Disliking Emeralds

Jewelry Discussion
1

I have always disliked using the word ‘hate’. Its too a strong word,
and I don’t hate anything, anyway. Dislike yes, but hate, no. I think
this pacifist attitude is now about to change however… I HATE
EMERALDS. There, I said it. This is not something that has snuck
upon me during the night. Rather, it is something that has been
building up for twenty something years. I was a gemcutter before I
learnt metalsmithing and in gem cutting, I eventually started
specializing in emeralds. Political turmoil in our northern
neighbours, (Rhodesia and Zambia) caused a lot of good emerald to
come into South Africa in the 1980’s. The good material was great.
Even from Zaire, one would get really good material to cut. A stone
from the Kitwe area in Zambia was brought to me, that finished into
9.36ct stone, step cut, flawless under a twelve loupe. Of the very,
very best color, with a fire and life so good it looked like green
YAG. I would have given parts of my anatomy to own that stone.

And then there were the many, many others. Those stink bug things
that are held together by volcanic glue alone. Cutting those kind of
emeralds requires a certain type of manic patience. It does this
little ‘snik’ on your polishing lap and then there is this freakin’
chip that has released from the last culet facet before you finish
the stone. So you start again. As I said, manic patience. When I was
cutting, my job was to finish the stone, not worry about the poor
sucker who had to actually set the stone. So if the stone was
structurally weak, that was not my concern. My goal was to finish the
stone cut and polished.

Ha, what goes round comes round, I found. Now I am the setter.

Below, some stories of emeralds.

A batch of tiny Sandawana emeralds comes into my work shop for pave
setting into 14ct gold rings, a few years ago. Top grade stones,
nicely cut, ranging from 1mm to 3mm. What a nightmare. When you seat
them, they shatter. When you bead them they get dustified. When you
looked at the friggin’things they snapped, crackled and popped. And
every pop meant that at least ten bucks evaporated for me. Dollars on
wings.

I once cut an emerald for a lady from Zimbabwe and it was as fine an
emerald as you could wish for. It was mounted as a center stone with
diamonds all around. Three months later she dropped the ring on the
floor and that was the end of that. Shattered, the emerald and the
lady. When emeralds are involved in rings your reputation is at stake
permanently.

I made a ‘fruitcake’ ring for a customer of mine. The ring was pave
set with 10 different types of 2mm stones. Sixty in all. Garnet,
sapphire, amethyst, emerald etc. Very pretty, this riot of color. A
couple of months later she comes in and says that the stones are
fallingout. All the emeralds, in fact. Really? She admits that she
does gardening with the ring and indeed, after close inspection, all
the stones were damaged. The fact was that only the emeralds had
broken into little pieces and so fallen out. I know, because the
bottom of one stone was still stuck in the setting. The other non-
emerald stones were damaged, but not gone. Needless to say, the
replacements came out of my pocket… Thanks, emeralds…

Now, in front of me sits a ‘Caribbean Emerald’. This type of stone,
in my gem cutting days, we used to call a ‘Stink Bug’. (This name
came about because there is an innocent faceted looking bug in South
Africa that looks like a dark sapphire or a lousy emerald and smells
like hells armpit when you stand on it.) In this case, it is an oval,
5.5ct well cut piece of emerald trash. It has Armageddon inside it
and the only time you could make have fire and life would be to hold
it in front of a military searchlight. A specialist cut this. I know
this stuff. He managed to overcome the volcanic glue with a large
dollop of luck. And I have to put this crystal junk into an 18ct
setting, paved with 4carats of high grade diamond malee. Man, setting
stones like this makes me wish I was ignorant of what it is like
cutting them. I’m going to stop using emeralds in rings and bangles
from now on. They just too much of a mission. They don’t wear good,
they expensive and too brittle. Still love the color, though… Sigh.

http://www.meevis.com

2 
I HATE emeralds! They just too much of a mission. They don't wear
good, they expensive and too brittle. Still love the color,
though... Sigh.

When I find that the emeralds are revolting, I reply: “Let them eat
tsavorite.”

James S. Duncan, G.G.
James in SoFL

3

Hans,

I understand your frustration with emeralds. However I guarantee
everything I make but when I sell an emerald to a customer I tell
them I won’t guarantee them in any way. I also tell them they are not
for every day wear (at least in rings). You might want to consider a
different approach when you are selling them. And then what the heck
are you doing pave settings with them for? You are the jeweler. Tell
them it won’t work!!! I refuse to perform customer’s request all the
time if they are going to mean that the jewelry won’t hold up over
time, precisely for the reason that it comes

back on you. Just say no!!!
Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.
Daniel R. Spirer Jewelers, LLC
1780 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140

4 
I HATE EMERALDS.

Well so do I Hans! Only serious breakage I have ever had were one of
those miserable green suckers. Also garden related. Beautiful 4 ct
stone made into junk by a customer digging through the dirt in what
used to be a nice emerald ring surrounded by diamonds. Now why do
they do that? I found a very polite way of telling her that there is
no way that I could possibly be held responsible for her own
personal stupidity. That was the last one I have had in the shop. I
won’t set 'em or fix them for exactly the reasons you mentioned. When
presented with one, I just smile sweetly, shake my head and say, I am
soooo sorry…but…I don’t work with emeralds…ever. I explaing
why if they ask, but most figure its some superstitious California
airy- fairy thing. I won’t even take the risk when they want to
assume liability. Evil emeralds begone I say! Still such a nice color
though…:slight_smile:

Lisa, (vet tech friend who has goats informed me that one of my
goats was skeletal, probably diseased. She prepared me to have to put
him down. Vet visited, looked at goat, paused, looked at friend in
shock and said…“this goat is perfectly normal…we’re going to
your place now, as your goats are obviously as big as
whales!”…lol…lol…lol!) Topanga, CA USA

5 
Shattered, the emerald and the lady. When emeralds are involved in
rings your reputation is at stake permanently.

Hey, things could be worse. You could be handling peridot instead -
more soft, more brittle, plug-ugly AND cheap!! I remember setting a
big, beautiful, expensive emerald. As I pushed down on one prong, I
could see a cleavage nearby opening and closing as I pushed, just
waiting to split. Once I worked on an Oscar Heyman piece, and the
emeralds were set on a prayer - barely held in. I realized that even
an Oscar Heyman setter has emerald-fear, and also that any knock that
would push it out still would break it first. Plus they are, in many
people’s opinion, THE most difficult stone to pick and match. But
they are extraordinary, aren’t they? By your story I gather you’ve
done a lot with emeralds, so you don’t really “hate” or even dislike
them, do you? The old, “Can’t live with em…”, I suspect… Or
switch to peridot, then you’ll appreciate emeralds… LOL…

6

Hans, I have to agree with you. I have seen very few Emeralds, and
none that I would give up any of my body parts for, that I would
like to own. Just this week, I refused to size a channel set Emerald
down. It would be as you described as a stink bug Emerald. It was
already loose in the setting and sizing down would not have helped
that either. Thank goodness my years of experience have made me
aware of the jobs to turn down. In my youthful ignorance, I hated to
turn any customer away disappointed. Now discretion is the better
part of valor. Live and learn. By the way, Emerald is my birthstone.
Give me green garnet any day.

Janine in Redding California, where the leaves are starting to turn
wonderful colors.

7

Out of a thousand or so stones I have in stock, I have only a few
emeralds and a couple of rubies. Even though the sizes are small,
give me a Tsavorite or a chrome green diopside any day. If diopside
had been discovered first, who would need emeralds ? There are too
many “treatment” problems with emerald (read “let’s make this
emerald look better than it is so we can suck somebody in”) and while
the “jardin” can be attractive it usually isn’t. And those oil-filled
cracks, and the glass-filled faults in the rubies…I’ll take
practically any other green stone. The price of the emerald simply
isn’t worth it. As for rubies, I just set a gorgeous deep red
almandite garnet, put it side by side with the ruby engagement ring
I bought for my wife, and said to her “You wanna just swap we’ll get
rid of the ruby?” The ruby didn’t come close to the beauty of the
garnet, for a fraction of the price !

8 
I HATE emeralds! They just too much of a mission. They don't wear
good, they expensive and too brittle. Still love the color,
though... Sigh

As a cutter who spends most of his time repairing damaged stones,
I’m inclined to agree. The solvents used to remove stones from dop
sticks will often and usually attack any of the waxes, oils, dyes,
resins and/or epoxies used to treat emeralds. The untreated emerald
is a rare bird indeed, and to watch the color drain out of an
emerald is not pleasant, nor is explaining it to to the
jeweler/customer, even though I ask the jeweler AND their customer
for signed disclaimers when working on emeralds. If I can detect
treatment, I refuse the stone, but I’m getting to the point where I
may just quit working on that junk altogether.

Far more common, though, across my repair bench is Tanzanite. Now
there is something that should stay in the ground! Zoisite is bad
enough due to softness, but once heated, the brittleness is really a
problem. I guess I shouldn’t complain, as it is the most commonly
repaired stone here in my shop, usually large, and so I make good
money “fixing” them. It simply does NOT belong in a ring, any more
than does sphene. By the way, there is a beautiful Tanzanite colored
YAG that changes color from violetish-blue to blue just like the
natural. It’s MUCH harder (8 1/2), not brittle at all, and brighter
to boot. Probably my best selling simulant for those with large
Tanzanite taste but not the budget.

Wayne Emery
The Gemcutter
Davenport, Iowa, where the Mississippi flows West

9

A different take on emeralds:

Years ago, when we were first married, much before I started making
jewelery, my husband gave me a pair of emerald earrings, then a
matching emerald ring. When I had our child, he had the ring redone
with small diamonds around it for each year we had been married.
These emeralds are the very dark green ones, which are my personal
favorites.

I have worn the ring for over 20 years now, and never take it off. I
garden with it, I swim with it, I cook with it, I bathe with it. All
bad things, I now know, but I didn’t know that then. I periodically
clean it, and have twice lost little diamonds which have had to be
replaced, and the diamonds periodically have to have their prongs
re-tipped. The emerald, throughout, has been fine.

I guess I have just been lucky, but this was such a special gift
that I wear it constantly. I figure if it hasn’t shattered yet it
probably isn’t going to.

When I first started making jewelry I didn’t know emeralds were
supposed to be fragile, and some of the first stones I set, in my
ignorance, were inexpensive emeralds. I guess I must have still been
lucky, because none broke!

Emeralds are still among my favorite stones, but I certainly treat
them with more respect now!

Beth in SC

10

I’ll agree with you, Brian about the appeal of, say, a chrome
tourmaline or a tsavorite garnet over an emerald in color and
durability.

But the durability of a ruby over a garnet- especially in the case
of a ring-- makes it, in my book, a much better choice.

Andy Cooperman