The internal flaws that occurred naturally when the gemstone was formed are called inclusions. When evaluating emerald for clarity, you should look at the stone with the naked eye and see if it looks clean. In general, inclusions in emerald should not be so big as to detract from its appearance.
Avoid emeralds with inclusions that are too close to the surface , especially if these flaws are in the form of long lines and cracks: Such inclusions make a stone more vulnerable to damage.
In general, the fewer inclusions an emerald has and the less visible they are, the more valuable a stone is. Choose a stone with inclusions that are either invisible or barely visible to the naked eye, and avoid heavily included stones, which can easily break. When used in the context of gemstones, carat refers to the weight of a particular stone: One carat denoted by 1 ct is equal to milligrams , or 0.
In fact, an emerald that is twice as large as another stone of the same quality will not be twice as expensive, but the increase in price is likely to be much higher. The reason for this is that bigger emeralds are very hard to find , and their rarity makes them very pricey. How big an emerald you would like to buy is up to you, but keep in mind that it is very hard to find a stone that is both large and top quality, and such an emerald would cost you a lot of money.
Their interiors often have distinct appearances from other gems, though observing these features may take practice. Crystals, three phase inclusions, and needles these have a wide range of appearances are all frequently found in emeralds, as well as color-zoning, finger-prints, and many other features listed on our inclusions page.
The types and arrangement of inclusions not only impacts appearance, but their durability too. Emeralds that are extremely included can also have problems with breaking while being set or cut.
Credible emerald dealers will not stock emeralds that have durability issues like this. The cut, or how the emerald is faceted, has a lot of complications. Since these gems are priced by their weight in carats, the lapidary also wants to retain as much carat weight as possible for their bottom line. A symmetrical gem with high sparkle and low extinction, or black spots, visible is also desirable too.
Shallow cuts are not ideal either, usually showing a huge window through the emerald. However, most of the factors are usually in conflict with one another. Ideally cut emeralds usually lose more carat weight.
The color can show better with a better cut, or losing too much carat weight may make the emerald too light. A lapidary also needs to keep emerald pleochroism in mind, since this means the emerald shows slightly different colors of green at different angles. They do not want to put opaque inclusions right where the buyer will be looking either.
Balancing all these factors is impossible to do with the vast majority of emeralds. All these factors are compromised in whatever way will bring the most value for the lapidary, which typically prioritizes color and weight.
There is also a variety of shapes and forms emeralds are cut as. In and of itself, carat weight is just the weight of the emerald. She won! Her prize was a set of over 30 cabochon emeralds. Cabochon emeralds are distinctive in that they are only shaped and polished instead of being cut and faceted like most gems.
Augusta passed the Cambridge emeralds on to her daughter who passed them on to her daughter, Queen Mary. Queen Mary had 15 of the emeralds set in the Vladimir tiara which was made of gold and diamonds. Later she requested that the royal jewellers make the remaining emeralds into brooches, necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. In , Queen Elizabeth II inherited all the Cambridge emeralds and she wears them on a regular basis. If you want to be able to choose a high-quality emerald that is full of natural beauty, you need to consider the colour, clarity and cut of each emerald.
Emeralds almost always have a lot of inclusions. These inclusions can be mineral fibers, tiny droplets of a liquid, particles of other crystals and even tiny cracks. Most of these inclusions were in the environment where the emerald was formed and they became caught inside the gem.
Since it is almost impossible to find an emerald without any inclusions, it is important to find a gem that only has a few inclusions or as we could say in jewellery terms, a gem that has good clarity.
Most emeralds have a significant amount of depth to their colour which naturally helps to hide their inclusions. Finding an emerald with a small number of inclusions is important for its beauty, but also for its strength. Emeralds that have a lot of inclusions are generally brittle and tend to crack more easily than gems that have fewer inclusions.
The third factor that you should consider as you look for a high-quality emerald is its cut. Rough emerald crystals are six-sided hexagons. Jewellers take these hexagonal crystals and study them thoroughly before they begin to cut them. They also take detailed notes about the inclusions in the crystal, as well as any major cracks or chips that it has.
The jewellers then give the emerald a cut that captures its best beauty. Emeralds can be given a cushion, round, princess or even pear-shaped cut, but many emeralds are given an emerald cut. An emerald cut gives the gem a rectangular shape with steps and linear facets along each side. Most emeralds that have an emerald cut also have cropped corners to improve their strength. A high-quality emerald has a vivid green colour with a medium to medium-dark tone.
It will also have a limited number of inclusions that are well masked by its colour and cut. An emerald that has these characteristics commands the highest value per carat and will be outstanding in any engagement ring. Emeralds have a density of 2. This means that diamonds are heavier than emeralds and a 1-carat emerald will be slightly larger than a 1-carat diamond even though both gems have the same weight. Since emeralds are lighter than diamonds and their price per carat is generally lower than diamonds, you can have a larger emerald for a similar budget.
Diamonds receive a certificate to guarantee their quality, but all colored stones, including emeralds, receive a Colored Stone Report. These colored stone reports provide the following information:. Emerald mines are usually pit mines that go deep underground, but they can also be strip mines on the surface of the ground. Both of these types of mines are harmful to the environment and can be dangerous places for the miners to work.
Because of this, it is essential that you purchase an emerald from a fairtrade and responsible mining company. A fairtrade mining company cares for its miners and the environment. It will always pay its miners fairly, invest in safety equipment, implement the latest safe mining practices, and work to be eco-friendly. When you purchase an emerald from a fairtrade and responsible mining company, you support them in their efforts to care for their miners and the environment in a responsible way.
We make sure that the emeralds that we sell are from fairtrade mining companies. Rubies, sapphires and many other gemstones are given heat treatments to improve their colour and decrease the visibility of their inclusions.
Emeralds are unique, though, in that they will crack and break apart if they are heated to high temperatures. Since emeralds can not withstand heat, they are usually treated with oil. A variety of oils can be used, but jewellers have traditionally used natural cedarwood oil.
For example, you will see how the emeralds in the following pictures have very close tonal grade but very different color saturation. Emerald prices soar as the depth and saturation of color increases. Just as the right combination of ingredients can raise an ordinary recipe to gourmet status, the slightest variations in tone and saturation can make a tremendous difference in price.
Color is a very important factor in the quality and value of natural emeralds but is not the only one. Clarity is also really important as we will see next. Clarity in emeralds speaks about what the gem looks like on the inside and this is what makes an emerald a different gemstone than any other. Most emeralds present inclusions that are small bits of other minerals, gas, liquid, and crystals that the emeralds take on in the crystallization process. Inclusions in emeralds are sometimes easy to see without a magnifying glass or microscope.
That is why gemologists, appraisers and experts don't use the same criteria to judge clarity in emeralds than they use for other gems like diamonds and topazes. It is a natural part of this gem. Inclusions in Colombian emeralds most of the time appear as elongated and thin shapes with peaked ends.
Be careful that they don't look like bubbles, they don't look arranged in a specific order, and they don't appear in one specific spot in the gem. When does clarity affect the price in an emerald? When it presents too many inclusions, when the gem does not look like a crystal because it is excessively included, and when it is too difficult to see facets on the pavilion, the back part of the emerald.
Inclusions can compromise the durability of a stone and lessen the value when they are close to the surfaces of the gem. Some inclusions can create fractures in the emerald. If any of these inclusions are at the surfaces the stone can be broken easily through that part.
In general, the fewer the inclusions, the higher the value of the gem.
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