My emerald

[T L]

I just wanted to open a new thread because I recently sent off my 1.66 ct Columbian emerald to Josh Griswold at Serenity Gems to be evaluated for retreatment. I purchased the stone around 12 years ago, before knowing that emeralds were routinely fracture filled. When I found out about my beautiful emerald being potentially fracture filled all over the place, I never set it and kept it in a gem box for years. For me, it was a "mind" issue that really upset me.

It is a beautiful stone, a rich deep velvety green that my photos just cannot capture. When I brought up the subject of my emerald in another thread, Josh saw that, and offerred to evaluate for free, and to see if it was worth retreating based on his evaluation. Well it turns out according to Josh, that the emerald had minor treatment with resin on the pavillion, and a couple of fractures on the table, nothing major and it was a pretty clean stone for an emerald. He was very impresed with the color and stated it was extremely fine quality and probably worth a lot more than I had anticipated. He also stated it looked like a Muzo mine emerald which produces the finest emeralds in the world. His opinion was that the fracture filling was minor, and it wasn't worth retreating since once it was set, the area on the pavillion with the filling would not be visible. Therefore, he sent it back, and I just wanted to share some photos with Prisecope since there are so few emerald threads. I also wanted to thank Joshua for his help and making me love my emerald again. I would send it off to AGL if I was planning on reselling it, but in this case, I am happy with it for what it is.

Here is the original vendor photo from many years ago, and it is not this color, but a bluish green. However, you can see how clean the stone is from this photo. For an emerald, I find it very clean and clear, even after the resin has discolored after all these years.

 

[T L]

Here is a video capture that provides more of the true colors. The 1.66 is the one on the bottom of my finger with two other Columbian emeralds, lighter in saturation, that I also own.

 

[T L]

Photo of my fingers holding the stone.

 

[T L]

Another photo sitting pretty in a gem box. The green color so overwhelms the camera, it just sucks up all the light.

 

[chrono]

I''m very happy that you have made peace with it. That emerald should be set and worn with love.

 

[T L]

And sitting on top of a mount to gage metal color with it.

 

[Indylady]

TL, its GORGEOUS. You know how much I love emeralds, and yours is really beautiful. I can only imagine what it looks like in real life, sigh..

What are you leaning towards more, yellow or white? Since it does have bluish undertone, it makes it that much harder. Normally, with emeralds, I''d say yellow gold hands down. However, I''m not sure with this one.

 

[Indylady]

Actually, I think I''m leaning towards white gold...

 

[Arkteia]

Absolutely stunning color
God, twelve years ago and you already knew so much about colored stones! I just bought my 50-dollar ruby ring...

 

[virgoruby]

Ooooh, what a beautiful emerald... am seriously green with envy!

 

[T L]

Indy,
Thank you for the kind words. White gold is probably a possibility, but truth be told, this stone would look good in any metal, the color is really saturated.

Crasru,
If I knew a lot about colored gems 12 years ago, I would have stayed away from emeralds. At the time, I didn't realize they were being fracture filled, but I loved the color so much. Emeralds are my favorite green gem. I used to dream of having one even as a little girl. When I obtained this one, I was on cloud nine, so you can imagine my disappointment knowing that it was possibly full of filler. It does have filler, but minor enhancement is very good, and truth be told, 99% of Columbian emeralds have to have some treatment because they're prone to fractures. It's just the nature of the way the crystal glows. It's so beautiful in person though, and unfortunatley my photos cannot capture that deep rich velvety green. Thank you for the kind words.

Thank you Vigorruby!

 

[T L]

Date: 3/24/2010 8:41:17 PM
Author: Chrono
I''m very happy that you have made peace with it. That emerald should be set and worn with love.

Thank you Chrono, and you are right, this does need to be set. That''s what Josh said as well.

 

[Gailey]

Well, filled or un-filled, or anything in between - it is a lovely looking stone. What will you do with it now?

 

[Barrett]

I really like the pic of it sitting on the ring..glad to hear it''s better than expected..one of those early buys when you were not as..lets say..experienced with the ways of the emerald..lol

 

[ma re]

Great story, am happy for you! It''s a beautiful stone so enjoy it

 

[Gailey]

I''m seeing a classic 3 stone. What say you TL?

 

[PumpkinPie]

lovely colour!

 

[Cind11]

That is such a pretty stone! You really need to set it and wear it!

 

[smitcompton]

Hi TL,

What a beautiful emerald. You really must set it in something nice.

Thanks,
Annette

 

[Burberrygirl]

Gorgeous!!! I love emeralds

 

[T L]

Awww, thank you to everyone for your kind words. Many people do not like emeralds, they say they crack, they''re fractured, riddled with inclusions, but the really fine green ones have a glow to them. I heard a story once from the divers that found the lost 17th century Spanish ship "The Atocha" in the waters off the coast of Florida. They said they found the emeralds lying in the wreck, and they could spot them instantly because those stones glowed under the water.

I am thinking a three stone setting, as Gailey mentioned, with yellow side diamonds, in 18KYG and white gold for the basket.

 

[Gailey]

Date: 3/25/2010 7:28:39 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
Awww, thank you to everyone for your kind words. Many people do not like emeralds, they say they crack, they''re fractured, riddled with inclusions, but the really fine green ones have a glow to them. I heard a story once from the divers that found the lost 17th century Spanish ship ''The Atocha'' in the waters off the coast of Florida. They said they found the emeralds lying in the wreck, and they could spot them instantly because those stones glowed under the water.

I am thinking a three stone setting, as Gailey mentioned, with yellow side diamonds, in 18KYG and white gold for the basket.

I think you would be surprised how many of us will crawl out of the woodwork for an emerald.

What shape sideys?

 

[platinumrock]

Date: 3/24/2010 8:40:33 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
Another photo sitting pretty in a gem box. The green color so overwhelms the camera, it just sucks up all the light.

What a gorgeous green color!

I love how classy and velvety emeralds are. They are so regal with so much presence!

 

[Indylady]

Bahh, I suspect those emerald nay-sayers haven''t seen a fine one in person. The glow is so alluring. If they still say no, it will just leave more for us emerald lovers!

 

[platinumrock]

Date: 3/25/2010 7:28:39 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
Awww, thank you to everyone for your kind words. Many people do not like emeralds, they say they crack, they''re fractured, riddled with inclusions, but the really fine green ones have a glow to them. I heard a story once from the divers that found the lost 17th century Spanish ship ''The Atocha'' in the waters off the coast of Florida. They said they found the emeralds lying in the wreck, and they could spot them instantly because those stones glowed under the water.

I am thinking a three stone setting, as Gailey mentioned, with yellow side diamonds, in 18KYG and white gold for the basket.

I''m also with Gailey about the three stone with yellow side diamonds. Even an 18KYG head with 18KWG shank would be stunning!

 

[cellentani]

For not knowing anything about gems 12 years ago, that was an incredibly lucky find! And I think people like emeralds more than you think - it''s just that nice ones are more difficult to find and cost $$$$$$$$$$$$!! I wish I could see it in person!

 

[T L]

Thank you all, I suppose there are some closet emerald lovers here!! LOL!!

Gailey, I would like smaller octagon shapes to match the shape of the emerald.

Cell,
I knew some things about colored gems 12 years ago, since I have been collecting for 20 years, but back then, at the time, resin filler wasn't discussed as much. There was an expose on emeralds back then in the legal system. A person sued a very well known emerald dealer for selling her a stone without disclosing the fracture filling. She sued for emotional damages since the ring was sentimental to her. She didn't realize it was fracture filled until she banged her finger on something, and that exposed a crack across the table that contained the filler. This was how I found out about filler in both emeralds and rubies.

Josh emailed to tell me that the filler in my stone is just isolated to a part near the girdle on the upper pavillion on one side, and one crown facet. That makes sense because it's the only area I can really see any inclusions, and that must be the filler. The rest of the emerald is very crystal and clean. Over the years, the resin would have greyed and become more evident, so the fact that I still cannot see many inclusions indicates it's pretty clean. This is a pretty exciting revelation.

 

[T L]

Although it''s very hard to describe the color, in most lighting, it looks like this color. It goes brighter in other lighting.

 

[chrono]

A 3 stone in a 2 tone setting will be so elegant! A good departure from your usual halos.

 

[T L]

Date: 3/25/2010 9:11:57 PM
Author: Chrono
A 3 stone in a 2 tone setting will be so elegant! A good departure from your usual halos.

What, you don''t like my 50 million halos?

. LOL!!

Here''s some extra photos I took tonight. After about a zillion, this is the closest I could do in capturing the velvety sheen that emeralds are known for. The stone is very clean, except for this one inclusion I circled, and I believe this is what is caused by the resin discoloration.