Xmas green from Serenity Diamond

[chrono]

My Christmas wish list is fulfilled. I have been longing for an emerald but didn’t know where to get a good one without overpaying. After hearing some good reviews about Josh at Serenity Diamonds, I decided to email him to find out more about his inventory. It’s been an absolute pleasure to talk emeralds with him and he patiently answered all my questions and provided pictures as well. I was looking for a starter emerald just to whet my appetite until I’m ready for something better and he delivered. The emerald he sent was so glowy that I immediately sent it back, requesting a larger and better emerald. Yup, an upgrade before the return period is up. Would this be considered the fastest upgrade ever?

Josh went back to look for something that will fit my requirements and budget and came up with this 1.31 ct Colombian emerald a week later. If anyone thinks gem photography is difficult, photographing emeralds is even worse. I don’t consider myself a good photographer but trying to take pictures of this gorgeous stone makes me feel like a dunce. Everything came out black, opaque and dead! In reality, it looks just like a synthetic emerald. It has a lovely satiny glow with eye popping saturation. While not crystalline clear, I can look into the emerald with ease. The emerald also looks bluer and richer in colour under incandescent lighting.

 

[Arkteia]

I hope you will be able to photograph them. The best ones are probably impossible to photograph. I just hope that the weather will be better and you can make photos in a day or so. You make very good, very natural photographs.
It would be great to see your stone, though!

 

[chrono]

The requisite upside down view of the stone. I was able to capture the glow but not the clarity of the emerald.


A bit of backlighting so you can see how clean the stone is. Unfortunately, the colour is just HORRIBLE here.


I took over 50 pictures and at least 40 were clearly not usable (black dead blobs). Of the remaining 10, none are even close to being representative of the emerald in person. This picture is as close as I can get but even then, the stone looks so much better in real life. The tone is a touch darker and the saturation stronger. I don’t know why photographing emeralds is a PITA and frustrating so please be gentle with my ugly pictures. I wish can take better pictures so everyone can see just how gorgeous it really is – if you’ve seen the synthetic emeralds, that’s what it really looks like.

 

[Arkteia]

It has this bluish glow... I can only imagine how well it looks in real life. Not dark, either, Dark emeralds are usually dull. Would it be possible to get more info, spect, the clarity, treatment?

 

[Aoife]

Oh, wow.

If that last photo is a bad one, I can only imagine how beautiful it is IRL. Just. wow. I can see why you fell in love.

I've never been interested in emeralds, but I have to say, I am seriously reconsidering....

 

[chrono]

In my excitement, I’d forgotten to share the stats. My apologies. 1.31 carat emerald of Colombian origin, likely to be Muzo based on its characteristics but I don’t need to know the origin with surety. The stone measures 6.9 x 6.4 x 4.1 mm and I believe the clarity to be moderately included. One black dot from the pavilion view but nothing face up. If I peer deeply into the emerald, I can see some mossy vein-y green lines snaking across the stone internally. The smaller one I looked at previously is a cleaner but the colour wasn’t as good as this one.

 

[T L]

Chrono,
I can 100% attest to the difficulty of photographing emeralds, let alone fine ones. I have taken a billion photos of mine and they never ever represent the stone at all. Your stone appears to have a nice glow, and if it's the tone and saturation of a synthetic, that's pretty much ideal color. I feel your pain with emerald photography, it's the most difficult stone BY FAR, that I have ever photograped!! I hear that all the time from everyone else that collects them. It's a nightmare to shoot them.

Glad you went with Josh, he's an upstanding vendor, especially for emeralds.

 

[davi_el_mejor]

what a beautiful Colombian Chrono! Why can't emeralds be more photogenic??? I had a hard time photo'ing the emeralds at the Smithsonian. I pulled out all my tricks and they eluded me and killed my battery! haha

It really embodies the high sheen of a green satin.

 

[cellentani]

what a beautiful Colombian Chrono! Why can't emeralds be more photogenic??? I had a hard time photo'ing the emeralds at the Smithsonian. I pulled out all my tricks and they eluded me and killed my battery! haha

It really embodies the high sheen of a green satin.

I've tried shooting those emeralds at the Smithsonian too! The strong, low, overhead lights just kill my photos every time. If only they'd let me take them out and hold them in my hand - I'm sure my shots would be so much better, lol.

Chrono, emeralds are uncharted territory for me, but I wish I could see yours in person - I'm sure it's gorgeous!

 

[Indylady]

Gorgeous Chrono!!
I have a serious soft spot for glowy emeralds. I am really looking forward to seeing this set!

 

[Kismet]

It looks gorgeous!

 

[LD]

Welcome to the Emerald Owners Club who Can't Photograph Them for Toffee ("EOCCPTT") as we're affectionately known! I sooooo feel your pain but actually I have to say that your photos are very good when I compare them to my awful ones!

I don't know if TL or Joshua would agree but the best photos I've achieved have been in strong sunlight rather than any other light. I can just about replicate the true colour but the glow gets lost in the process!

Anyway, back to your Emerald - stunning stunning stunning

Knowing you and with my crystal ball, I'm seeing a bigger Emerald in your future!

Many congrats!

 

[Liane]

Congratulations on getting what looks to be a lovely stone (and I, too, feel your pain; your photos are a sight better than mine ever turn out).

...now I kinda want another, even though I haven't set a single one of mine yet. Emeralds are that addicting.

 

[chrono]

Crasru,
You give me too much credit for my photography. The only reason it looks natural is because that’s the only lighting condition I can take any gemstone under. As for it looking good, I only wish so because it looks much better IRL.

Aoife,
I’ve only admired emeralds from afar because none appealed to me IRL, not to mention the horrible sounding treatment, care needed and etc. After all the emerald threads recently, I decided to give emeralds a chance and I’m so glad I did.

TL and LD,
I now understand your photography nightmare with emeralds. If I can get the colour, I cannot capture the glow. When I capture the glow, the tone and saturation drops by several notches. I almost gave up after trying for 2 days straight. Some sun is forecasted tomorrow so I will try again. It’s been rainy and cloudy so perhaps that’s why my pictures are so horrible.

Davi, Cellentani,
Thank you for sharing my photography pains. While I sometimes have trouble with other gems, it’s almost impossible with emeralds. Trust me, even if you have the Smithsonian emerald in your hand, your pictures will end up a dark black blob.

Kismet and Liane,
You are too kind. Thank you.

 

[Porridge]

Oooh, it's glowing! It's jumping off the screen at me! Gorgeous

 

[VapidLapid]

Gnarly and elusive!
Yup, I said gnarly about an emerald. Party on.

 

[SB621]

love love love!! now how are you going to set it?!

 

[beaujolais]

So what is that stone plugged into to make it glow like that? The little bit of inclusion is fine. It adds character, like some wear on a leather jacket, some cracks on a valuable old painting, etc.

Oh, please set in yellow gold.

 

[purplemelody]

Your emerald is STUNNING! I can imagine how beautiful it is IRL if consider your last photo as bad!

 

[Burberrygirl]

Welcome to the Emerald Owners Club who Can't Photograph Them for Toffee ("EOCCPTT") as we're affectionately known! I sooooo feel your pain but actually I have to say that your photos are very good when I compare them to my awful ones!

Lol! Emeralds are very hard to photography. Although I think mine is slightly easier to photography because it's a cab.

Chrono, it's gorgeous! I can't wait to see what you do with it. Now I want another emerald lol.

Congrats!

ETA: I'm with LD, I'm sure you'll have a huge emerald to go along with this beauty in the future.

 

[risingsun]

Are you having it set? I hope so! Any ideas about how you will be wearing it?

 

[Treenbean]

I was wondering what the stone you had bought that made you immediately upgrade. This was definitely worth the wait and upgrade. Congrats on a beautiful stone!

 

[Lovinggems]

I love the glow emitting from the emerald! Did you get a lab report for this emerald?

 

[virgoruby]

Such a beautiful, glowy stone... it looks to be well cut as well.
How does it compare to your Tsavorite?

 

[chrono]

Porridge, Sarahbear, Sonoma, PurpleMelody, RisingSun, Treebean, LovingGems, and Virgoruby,
Thanks for looking and being kind on my photography. Just one look at it and I know it has to be set in yellow gold, probably with some diamond accents. As of now, the strongest design contender is this Harry Winston “butterfly” setting with a yellow gold basket and platinum shank.


VapidLapid,
Gnarly? I’m not sure what that means…

Burberrygirl,
I did think about getting either a sugarloaf or cabochon emerald several years ago, but once I saw this one, I knew this was it. I hope you’ll continue to get friends for your emerald ring in the future.

 

[chrono]

Virgoruby,
I did take comparison pictures of both the tsavorite and emerald together but the emerald looked way too yucky to post. The difference between the two is like night and day and the only similarity they have is the fact that both are green. The tsavorite is all cold sharp sparkles while the emerald is soft satiny velvet. The emerald also has deeper saturation probably helped by the mossy jardin within. It also has a stronger blue modfier. I don’t love my tsavorite any more or less than the emerald but the emerald definitely has it’s own appeal. When it comes to just colour (not sparkle or brilliance), the emerald wins hands down because it has this glow that tsavorite cannot mimic.

 

[virgoruby]

Virgoruby,
I did take comparison pictures of both the tsavorite and emerald together but the emerald looked way too yucky to post. The difference between the two is like night and day and the only similarity they have is the fact that both are green. The tsavorite is all cold sharp sparkles while the emerald is soft satiny velvet. The emerald also has deeper saturation probably helped by the mossy jardin within. It also has a stronger blue modfier. I don’t love my tsavorite any more or less than the emerald but the emerald definitely has it’s own appeal. When it comes to just colour (not sparkle or brilliance), the emerald wins hands down because it has this glow that tsavorite cannot mimic.

Thanks so much for your detailed comparison.
I now have to see top quality emeralds to truly understand what you've just described... do you mind sending me your beautiful specimen... ... for educational purposes??? I promise I'll return it to you straight away.

Jokes aside, I love the Harry Winston butterfly setting idea.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

I love emeralds--congrats on yours! That HW style is PEFECT!

cheers--Sharon

 

[T L]

Virgoruby,
I did take comparison pictures of both the tsavorite and emerald together but the emerald looked way too yucky to post. The difference between the two is like night and day and the only similarity they have is the fact that both are green. The tsavorite is all cold sharp sparkles while the emerald is soft satiny velvet. The emerald also has deeper saturation probably helped by the mossy jardin within. It also has a stronger blue modfier. I don’t love my tsavorite any more or less than the emerald but the emerald definitely has it’s own appeal. When it comes to just colour (not sparkle or brilliance), the emerald wins hands down because it has this glow that tsavorite cannot mimic.

Thanks so much for your detailed comparison.
I now have to see top quality emeralds to truly understand what you've just described... do you mind sending me your beautiful specimen... ... for educational purposes??? I promise I'll return it to you straight away.

Jokes aside, I love the Harry Winston butterfly setting idea.

Slight hijack (sorry Chrono), but no one can appreciate a fine emerald unless you see one in person. Antique & Estate jewelry shows are a good place to see them, as well as a museum like the Smithsonian. The Field Museum where I live has some, but they're not fine at all. No photograph can truly represent them, unlike some spinels, and other types of gems. You really need to experience them in person. I tried on a $250,000 emerald at an Antique show. It was only 5 carats, but the stone was so valuable per carat, it was amazing.

 

[Laila619]

That's just lovely! It will look fabulous in the HW setting I'm sure.