What color of emerald is the most expensive?

It is quite difficult to calculate the exact cost of an emerald; gemstone experts must evaluate the stones. But it is possible to determine trends in pricing, indicate factors influencing the cost, and name approximate prices per carat without special verification – it is enough to know the laws of the jewelry market.

The cost of almost any gems, including emerald, is determined by the sum of the following characteristics:

• the region in which the stone was mined;
• purity of the gem;
• transparency of the stone;
• type and quality of cut;
• mass of the mineral after cutting;
• color saturation;
• expert opinion on the quality and authenticity of the stone.

PlaceThe location in which the emerald was mined affects the cost of the stone primarily because the region of origin of the gems determines a huge part of its characteristics. Thus, Colombian emeralds are considered one of the purest, with a minimum amount of impurities – these stones are quite transparent, and they have almost no chips or cracks.

Competing in price with Colombian emeralds are stones from Zambique, Africa. Green nuggets were discovered here only at the beginning of this millennium, but this African state has already earned the title of one of the leaders in emerald mining. Perfectly transparent and bright green Zambian stones are one of the favorites among jewelers.

The third large deposit of emeralds, from where the highest quality stones are supplied to the world market, is the Malyshevsky mine in the Urals. The gems mined here are often of gigantic size; moreover, they delight the eye with an infinitely rich green color, a moderate amount of impurities and a smooth surface. Light and completely transparent specimens are often found.

Purity and transparency of emerald can make it tens of times more expensive than a diamond, since stones without inclusions (impurities) are not so common in the world. These characteristics may be more important than the country of origin of the crystal, since the purer the gem, the more rare and expensive it is considered.

Quality and cut type determine the expression of light in the stone and its weight: if the stone has undergone moderate processing (for example, “emerald cut”), then it will have more carats, therefore, it will be more expensive. Although complex and fancy types of cuts can also increase the value of a gem, revealing its unexpected properties and depth. High-quality cut and rare specimens can be valued on the world market at $20 per carat (000 grams).

Concerning saturation, then the “density” of the shade plays a role here: the lightest stones are cheaper, the dark ones are more expensive. Both have advantages, although an example of quality is a pure emerald of rich green color – this will cost about 120 rubles. per carat

Finally, the expert opinion from a gemological laboratory – this is a factor that determines the degree of buyer confidence in jewelry with a stone. Among the authorities in evaluating stones are the US Association of Gemologists or the Gemological Center of Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov.

One of the most budget-friendly options is artificial emeralds. Their price is around 1 rubles. per carat

Russian classification of emeralds

Russia has its own system for assessing the quality of gems. According to her standards there is 5 emerald color groups:

1. dark green;
2. medium-dark green;
3. medium green;
4. medium light green;
5. light green.

The closer an emerald is to group 5, the more its value decreases. Except when the stones are perfectly clean.

Purity of emeralds in Russia it is assessed in 3 categories:

• transparent, almost without inclusions (impurities) – the most expensive;
• transparent with a small number of inclusions and cracks;
• with a large number of inclusions, internal opacities and cracks – the cheapest.

Concerning mass estimates, then emeralds are divided into:

• Small – up to 0,49 carats;
• Medium – from 0,5 to 1 carats;
• Large – from 1 to 10 carats;
• Very large – from 10 carats.

Before purchasing expensive jewelry with colored stones, it is useful to understand the weight of gems of a certain size and cut.

Matching weight and size

In any jewelry store you will find a table of the relationship between the shapes, weights and sizes of precious stones. Below we present the most popular options:

• A 1,16 carat round cut emerald will measure 6,5mm;
• 1 carat oval cut – 8×6 mm;
• 0,90 carat emerald cut – 7×5 mm;
• 1,05 carat pear-shaped – 8×5 mm;
• 1,10 carat marquise cut – 10×5 mm.

The larger the emerald and the more complex its cut, the more expensive it will be. This applies to stones of the highest quality, because the cut reveals the depth of the gem and, in the presence of excessive impurities, a large number of facets will only highlight the flaws of the emerald. These emeralds are best suited for a cabochon cut.

What is sold as emeralds

The high demand for emerald among jewelry lovers encourages scammers and unscrupulous sellers to create fakes and imitations of this noble gem. Recently, the industrial creation of emeralds has been gaining momentum, in which the natural conditions for the formation of stones are imitated. As a result, crystals appear that are identical in chemical composition to natural ones, but still have a lot of differences.

Imitation emeralds

Fraudsters often pass off one stone after another. Under the guise of an emerald, it is proposed to buy cheaper gems. The list of minerals similar in shades and other characteristics to noble emerald is quite large. For example, for simulations they use:

Demantoid – a rare green stone that can surpass emerald in value. For fakes, of course, demantoids of lower quality are used.

Fluorite – some types of this mineral are similar in appearance to emerald, although fluorites are much softer and therefore have a weak shine.

Tourmaline – types of stone from Tanzania with a high chromium content, which gives them their green color, are incredibly similar to emeralds. But an experienced jeweler will quickly spot the differences, since tourmaline has a higher level of light refraction than emerald.

Chrome diopside – the stone is so similar to an emerald that without a special light analyzer, even experts can confuse it with an emerald.

artificial emeralds

When growing artificial emeralds, a hydrothermal method is used, which recreates conditions similar to those that occurred in the bowels of the earth millions of years ago, when natural gems were formed.

Such stones are synthesized in laboratories in just a couple of months, bypassing the long and complex process of birth in the bowels of the earth. Chemically, such stones are identical to natural ones, but there are physical differences.

Natural gems have many different impurities – particles of other stones, gas and liquid bubbles. There are very few impurities in the composition of grown emeralds, which for an experienced expert is a signal of the laboratory origin of the stones.

In addition, synthetic emeralds, unlike natural ones, will forever retain the imprint of an industrial machine. Unfortunately, they have no individual history or investment value.

Doublets and triplets

This is one of the crudest types of emerald counterfeiting. In process doublets craftsmen glue two parts of beryl with a green layer. As a result, a solid emerald-colored stone is formed from a transparent gem. Triplets – these are the same gluings, but in this case three parts are connected to each other at once.

Natural emeralds can also be glued into one stone, but the quality of monolithic gluing still leaves much to be desired. Also, in the process of creating doublets and triplets, parts of cubic zirconia, glass and other materials that are used in jewelry can be connected.

Such products are quite inexpensive, so the low cost of emerald should immediately alert you.

Cost of emeralds per carat

Approximate prices of emeralds can be determined depending on their color or quality.

Price depending on color:

• Dark green ≈ 550 rub. per carat
• Light green ≈ 25 rub. per carat

Depending on the quality, emeralds can cost:

• About 25 rub. per carat for “low” quality;
• About 170 rub. per carat for “good” quality;
• About 350 rub. per carat with “average” quality;
• About 550 rub. per carat with “excellent” quality.

It is worth noting that unique gem samples have special pricing that is not subject to an average estimate. The rarest, unique specimens can reach a cost of several million rubles per carat.

Buying an emerald is a significant event. The stone can accompany you for many years, become your talisman and family heirloom. To do this, you should take a close look at the jewelry before purchasing it in order to choose a high-quality and real gem.

Unique natural emeralds from the world’s best deposits adorn products from Maxim Demidov, which you can enjoy in our catalog.

Natural emerald has been valued since ancient times. What does a buyer need to know today?

Emerald is a bright green gemstone, a noble variety of beryl. Since time immemorial, in Ancient Egypt and Babylon, emeralds have been used to make jewelry and rituals. The legendary emerald “Mines of Queen Cleopatra” were developed already in the 15th century BC. Before the beginning of our era, emeralds were mined in the territories of modern Afghanistan and Austria; from the mid-16th century, mining began in South America.

The first Russian emerald was found in 1830. Over the next five years of the “emerald rush”, most of the deposits of the Middle Urals were discovered. Russian emeralds are still mined today in the Ural emerald belt. There are deposits Malyshevskoye, Sverdlovskoye, Pervomaiskoye, Cheremshanskoye, named after. Krupskaya and others.

The main characteristics of an emerald are weight, color, purity and degree of refinement. The color of emeralds varies depending on the deposit. Colombian emeralds are typically blue-green, Zambian emeralds are blue-gray, and stones from other countries are yellow. Ural emeralds are distinguished by a warm golden-yellow hue. Afghan emeralds are characterized by zoning with color on the very surface of the crystals.

Emeralds are hard but relatively fragile gemstones. Due to the shape and fragility of the crystals, they are usually given a characteristic “emerald” cut. Raw materials of the highest quality, without cracks or inclusions, can be diamond cut. Cabochons are made from opaque stones.

Artificial emeralds and imitations

Artificial emeralds are grown in molten salts (flux) and aqueous (hydrothermal) solutions. Flux emeralds appeared in the mid-40s, and they learned to grow hydrothermal synthetics only in the 60s. Artificial emeralds are produced in Russia, China, India, Thailand and other countries.

On the market, hydrothermal emeralds are more common than flux emeralds. The growth conditions of hydrothermal stones are closer to natural ones, but the properties of natural and synthetic emeralds still differ. Crystals with rich colors and weights of up to tens of carats are now grown using the hydrothermal method. Natural emeralds with the same characteristics are extremely rare. The price of synthetic stones is hundreds of times less than natural ones. To identify and check the nature of the emerald, a refractometer, microscope, and IR spectrometer are used. Sometimes the Chelsea filter is used.

Imitations of emerald can be dioptase, chrome diopside, tourmaline, uvarovite, demantoid, grossular, peridot, synthetic spinel, glass. There are imitations in the form of composite stones – doublets and triplets.

Ennobling

Natural emeralds have long been treated with vegetable oils to fill cracks and increase clarity. Nowadays, in addition to oils, synthetic resins (polymers) are used. Colorless fillers are usually used; most emeralds on sale are enhanced with colorless oils and resins. On the world market, oil enhancement is considered a normal practice, but resin filling is often hidden. However, even the presence of oil in an emerald significantly affects the value. The price of a certified emerald without refining can be several times higher than the price of a similar filled stone. Filling with colored resins especially reduces the price. To diagnose emerald refining, in addition to a microscope, an IR spectrometer and an ultraviolet lamp are used

Features and Value

The price of an emerald depends on its weight, color, clarity, degree of refinement and quality of cut. Untreated emeralds with good color and clarity have the highest price per carat. In Russia, it is customary to describe the color and purity of emeralds on the basis of standards set out in special technical conditions – TU 95.335-88. The technical specifications are the “base”, but all the nuances of the assessment are not described there.

The color of emerald is indicated by a number from 1 to 5. Color 1 is the best – this is a kind of “golden mean” of saturation. Darker and lighter emeralds are assigned colors 2, 3, 4 and 5. The more the color differs from the “ideal” one, the further from 1 the color will be. Color 2, for example, simultaneously contains emeralds that are too dark and too light for color 1.

The purity of an emerald indicates transparency, the presence of inclusions and cracks in the stone. The more transparent the emerald and the fewer inclusions it contains, the higher the quality. The purity of emerald is indicated by G1, G2, G3 and K1, K2. Moreover, categories G1, G2, G3 refer to faceted emeralds, and categories K1, K2 to cabochons. The best clarity is found in G1 and K1 emeralds.

The highest prices per carat are for emeralds with color 1 and clarity G1. What else affects the price of an emerald? With the same characteristics, the cost per carat is higher for stones without refinement with oils and resins. These emeralds are more durable and usually do not contain large cracks exposed to the surface. Resin is used to decorate stones with a significant number of cracks. They may have low strength. When purchasing refined emeralds, it is worth considering that the resins age. Over time, resin-filled cracks may yellow and become more visible.

How to buy emerald

It is safest to buy certified emeralds. This is the only way to be sure of the natural origin, correct characteristics and disclosure of the stone’s refinement. The document is also required to justify the price. If you have your eye on an emerald without a document, be sure to ask the seller to order certification from a gemological laboratory. Confidence in the correct characteristics and nature of the stone can be obtained for just a few thousand rubles – this is significantly less than the cost of the emerald itself. The laboratory document must indicate “natural emerald.” A photograph, weight, color, cleanliness, dimensions must be provided, and the presence or absence of refining must be indicated. For moderate and significant degrees of upgrading, the type of aggregate must be indicated.

Particular attention should be paid to the evaluation system – it must be indicated in the document. If the laboratory evaluates emeralds not according to Russian Specifications 95.335-88, then it will not be possible to check the adequacy of the price and characteristics. Why shouldn’t you trust the characteristics of your own systems? You can give this example: imagine that you are buying a sofa in a store and take into account the size of the room. After the purchase, however, it turns out that the dimensions of the sofa were given not in centimeters, but in the store’s own units of measurement. What is the use of length if it is not clear in what units it is? The same situation applies to the characteristics of precious stones. If the characteristics are given according to their own rules, then they cannot be compared with the generally accepted TU 95.335-88 in Russia. When buying an emerald with color 1 according to the laboratory’s “own system,” you risk getting an emerald with color 2 or 3. Be sure to check the laboratory’s rating system.