Find your diamond
Find your jewelry
shape
carat
color
clarity

Need advice: is this a natural emerald?

M

mcb00

Rough_Rock
Joined
May 3, 2012
Messages
29
Hello everyone,

I am really confused. I bought these emerald earrings for my mom. Seller says they are natural and seems honest, but I need to make sure and they look suspicious to my inexperienced eye. I would really appreciate any insights you can give me! Here's a pic: http://www.ebay.com/itm/251118636188?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

More information: Seller said she used two testers to verify emeralds are natural. She bought them from Angara.com in 2007 for a wholesale price (she used to sell jewelry). From the pic on Ebay they looked like they could be natural to me. However, in person they are very very sparkly; very clear (I can't see black dots or cloudiness at all); and the green is very intense. Almost like this: http://www.overstock.com/Jewelry-Watches/Miadora-10k-White-Gold-Created-Emerald-Earrings/4003608/product.html

I understand natural emeralds can be that sparkly and free of visible inclusions or spots, like in this case: http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-BULGARI-Made-Italy-0-57-CTW-Emerald-18K-Gold-Ring-Size-7-Weight-5-5g-/330787192129?pt=US_Fine_Rings&hash=item4d0473fd41

I have researched this, showed pic to a gemologist, discussed with seller and I'm still unsure whether these emeralds are natural or man made. The seller says she can see faint black and white threads when she looks at it with a magnifier. Her jeweler says they are natural. My friend the gemologist looked at the pic and said they are synthetic.

Please help!

Thanks so much!!
 
Gem testers do not tell whether a material is natural or synthetic, so whether or not she used the gem tester doesn't matter. Synthetic material can also have inclusions, and growth patterns, and unless you know WHAT you are looking for, you probably can't tell which it is from those.
 
With the usual disclaimer about not being able to ID from just a picture, those are almost certainly synthetic.
 
Agree with Bob....no way Emeralds would be that saturated and clean and not be 100 times the price!

Also, at least the Emeralds I've seen, are more glowy than sparkly. If you are seeing lots of dispersion...meaning multi-colored fire like a Diamond (especially noticable around the edges of the stones) those are probably colored CZ.

I recently bought a "tanzanite" in a perfect Tanzanite color...it was just that it had "too much" dispersion. A darker Tanzanite just does not have that much multi-colored fire, so I was pretty sure the stone was a CZ. I did send it to be checked and sure enough, thats what it was.

It happens a lot, on eBay. I dont know if vendors know about it, or not, but its a shame. I'm sorry if this is what has happened to you. If you can have them checked out, and they are determined to be fake, it doesn't matter if its beyond the vendors return policy. You would still be able to file a "item is not as described" case within 60 or 90 days I believe (check eBay, I am not 100% sure) and you will win. I had to do it more than once. I got a faked Paraiba Tourmaline also from eBay (synthetic Corrundum), and 12 out of 14 of the "sapphires" I bought on eBay when I first started collecting were all synthetics or something else.

Be careful out there!
 
You cannot ID a stone from a photo, and that being said, they could be natural, synthetic or a simulant (diopside is a popular emerald simulant). The only way to know for sure is to take them to a competent gemologist. Emeralds are also one of the most difficult gems to evaluate properly from a photo.
 
This is probably not helpful, but $73????? My DH bought me emerald earrings and they were $1600 - I'm not saying they weren't OVERpriced, but $73 sounds just too good to be TRUE.
 
I think using pictures on the web from places like overstock and ebay as standards for comparison is unwise.
 
Very likely to be synthetic based on colour, clarity and price. Synthetics and a natural stone will often test the same on those hand testers so there needs to be more on investigation done such as looking at the type of inclusions it has under high magnification.
 
Have you googled that jewelry designer to see if he has other emerald earrings to compare?

Are the diamonds real? If they are real diamonds (ie. carbon), are they lab created or mined?
 
I have advanced Google skills.

First off, it's highly unlikely that the diamonds are synthetic (i.e. made of carbon but in a lab). Small white synthetic diamonds are hard to come by and low quality small white diamonds are easy to find and probably about the same price. Small cubic zirconia is a possibility but at that size most of the cost is in the cutting so you don't generally find people lying about small CZ. (Big CZ, completely different story.)

So anyhow I looked, and I think these are your earrings:

http://www.buy.com/prod/lez-oro-0-5-ctw-emerald-14k-gold-earrings/219103811.html

Unfortunately it doesn't say if the stones are synthetic but it does give you a general idea of what sort of things Lez'Oro makes.

Then I cleverly used the info on the page to lead me here:

http://www.xunjia001.com/_p2e408f3f.html

I don't speak Chinese, but I used Google translate and figured out that basically this is a shopping service for Chinese people--send them your Yuan and they will pay on your behalf in dollars and get the earrings to you. Their price (which I suspect does not include the extra work) is 1100 ¥ which is $173.27. So the retail value of your earrings appears to be $179. At that price they might conceivably be glass-filled natural emeralds, but I think you'd be able to see that in the picture. The glass-filled ones always seem to have a cloudy look.

As others have said, it's unlikely that they are natural emeralds. If its any comfort it does appear that you have a pair of 14K gold, synthetic emerald and natural diamond earrings for less than half their retail value.
 
ekkkkkk...$73 emeralds........out of focus pictures......."Run"!!!!! :errrr: :errrr: :errrr: :errrr: :errrr: :errrr:
 
Thanks everyone for the replies. Yes, emeralds are very hard to identify (whether they are natural or synthetic). From what I read on the web, you can't always tell by the type of inclusions. Advanced lab methods can create inclusions that emulate natural inclusions. The only sure method is to measure gravity and perhaps refraction.

Some of you mentioned the price as a criteria to judge, but I've seen very clear/saturated/sparkly emeralds sold by reputable jewelry stores at much lower prices that you'd expect. See: http://www.jewelryexchange.com/_pi9237 or
http://www.jewelryexchange.com/_pi9194

Also, this was a no reserve item. By her own admission, the seller felt it sold for a lot less than it was valued. She bought them for $600 6 years ago before the price of gold quadrupled. They retailed for $1200 6 years ago.

ChristineRose: I'm afraid those are not the Lez'Oro earrings I bought. Mine were 10K, not 14K. Also, the emeralds on those are a lot more opaque. There is no way they are the ones I have.

Chrisa: they don't have multicolor sparkle on the edges. They have sparkle but not multicolor. Lez'Oro uses created gems but also real ones. Their items range from a few hundreds to thousands of dollars. I could not find the exact same item, so that didn't tell me much.

I realize comparing with stock pics is unwise. Too many factors can affect how the color, clarity, etc appear on a picture. I just can't take a decent pic of the actual ring to attach here! It is very hard to photograph because of the sparkle, the size and the fact that I have a point and shoot.

Some of you asked about the diamonds. The tag that came with the earrings said they were topaz. This makes me think the seller might have sent me the wrong item (!). If she indeed bought them at Angara gems and they told her they were natural and they retailed for $1200, it is almost certainly they are natural. I just don't know if what she listed on Ebay are those earrings she bought from Angara. She bought a bunch of jewelry years ago when she owned a jewelry store. She's had them in the bank vault for years. It is plausible she's getting confused as to which emerald earrings she listed.
 
Seems like the seller has no idea what's she selling and you have no idea what you purchased. In all seriousness, I get suspicious when a person who used to run a jewellery store doesn't know what he or she is selling. I suspect she does or else it will be sold for a lot more. She's banking on your hoping they are truly emeralds and diamonds. At this point, your best bet is to have an independent third party like a reputable lab or experienced gemmologist examine the earrings. Being that they cost less than $100, it isn't worth it though and I am inclined to suspect synthetic and topaz. All you have is her word and she cannot even back it up or prove it.

The jewellery store link you shared do not have high quality gems. The cut is horrendous, the colour is lacking, there is no mention of treatment nor proof provided and etc. It is not a store I would shop at, consider reputable nor recommend.
 
I agree Chrono. Not sure it is done on purpose but she does seem to be less than certain about the item. The fact that she sold them as diamond accent and the tag said topaz is evidence of that. She explained that those were not the right tags and offered to mail me the original tags, but my main concern were the emeralds. I don't really care for opaque diamond chips. I'd rather they are topaz if they are cleaner and shinier lol.

I agree the Jewelry Exchange not providing information on treatments is not very professional, but they are a national chain and manufacturers. I doubt they'd sell natural as synthetic.

She offered a refund if I send the items back. I was just scared that they were natural and I'd be losing an awesome deal. At this point, this has caused me so much trouble that I'll just return them to be done with it.

Wish I had a friend who was a gemologist to look at them for a lower price lol

Thanks everyone for the insights. You're all great! I appreciate it.
 
According to gemval, clear colorless topaz is about $11.57 per carat.
 
wow, didn't realize topaz was that valuable when it had no color. Makes me realize all the rainbow topaz sold on Ebay for no reserve auctions is probably glass. I always thought at least the clear topaz or cubic zirconia was real lol
 
mcb00|1346558326|3261150 said:
I agree the Jewelry Exchange not providing information on treatments is not very professional, but they are a national chain and manufacturers. I doubt they'd sell natural as synthetic.
Click to expand...

I went to CD Peacock once, the oldest jeweler in Chicago, and very prestigious. They had a CZ in a ring they touted as natural tourmaline. I could tell it was a CZ because it was machine cut, and had the dispersion of a CZ (tourmaline has a low RI), and it was an enormous , crystal clear stone (absolutely no inclusions) and it weighed quite a bit for a stone its size (CZ is very dense material). In any case, it looked like a very typical CZ. Many PS'ers, not just me, could tell it was a CZ if they saw it. They insisted they only sell natural stones, and it was a true tourmaline. I collected tourmaline for many years, and I know the difference between tourmaline ana a machine cut synthetic cubic zirconia.

Lesson: Never ever think a jeweler will not sell a synthetic because it's a national chain or highly reputable. Many of them employ incompetent buyers and gemologists. You should trust, but always verify and make sure they have a good return policy in the case the stone does not come back from the laboratory as advertised.
 
Those really look synthetic based on that terrible picture. That price is WAY to low for those emeralds to be natural. Great post TL!

~Justin
 
Wow. I didn't realize that! Thanks for the great advice TL.

It is very frustrating to shop for jewelry these days. If you can't trust a reputable jewelry store or a gemologist graduated from a prestigious place like GIA, then you can't buy jewelry of any kind unless you pay a lot because jewelry stores often overcharge and taking it to a lab to verify authenticity adds to the cost.

It is unfair to the average consumer and unnecessary because there is a wide variety of quality/rarity and it is more than possible to sell genuine gems for a broad range of prices, including the affordable range.
 
If I were to guess what stones those were by the one crummy picture, I would say Chrome Diopside. If I got a second guess I would say a synthetic Emerald. My third guess would still not be natural Emeralds. Best regards, Lee
 
Thanks Lee. The color does look like diopside on her pic but in person it is a very different color. I will try to take another pic in natural light and see if I can get a better representation.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
GET 3 FREE HCA RESULTS JOIN THE FORUM. ASK FOR HELP

Featured Topics

Jewelry Blog
PriceScope-Concierge-Ad
Find prime cuts.
Top