All About Emeralds

Popular in emerald Irish jewelry is the Claddagh.

The Claddagh is the name of a beach area in the western part of Galway, Ireland. People have been gathering seafood and fishing from the area for millennia. Historically, its existence has been recorded since the arrival of Christianity in the 5th century. The name is based on the Irish word cladach, meaning “a stony beach”. It is one of the oldest former fishing villages in Ireland.

The Claddagh ring, however, is a traditional Irish ring, with a raised design of two hands clasping a crowned heart and traditionally given in friendship or worn as a wedding ring. The design and customs associated with it originated in the Irish fishing village of Claddagh, located just outside the old walls of the city of Galway. The ring was first produced in the 17th Century during the reign of Queen Mary II, though some elements of the design are much older.

Nowadays this style of ring comes in many shapes and sizes and with the popular emerald stone as its main feature.

An example from irishop.com is shown here.

When purchasing any jewelry whether, Irish or otherwise, and particularly with valuable jewelry where there are diamonds, emeralds or other gemstones, always ensure that you known and understand what you are buying.

Get as much information as possible about the gemstones particularly, and understand the importance of color, clarity, cut and carat weight.

Doing this will go a long way to ensuring that the pieces you buy will be genuine and exactly what you want.

Emerald Irish jewelry can be really beautiful and a joy forever provided you keep the above in mind.

Emerald international, duty free jewelry is available usually from duty free shops, airports, Caribbean style holiday resorts and similar places.

Some points to keep in mind when browsing for these, what might appear excellent deals.

Always ensure you get a certificate with the emerald jewelry, especially if it is a large or expensive piece.
Emeralds can be more expensive than diamonds, especially the larger and deeper hued ones. Ensure you get , at the least, a receipt that states the details of the piece you have purchased, the type of gemstone, specifics about the quality and color, value, weight of the gold or platinum in which the stone is set etc.

Most Emeralds are heat treated to enhance their natural color. This should be stated at purchase also.

If you can get a proper appraisal that is even better.

There is nothing so disappointing than buying a piece of expensive emerald jewelry while on holiday and discovering, when you return home and get it valued, that it is just so much junk.

If the stone is set in a ring or broach, for example, ensure that the prongs or claws are firm and hold the gemstone snugly but not to hard. Check for hairline cracks around the prongs to ensure they have not been set to tight and cracked the stone.

Try to see the back of the stone and the sides to ensure there are no flaws hidden or covered up.

If possible when returning wear the jewelry piece rather than leave in bags. Bags can be stolen so easily or even just rifled for valuables. Wearing the jewelry means it is less likely to be stolen.

As soon as you get home have the piece valued and insured.

Emerald international, duty free jewelry can be an excellent buy provided the above tips are kept in mind.

The final part of a two part series on Emerald Appraised Jewelry

Knowing something about what emeralds are and how they look is important when seeking to buy an emerald. You want to be sure you are getting what you paid for and if you are seeking a genuine emerald, for example, you don’t want to be buying a synthetic one.

Important firstly is to establish what your budget is. Then spend at the top of your budget to ensure you get the best possible emerald for your money. Buying cheap is not going to get you a good quality emerald although there might seem to be many ‘cheap’ emeralds out there. For the most part ‘cheap’ emeralds are of low quality with many inclusions and often are synthetic emeralds.

So your first step is to seek a reputable dealer, preferably one who specializes in emeralds or gemstones.

If buying online ensure the dealer has a returns policy so that you can return the stone if you are not satisfied without any penalty such as the lost of a deposit. Also that the dealer has a proper postal address and contact phone numbers. Ring and check they do exist!

Do not be afraid to dicker or bargain with the dealer for a better price. The prices of gemstones is very well inflated so you can get a good deal if you show genuine interest but haggle a bit.

When browsing emeralds, check each stone, preferably in natural light and not just in the high intense light of the shop or jewelers. Ask to use the jewelers loupe (special eye glass) to inspect the emerald. If he or she refuses or professes not to have one then leave.

You are looking for inclusions within the stone. If there seem to be rather a lot then try to pick the one with the least number of inclusions unless all the stones presented to you have just as many each.

Importantly the stone should come with a independent certificate of appraisal. If the jeweler will not give one or will only give his bit of paper saying it is a genuine emerald of a specific weight then walk away. A proper certificate gives not just the weight, but also the color and clarity and amount of inclusions and if it is a genuine emerald or a ‘created’ one.

Finally, check the setting and ensure that the back of the stone is visible. This is part of ensuring you are buying a genuine stone and not just something that has been pasted on top of something else. Is the setting secure and the claws rigid? A glued in setting is insufficient. The glue can deteriorate over time and the emerald be lost.

By keeping the above in mind you will go a long way to ensuring that you get the emerald you like at the best price!

This is the last of a series of two articles on Emerald Appraised Jewelry.

Part one of a two part series on Emerald Appraised Jewelry.

Emeralds are a variety of Beryl the mineral which, in this case, is colored green due to the trace elements of chromium and occasionally iron found within it.

A little known fact is that, by weight, emeralds are the most valuable stone in the world and the best quality emeralds are more valuable than diamonds (who’s actual value is more contrived than as a result of natural market forces).

Emeralds can reduce in value depending on the number of inclusions (flaws, fissures or bubbles within the stone) and the hardness naturally decreases also.

Emeralds are usually oiled with microscopically to fill any cracks and fissures within the stone. And this helps to retain the stones hardness level of around 7.5 on the Moh hardness scale.

Emeralds come in various shades of green to bluish green but brilliant green is by far the most popular. Also the clarity of a emerald will affect the value. An emerald with no inclusions and perfect clarity is extremely rare and would be worth its weight in much more than diamonds.

Emeralds are rare however and so synthetic stones are made. Without going into two technical and boring details one of the first methods was to grow emeralds on colorless beryl seeds which become coated on both sides. The growth is slow, about 1 millimeter per month and it takes seven months to produce a 7mm thick emerald.

Later more sophisticated methods involving high pressure and temperatures have been used although the exact processes tend to be kept secret. Synthetics emeralds are often referred to as ‘created’

The Emerald is considered the traditional birthstone for April and May , as well as the traditional gemstone for the astrological sign of Taurus and in some cultures, the emerald is the traditional gift for the 55th wedding anniversary. It is also used as a 20th and 35th wedding anniversary stone.

Watch for Part two of Emerald Appraised Jewelery

Buying loose emeralds is one of the best ways of buying emeralds. To do so you need to know all about emeralds or at least enough to know what you are buying and for how much.

The first thing is to find out all about emeralds. Where they come from, what different types there are, the various colors, qualities, characteristics and weights. Much of this can be found on this site on the links provided but it is a good idea to browse around and see what other sites have that can give you information about emeralds.

Emeralds are a hard gemstone just below that of sapphires, rubies and of course diamonds. They are a member of the beryllium family of minerals and by itself has no color! It is the addition of traces of chromium and vanadium that give the green color so prized in emeralds.

In fact emeralds are more precious than diamonds as are actually more rare.

All emeralds have inclusions or bubble and cracks. These are a way of telling if a emerald is genuine so if you find an emerald with no inclusions one would regard it with suspicion.

When buying emeralds also get a certificate with the emerald that shows the quality and characteristics of the emerald. The color, clarity and weight should be given.

With loose stones you can turn the stone around and look at it from all angles. Try to look at several stones and get an idea of what they are like and how they feel also. View them in natural light, not artificial. The color can change dramatically in artificial light.

An emerald should be at least one carat to show of the splendor of the green, which should be have a deep intense brilliance.

Doing some due diligence and a bit of common sense and patience should reward you with some wonderful loose emeralds you can use in virtually any form of jewelery.

There are a number of factors to consider when buying emerald jewelery.

Firstly always ensure you buy emeralds from a trustworthy dealer or jeweler. Preferably one who specializes in precious gemstones and emeralds in particular if possible.

Many gemstones are heat treated, including emeralds. This is done to bring out the colors and sometimes to even change the color of a stone. Find out if the stone has been heat treated in anyway. Also if it has been irradiated, coated or dyed. Sometimes these treatments will devalue the stone but other times may even increase the value.

Check the color of the stone. Generally speaking the deeper the color or hue the more valuable the stone will be. The gemstone should be near perfect with no visible flaws visible to the naked eye. The surface should reflect light and the stone have perfect clarity. There should be no visible flaws or scratches on the surface of the stone.

Make sure you can examine the stone from all sides and angles. Turn it over in your hand. Also try and get the opportunity to examine the stone in natural light. Many gemstones will change tone or even color in artificial light.

Pure genuine emeralds are not cheap. Some emeralds, in fact, have been more expensive than diamonds. If you are offered a cheap emerald it is most likely not genuine but a fake.

If possible get a certificate stating the type, quality and details of the stone from the dealer. Make sure it is very specific. If at anytime you discover the stone is not as described you want to be able to return it and get a refund so ensure the dealer has a returns policy that allows for this.

If the stone has been set in a ring or other metal ensure that you can see the back of the stone. This is important as if the back is blocked off then there will be limited light able to shine through and the stone will not look as good. A stone should have a claw setting and not be glued in place. Glue can deteriorate over time and the stone be lost.

Taking the above factors into consideration will assist to finding and keeping emerald jewelery for many years to come.

You can buy emeralds at emerald auctions. It is quite easy to locate auctions using google.com by typing in emerald auctions in the search field. Probably eBay and www.bidz,com would be the most popular. Also look out for local auctions in your town or city. Scouring the newspapers can sometimes net you an auction at which emeralds are up for sale.

Jewelery and gem auctions are usually the best.

Some important points to remember when buying emeralds at auctions.

If you are buying from an auction where you can attend, you will likely need to register if you intend bidding. See if you can inspect the emeralds that will be auctioned. There should be a certificate to accompany the emerald or emeralds or at least some information about them. Quite often these are antique emeralds so may not have any paperwork associated with them but they can still be a good buy if the price is right. You only need to establish that they are true emerald and not some other lesser quality stone or not even a gem at all.

Firstly you should have some understanding of the value and worth of emeralds and also what your bid is going to be. This will depend on your budget and how much you want the emeralds of course.

When bidding it is better not to bid at all until the very last minute when all the bidding appears to be done. Provided the price is still within your budget you can then jump in with a bid and not start a bidding war (which only benefits the seller and the auction house).

Online auctions are different. You cannot see the emeralds but only a picture of them. It is difficult to asses the quality of an emerald in this case and you would be more interest in seeing a certificate of authenticity which you could compare the emerald with if you did bid and win the bid.

Ensure the auction house has provision for misrepresentation of product and a protection system for the buyer. You don’t want to bid and win an expensive emerald to find when it arrives that you have just got at best a poor quality emerald and at worse a worthless piece of glass.

Buying emeralds at emerald auctions can be fun but there is no substitute for doing your due diligence.