.

 

[bar01]

It seems to me that true rarity (geologically speaking) often has little relative impact on the price of a colored gem. Tsavorite vs Emerald comes to mind. Treated vs untreated sapphires are another.

But it does seem to come down to what the market says the price should be - sellers, buyers, marketing, awareness and so on. Price seems a little more defined to me, but value is in the eye of the beholder. I believe the value of the colored gems I have bought exceeds the price I paid and beyond the retail market price appraisals I got.

 

[swimmer]

I bet that this is a case of emerald meant as the color, lower case E if you will, and not Emerald the stone. I shop in China a great deal (Chinese website) and emerald pearl means very green jadeite to me. Perhaps something was "lost in translation" here?

 

[DiaDiva]

According to the backdrop behind the model, the necklace should be jade.

 

[Sagebrush]

Richard,

Beautiful stone, is it for sale? Brought back a magnificent 1.52 from my last trip to Bogata, but don''t believe I am allowed to post it. Your image though is exceptional, who took it?

Richard

 

[Richard M.]

Richard,

I''m not allowed to post images of my stones to threads either, so ipso-facto it isn''t mine. It''s one of several fine gems owned by an acquaintance whose contact information I''ve lost due to a computer problem. I don''t know if it''s still available but if I can locate his information I''ll forward it to you.

Richard M.

 

[Harriet]

Date: 10/2/2008 1:42:26 AM
Author: DiaDiva
According to the backdrop behind the model, the necklace should be jade.

I tried reading the Chinese article, but my Mandarin deserted me.

Rick, is that cab of facet-quality?

 

[Harriet]

Date: 10/2/2008 3:42:09 PM
Author: Richard W. Wise
Richard,

Beautiful stone, is it for sale? Brought back a magnificent 1.52 from my last trip to Bogata, but don''t believe I am allowed to post it. Your image though is exceptional, who took it?

Richard

Richard,
Did I have the pleasure of seeing it?

 

[chrono]

Date: 10/2/2008 1:42:26 AM
Author: DiaDiva
According to the backdrop behind the model, the necklace should be jade.

That makes much more sense. The colour of those cabs look fantastic for jadeite - very well matched, even and translucent.

 

[jewelerman]

Date: 10/1/2008 2:17:20 PM
Author: Richard M.

Date: 10/1/2008 10:09:27 AM
Author:tuquefbensaib
This article shows a 14 million dollar emerald necklace!
What''s so special about these that can justify just a price?

To get a quick and unforgettable lesson in the true rarity and high cost of fine colored gemstones, try to duplicate the piece. Finding a single emerald bead of that quality, size and color would be difficult. Creating a piece with 57 matched beads would be a colossal undertaking!

In 1987 Van Gogh''s wonderful painting, Irises, fetched a record $49 million. It hangs in a museum near me and I greatly admire it. What gives it its value? Someone was willing to pay that much for such a beautiful rarity. It remains to be seen whether anyone will actually pay $14 million for the emerald necklace, so at this point we know its ''price'' but its ''value'' is theoretical. Actual value is established when money actually passes hands between a willing buyer and a willing seller.

Richard,
About 4 years ago I visited the Getty and was surprised to see Van Gogh''s Irises...my favorite master work by any artist.There are very few works by Van Gogh that I dont like.It is great to find a fellow PSer who appreciates his work as well.I am in agreement that the strand of beads are fine quality jade and will fetch a large sum at auction.

 

[Richard M.]

Date: 10/2/2008 11:29:55 PM
Author: jewelerman
I visited the Getty and was surprised to see Van Gogh''s Irises...my favorite master work by any artist.There are very few works by Van Gogh that I dont like.It is great to find a fellow PSer who appreciates his work as well.

If one pays attention there are amazing cultural opportunities in the Los Angeles area despite the "conventional wisdom''s" view of L.A. as a cultural wasteland. The Gettys (both of them -- the Malibu villa is wonderful, too, especially if you like antiquities as I do) have amazing collections. The same day I stumbled upon Irises there I was able to spend an hour admiring two of Monet''s amazing studies of light, Haystacks. I still get a shiver down my back when I recall them.

The Los Angeles County Museaum of Art (LACMA to locals) has remarkable exhibits, both traveling and permanent. It sponsored a Van Gogh exhibition a few years ago that featured nearly every one of his major paintings. You''d have loved it. I''m a North American archaeology/anthropology addict and LACMA has remarkable Olmec and Mayan collections.

If you take in the Huntington Library in San Marino (near Pasadena) you''ll be soothed by acres of quiet, wonderfully landscaped botanical gardens with Greek statuary among much else. In one of the art museums you''ll discover Gainsborough''s Blue Boy alongside Lawrence''s Pinkie -- a wonderful pairing!

There''s a whole lot more. But not to forget gems and minerals, the County Natural History Museum has an extraordinary collection. Any gem-oriented out-of-towner who bypasses it is missing a real treat.

Richard M.

 

[Richard M.]

Date: 10/2/2008 9:19:33 PM
Author: Harriet

Date: 10/2/2008 1:42:26 AM
Rick, is that cab of facet-quality?

I really don''t know. I haven''t seen the stone, just the image.

 

[Sagebrush]

Harriet,

Yes, you looked at the 1.52 briefly though you were not so interested in green as I recall you were more focused on ruby.

Jeff Scovil is here, photographed it and I uploaded the stone to the website yesterday. We will be uploading 10-15 new stones today and tomorrow, so stay tuned.

Richard, love to here more about that emerald, thanks.

By the way, Ron Ringsrud has written an article on "gota da aceita" which translates as "drop of oil" in the upcoming Gems & Gemology. He shows the physical cause of the honey like transparency that is called "old mine" in emerald.

 

[Harriet]

Richard,

This untreated gem?: http://www.rwwise.com/products/id%7C1162

 

[Sagebrush]

Harriet,

That''s the one! Problem with photographing emerald is that under the magnification of the photo, you will always see some inclusions, emerald is never free of them. To the eye it is flawles and frankly even a Jeff Scovil image does not do the stone justice.

RW