Colombian Emerald

[mhovingh]

Colombian Emeralds are the stone I am focusing on learning right now. I have really been enjoying learning about them and really enjoy the color they have, not to mention them glowing in the moonlight (I really need to get a good picture of that to share). I would love to read any input you have on this stone/piece and would really appreciate any information you can provide about how they get valued by dealers/collectors (not talking $ amounts necessarily, just want to learn about what to look for in a good stone that would be highly valued).

This piece is a 3.0 ct Cushion Cut Colombian Emerald, AA Clarity, In 14k Yellow Gold

 

[Barrett]

horrible picture..can''t see anything but the partial reflection of the light of the faces

 

[T L]

Before you make a significant investment in Columbian emerald, I highly recommend this book.


http://www.emeraldpassion.com/

If you're in the U.S., Barnes and Nobles book sellers sometimes offers it at a discount. Emeralds are full of treatments, and I would not buy one of significant value without an AGL lab report indicating the type and extent of treatment.

Your photo isn't good, can't tell much, but I would not buy a set emerald. I would only buy an emerald set if it already had an AGL.

 

[Barrett]

color is king in emeralds..and they WILL have inclusions it''s just a fact no sense in looking for a clean emerald

 

[mhovingh]

Date: 5/14/2010 1:15:34 PM
Author: amethystguy
horrible picture..can''t see anything but the partial reflection of the light of the faces

Sorry for the bad picture. I didn''t realize it would be viewed so. I am still learning how to properly take pictures and this was the first Colombian Emerald I tried photographing. I don''t know exactly how to take a good picture of this stone or even what that would look like to someone who knows what they are looking for with these stones. Any advice or tips on how to properly photograph a stone like this would be appreciated.

 

[T L]

Emeralds to me are one of the most difficult stones to photograph. If you really want to know the quality, and it was pricey, send it to the AGL - American Gemological Laboratory in NYC for a prestige report. It could be super saturated, or light and dull looking. Cameras just cannot capture the green of an emerald. It's so hard. Unless you have a camera that is several thousand dollars, no point and shoot cannot properly capture the green IMO.

It's also sitting in a very enclosed setting, so no way to tell the inclusions from the side, or even the treatment level (it needs to be evaluated in person by a very good emerald expert gemologist). Look in the sample chapter of that book link I sent you. The top color emeralds are in there so it at least gives you an idea how to judge the color, but it really needs professional evaluation.

 

[mhovingh]

Date: 5/14/2010 1:19:56 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
Before you make a significant investment in Columbian emerald, I highly recommend this book.



http://www.emeraldpassion.com/


If you''re in the U.S., Barnes and Nobles book sellers sometimes offers it at a discount. Emeralds are full of treatments, and I would not buy one of significant value without an AGL lab report indicating the type and extent of treatment.


Your photo isn''t good, can''t tell much, but I would not buy a set emerald. I would only buy an emerald set if it already had an AGL.

Thank you for the info tourmaline_lover. I will look into that book.

 

[soberguy]

Here is my favorite emerald that I have. I love it''s cut and intensity of color. As with all emeralds it has inclusions, and one of them actually surfaces, which is why it wasn''t as costly. But the color was so nice, I had to buy it. There are SOOOO many emerald treatments, and synthetics out there you should never do as I did and buy an emerald without certification if you intend to buy a fine one. The synthetics are getting better and better and can fool almost any consumer, and most jewelers. Because this emerald is NOT certified, I would not post it in an individual thread, but I think picture speak louder than words, and this is what I like in color...

 

[T L]

Date: 5/14/2010 1:30:33 PM
Author: soberguy
Here is my favorite emerald that I have. I love it''s cut and intensity of color. As with all emeralds it has inclusions, and one of them actually surfaces, which is why it wasn''t as costly. But the color was so nice, I had to buy it. There are SOOOO many emerald treatments, and synthetics out there you should never do as I did and buy an emerald without certification if you intend to buy a fine one. The synthetics are getting better and better and can fool almost any consumer, and most jewelers. Because this emerald is NOT certified, I would not post it in an individual thread, but I think picture speak louder than words, and this is what I like in color...

Yes, the synthetics also have inclusions too!!

Nice emerald Soberguy. Very velvety green.

 

[Barrett]

nice stone soberguy..looks to have good color.

 

[LD]

Try taking a photo looking down at the ring so the Emerald is straight on to the camera. That will then show the cut and jardin better. What you'll find almost impossible to do is capture the colour - greens are a nightmare to photograph!

Basically here's what I know, whistle stop ............

1. Most Emeralds are oiled (no problem but you need to know so that you can care for your stone down the line). Oiling needs to be repeated over the years.
2. There are now composite Emeralds for sale (not good) and also ones that have been very heavily treated. The only way of knowing whether your Emerald has been is to get it evaluated.
3. Most Emeralds have some jardin (i.e. inclusions). Too many and it can detract from the beauty. If the Emerald has no jardin that's incredibly rare and unless you know it's an Emerald, it's a warning signal that it could be something else.
4. A good Colombian Emerald will have a "glow" and will be a blue/green.
5. Pricing will vary depending on cut, colour, inclusions etc.

Hope that helps!

Edit: I think we were posting at the same time and now I can see you've posted a ton of new photos!!!

 

[mhovingh]

Date: 5/14/2010 1:27:24 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
It''s also sitting in a very enclosed setting, so no way to tell the inclusions from the side, or even the treatment level (it needs to be evaluated in person by a very good emerald expert gemologist).

Is a fairly open setting recommended for Colombian Emeralds in general, or were you just commenting from the standpoint of giving the stone a grading/valuation?

 

[T L]

Date: 5/14/2010 1:40:13 PM
Author: mhovingh

Date: 5/14/2010 1:27:24 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
It's also sitting in a very enclosed setting, so no way to tell the inclusions from the side, or even the treatment level (it needs to be evaluated in person by a very good emerald expert gemologist).

Is a fairly open setting recommended for Colombian Emeralds in general, or were you just commenting from the standpoint of giving the stone a grading/valuation?

Well, you can't see the pavillion and the pavillion needs to be evaluated for cracks in order to know the degree of enhancement (none, faint minor, moderate, heavy). For a full evaluation, it HAS to be removed from the setting. Don't trust most gemologists with giving an appropriate appraisal on as set stone.

 

[soberguy]

From the pictures is seems to look somewhat watery to me. I like better color saturation, which of course means a higher price.

 

[T L]

Date: 5/14/2010 1:43:43 PM
Author: soberguy
From the pictures is seems to look somewhat watery to me. I like better color saturation, which of course means a higher price.

I agree Soberguy, but since emeralds are so notoriously difficult to photograph, I don''t know if it really looks like the photo. My emerald looks terrible in photos, and it''s a very deep Muzo green. This is the best photo I could take (sitting on top of a fake cz setting) after taking so so many.

 

[mhovingh]

Thank you all for the input. I can definitely see from just the posts here that I have a lot of research ahead of me (confirming my assumptions).

Any further input is welcome and appreciated, both on the photography of emeralds and the grading/valuation sides. Every day I am reminded of how thankful I should be for this site and its members.

 

[LD]

I hope you don't mind me showing you my Emerald? This is very old, inherited and an exceptionally clean and fine Emerald.

It's slightly lighter than this in real life:

This is a better indicator of the colour and you can see how clean it is:

But this is my favourite photo of it and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it.

 

[Barrett]

excel is the way to go with emeralds these days....oil is so last century..gotta go with the polymers now..cleaning done with no harm..even ultrasonic..never has to be redone like oil does..does same thing as oil but is a more "in the now" treatment..plus is permanent..i think the big better bogata delaers are using more and more excel nowadays

 

[mhovingh]

Date: 5/14/2010 2:09:49 PM
Author: LovingDiamonds
I hope you don''t mind me showing you my Emerald?

Not at all, the more, the merrier! Thank you for posting it.

 

[soberguy]

TL, LD WOW!!!!!!! Those are just plain smexy lol!!

 

[serenitydiamonds]

Date: 5/14/2010 1:35:16 PM
Author: LovingDiamonds
Try taking a photo looking down at the ring so the Emerald is straight on to the camera. That will then show the cut and jardin better. What you''ll find almost impossible to do is capture the colour - greens are a nightmare to photograph!


Basically here''s what I know, whistle stop ............


1. Most Emeralds are oiled (no problem but you need to know so that you can care for your stone down the line). Oiling needs to be repeated over the years.

2. There are now composite Emeralds for sale (not good) and also ones that have been very heavily treated. The only way of knowing whether your Emerald has been is to get it evaluated.

3. Most Emeralds have some jardin (i.e. inclusions). Too many and it can detract from the beauty. If the Emerald has no jardin that''s incredibly rare and unless you know it''s an Emerald, it''s a warning signal that it could be something else.

4. A good Colombian Emerald will have a ''glow'' and will be a blue/green.

5. Pricing will vary depending on cut, colour, inclusions etc.


Hope that helps!


Edit: I think we were posting at the same time and now I can see you''ve posted a ton of new photos!!!

Well said!!

Emeralds also are being treated with modern polymers and resins, make sure you know what kind. Judging the treatment level is tough but a rough estimate is to view it through a loupe and count the number of surface fractures you can seen in the reflection of light off of the facets. From your pictures this one looks moderately treated (rough guess) and the color (which is impossible to tell from the photo) is light.

On pricing. A light to moderately treated emerald can be priced from $200 per carat up to $10,000++ per carat (Yes, even for 3 carats). What separates the price? Color. Color is the absolute king with emeralds. Price is also a very good general indicator of emerald quality. A $200 emerald is worth $200. A $2000 emerald, is worth $2000. Do not be lured into ''optimistic'' appraisals of light color gems for significantly more than they are worth. People who mine Colombian emeralds (only one place they come from) know exactly the gem''s worth, so don''t expect to find a $2000 emerald for $200.

I strongly agree with TL that you should read the book Emeralds, a Passionate Guide. It''s well written and very informative.

--Joshua

 

[Barrett]

"Do not be lured into ''optimistic'' appraisals of light color gems for significantly more than they are worth. People who mine Colombian emeralds (only one place they come from) know exactly the gem''s worth, so don''t expect to find a $2000 emerald for $200."

well said there too!!

 

[mhovingh]

Regarding the treatment of this stone, that was not something I knew to ask when taking the photos. Is it obvious that I am really new to jewelry?

I did get a chance to get more info on the stone today and it is not a treated stone. The stone coloring is light, just a bit darker than in the photos, but not by much (at least to my inexperienced eye).

Thanks again for all the informational posts that were left. I am hoping to be able to go another round of photographing this stone now that I have learned more. If I get some better looking pictures, I will post them, and if worse photos, I will probably post those too, in hopes of some constructive criticism.

 

[Agnesg]

I am new to Emerald..in my mind aren''t they suppose to be green like a Tsavorite or Chrome? Why is it that I see these Paraiba/bluish color or is it just on my monitor?

 

[T L]

Date: 5/18/2010 11:07:14 PM
Author: Agnesg
I am new to Emerald..in my mind aren't they suppose to be green like a Tsavorite or Chrome? Why is it that I see these Paraiba/bluish color or is it just on my monitor?

The best emeralds are a medium dark tone and very slightly bluish green hue without any grey. I think tsavorites come closest in emulating the color of a fine emerald, but they don't have the same luster or RI.

 

[serenitydiamonds]

Date: 5/18/2010 11:07:14 PM
Author: Agnesg
I am new to Emerald..in my mind aren''t they suppose to be green like a Tsavorite or Chrome? Why is it that I see these Paraiba/bluish color or is it just on my monitor?

The best Emerald color is purely unique, nothing can really emulate it. It''s actually created by a combination of blue and red lending the illusion of green. For this reason it''s extremely hard to take a photograph, and impossible to get the photograph to match the top color you would see in person. Most photos of Emeralds tend to show too much blue, unless you''ve spent an afternoon trying to get it right. But considering that, the very top emerald color does contain a hint of blue, but just a subtle one, and a strong saturation of green.

--Joshua

 

[T L]

Date: 5/19/2010 9:33:56 AM
Author: serenitydiamonds

Date: 5/18/2010 11:07:14 PM

Author: Agnesg

I am new to Emerald..in my mind aren''t they suppose to be green like a Tsavorite or Chrome? Why is it that I see these Paraiba/bluish color or is it just on my monitor?

The best Emerald color is purely unique, nothing can really emulate it.


--Joshua

I agree, but was too afraid to say that!! To me, nothing is as perfect a green color as fine Columbian emerald *sigh*

Tsavorite is a nice alternative, but it looks more like African emerald to me.

 

[risingsun]

This is a pic of my emerald. It is difficult to get good pics of green stones. This emerald has a green glow IRL.

 

[serenitydiamonds]

Date: 5/19/2010 11:59:47 AM
Author: risingsun
This is a pic of my emerald. It is difficult to get good pics of green stones. This emerald has a green glow IRL.

Very beautiful!!

--Joshua

 

[LD]

Date: 5/19/2010 9:33:56 AM
Author: serenitydiamonds

Date: 5/18/2010 11:07:14 PM
Author: Agnesg
I am new to Emerald..in my mind aren''t they suppose to be green like a Tsavorite or Chrome? Why is it that I see these Paraiba/bluish color or is it just on my monitor?

The best Emerald color is purely unique, nothing can really emulate it. It''s actually created by a combination of blue and red lending the illusion of green. For this reason it''s extremely hard to take a photograph, and impossible to get the photograph to match the top color you would see in person. Most photos of Emeralds tend to show too much blue, unless you''ve spent an afternoon trying to get it right. But considering that, the very top emerald color does contain a hint of blue, but just a subtle one, and a strong saturation of green.

--Joshua

Or a few years! I have never been able to capture the green of an Emerald! Totally impossible with my camera.

I also agree that NOTHING can really replicate a beautiful Emerald! In person it would be easy to separate a Tsav or Chrome Diopside from an Emerald because they do look very different.