will $4k buy me a nice Colombian Emerald?

[Dancing Fire]

how small?... i have never bought a CS...

 

[kelpie]

I'd say definitely, but the factors are too many to say how large. I think emeralds often face up larger than diamonds though someone will probably correct me. Here's a nice looking example to me, but my preference is always for lighter, bluer, cleaner than the deepest verdant ones.

http://www.embassyemeralds.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&manufacturers_id=&products_id=418

 

[chrono]

Depends on your definition of how nice and also the treatment level.

 

[T L]

Yes, and make sure you buy from a very reputable dealer who provides AGL reports, otherwise, you might not know exactly what you're getting for $4K.

 

[ooo~Shiney!]

My budget isn't anywhere near yours, and Emerald is my favorite stone.
Still, I have a small collection

I have been very happy with Embassy Emerald....

I am sure others here could direct you to some other good sites

 

[Indylady]

OoShiney, can you share your experiences with Embassy Emeralds? I've tried contacting them before with little luck, though I do check back on their inventory every once in a while. I too share a love for emeralds!!

 

[LD]

Like any gemstone you can buy a rubbish Emerald for $4k and a stunning one for $4k! It depends on the vendor, then the size you want, the clarity, the treatment level, how fast you want your gem, etc etc etc.

 

[T L]

My budget isn't anywhere near yours, and Emerald is my favorite stone.
Still, I have a small collection

I have been very happy with Embassy Emerald....

I am sure others here could direct you to some other good sites

Serenitydiamonds.com is a fabulous vendor for emeralds. Josh, the owner, can also get an AGL report quite easily (he's down the street from the lab), and he knows a tremendous amount about emeralds. He can get a wide variety for various price ranges. I also recommend that you buy this book before buying any pricey emerald. It's essential.
http://www.emeraldpassion.com/

 

[Dancing Fire]

Depends on your definition of how nice and also the treatment level.

Chrono...i don't know that's why i ask the Q... maybe the experts here can link me to a nice Colombian Emerald with lab report.

 

[ooo~Shiney!]

My budget isn't anywhere near yours, and Emerald is my favorite stone.
Still, I have a small collection

I have been very happy with Embassy Emerald....

I am sure others here could direct you to some other good sites

Serenitydiamonds.com is a fabulous vendor for emeralds. Josh, the owner, can also get an AGL report quite easily (he's down the street from the lab), and he knows a tremendous amount about emeralds. He can get a wide variety for various price ranges. I also recommend that you buy this book before buying any pricey emerald. It's essential.
http://www.emeraldpassion.com/

Hi TL !
I love your Emeralds, by the way!!!!
I am happy you linked the book, I will plan to purchase a copy.
I am starting off slowly with pretty (to me!) but not pricey Emeralds.
When I save enough, I hope to buy a stunner, but I agree, I will
do lots of research first and then purchase from a trusted vendor!

At this stage of the game, I have a few nice little ones that I like, and
I have really enjoyed my purchases from Embassy Emeralds...
I have never had an email unanswered... So please IndyLady, keep trying!!!!

I had many questions of Garrett the first time I bought, and he really gave
me excellent customer service, going over the good points of each of the
stones I was considering, and in the end, I was thrilled with my Emerald,
and I still am! Looking forward to a JKT pendant later this year

My Embassy Emeralds come in a tiny container, in a tiny pouch, in a padded envelope, inside a giant box taped up like crazy!!!!!
It's kind of funny to unwrap this big honkin' box and come up with a small gem the size of a speck ~ heehee

Goodness, for 4k I would LOVE to see what you could come up with, Dancing Fire!!!!!
Have fun !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[rosetta]

Good lord DF, you didn't half pick a difficult stone for your first CS purchase!

So many out there are treated, I echo all the cautions above.

I am looking for pretty little emeralds only, too scared to drop serious cash on this.

Shame, emeralds are my birthstone!

 

[VapidLapid]

Roger Dery has some lovely emeralds, both Zambian and Colombian material. He sells to the trade only so you'll have to go through your jeweler.

http://www.spectralgems.net/A-beryl.html

 

[Dancing Fire]

Good lord DF, you didn't half pick a difficult stone for your first CS purchase!

So many out there are treated, I echo all the cautions above.

I am looking for pretty little emeralds only, too scared to drop serious cash on this.

Shame, emeralds are my birthstone!

was gonna buy one last yr til you guys scare the S**T out of me...

btw; i thought most emeralds are treated in some way or another. aren't they??..

 

[Harriet]

Oiling is a generally accepted treatment for emeralds.

 

[john gem]

I hope 4k would buy you something halfway decent. I looked for a colombian emerald a few years back for my wife. My price range was only $1600. I never found anything that I thought was worth it. Would be different today with all the online sites I have visited since then.

 

[m76steve]

short & sweet-YES-steve...

 

[T L]

Emerald prices have gone up a lot in recent days. $4K would get you a faint to minor treated stone (the degree of enhancement is very important) with medium dark tone and ideal saturation. Nowadays, it probably won't, unless you're looking at a stone less than a carat. I will say, it will buy a pretty stone, but I don't know about top quality. Again, it depends on what you define as "nice." A moderate degree of enhancement will save you some money if you're looking for fine color, and generally, this amount of enhancement is accepted in the trade.

The degrees of enhancement are:

none (very very very rare)
faint
minor
moderate
significant

In that order. Now you can find a lighter, more crystal, emerald with less enhancement, as they generally tend to be less included than their darker toned cousins. They are still lovely. However, lighter toned emeralds are not as valued colorwise as darker ones. You will also be paying a premium for Colombian material as well. The Muzo mine of Colombia produces the finest emeralds in the world, however, there are other Colombian mines (Chivor and some othes) that produce fine emeralds. When paying a premium for origin, it's also a good idea to get an origin id on your AGL report. That being said, I have seen African emeralds for boat loads of money as well.

Never accept an emerald from anyone that just states treated with oil, resin or polymer. Always find out the degree of enhancement, and what it's enhanced with. That makes a difference from a value standpoint.

 

[Dancing Fire]

TL
thanks for confusing me ..

 

[serenitydiamonds]

It depends on the size, and price varies substantially with the quality of the gem. At 1 carat, $4,000 could get you a Colombian Emerald with moderate treatment, maybe even minor on a good day, and a close to ideal color. It would be a very beautiful stone with the treatment barely visible under a loupe.

--Joshua

 

[LD]

So that you can decide if 1ct would be in your size range:

http://www.gemselect.com/calibrated-size/calibrated-size-chart.php

You'll see that (typically) the larger the Emerald the smaller they face up when compared to diamonds. Hope that helps.

 

[chrono]

DF,
Knowing how fussy you are about quality, here’s my guess on what you probably want:
1. Zero treatment or oil only (faint)
2. Top colour
3. Eye clean
4. OK, so we have a budget of $4K, which leaves us to guess what size you’ll end up with.
Based on the above # 1 through #4, you probably will only get a miniscule stone well under 0.5 carats.

If you want the best bang for your buck, you can get a 1 carat Columbian emerald with almost top colour and eye clean with moderate treatment for $4K.

 

[Dancing Fire]

DF,
Knowing how fussy you are about quality, here’s my guess on what you probably want:
1. Zero treatment or oil only (faint)
2. Top colour
3. Eye clean
4. OK, so we have a budget of $4K, which leaves us to guess what size you’ll end up with.
Based on the above # 1 through #4, you probably will only get a miniscule stone well under 0.5 carats.

If you want the best bang for your buck, you can get a 1 carat Columbian emerald with almost top colour and eye clean with moderate treatment for $4K.

thanks,Chrono...that's what looking for.any link to that type of stone in emerald shape? what type of lab report should i be looking for?...

 

[chrono]

I’d get only the AGL prestige report (with colour quality rating) when you are spending this sort of money. Serenity Diamonds have a good selection although most are not listed online. It’s best that you contact Josh directly. www.serenity-diamonds.com

This one looks like a good buy because it gives you the best value for $4K.
http://serenity-diamonds.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=18&LotNo=EM-EM-0416

 

[T L]

I’d get only the AGL prestige report (with colour quality rating) when you are spending this sort of money. Serenity Diamonds have a good selection although most are not listed online. It’s best that you contact Josh directly. www.serenity-diamonds.com

This one looks like a good buy because it gives you the best value for $4K.
http://serenity-diamonds.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=18&LotNo=EM-EM-0416

And one should note that these stones look much much MUCH better in person than in photos, which can never capture the velvety glow.

 

[kenny]

Would a flawless emerald also have that velvety glow or is it a result of inclusions as in the Blue Sapphires from Kashmir?

 

[serenitydiamonds]

A 'flawless' emerald just has a lower amount of internal fractures that are visible to the naked eye. Under magnification, emeralds have textures and inclusions, and those are the source of their velvety glow, somewhat similar to Kashmir Sapphires. This texture makes high quality emeralds 'lifeless' in most photos, but striking in person.

--Joshua

 

[LD]

Kenny - if you're interested in seeing a very clean Emerald, search under my name for my inherited one. It's virtually eye clean (just one tiny big of jardin). It has the typical glow of a lovely Emerald but it's pants to photograph. No idea why green stones are so difficult to capture but there you are!

 

[kenny]

I looked up "Lovingdiamodns emerald".

No matches.

 

[T L]

A 'flawless' emerald just has a lower amount of internal fractures that are visible to the naked eye. Under magnification, emeralds have textures and inclusions, and those are the source of their velvety glow, somewhat similar to Kashmir Sapphires. This texture makes high quality emeralds 'lifeless' in most photos, but striking in person.

--Joshua

I always tell people you know you're probably seeing a good emerald in a photo if it looks like a dark green blob. LOL! They do look lifeless in photos, that's a good way of putting it.

 

[serenitydiamonds]

A 'flawless' emerald just has a lower amount of internal fractures that are visible to the naked eye. Under magnification, emeralds have textures and inclusions, and those are the source of their velvety glow, somewhat similar to Kashmir Sapphires. This texture makes high quality emeralds 'lifeless' in most photos, but striking in person.

--Joshua

I always tell people you know you're probably seeing a good emerald in a photo if it looks like a dark green blob. LOL! They do look lifeless in photos, that's a good way of putting it.

Yeah.... unfortunately a good emerald shouldn't look good in a photo to an untrained eye. Photography has been a hobby of mine for a long time and I've been trying to get them captured close to real life.... unfortunately no successes so far. It's even more challenging when you factor in the fact that everyone's monitor is calibrated differently. It may look fine on my screen, super dark on yours, and light green on someone else's. Green being the worst color rendered in the digital world isn't helping much either....

--Joshua