.

Many jewelry lovers have very specific tastes in what they buy. Some are strictly birthstone buyers, but this is much less common than many people would think. People simply want what they like and for many, they want emeralds.

Emeralds are considered by historians as the first gemstone ever discovered. They have thousands of years of history, and with a long history comes longstanding beliefs, traditions, and mystique. That’s definitely the case with Emeralds, but they certainly don’t need any help. People enjoy them for the beautiful gems that they are and recognize the traits that have made them so popular for so long. One of the most important traits is obviously their color. Emerald green is considered by many as the standard for green color and green is a color associated with my positive attributes or virtues such as fertility, prosperity, and tranquility. Besides these associations, a beautiful emerald and its distinctive color is simply soothing to look at.

This soothing appearance and the instinctive association with these very positive attributes is one reason why many people prefer emeralds over sapphires, rubies, and other gems. But to think about it, it makes sense. Many see diamonds as way overdone, and sapphires have become very common. Rubies are still an interesting choice but red has never been considered a soothing color by anyone. That leaves emeralds, which are seen by most as very elegant and will probably never be thought of as ‘overdone’. You might even be surprised to know that some feel so strongly about having emeralds over other stones that they choose emeralds in place of diamonds for their wedding and engagement rings.

Filed under: emeralds, gemstones | No Comments »

Working everyday in the heart of the emerald trade in Bogota, one can’t help but maintain a level of excitement because you never know what you’re going to see on any given day. From interesting emerald crystal specimens still in matrix, to big $150,000 lots of very high quality, ‘gota de aceite’ type emeralds, and even the occasional gem trader that comes in from Brazil with aquamarines, tourmalines, topaz, or fancy diamonds; it’s all very interesting.

Also very interesting sometimes are the requests we receive from our customers. By now, almost everyone who’s passionate about emeralds knows we can source them on request but some also know we can source diamonds and other gems as well. Some of the interesting requests we’ve had lately are for: canary yellow diamonds (still searching), alexandrite (found), trapiche emerald cut into a hex shape (we just cut it), emeralds specifically requested with inclusions (easily done), and many other items besides good quality emeralds that help make each day interesting, because you never know what the next request will be.

Another interesting aspect of working with gems in a major gem trading city is the speed at which gemstones move in the marketplace. Every day hundreds, if not thousands of stones change hands. And that’s just amongst the small time dealers and jewelers. Larger brokers make million dollar transactions on a regular basis as well. It’s really remarkable and it often reminds me that I’m right in the heart of it all.

Filed under: Gem Trade | No Comments »

Embassy Emeralds first reported in June of 2008, the creation of a new gemological laboratory that was to be formed in a joint effort by the Colombian government and Fedesmeraldas (Emerald Federation). The new lab is now open and known as the Centro de Desarrollo Tecnológico de la Esmeralda Colombiana (CDTEC) or Colombian Emerald Technological Development Center. It is located in the heart of the emerald and jewelry trade districts in downtown Bogota. GIA trained gemologist, Rodrigo Giraldo has been appointed director of the new laboratory and oversees experts that include chemists and other gemologists working with the latest in gemological equipment to accurately verify authenticity of the Colombian emeralds and other gemstones brought to them for inspection and certification. Their equipment allows them to identify gemstones and gemstone enhancements with the highest degree of accuracy and is sure to become the certification of choice among emerald and other gemstone buyers.

Colombian emeralds are already known as the world’s finest emeralds because of their superior color and quality. This new development will only help their reputation and is a major leap forward for the Colombian emerald trade that will distance Colombian emeralds even further from the rest of the pack, raise consumer confidence levels in Colombian emeralds to all time highs, and provide yet another reason for buyers to demand Colombian emeralds over any others.

Filed under: Gem Trade, emerald news | No Comments »

Losing or damaging precious and very expensive gems can be a heartbreaking experience and leave with you with the often difficult task of finding a replacement gemstone. But if you’ve lost or damaged is an emerald or you just wish to replace a gemstone with an emerald, there’s no need to despair. Embassy Emeralds offers you its assistance and some points to consider as you start the search. We’d also suggest that you should try to think positive and consider that losing or damaging a gemstone may actually present you with opportunities to make improvements.

You’ll need to use the classic 4 C’s as your guide to choosing a replacement emerald but the 4 C’s alone are not enough. In this case you’re not just looking for any emerald, you need to find a replacement emerald with some very specific requirements. Therefore your main considerations will probably focus on four main areas: Size, cut, quality, and cost. Here we’ll take a look at each of these and hopefully give you ideas on where you can find flexibility and options when choosing your new emerald.

The size of the emerald is an important consideration. Obviously you want it to fit in the same setting where the old gemstone was. For prong type gem settings and small to average size stones there should be no problem to quickly locate a suitable replacement and get it set. It would be helpful to know the size of your lost or broken stone but it’s very unlikely that we’d think to measure and record the dimensions of our gems before something unfortunate happens. Luckily prong settings give us a fair amount of flexibility and even rough measurements taken after the loss of the stone will probably suffice. If your stone was a very large one or has bezel setting, the quest may take a bit more time or demand more of the jeweler who performs the repair.

The cut of the emerald is another obvious consideration. For bezel settings you have very little choice but to get the same cut with the same proportions unless you’re prepared to do some potentially major modifications to the jewel. For prong settings, many times you can make changes. For smaller stones, you can sometimes substitute an oval, trilliant, and maybe even a princess or square emerald cut gem for a round cut stone or the other way around. It’s worth some thought because this is one of the opportunities I spoke of. With a minor change in the shape of your stone, you can possibly make an average looking design much more attractive.

Quality and cost usually go hand in hand when you’re talking about emeralds and so we’ll discuss them here together. It’s very likely that you’ll want to match or exceed the quality of the stone that you had before, and so that becomes the basis for comparing the new stone to. If your budget allows, this is another opportunity where you can go for an upgrade and choose a much better stone than you had before. But if your budget does not allow for flexibility, it could limit your choices. You have to consider that you may not be able to afford a stone of the quality that you have in mind. And you need to settle for an emerald with a slightly lesser color. Sacrificing on clarity can make a difference as well, but color typically has a more significant impact on the price of emeralds, just as it does for many other colored gemstones.

Hopefully you never lose or damage your emeralds, but if you do or just want to change gems, remember what you learned here and remember to let Embassy Emeralds do the heavy lifting for you. We have access to countless emeralds right from the source in Colombia in almost any size, cut, quality, or price range imaginable. Contact us today and put us to work for you.

Filed under: custom jewelry, designer jewelry, emeralds, gemstones | No Comments »

Gemstones certifications are an important tool in the gemstone industry for both buyers and sellers. Because a few unscrupulous dealers have introduced unethical synthetics and imitations into the market, people looking to buy gemstones must use due caution to ensure that the stones are what the dealer says they are. Sellers do too, but often they already know the legitimacy of their sources and instead may use certifications as a way to instill more confidence in their merchandise to generate sales.

Because of the cost of certifying a stone, certifications are not always practical. Therefore, gems without certifications should not be dismissed. Major laboratories charge hundreds of dollars for certifications and may charge even more for larger and/or finer gems. These costs are passed directly on to the consumer and dictates that most dealers will choose not to certify all stones in order to keep prices at an affordable level. Recently the American Gemological Laboratory began issuing lower cost certifications with different levels of certification that are becoming more and more recognized in the marketplace.

Recognition in the marketplace is important for many certifications, especially if you plan to resell a gem. Buyers interested in gems that have certifications must trust in the legitimacy of the certificate and the issuing authority or it is virtually useless. Untrained jewelers and self-interested parties often issue ‘certifications’ for their merchandise, but truth-be-told, these carry no weight amongst reputable buyers and sellers. A reputable and independent gemologist or laboratory must be used. Embassy Emeralds recommends the following laboratories and the independent gemologists trained by them in no particular order:

AGL – American Gemological Laboratories
AGS – American Gem Society
AGTA – American Gem Trade Association
AIGS – Asian Institute of Gemological Sciences
EGL – European Gemological Laboratories
GIA – Gemological Institute of America
IGI – International Gemological Institute

There are many, many more, but these are a few of the more recognized names in gemstone laboratories. We welcome any comments suggesting other labs and gemologists.

Filed under: Gem Trade, gemstones | No Comments »

Unless you’re a rockhound or you study mineralogy, you may not think of gemstones as minerals, but that’s exactly what they are. That’s right…diamonds, sapphires, rubies, tourmaline, amethyst, citrines, etc… etc… etc… They are all minerals. Emeralds belong to the beryl family of minerals, which includes several other types of beryl that have become well known gemstones. These beryls are easily distinguishable from each other by their color. They come in green (emerald), blue (aquamarine), dark blue (maxixe), yellow (heliodor or golden beryl), red (a.k.a. bixbite or red emerald), pink (morganite), and colorless (goshenite). They all have the same chemical makeup (Be3Al2(SiO3)6,) but trace elements present where they are found interact with them to give them color.

Emeralds are obviously the most famous type of beryl. In mineral terms, emerald is known as green beryl but not all green beryl can be called an emerald. It has to be gem quality, which very little green beryl is. Emeralds tend to be much more included than other gemstones and even other beryls.

Aquamarine is another famous beryl that many people adore. The best ones come from Brazil and they tend to be relatively free of inclusions and possess good brilliance.

Dark blue beryl or maxixe is quite rare. It comes only from Brazil and gets its color from natural radiation deep within the earth. An interesting fact, however, is that it can lose its color when exposed to heat, UV light, or sunlight.

Yellow beryl is best known as heliodor or golden beryl. With a bright yellow gold color its quite and interesting looking gemstone. Heliodor was discovered in the early 1900’s and was poised to become a popular gemstone until World War I and II got in the way and it was forgotten about for decades.

Red beryl is the rarest of the beryls and very little gem quality red beryl makes it to market from the Wah Wah Mountains of Utah in the United States where it is found. Some refer to it as Bixbite, Bixbyite, or Red Emerald, which is a bit controversial because the word emerald specifically refers to green stones.

Pink beryl might seem like some fancy synthetic created gemstone made for niche boutiques and people who obsess about the color pink, but it actually occurs naturally this way. Orange, peach, and lilac tones are also common with deep pink or lilac being the most desireable (and expensive). Interestingly, this stone was named after J.P. Morgan of J.P. Morgan Chase Bank and Morgan Stanley fame. He was one of the most important gemstone collectors of his time and stones from his collection can be found in the American Museum of Natural History.

Last, but not least is goshenite, also known as colorless beryl. Goshenite gets its name from the town of Goshen, Massachusetts in the United States. It’s by far the most abundant and affordable type of beryl and is often found in close proximity to colored beryls.

Embassy Emeralds has access to almost unlimited emeralds, emeralds in matrix, and green beryl mineral specimens and more. We have sources for quality aquamarine and other gems from Brazil as well. Contact us today to find out more!

Golden Beryl image source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Beryl.jpg Author: Vzb83

Filed under: emeralds, gemstones, mineralogy | 2 Comments »

Our blog migration was a success and we’re back to blogging about emeralds, gems, jewelry, and everything else related. Be sure to leave us comments if you have something to say and add us to your RSS feeds.

Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »

Please forgive the appearance. We’re moving our Official Blog here from Wordpress. You’ll be able to read more about emeralds, gemstones, and jewelry and shop for them all under the same ‘roof’. For now, the blog will look just as our Wordpress blog did, but we’ll soon be importing our Blogspot content and integrating its content more into the fabric of our site with the same headers and images you’re used to seeing at EmbassyEmeralds.com.

Tell us what you think about it and by all means, if you need emeralds, let us know!
- Garrett

Filed under: emerald news | No Comments »

Recently Embassy Emeralds produced a pair of custom made emerald and diamond cufflinks for one of our customers. They turned out to be quite impressive and the customer was very pleased. After all, emerald and diamond cufflinks are sure to make an impression and so this got us thinking…. Why don’t more guys wear cufflinks?

Certainly enough of us wear long sleeve shirts to the office or when we’re out on the town. And certainly as guys we’re always looking for ways to build and improve our look or impress the ladies. Cufflinks seem like a great and easy way to do exactly that. Very few accessories allow you to assert some individuality, show you have good taste, and create an image that people will respect and perhaps even envy the way a good pair of cufflinks can. Many of us don’t see cufflinks worn every day, and so you can be a trendsetter without even trying.

Adding emeralds, diamonds, and other gems takes cufflinks to the next level. In the case of the customer who had us make the emerald and diamond pair, he wanted something that would be noticed and it’s tough to argue that he didn’t get exactly that. I think he wanted to use the word ‘bling’ but it didn’t come out. Anyway… we knew. Check out some of these unique emerald cufflinks that only Embassy Emeralds can bring to you.

If you’re ready to add a good pair of emerald, diamond, or just plain gold or platinum cufflinks to your repertoire, visit or contact us and we’ll be here to assist you through choosing a set already made or creating a custom set perhaps even with an emerald tie clip.

Filed under: custom jewelry, designer jewelry, emerald jewelry | No Comments »

Anyone who considers themself a fan of gemstones usually knows a little bit about birthstones. Typically we know our own and perhaps those of our closest family members, but if you want to know them all… here’s a list to refer to:

Why December has five or six birthstones is anyone’s guess. I heard they were thinking of changing it again to just absolutely anything blue.

Well here you have them, use this list as you will. We think birthstone jewelry makes a great gift that’s a bit personalized and lets people know you put some thought into it.

If you’re looking to buy quality loose birthstones, Embassy Emeralds of course can help you with emeralds, but you may not know that we also have sources for many other birthstones including sapphires, rubies, diamonds, citrines, tourmaline, amethyst, aquamarine, and peridot.

Filed under: emeralds, gemstones | No Comments »