Small "nick" in emerald, will it affect value?

[GLudlow]

I've been emerald shopping for a while. I saw a very nice Colombian 1 carat stone that is pretty darn clean for an emerald, very lively, etc. It is an oval cut.

The only "problem" with the stone is that along the girdle there is a small nick where it looks like the stone was perhaps dropped. The chip is very small, but is noticeable because it looks "dark" and the rest of the stone is very lively. It could probably be easily hidden with a prong if set in a ring.

There are also a couple small "holes" in the "turn" of the girdle. All of these imperfections have been circled.

My question is, how does damage like this affect the value of a colored gemstone? It looks like a very fine fracute runs from the nick, but it's not deep or all the way through. The price on the stone is very reasonable already, but not phenominal.

Thanks for your input.

Update: Here is a pic (first attempt)

 

[valeria101]

Emeralds are fragile enough to start with... who needs it? There should be a discount for this. There is rarely an excuse for such a 'feature' and especially for the finer stones. Unless this is so great that it is truly irreplaceable, I'd look further.

Imperfect cuts and inclusions in colored stones don't usually bother me at all. But this stone would most likely just need one more whack to fracture straight through where it already started. Not great news I guess...

 

[GLudlow]

Ok, I put a pic in the original post. You can see the nick barely, I can't get any better focus. It is located almost in the middle of the girdle in that picture. As I said, it's a tiny nick, barely visible without a loupe.

 

[katbadness]

Nice color... I love it!

Is it possible for you to use something like Photoshop or something to circle where the nick is?

 

[GLudlow]

Here are some more pictures. Sorry my camera isn't better at close-up, it's only 3MP (Canon Powershot 70)! Lighting is a normal "white" lightbulb.


Original source pic, no circles:

Another view:

Yet another view:

And the face of the stone, a little out of focus but if you shrink the picture, it looks nicer (I might do that here in a sec)

 

[katbadness]

Hmmm... I wonder if sending the stone for a little trip to a gem cutter will help on the nicks. Maybe a little polish will help.

Do the nicks create fractures on the stone? If so, then we have a different problem altogether. JMHO, of course.

.

Nice stone though. So are you purchasing it or have you purchased it? If you haven't, maybe the nicks can be negotiation points to get a discount...

 

[GLudlow]

No, I have not purchased it, I'm considering it. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but this is a very nice emerald, 1.18ct. I'm going to see some more Monday in Chicago, and I'll get a pro's advice (pay for it, naturally) to see if the chip is the beginning of a fracture, or just cosmetic.

But I love other opinions

I'm sorry I can't get a better picture, but I have no macro lense for my digital camera.

 

[katbadness]

Getting a pro's advice is a good idea! And of course looking at more than 1 stone before making a purchase is also a *very* good idea!!

If this was your only option, I'd be concerned about the nicks. It'd be terrible if the nicks turns out to be fractures.

Good luck... and do post pictures!! I l

ve colored stones, and we don't see a lot of it posted around here.

 

[DavidEmslie]

This is a common problem with emeralds,
The main reason is most of the stones are cut in Country of origin,
As such most of the stones are cut for maximum carat weight. So sometimes nicks and holes are just naturals in the surface or were deep creveses in the rough.
Alot of the overseas cutters are just starting to realize that they can get a premium for a premium cut stone...but it is slow. If you love the color get it recut, or take a pass, or live with it, but do only what your comfortable with doing. There are other good emeralds out there, hard to find as they are.

 

[GLudlow]

Ok, I had this stone looked at by Tom Tashy and Professional Gem Sciences in Chicago. I got to see it under a microcope (sort of scary, that is

Here is that he said (paraphrased).

The nick does not look like damage, it is rounded and was probably a feature of the original stone. It is the beginning of a feather, but not a total break in the stone.

The other what I called "holes" were actually two things.. one was simply a small pit, the other was a reverse crystal void. Under the microscope, it really did look like a tiny prism going into the emerald. It did not lead to a feather.

His conclusion was that it should not affect the price of the emerald.

 

[pyramid]

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On 4/20/2004 8:24:13 AM GLudlow wrote:

It is the beginning of a feather, but not a total break in the stone.

What is the difference here?

 

[valeria101]

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On 4/20/2004 12:17:02 PM pyramid wrote:

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On 4/20/2004 8:24:13 AM GLudlow wrote:

It is the beginning of a feather, but not a total break in the stone.

What is the difference here?
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Feathers are not breaks in the stone

A fresh crach would not be completely contained in the crystal and much more likely to keep on extending until it makes a section through the stone

 

[pyramid]

valeria101 but if it extends to the surface as the mark does on this emerald is it still contained within the crystal?

 

[GLudlow]

Probably *every* emerald under $10,000/carat has at least one "surface feather" which is a nice way of saying fissure in the stone. I won't go into the normal thing about high-pressure stone creation (plenty of good sites for that), but there is a difference between a "natural" feather and relatively new damage to a stone, as mentioned above, the latter could spread and break the stone in two more easily.