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Emerald Hunt: The Search for Butterflies

So I think I'm debating whether or not I want to see this emerald in real life; the vendor says she can ship it to me for a viewing:

WeChat Image_20211212132253.jpg
https://imgur.com/a/G4F0frW
(Updated with outdoor video; new video is the second one)

Would love feedback from all PS emerald lovers on this option :D After seeing the outdoor pictures, I'm feeling a bit better about this one, but I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts as well!
 
Have fun! It sounds super exciting. Do you think you could post some pictures after viewing them all?
 
Looking forward to seeing which emerald you'd choose! For the life of me, I can't get the "gray" look out of my photos on my OnePlus 9 Pro phone.
IMG20211212230844.jpg
Irl, the tiny 3mm round emerald is a five bluish vivid green, and the square cut is a classic Muzo green. Imo, the appearance in photos and videos is no reason to write off the 1.93. What the phone camera captures is much less vivid than what the eye will see.
 
voce said:
Looking forward to seeing which emerald you'd choose! For the life of me, I can't get the "gray" look out of my photos on my OnePlus 9 Pro phone.
IMG20211212230844.jpg
Irl, the tiny 3mm round emerald is a five bluish vivid green, and the square cut is a classic Muzo green. Imo, the appearance in photos and videos is no reason to write off the 1.93. What the phone camera captures is much less vivid than what the eye will see.
Click to expand...

Your eye for color is amazing-- that green!!!

RE: the 1.93ct, I probably will pay to see it at one point, but I always want to see a few emeralds on Tuesday in person first-- the seller said he has 4-5 unoiled emeralds that I might be interested in, and he's also checking for any minor/insignificant oil emeralds he has that have the mariposa effct.

https://imgur.com/J9Y1kpN

One more vid of the 1.92ct one (one on top).
 
https://imgur.com/a/nPXHGXd

Emeralds I saw today!

My camera failed to capture their true beauty...the 2.92ct is def a bluish green, but it photographed more yellow-ish, RIP. Also, the 2.5 and 2.31ct were more yellowish green, much lighter & more included. 2.92ct was the cleanest and had the strongest mariposa effect, but the color was a bit dull in some lightings.

So I didn't fall in love with any today, but it was great seeing some more; I'll be seeing more next weekend too! :)
 
Glad you are able to see irl. Very hard to photograph emeralds. Good luck with your search!
 
icy_jade said:
Glad you are able to see irl. Very hard to photograph emeralds. Good luck with your search!
Click to expand...

Thank you so much! I'll be seeing some more this Thursday too :D

Do any of the above emeralds jump out to you?
 
The two glowy ones look good. As for specific shade of green, I’ll go with personal preference. I cannot shop from photos though, so take whatever I say with a pinch of salt. Trust your eyes and go for the one that smittens you.
 
What a wonderful search to share with us! Can't wait for more pictures!
 
@icy_jade would also love feedback from you <3
 
It seems ridiculously expensive to me?

Bear in mind that my jeweler had a gorgeous 2ct minor oiled for over 20k a few weeks ago and I thought that was expensive so I’m not a good person to advise.

But it does look like a very nice stone from what you have posted.
 
voce said:
I can see it at the right angle. Price seems steep, but I'm not well versed on what prices are in East Asia.
Click to expand...

That's great to hear! Hmmm, I'm going back and forth on waiting of an emerald with a stronger mariposa effect-- unsure atm?

@icy_jade ahhhh I'll keep that in mind! It is quite pricey, but tbh everything else has been too-- the 1.93ct I posted pics of is 350,000!!
 
I'm also going back and forth on allowing minor oil-- it is a very eye clean stone, but idk, am I sacrificing a lot by allowing for minor oil rather than sticking to no oil?
 
Lilith112 said:
I'm also going back and forth on allowing minor oil-- it is a very eye clean stone, but idk, am I sacrificing a lot by allowing for minor oil rather than sticking to no oil?
Click to expand...

There’s going to be a big price premium between minor and no oil.

i wouldn’t let it trouble you. Minor is incredibly stable and still of tremendous quality.
 
JackTrick said:
There’s going to be a big price premium between minor and no oil.

i wouldn’t let it trouble you. Minor is incredibly stable and still of tremendous quality.
Click to expand...

I pulled the trigger on it!

I really thought long and hard about my feelings about minor oil/no oil, the color, mariposa effect, pricing, everything....and I still love it. The color is vibrant, the emerald never blacks out, the color is very even, and I adore the glow/vibrance. And I realized I'm really not willing to shell out all the extra money for no oil lol.
 
If you love it, then I think you made the right choice :D
 
It’s really difficult to tell from a photo. Unfortunately, if you’ve never seen super high end material before, you might not know what you’re looking for.
 
T L said:
It’s really difficult to tell from a photo. Unfortunately, if you’ve never seen super high end material before, you might not know what you’re looking for.
Click to expand...

Nah, I've seen plenty of very high end emeralds-- that's why I'm so set on getting one with the mariposa effect.
 
Lilith112 said:
Nah, I've seen plenty of very high end emeralds-- that's why I'm so set on getting one with the mariposa effect.
Click to expand...

In your videos, the stones are << 1% of the field; I don't think anyone can even comment on clarity let alone an almost-microscopic phenomenon like "mariposa."
 
LilAlex said:
In your videos, the stones are << 1% of the field; I don't think anyone can even comment on clarity let alone an almost-microscopic phenomenon like "mariposa."
Click to expand...

I thought that while the cause of mariposa is microscopic, the effect can be obvious to the naked eye if strong. Am I wrong? I do not know much about this phenomenon.

Heres the Rockerfeller emerald which has an obvious mariposa effect.
Screenshot 2021-12-18 at 13-49-40 #rockerfelleremerald hashtag on Instagram • Photos and videos.png
 
Lilith112 said:
Nah, I've seen plenty of very high end emeralds-- that's why I'm so set on getting one with the mariposa effect.
Click to expand...

That’s good, then you know what you’re looking for, but it’s really hard for any one else to tell from a video or photo. In fact, the only time I ever saw this effect in a video was in a Moussief advertisement. I noticed it so much that I took a screen capture at the time, but the video shows it more in its full form as the butterfly wings roll down the gem as it moves.

559C36E0-3E35-4D40-BEB6-5A49C3262B5E.jpeg
 
demantoidz said:
I thought that while the cause of mariposa is microscopic, the effect can be obvious to the naked eye if strong. Am I wrong? I do not know much about this phenomenon.

Heres the Rockerfeller emerald which has an obvious mariposa effect.
Screenshot 2021-12-18 at 13-49-40 #rockerfelleremerald hashtag on Instagram • Photos and videos.png
Click to expand...
From my viewing, the mariposa effect was quite evident irl; that being said, I've seen emeralds which display the effect from varying levels so finding one with a strong effect isn't easy.

@T L noted!! Yeah, emeralds are very tricky in general to capture on camera; even with my best efforts, I think the pictures/videos are still a bit too yellow, and it's hard to get the full glow/mariposa effect on camera. Thank you for your commentary, it's v appreciated :)
 
demantoidz said:
I thought that while the cause of mariposa is microscopic, the effect can be obvious to the naked eye if strong. Am I wrong?
Click to expand...

No, that is my perception, too. I just meant that an arm's-length phone photo with a tiny green speck in the center is not a way to evaluate this phenomenon. All the "textbook" examples on this thread show the stone at ~ 10% of the field (i.e., the gem is 1/3 the width and 1/3 the height of the photo).
 
LilAlex said:
No, that is my perception, too. I just meant that an arm's-length phone photo with a tiny green speck in the center is not a way to evaluate this phenomenon. All the "textbook" examples on this thread show the stone at ~ 10% of the field (i.e., the gem is 1/3 the width and 1/3 the height of the photo).
Click to expand...

That's a great point! When I held it a lot closer to my eye, the effect was very noticeable; at a distance of about 1.5ft, it was more like a velvety glow.
 
As Steve Martin said, "For the people in the back row, the Magic Dime Trick!" :mrgreen2:
 
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