A Visit to The Emerald District in Bogota Colombia

[Rad_Fan]

I have to get closer to a male duck. I saw one the other day walking in a neighborhood lawn, but he quickly waddled away from the scary human.

I just pictured what you said and found it super ...try to get close to a male duck's neck just randomly....

 

[voce]

Funny how I seem to be able to tell 90% of the time by the photo whether a sapphire or ruby is heated or unheated, but when it comes to a clean looking emerald, I can't tell at all the degree of treatment.

 

[Rad_Fan]

Does anyone here have a Gemset to check. I've been wanting to buy an used set off eBay...

 

[Rad_Fan]

Funny how I seem to be able to tell 90% of the time by the photo whether a sapphire or ruby is heated or unheated...

You could...wow

 

[T L]

Funny how I seem to be able to tell 90% of the time by the photo whether a sapphire or ruby is heated or unheated, but when it comes to a clean looking emerald, I can't tell at all the degree of treatment.

No, and it’s very dramatic in difference before and after treatment. Some moderately treated stones look eye clean or nearly so!

The resin in my stones dried up long ago, and they changed slightly. I’m glad they didn’t turn to cloudy translucent material.

 

[T L]

Does anyone here have a Gemset to check. I've been wanting to buy an used set off eBay...

I don’t, but just remember, there’s probably way more variants of saturation and tone than those sets can accommodate. It just gives a general idea, and with emerald, you also have to consider the FIVE c’s, not just color, but cut, clarity, carat size and crystal. Crystal is not just clarity, but the optic crystalline beauty of a gem free from heavy inclusions. That’s an important aspect to emerald quality. It’s hard to describe unless.you see it though. Then there’s treatment. I think those sets are better for evaluating less complicated gems, like tsavorite.

 

[Sungura]

Almost a 12mm stone! That would make for an impressive piece of jewelry for a “hardly an emerald!”

Sorry, the picture is the measurement is upside down. It’s 8.11 mm. Still large in my book

 

[Rad_Fan]

I don’t, but just remember, there’s probably way more variants of saturation and tone than those sets can accommodate. It just gives a general idea, and with emerald, you also have to consider the FIVE c’s, not just color, but cut, clarity, carat size and crystal. Crystal is not just clarity, but the optic crystalline beauty of a gem free from heavy inclusions. That’s an important aspect to emerald quality. It’s hard to describe unless.you see it though. Then there’s treatment. I think those sets are better for evaluating less complicated gems, like tsavorite.

How about for corundum?

 

[Rad_Fan]

Sorry, the picture is the measurement is upside down. It’s 8.11 mm. Still large in my book

I was wondering if you have big hand because 12mm looks "smallish" ...

 

[Rad_Fan]

The prices are without any negotiation. Assume 3200 Colombian pesos to the dollar. These are gringo prices./QUOTE]

Really no haggling?

 

[Sungura]

Those are the prices I was given without any haggling. But of course these prices need to be negotiated if I were serious about buying

I dont want to go home empty handed, but neither do I have the time or budget to get a really fine emerald. So I will look for something relatively inexpensive and save up for an awesome replacement for my 20 year old emerald engagement ring. I’ll be back in 6 months or so

 

[Rad_Fan]

Feeling like you need to get into the business of selling emeralds because of the special and convenient access...

 

[MollyMalone]

What a marvelous thread, @Sungura -- thank you for sharing your unique exploration with us!

 

[voce]

How about for corundum?

I don't think a Gemset can describe all corundum colours, either. I know that Gemfix will try to say what Pantone colours a ruby or sapphire matches, but so many times they say no Pantone match, so I think it will be the same for Gemset. There will be stones you can match and stones you cannot.

 

[whitewave]

FW. @whitewave

 

[DauphineMucha]

Here is another example is the top price color and clarity with no to minimum oil only. You can see the metallic effect but not the glow and magic. This is not my hand It’s darker than my hand Also this is artificial light

I still think these are too dark for my taste

When you saw this top graded one, the sheen only showed up 1/2 of the time? Did you see the sheen with natural light setting?

 

[DauphineMucha]

That sheen is very magical but if the gem goes dark 1/2 of the time, I don’t know if I like seeing that either.

 

[T L]

They’re 10 carats each so I’m guessing at most, they are 5000 a karat because they are large although “commercial “

Geesh, I meant “carat.” Late night auto correct!

 

[T L]

That sheen is very magical but if the gem goes dark 1/2 of the time, I don’t know if I like seeing that either.

The thing with vivid dark emeralds is that they always look very green, not black.

 

[DauphineMucha]

The thing with vivid dark emeralds is that they always look very green, not black.

I meant to say dark green and I am sure there are probably nice lively dk green vs death dk green.

Why did you say that emerald with sheen above looks flat? I see the table outline so a decent crown height?

 

[T L]

I meant to say dark green and I am sure there are probably nice lively dk green vs death dk green.

Why did you say that emerald with sheen above looks flat? I see the table outline so a decent crown height?

It shows off the metallic sheen, but not the glow. It’s hard to explain but deep green Muzo stones have a velvety glow. Those dark areas in the picture are flat, but IRL, they would be velvety.

 

[GeliL]

Emerald is my absolute fav gem even though it's not my birth stone. I dream to own one of George's top quality emerald some day

The pictures are beautiful. I would love to learn more! The Chivor mines are a lot more affordable and even with the lighter colours they look divine (probably not "hardly an emerald")! I am curious to see what the price / carat would be for Chivor lighter emeralds.

 

[T L]

Emerald is my absolute fav gem even though it's not my birth stone. I dream to own one of George's top quality emerald some day

The pictures are beautiful. I would love to learn more! The Chivor mines are a lot more affordable and even with the lighter colours they look divine (probably not "hardly an emerald")! I am curious to see what the price / carat would be for Chivor lighter emeralds.

I actually don’t care for my birth stone, but I’m afraid to say what it is as to not offend, but it’s very popular. Now everyone knows!!

Some Ethiopian emeralds out of a new deposit look like Chivor stones, and are even more affordable because they don’t carry that origin premium.

 

[T L]

I just pictured what you said and found it super ...try to get close to a male duck's neck just randomly....

He was adorable, I can tell you that for sure. I have winged pets, so I have a special affinity towards birds. I digress, but duck neck green is a lot more obvious than the red in a pigeon’s eye!!

 

[lilmosun]

Thank you for sharing @Sungura ! How cool that you can go with people local (so not to get ripped off like so many tourists) and not feel the pressure to buy knowing you are going back.

I love emeralds emeralds and on the upside, they often face up larger than other CS. That being said, I only own one faceted emerald ring..and even thought treatment is "minor" (AGL), I'm afraid to wear it

 

[GeliL]

I actually don’t care for my birth stone, but I’m afraid to say what it is as to not offend, but it’s very popular. Now everyone knows!!

Some Ethiopian emeralds out of a new deposit look like Chivor stones, and are even more affordable because they don’t carry that origin premium.

I am born in February, and I just don't love my birthstone because I don't like purple, which is a shame because I like all the other birthstones! What are the odds right?

I actually saw a Brazilian one that was really nice a while ago at a gem show, too bad I didn't take a picture and didn't buy it. It was around $1500 for two carats. I still think about it all the time..

 

[Sungura]

This post is a summary of my two visits to the offices of International Emerald Exhange (IEEX) (@muzoemeralds on instagram) where I met George and his team

The office is located in Edifico Henry Faux (1) the emerald district across the street from Bogota’ oldest church (2) from the 1500’s. It is few blocks from Plaza Bolivar (3) and the 17th century church (4) where I was married 20 years ago next week. It’s also step from the Gold Museum and the Botero Museum among many others


The office is primarily black and white with huge windows that let in lots natural light Emeralds are the primary color here

When I arrived George was working with several buyers and sellers including a couple who came to Bogota to select their engagement ring emerald from George’s vast collection.



On the first visit I brought my brother in law who worked in the district for years as a precious metal refiner and owner of a casting house among other things. I knew my brother in law would be able quickly “size up” George and his team and it’s no surprise they passed with flying colors.

After introductions, George introduced us to Ricardo, his emerald cutter and Ricardo graciously welcome us into his office.



Continued below

 

[Sungura]

Visit to George’s office part two


Above: Santiago, sales associate, George and Ricardo. Missing Fabio (treatment expert)
———-

During our discussion with Ricardo I learned a lot including:

1. He spends most of his effort sizing up the rough and deciding how best to cut it. Once he begins cutting, he cuts from experience. He doesn’t write down the angles he plans a to cut
2. He showed me his cutting and polishing disks and I learned that as part of cutting process he adds grit from a vial as needed with a bit of water.
3. The emerald gets really dirty during the cutting process and the office cleaning and treatment expert (Fabio) uses a variety of chemical tools to clean the cut emerald and add insignificant amounts of natural cedar oil
4. While they send the best emerald to labs like Gubelin. There is a lab in Bogota (CDTEC) they trust to detect treatments that are so difficult to detect.
5. Ricardo is most concerned about a treatment called Perma ( like Xcel) that is now also being used to treat the rough or preform prior to cutting. Like glass filling of rubies, rough or preforms treated with Perma glue together rough that could never be cut
6. Ricardo loves to work with Emeralds but he also cuts other gems including sapphires and even quartz and glass sometimes for fun and to experiment with designs. He showed me some opposed bar and designs with quartz that were spectacular with kaleidoscope effects

Discussion with George in next post

 

[T L]

Thank you for the fascinating information. I always wondered why they were still using cedar oil on their stones, when most high end emeralds are treated with Xcel or permasafe. Emerald dealers in the US prefer it to cedarwood, which dries up, leaves streaks, and has to be retreated every few years. I personally don’t care for it, but they seem like traditionalists. The Excel and permasafe are typically treated after cutting, unlike cedarwood, so cutting shouldn’t be an issue.

This is what an American emerald dealer told me when I sent him an emerald for evaluation. This info is ten years old though.

“Yes the modern fillers (Permasafe and ExCel) are significantly more stable than when your emeralds were purchased. They are even resilient to steaming and UV cleaners, not that I would test a $2000 emerald in there, lol. GIA did tests of emerald treatments and the new polymers faired 'no observed change' over time. High end stones are carrying the ExCel treatment typically in the present. However, the choice of treatment is always a personal one and cedarwood oil is the traditional choice taken by many.“

 

[Sungura]

Visit to George’s office in Bogota part three - final

I returned the next day to spend more time with George and take the spectacular emerald pictures I posted early in the thread

George is very friendly and welcoming, as are all in his office. I shared that I participate in Pricescope Colored Stones forum/ community and he admitted he really didn’t know much about Pricescope. So I gladly shared the basics. He said that several people have reached out t him saying they participate in Pricescope and he has sold emeralds to two Pricescopers (that he knows of).

He does sell to clients via mail but I got the impression that the purchase needs to be at least around $5000. His shop is small, staff are few and secure shipping is very expensive

He welcomes customers and visitors to his office and those who visit have access to a huge inventory of high quality emeralds at what he calls wholesale prices (and not only the large and top color / quality gems he features of Instagram, but also smaller gems and the lighter colored emerald than some, myself included, prefer)

I like how George presents his business and brand in the context of Colombian culture. They really cannot be separated in my view

After visiting I really must have one of his emeralds to replace my ering emerald. I’ll see what I can sell from my collection in preparation for my next visit to Bogota in 6 months or so.

I encourage any who are serious about a purchase from George to consider visiting him in Bogota (or when he is traveling outside Colombia). There really is no substitute to see these gems in person

And if you do come to Colombia you will not regret it.

Later or tomorrow I will share m experiences at Bogota’s Emerald Trade center. I have lots more pictures and spoiler - I bought two emeralds.

I’m glad so many are enjoying this thread. It has been great to dive into Bogota’s Emerald scene. Despite coming to Bogota annually, I was too overwhelmed to try to navigate the district. But after learning so much from you all here is PriceScope I had the confidence and the time to do it this visit. THANK YOU ALL

ask me anything.