Video:How Emeralds Are Appraised
with Abbott TaylorEmeralds are appraised by noting their depth of color and how they reflect light. Watch this video to learn what a professional appraiser looks for to determine the value of an emerald.
Transcript:How Emeralds Are Appraised
Hi. I’m Abbott Taylor. From Abbott Taylor Jewelers in Tucson, Arizona, here, for About.com. We’re going to talk about emeralds and the different qualities that appraisers look at to give them their value.
Emeralds have Imperfections
In emeralds, what you’re looking for is not so much a stone that is free of imperfections because almost all emeralds have lots of imperfections. Emeralds are a naturally occurring Beryl Stone.
All emeralds have internal stress fractures and growth that happens in the form of little tendrils that actually look like a garden. As a matter of fact the French have a name for it. It’s called Jardin. And that’s part of the way you define it if it's a natural stone or a not natural stone.
If you put that under the microscope and there are no imperfections like tha, there’s a very good possibility it's fake.
Emeralds Have Deep Color and Reflect Light
Forget about clarity. If you're looking at an emerald it is not the important factor. What you're looking for is 2 basic things – the two most important things. You’re looking for the particular depth of color of that green. If it is a rich, vibrant, brilliant green with no brown in it and no yellow in it, but, pure green. Or, perhaps even better just a touch on the bluish side of green. This is the color you're looking for.
The second thing you're looking for is, is it alive – does it reflect light, does the light go through it and bounce back to your eye and change when you turn the stone. If the stone is dull and lifeless and it's opaque and it doesn't reflect any light it's going to be a dull lifeless stone that has no energy to it.
When you see a clear emerald next to that stone the clear stone is going to reflect light and it’s going to have light, medium and dark greens coming throughout and when the light hits it – it's just going to sparkle, not like a diamond, but like an emerald. And it’s going to have many many changing moods of color, depending on the different light that you're in.
So, an emerald can be a magnificent stone and have cracks running all the way through it, and still be very expensive. Thanks for watching. For more information come visit us at About.com.