Newbie searching for emerald

[Venus8]

I have no knowledge to add to this thread, except to say: you are doing the absolutely right thing by doing your research and listening to TL & Autumn’s advice. I was in your shoes- wanting to obtain my first ever emerald quickly to commemorate a significant occasion (in this case, my 40th birthday). In my hurry to “get it done in time for X date” - I totally forgot to consult PS and do my research on what makes a good emerald. I went strictly with what I thought “looked nice” via photos/videos and we commissioned a ring.

Thankfully, I did OK with my purchase (or my husband’s purchase haha), though I wish I had entered the transaction better informed on all things emerald. I know this is a “starter” emerald for me and I look forward to a future emerald (my husband doesn’t know it yet, but he’s gifting me one for my 45th haha )

Take your time, look at as many emeralds as you can in person and read read read! Good luck on your search!

Thank you so much for your encouragement! As you know, you are talking to a newbie, but I will say that looks like a beautiful stone! I love the color! Thank you for sharing your photo. So congratulations on moving forward and having a stone you can enjoy.

And yes, timing is key with husbands. Probably best to keep them on a "need to know" basis when it comes to gifts they will be giving you in the future!

 

[T L]

@Eli22 ,

Beautiful emerald ring!

 

[Autumn in New England]

Very interesting! It sounds like there is a realm between precision faceting/custom cuts (are these the same?) and commercial or native cuts. Is that a correct understanding? I do know that beauty doesn't require absolute mathematical precision, so what you like might be just right for me.

Oh absolutely... native cuts and precision cuts are sort of at opposite ends of the cut quality spectrum. But, in truth, I've seen some well-done native cuts!

I didn't know any of that, so this is very useful! So much to learn. Excited for my gigantic 1.5 carat future emerald.

Also, just to close the loop, I did hear back from gemsny since I contacted them before any discussion about the F2 treatment on those two stones. Here's the video they sent:

Stone on the left is E3950AOV
Stone on the right is E3932DOV

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Just out of curiosity (and because it will give us a better idea if the original gemsny images reflected reality), what do you think of these stones now?

Also, I later emailed the person from gemsny to ask about enhancements. He said, "F1 is minor, F2 is average and F3 is moderate treatment. F2 means the stone is treated more than minor, with cedar oil, whereas F3 may include heavy cedar oil and in some cases, resin."

What do you think of these statements, and is it generally recommended to avoid F2 cedar oil enhancements?

Unfortunately honey, I couldn't open the vid link! It just takes me to my own gmail account. lol Perhaps you can embed it via vimeo or youtube? I'd really love to have a gander.

About treatments... I'd say the info they gave you is just slightly off. F clarity enhancement grades are used by the GIA. F1 is minor, F2 is moderate, and F3 is considered significant. I don't believe GIA notes the medium used, but AGL does. They'll state "traditional" for cedar oil or "modern" for resin type fillers. They also have a different clarity enhancement grading scale (none, insignificant, minor, moderate, significant, and prominent). But F1 emeralds, by the GIA's standards, would be considered rare, F2 still uncommon, and F3 common. This means that stones graded in the F1 realm are less prevalent (more stones are graded F2 and F3), and so on. I think a lot of collectors would be just fine with an F2 emerald, depending on the overall clarity and placement of the fissures. Naturally, you want to steer clear of F3 emeralds or anything with significant or prominent enhancements.

 

[Autumn in New England]

I have no knowledge to add to this thread, except to say: you are doing the absolutely right thing by doing your research and listening to TL & Autumn’s advice. I was in your shoes- wanting to obtain my first ever emerald quickly to commemorate a significant occasion (in this case, my 40th birthday). In my hurry to “get it done in time for X date” - I totally forgot to consult PS and do my research on what makes a good emerald. I went strictly with what I thought “looked nice” via photos/videos and we commissioned a ring.

Thankfully, I did OK with my purchase (or my husband’s purchase haha), though I wish I had entered the transaction better informed on all things emerald. I know this is a “starter” emerald for me and I look forward to a future emerald (my husband doesn’t know it yet, but he’s gifting me one for my 45th haha )

Take your time, look at as many emeralds as you can in person and read read read! Good luck on your search!

This is stunning, unsurprisingly!!

 

[Venus8]

Oh absolutely... native cuts and precision cuts are sort of at opposite ends of the cut quality spectrum. But, in truth, I've seen some well-done native cuts!



Unfortunately honey, I couldn't open the vid link! It just takes me to my own gmail account. lol Perhaps you can embed it via vimeo or youtube? I'd really love to have a gander.

About treatments... I'd say the info they gave you is just slightly off. F clarity enhancement grades are used by the GIA. F1 is minor, F2 is moderate, and F3 is considered significant. I don't believe GIA notes the medium used, but AGL does. They'll state "traditional" for cedar oil or "modern" for resin type fillers. They also have a different clarity enhancement grading scale (none, insignificant, minor, moderate, significant, and prominent). But F1 emeralds, by the GIA's standards, would be considered rare, F2 still uncommon, and F3 common. This means that stones graded in the F1 realm are less prevalent (more stones are graded F2 and F3), and so on. I think a lot of collectors would be just fine with an F2 emerald, depending on the overall clarity and placement of the fissures. Naturally, you want to steer clear of F3 emeralds or anything with significant or prominent enhancements.

Wow - the plot constantly thickens!! A lazy part of me wanted to make a rule to reject native cuts, but you've just gently told me, "Not so fast!"

Even the enhancement issue has been revealed to be more involved than I thought. No wonder people just make it simple and say, "I'll take the pretty one!" Thank you very much for more enlightening education!

I'm going to have to look into the Vimeo and Youtube options. At the moment those are beyond my technology pay grade. But I would love to share it, so I'll try to figure it out ...

 

[Eli22]

Thank you, @Venus8 @T L & @Autumn in New England !! I sweated over my purchase after the fact and everyone had such kind words & reminded me it was the sentiment that made it special, even if it wasn’t “ideal”

 

[T L]

Thank you, @Venus8 @T L & @Autumn in New England !! I sweated over my purchase after the fact and everyone had such kind words & reminded me it was the sentiment that made it special, even if it wasn’t “ideal”

It’s a nice stone, but I also am impressed with the bezel work. 99% if the bezels I see are uneven, not smooth and are “eating” the stone.

 

[Eli22]

It’s a nice stone, but I also am impressed with the bezel work. 99% if the bezels I see are uneven, not smooth and are “eating” the stone.

Thank you! I actually sent it back for them to fix the bezel work. It wasn’t as “structured” as I wanted, and there was some dimpling present as well. They did a good job on the redo!


Edited to attach better comparison photo

 

[Venus8]

Thank you, @Venus8 @T L & @Autumn in New England !! I sweated over my purchase after the fact and everyone had such kind words & reminded me it was the sentiment that made it special, even if it wasn’t “ideal”

When I was young, my cousin and I both had opal rings. I could actually feel that she was able to appreciate hers more, and I truly felt it brought her ring more to life. A very humbling lesson for me. So yes, the sentiment infused into the little pieces of heaven created by the earth make your ring special and beautiful!

 

[Venus8]

Oh absolutely... native cuts and precision cuts are sort of at opposite ends of the cut quality spectrum. But, in truth, I've seen some well-done native cuts!



Unfortunately honey, I couldn't open the vid link! It just takes me to my own gmail account. lol Perhaps you can embed it via vimeo or youtube? I'd really love to have a gander.

About treatments... I'd say the info they gave you is just slightly off. F clarity enhancement grades are used by the GIA. F1 is minor, F2 is moderate, and F3 is considered significant. I don't believe GIA notes the medium used, but AGL does. They'll state "traditional" for cedar oil or "modern" for resin type fillers. They also have a different clarity enhancement grading scale (none, insignificant, minor, moderate, significant, and prominent). But F1 emeralds, by the GIA's standards, would be considered rare, F2 still uncommon, and F3 common. This means that stones graded in the F1 realm are less prevalent (more stones are graded F2 and F3), and so on. I think a lot of collectors would be just fine with an F2 emerald, depending on the overall clarity and placement of the fissures. Naturally, you want to steer clear of F3 emeralds or anything with significant or prominent enhancements.

I hope this link works - it's my first time using Vimeo!

Stone on the left is E3950AOV
Stone on the right is E3932DOV

Vimeo

vimeo.com

Autumn, it looks to my newbie eye that you were right about E3950AOV being a bit darker!

 

[Venus8]

Well, I'm finally getting back to this thread! I did make it to the Seattle Gem Show in Nov. and wanted to share my experiences. (I've been a bit overwhelmed with a new job and the holidays, so my apologies for the delay.) I looked at all the emeralds I could find, and I was surprised by some of the answers to my questions I got from the dealers. I asked, "Do you know the level of treatment for this stone?" A couple times I heard the response, "Emeralds aren't like other stones. They're not heat treated. They're just oiled." Then, when I said, "Yes, I know. Do you know if this stone has F1, F2 or F3 treatment?" most of the time the response was, "I don't know." I think only a couple stones had a GIA certificate. In any event, a lot of it was confirmation of what a mine field it is to look for a colored stone! Lots of incomplete or slightly shady answers from the vendors. Some obviously seemed more trustworthy than others, but I was still surprised by how few knew (or were willing to disclose) the history of their stones. But It was a good beginning education as there's nothing like seeing things in person!

My original emerald budget went to something else for my August celebration after the sound advice on this thread convinced me I wasn't qualified yet to make a really good emerald purchase. So I will have to save up for my emerald!!

All that said, I did also go to George Smith's Instagram page. I can see how a person certainly could turn into something like a Golum through excessive fixation on all the gorgeous images, but they were also very eye-opening and inspiring. And there were some beautiful ones that were in the not-crazy-expensive range. I'm really so very grateful for that referral. I'm one of those people who would rather not have something at all than have something that is just sort of OK. So my current plan is to save up and consider asking him to buy something for me down the line. Meanwhile, I'll probably keep going to gem shows when I can and continue to look at stones. But I have to say, George Smith's Columbian emeralds do look spectacular even in photos!

Thank you,T L, Autumn in New England, and Eli22 (listed in the order in which you originally responded to my post) so very much for all your help and education! The journey continues ...

 

[Autumn in New England]

That was a really interesting read... thank you for sharing! I'm eager to see this process unfold (especially if it's with George). We'll meet back here soon I hope!! I too am currently replenishing my funds for a project, so I can relate.

 

[Venus8]

Thank you! To be honest, it will probably be a while as there are a lot of things pulling on my budget right now. But I won't forget my emerald project! Also, @Autumn in New England, did you ever see the stones I posted on July 20? I know it's water under the bridge at this point, but I did manage to upload the video to Vimeo and embed it into my post so you could see it.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Hallo can I hijack this emerald thread a bit as there are a few questions I'd like to ask

Why do some emeralds positively glow and others don't? Do they just need better lighting?

I don't want to post pics as I feel bad dragging up stock from certain vendors but some emeralds have absolutely zero glow and some are like neon lights. What is giving the neon light effect?

 

[Starstruck8]

Hallo can I hijack this emerald thread a bit as there are a few questions I'd like to ask

Why do some emeralds positively glow and others don't? Do they just need better lighting?

I don't want to post pics as I feel bad dragging up stock from certain vendors but some emeralds have absolutely zero glow and some are like neon lights. What is giving the neon light effect?

Yeah, I've always wondered that.

It's not just a case of just needing better lighting (though it sometimes helps to catch the light at the right angle). If you compare emeralds side by side in real life, the differences are very obvious. Some glow and some look dead.

Why? The best I can suggest is that it's a combination of strongly saturated colour and the right sort of inclusions. Not ugly 'jardin', but tiny, evenly distributed inclusions too small to see without a loupe/microscope, but big enough to scatter the light.

This is half a trapiche. It isn't neon, but it does glow. It has inclusions oriented in the radial direction of growth of the segments. These cause the subtly chatoyant glow.


I'd love to hear more from actual experts.

 

[Autumn in New England]

@Venus8 So sorry, I seemed to have missed your comparison vid the first time around! I'm glad you pointed it out. Naturally, I don't have the benefit of seeing these gems in person. But in viewing the original listings you posted and now your video, my choice (without question) would be E3932DOV. The other stone appears to have a darker than ideal tone, IMO, but also less vividness and brilliance. I like the hue of E3932DOV better (a touch more blue) as well. It looks lovely to my eyeballs! What are your thoughts?

 

[Venus8]

@Venus8 So sorry, I seemed to have missed your comparison vid the first time around! I'm glad you pointed it out. Naturally, I don't have the benefit of seeing these gems in person. But in viewing the original listings you posted and now your video, my choice (without question) would be E3932DOV. The other stone appears to have a darker than ideal tone, IMO, but also less vividness and brilliance. I like the hue of E3932DOV better (a touch more blue) as well. It looks lovely to my eyeballs! What are your thoughts?

Apologies for the slow response. I am sometimes working 12-hour shifts a number of days in a row, so everything else tends to fall by the wayside. Autumn in New England, thank you for having a look at the video. I am so glad we agree!! Without real knowledge of the "ideal" color, I certainly thought E3932DOV was simply prettier! Yes, the other one looks a bit too dark and doesn't have the same eye-catching qualities (my layperson's term for what you are more accurately calling vividness and brilliance)! I had originally let go of these stones because of the F2 treatment, but E3932DOV looks like a very lovely stone!!

 

[Pomelo]

Just wanted to say how helpful this thread has been for anyone wanting to get educated on emeralds.

I don't own any CS yet (apart from an amethyst from pre-PS days) but emeralds are top of my wishlist <3