Help with an emerald ring

[jen2mc]

Hi all! This is my first venture over to this page on pricescope. I need to spend more time here! Wow!

I’m helping a friend with her quest for an emerald ring and am trying to move her away from the mall stores. I’m overwhelmed by the preferred vendors list as I’m not familiar with any of them. Are there a couple that specializes in emeralds? I’d like to send her a couple places to start.

She wants a plan band, thick enough to engrave. She’s interested in round or cushion and is wanting this as a birthstone ring for one of her children. She has one with a different stone from Tiffany’s but isn’t getting stellar service from them in her quest for this ring. She’s like to be all in around $1500. Is this doable? Let me know if you have any suggestions!

 

[voce]

I think for $1500 you're unlikely to get a very good clarity natural emerald. You could: 1) ask a good gem cutter to cut a precision gem from man-made material, or 2) buy a natural emerald gemstone that is ready to set or already set in a ring.

Option (1) will result in a more beautiful ring but is more time-consuming.

For gems that are cut already, you could try Master Cut Gems for a loose stone, then get a setting, or look at the emerald rings skyjems.ca is selling. I'm going to paste the links below, because I think they give you an indication of what you can get for $1500 or less from a reputable seller. All their ring listings seem to come with videos and are mostly set in 14kt gold with small diamonds, but the emeralds you can get at this price point are all heavily included, so if you look at them very close up, they won't be as beautiful as the man-made emeralds that can be precision cut.

1.92ct for $800:
https://skyjems.ca/collections/ring/products/jw0184

2.28ct for $900:
https://skyjems.ca/collections/ring/products/jw0185

2.09ct for $950:
https://skyjems.ca/collections/ring/products/jw0186

5.20ct for $1400:
https://skyjems.ca/collections/ring/products/jw0196

3.54ct for $1600:
https://skyjems.ca/collections/ring/products/jw0192

1.11ct for $400 (10k gold):
https://skyjems.ca/collections/ring/products/emerald-ring-in-10kt-yellow-white-gold

 

[Bron357]

Hi, others will chime in but I think you friend for her $1500 budget might be better if she considered buying her emerald from a recommended vendor and then choose a setting she loves. Alternatively “pre loved” might be a consideration.
Most “mall type” jewellery either have very low quality emeralds ie pale and cloudy or synthetic emeralds.

 

[voce]

Expect to pay around $500 for a plain 14k gold setting; maybe you can bargain for $350-$400 depending on the ring size (smaller uses less gold). Untreated emeralds or ones that are only oil-treated are more valuable, and these are some links to emeralds within the budget range.

Wild Fish Gems has some round cuts__

0.93 ct emerald for $999:
https://www.wildfishgems.com/inc/sdetail/oil_only_sandawana_emerald_0_93/20369

0.90 ct emerald for $999:
https://www.wildfishgems.com/inc/sdetail/oil_only_sandawana_emerald_0_90/20389

0.21 ct emerald for $400:
https://www.wildfishgems.com/inc/sdetail/oil_only_sandawana_emerald_0_21/20350

Gem Fix emeralds:
https://gemfix.com/gem-category/emerald

Gem Rock Auctions for emeralds:
https://www.gemrockauctions.com/auctions/emerald/emerald-gemstones/

Master Cut Gems only have emerald cuts. I think these are close to cushion cuts. I don't think cushion cuts are available for most natural emeralds since emeralds are included and brittle. However, you can probably ask a professional gem cutter to cut cushion using man-made material, which is not included.

.65 ct emerald for $690:
https://mastercutgems.com/Products-...ald_65_ct_OLD_STOCK_-_GFTP-Gem.php?FromPage=1

.92 ct emerald for $1180:
https://mastercutgems.com/Products-...ald_92_ct_OLD_STOCK_-_GFTP-Gem.php?FromPage=1

1.07 ct emerald for $965:
https://mastercutgems.com/Products-...ian_Emerald_1_07_ct_-_GFTP-Gem.php?FromPage=1

 

[voce]

For lab-created emerald, you can go to
https://www.miadonna.com/collections/lab-created-gemstone

filter by cut (round and cushion), color (emerald), and you should get 8 results, ranging for 0.60 ct round ($215) to 2.17 ct cushion ($770). Lab-created emeralds are the same structure chemically, but don't have the inclusions, so they look clean and flawless.

 

[qubitasaurus]

Check through emerald embassy's stones. Be mindful of treatmemts. Most emeralds are oiled (unstable treatment as the oil drys up with time and the emereald will change appearence. If the vendor is unscrupulous then the oil can contain green dye. So as this dye dries up the appearence will change even more). Some are filled with a filler (more stable and permanent, but you have to decide how you feel about that). Most mall jewlers wont disclose the level and type of treatment. So I agree with Bron she is better off not purchasing a stone from a regular mall jewler.

I agree with others that a custom setting will eat a large chunk of that budget, but I think you should get some quotes from reliable jewlers before proceeding. Note you want someone with a soft touch to set that stone -- you might like to ask for recomendations here. Just in case someone is local to you.

 

[LilAlex]

At that price point, I would buy a vintage 20's-era emerald ring that is oil-only (can check out Lang's and sort from lowest to highest ). You will spend that much on a nice custom mounting if you buy it piecemeal, imo.

How old is her kid? Emerald is not a great wear-every-day ring for a young person -- especially a low-budget one (ring, not person!). Very susceptible to fracture.

 

[jen2mc]

At that price point, I would buy a vintage 20's-era emerald ring that is oil-only (can check out Lang's and sort from lowest to highest ). You will spend that much on a nice custom mounting if you buy it piecemeal, imo.

How old is her kid? Emerald is not a great wear-every-day ring for a young person -- especially a low-budget one (ring, not person!). Very susceptible to fracture.

That sounds like a great idea! The kid is a baby. Her plan to to have something to wear now and then pass down to her children.

 

[jen2mc]

Thanks everyone! I’ve sent her everything and this is such a wonderful jumping off point for her. I so appreciate all your research and knowledge.