Buying Emeralds on Your Travels to Colombia

Colombia may not be the first place you think of when you plan a vacation, but you’d be surprised at how it’s catching on as a tourist destination. It’s not for the average tourist just yet, but those with an appetite for something different are experiencing the colonial romance of Cartagena, the tropical beach paradise of Tayrona, the beautiful women and salsa of Cali, eternal spring in Medellin, and perhaps the rapidly expanding center of it all in Bogota. Wherever it is that tourists are going, invariably they leave wanting to take some part of Colombia back with them. There are the usual items, coffee, woven bracelets, leathers, Botero figurines, and even brides; but those wanting to take back something truly special and valuable without getting married turn to Colombia’s world famous emeralds.

Travelers will find emeralds for sale in most of the major Colombian cities, but particularly in touristic Cartagena and in downtown Bogota, which is where most of the domestic and international-bound emerald trade is based. Cartagena is great for travelers who don’t plan to go inland, but you’ll pay tourist prices on just about everything… especially on emeralds. Cali and Medellin have their jewelry and tourist shops with emeralds for sale, but there isn’t much to choose from unless you go to fine jewelry stores. Don’t expect any bargains. For the best selection and your best chance at getting a good deal, there really is no alternative but to head to Bogota.

Before you even think about going to downtown Bogota looking for emeralds, or anywhere else for that matter, you really need to do a reality check and ask yourself the following questions... 1) How much do I know about emeralds? 2) How will I know I’m getting the real thing? and 3)How do I know I’m not getting the gringo discount? If an honest answer to the first question doesn’t scare you, you might be ok. But chances are the next website you visit will be Embassy Emeralds or the Google search page. Quite honestly, some of the best information you will find outside of a good jewelry and gemology book will be right here in our blog archives, on the About Emeralds page of the Embassy Emeralds website, or in the Emerald Encyclopedia. Do your homework!

If you completed the assignment, you might dare to slip on past question #1, but now you’ve come to the realization that in order to feel comfortable about question #2, you’re going to need some help. You could invest $100-$300 in a book or two, a loupe, a Chelsea filter, a synthetic emerald filter, and perhaps a few other tools you may never use again or you can contact us for help. We’ll arrange to talk by phone and be as helpful as we can. We don’t keep much inventory in Colombia, but we’ll gladly share some knowledge of a few local dealers we know to be reputable, advise you on the purchase, and even translate if needed. Expert help is always a good thing and it will help you eliminate doubts about question #3. If it doesn’t, you can always walk away to buy coffee and bracelets.

One last bit of advice… if you make it as far as where they sell emeralds and jewelry on your own, avoid the hundreds of emerald comisionistas you may see on the street. It’s no place to buy good, authentic emeralds or stand around with wads of pesos in your pockets. Good Luck!

A Lesson on Gold

Pure gold is rated as 24 karat. Alloys that are less than pure are rated with a karat rating proportional to the percent of pure gold in the alloy. For example a gold alloy that is 75% pure is rated with a value that is 75% of what is considered pure. So in this case, it’s 18 karat. Taking it further, you can calculate that 14 karat gold is approximately 58% pure. If you learned something from that explanation, you’re probably wondering… why not use pure gold? and what makes up the other percentage?

Jewelers use pure gold less often to make a complete piece because of 3 main reasons. A) Using 24kt gold makes the piece much more expensive. B) The color of pure gold is a bit too much for most people’s taste. It needs to be lightened up a bit. C) Pure gold is softer than the mixed alloys. That isn’t to say that it’s not hard. It’s still a metal, but it will be perhaps more susceptible to nicks, scratches, and dings.

Now that you understand the ‘why’, here’s what you’re probably more interested in knowing… Gold alloys that are less than 24 karat are mixed with other pure metals to physically harden it up and to soften its color. In the case of yellow gold, silver and copper is used. For white gold alloys, silver and palladium is what the recipe calls for. Different jewelers might add these metals in slightly different amounts, but the amount added in relation to the amount of gold used will determine the final karat rating. The mixture Embassy Emeralds uses for 18kt white gold is 10 grams 24kt gold alloyed with 1.65 grams each of both silver and palladium. When you do the math, you come up with 13.3 grams of 18kt gold, or a 75% pure alloy. The same amounts are used in the yellow gold recipe, but with pure copper used instead of palladium.

Some jewelers will take a cheaper path. They’ll use nickel and zinc in their alloys instead of the more expensive metals called for to make it a quality alloy. There are two big drawbacks to doing this and they mostly impact the end customer…. A) These cheaper metals are the ones that tend to cause allergic reactions and irritations. The reason pure gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and copper is used is due to their very low reactivity with other elements. If they don’t react with anything, they can’t oxidize easily or cause irritation. B) The alloy becomes brittle and difficult to work with after a while. Since the jeweler’s taking the cheap route, he’s also probably casting the piece instead of working the metal by hand. He’s not concerned about it, but imagine the customer who needs a resize or breaks a prong on a setting. It’s going to be a lot more difficult to work with.

With the rising price of gold, we can probably expect more of this in the market. It's unfortunate, but it's either that or significant price increases which have already begun industry wide as jewelers struggle to keep their revenues up enough to stay in line with the gold price increases and be able to afford new merchandise.

As you can see, there is more to your gold jewelry than you thought. But you shouldn’t have to think about it. It should be the quality you expect and not give you problems. Embassy Emeralds makes all of its gold jewelry in 18kt. We find it to be of excellent quality and appearance and ideal for most jewelry applications. We will however take requests to work in 14kt or 22kt gold on custom pieces.

The Colombian Emerald Mine: More Than Just Emeralds

When you think of mining, you obviously think of the mines themselves. A coal mine or gold or silver mine are probably the first types to come to mind. Gem mines might come to mind next. Basically they’re all excavations in search of specific mineral or resource. And it goes without saying that successful mines find what they‘re looking for. Most of us probably assume a given mine just digs up whatever that is and there’s not much else to it. Without knowing much about minerals or mining, that’s probably a natural assumption. But it would be a wrong one.

So the question is then, what else do they find? Since this is mostly an emerald blog, we’ll take a closer look at what else might be found in a Colombian emerald mine. This won’t be a complete examination; instead we’ll just take a look at some of the more interesting things. I should also point out that the same gems or minerals found in a Colombian emerald mine may not be found in emerald mines elsewhere in places like Brazil, Zambia, or Pakistan, for example. One can think of the earth in these mining areas as a big mineral cocktail. And just like any cocktail you might order up at your favorite bar, the ingredients used have an effect on the end results. Throw another mineral into the mix in a gem mine and the results there may be different as well. The difference may be in the formation of other mineral types (including gemstones) and/or differences in the quality, characteristics, or formation of these minerals and gems. This helps explain why Colombian emeralds are much greener, more desirable, but also more included than their Brazilian, African, or Asian cousins. It also helps explain the existence in the emerald mines of some of the other minerals and gems I’m about to mention.

The first mineral I’ll talk about is what prompted me to write this blog. Have you ever heard of Colombian Euclase (pronounced YU-CLAZE)? Unless you’re a mineralogy buff or rockhound, I’m guessing probably not. Euclase is found in many places in the world, but it’s not often found to be of gem quality quite like it is in Colombia and Brazil. Colombian and Brazilian Euclase is highly regarded because of the beautiful blue color they possess. Euclase can also be found in yellowish, clear, and green variations in places like Austria, Brazil, the United States, Russia, Africa, among others. Quite often it is left in its crystal form still protruding from a piece of rock and bought by mineral collectors. Part of the reason for this is the difficulty in cutting the crystal to be used as a gem. Euclase has cleavage planes that intersect in its crystal structure and these planes can be a difficult obstacle for the inexperienced and unknowledgeable gem cutter. However, when done properly, cut Euclase is highly regarded and often sold at prices similar to those of good quality emeralds. Embassy Emeralds is one of the few places anywhere you will ever see cut Euclase available to purchase. The Euclase we carry all comes from the famous Chivor mine in Boyacá Department, Colombia.

Another mineral which is found without exception in a Colombian emerald mine is Pyrite. You might have seen this before and called it Fool’s Gold. It has a gold-like color and metallic appearance but has a crystalline structure that can be easily broken and crumbled in the hand. Pyrite is a very common inclusion found in Emeralds. If you have a particularly transparent emerald with a pyrite inclusion, you can often take a closer look at it with a loupe or magnifying glass. Pyrite isn’t worth much, if anything, but occasionally pyrite forms in the presence of a fossil and can replace the fossil material in its formation. What remains is a replica of the original fossil made of pyrite. This same fossil replacement process also may occur with emerald. Typically these fossils are the shells of mollusks lost in the earth and dating millions of years old. These mineral-replaced fossils are rare and valuable and often end up in private collections or museums.

Though not as common, apatite is another interesting mineral found in Colombian emerald mines. Specimens we’ve seen personally have been a light pink color, however the mineral apatite can be found in several colors such as: clear, black, blue, dark green, yellow, pink, red-brown, and purple. The variations in color are due to the make-up of the ‘mineral cocktail’ I mentioned earlier and other geological conditions under which it forms. The term apatite is actually a general term that is used to describe three subtypes of apatites named for the predominance of fluorine, chlorine, or hydroxyls. These subtypes are: Flourapatite, Chlorapatite, and Hydroxylapatite. Gem quality specimens can be cut as gems or cabochoned, however they rate as a 5 on the Moh’s Scale of Hardness making them a poor choice in terms of durability. Some apatites may exhibit the ‘Cat’s Eye’ effect known as chatoyance.

Quartz is the second most common mineral in the earth’s crust, so it’s a very likely find in an emerald mine. Like pyrite, quartz is a very common inclusion found in emeralds. Often these inclusions are tiny grain sized crystals that formed inside the emerald crystal. Quartz can be found in a variety of colors and types and some of these different types are even used as gemstones, such as Citrines, Amethyst, Jasper, and Onyx. However, most quartz found in emerald mines will be of the typically clear or white variety and you wouldn’t find them particularly useful for much of anything.

Another very common mineral found in emerald mines is calcite. Calcite is mostly white or clear and is a relatively soft mineral that is the main ingredient in the composition of sea shells, plankton, some sponges, and limestone among other things. You’ll often find calcite in veins near hot springs or in the form of stalactites and stalagmites in caves. It can be dissolved in ground water and tends to be carried with it to later form a sort of cement around other minerals and rocks, bonding them together. You might think of it as a mineral glue of sorts, holding rocks of varied composition together.

Belonging to the feldspar group, a mineral group that makes up the most common type of material in the earth’s continental crust, is Albite. Its name comes from the Latin Albus which describes its white color. Aside from being brittle and plentiful in an emerald mine, it’s a rather uninteresting mineral.

Those are some the more noteworthy or at least common minerals to talk about in an emerald mine, but there are many others. Dabbling with minerals and mineralogy can be an interesting endeavor but a daunting one if you’re someone who has to know everything there is about a subject. There’s just too much to learn. But as you can see, if your focus is limited as it is in this blog, it’s manageable and you won’t have to absorb a college geology department worth of reference books.

A Word on our Products and Pricing...

Embassy Emeralds conducts all of its business up-front and in good faith with our very loyal and satisfied customer base. We have an excellent relationship and a great track record with our customers, and so we’d like to share with our you some information concerning our merchandise.

Our Emeralds

First and foremost, all of our emeralds loose or mounted are 100% genuine Colombian emeralds. Colombia is unquestionably where the best emeralds in the world are found. We purchase our stones from a very short list of reputable and knowledgeable suppliers in Colombia who receive their stones in rough form and have them cut by their teams of expert gem cutters. You’ll find it difficult to find many gemstone dealers who get their stock as close to the source as we do. We have great visibility into the entire process our suppliers go through from the acquisition of the rough emerald, to the cutting of the stones, and even the cedar oil treatment process. We can stand behind our stones as genuine because we’ve seen them in work from start to finish.

Our Emerald Jewelry

Our selection of emerald jewelry is unique and more special than one might know at first glance. Nearly all of our designs are originals, and some are one-of-a-kind jewels that may never ever be reproduced. But it is the quality of the stones and materials used that definitely sets us apart. Many online jewelers and major ‘brick and mortar’ jewelry chains use highly inferior African, Pakistani, or Brazilian emeralds that are often quite included and very surprisingly… quite a few of these so-called ‘high end’ jewelers even use synthetic or ‘cultured’ emerald (yikes!).

Gold and Platinum

Quality jewelry is what you expect and quality jewelry is what we deliver. Every item in our inventory is made from only what we say it is and we only use the highest quality metals. Any 18kt white or yellow gold ring is made only from 100% high quality, 18kt white or yellow gold…every feature… all the way through. You won’t find electroplated steel or cheap gold alloys in anything we sell. The same goes for any platinum items we sell. If you request a piece of jewelry custom made, we can have those items made exactly as you specify in whatever karat rating of gold you desire.

Diamonds

The quality of the emeralds in our jewelry is a major selling point for us, and we apply the same quality focus to the diamonds we use as well. If you don’t know much about diamonds, remember this… like emeralds, not all diamonds are created equal. When we first came into the jewelry scene we managed to find some very very cheap diamonds in the 0.01 to 0.05 carat range that could be used for accent stones. At just a few dollars each, they’d be quite a bargain for a jeweler who only cares about mentioning the word diamond in the product description. When we looked closely at these diamonds using just a 10X jewelers loupe, we were disgusted at what we saw. Not just because of the very bad color and heavily included nature of these diamonds, but also they were absolutely full of ‘garbage’ and tiny cracks and severe faults that steal away their brilliance. When you see cheap jewelry containing diamonds and other precious stones, unfortunately this is what you get. Always keep in mind… It’s all about quality.

Luckily for you, we do have standards, and we have excellent sources for high quality diamonds. We know the difference between a cheap diamond and a good one is very noticeable and significant, and so we pay several times more for even the smallest diamond accents to get quality diamonds that live up to our standards and your expectations.

Craftsmanship

Every jewelry item we sell is handmade by an expert jeweler with decades of experience and very often they are original pieces shaped and constructed one at a time. They are not mass-produced or made by machines. Popular designs may later become molds, but even still, these jewels are unique because the stones they employ will be always be different and unique.

Pricing

Regarding pricing, Our philosophy on pricing is: We’re happy if you’re happy. The goal is to sell emeralds and emerald jewelry, please the customer, and make a living. We’re not fooling ourselves into thinking that we’re going to get rich and retire on a single sale, and so we don’t try to.

Embassy Emeralds offers emeralds and jewelry that fit into two categories… items that we have in our inventory and items that we have exclusive authorization to sell from our supplier. We apply different pricing strategies to these two categories of merchandise in order to keep our prices reasonable and consistent with the quality of the merchandise being sold.

You may see some of our items and be surprised by the prices that go along with them. You’re surprised because you don’t usually see stones of this quality in the jewelry you’re browsing. If you’re surprised by that you might also be surprised to learn that many of these items are actually priced below their fair market value. Please consider what you’ve read above about the quality of the metals, emeralds, and diamonds used, and the craftsmanship that goes into creating these beautiful original masterpieces. All of our merchandise is priced fairly and based on its cost. This cost is directly related to the quality of the stones used, and the amount of gold or platinum required to make the item. In the end, you’re getting a far superior jewel than what you’ll find in any major jewelry chain. Admittedly and unfortunately, this does limit our market somewhat because the quality of our merchandise can push prices out of many people’s budget, but we believe it is important to keep our focus on the quality of the jewels we’re selling. However we do try to offer lower priced items for all budgets without compromising our standards. We also can make items on request that may help meet your budget concerns. If you’re interested in custom made jewelry, feel free to write to us and we’ll work with you from start to finish to make whatever you desire. We have access to other gems besides emeralds, such as sapphires, rubies, Colombian blue euclase, diamonds, and others, so please do contact us at: info@embassyemeralds.com.

We hope this information helps you understand our approach to our business. We know if you place your faith in us, you’ll be extremely pleased with your purchase and you’ll be back for more.

So, Are Those Feelings of Love Lab-Created Too?

It’s interesting that nearly all big-box jewelers these days are quick to point out how special their diamonds are, going on about their journey from mines in South Africa to the diamond markets in Antwerp, Belgium and beyond. They may even talk about the amazing properties that diamonds possess, such as their toughness and high thermal conductivity, and extreme rarity. And they’re also just as likely steer their customers away from synthetic diamonds.

So why is it that these same jewelers have no hesitation to sell synthetic emeralds? Sometimes called “cultured emeralds”, such gemstones are grown in a lab in a matter of days or weeks instead of the millions of years that it takes mother nature. These man-made stones exhibit similar colors and properties as natural emerald, and in some cases they even attempt to mimic the intricate imperfections found in natural emeralds. But like synthetic diamonds and other fakes, they just don’t stack up to the real thing.

Maybe it’s because emeralds from India, Africa and Brazil are inferior to their Colombian counterparts, universally considered to be the crème of the crop. And maybe they feel that sourcing Colombian emeralds is difficult or dangerous. Perhaps still they lack the skill and knowledge required to work with these stones. Whatever the reason, it’s disturbing that this double-standard exists.

I couldn’t imagine someone putting something as important as an engagement ring on the finger of a loved one knowing that the centerpiece was grown inside some imposing mechanical contraption or a lab dish; and I think it’s equally as criminal to do the same with an emerald.

Accept no imitations and demand the real thing. All of the emeralds at Embassy Emeralds are 100% genuine emeralds that have formed by natural processes over millions of years in the Boyacá region of Colombia.

Catching Fire

Photography is a hobby and an occupation enjoyed by millions of people. And for good reason. There’s something about capturing a moment in time, an image, an action, or even an idea as it occurs and showing it to the world in a way that can’t be duplicated with words alone. It doesn’t matter how many words you use, you cannot convey precisely the same message as a photograph. Photography is perception, background, history, context, and the message all in one visible word. Photography is also art, communication, and many times photography is proof. It can be proof of an existence, an action, a condition, among other things. Photography is versatile but yet often quite absolute.

In gemstone photography, photography is an image and one of proof, although it is a proof that is difficult to achieve. Gemstones and jewelry might possibly be some of the most difficult subjects to photograph. Rarely is a subject so dynamic and its true color so important as it is when trying to record an accurate image of a gemstone or piece of jewelry. It isn’t often we go through pictures in the family photo album or pictures of last summer’s vacation and scrutinize the color and clarity of the photographs. It just isn’t that important. It is when you’re talking about gems. A small tonal difference can create the perception of a stone that would be worth hundreds of dollars less per carat. The reason for the difficulty in capturing a gem’s true essence is usually a combination of lighting and the camera itself. Both of these problem areas can be improved upon with some investment in professional photography and lighting equipment, but rarely are they overcome completely.

I can imagine the online gem shopper who now might be asking themselves, ‘So… how do I know what I’m buying if the photo may not be telling me the whole story?’ It’s understandable to think that way, but luckily the camera seldom makes a bad stone look good. They’re just stuck looking bad. But for good, fine, and decent stones, without fail, stones appear much better in person than what is shown in the photo because a single still image can’t capture the dynamic fire and brilliance of a stone dancing in the light. So it stands to reason, and generally holds true that if you pick a stone you like from a good photograph, you’ll be even more pleased when you see it in person.

First Impressions of La Candelaria

I must be honest, I know very little about La Candelaria. Before arriving here in Colombia a week ago, I knew that La Candelaria was a historic district of Bogota and that it is well known for its centuries old buildings and architecture. I had also heard that it is well known as a place to watch your back, as many people find themselves a victim of crime there.

During my search for an apartment, I mostly dismissed the idea of living in or near El Centro which is just below La Candelaria. It’s quite obvious by the condition of the buildings, the streets, and the people you’ll find there these areas are not as nice, new, and safe as the areas north or west of the Centro such as Chapinero, Rosales, or Salitre. My emerald supplier suggested La Candelaria is not as bad as it’s made out to be and that he himself has a house there. He told me about a friend of his looking to rent some apartments. The apartments were not bad, but not what I’m looking for, however they certainly would be a great option for the backpacker or leisure tourist on a budget looking to spend a month or two getting to know Bogota. The owners were artists and the three apartments were a simple, but interesting little collection along with the two workshops joined to their home.

Walking around La Candelaria to see the apartments and a little bit of exploring the night before in a downpour, I came to realize La Candelaria is not that bad. You certainly want to watch your back as you do anywhere else, but there was definitely an interesting feel to the place. It’s too bad I didn’t have time to look for another option in La Candelaria; I think it would be a fun experience to live there. It’s only a few blocks away, so I’m sure I’ll be heading there to explore every now and then. There were a few places that I already know I need to investigate further, such as the Museo Botero and El Chorro de Quevedo. The Museo is of course, dedicated to the most famous artist from Colombia, Fernando Botero. El Chorro de Quevedo is a small plaza like area with a few bars and some cozy restaurants with special sort of ambiance. When I stopped in there to get out of the rain, I found a dark and very small two-story bar inhabited by a few hippies and couples. I can imagine getting a few drinks there with friends someday or escaping with a girlfriend to spend a few simple, but romantic hours talking over drinks.

Well, that’s my impression so far. I’m sure it’ll only get better, barring any problems with crime. But those things can happen anywhere. Hopefully it won’t, but if it does, I’ll try not to let it influence my opinion of the area. There’s just seems to be too much history and atmosphere to miss out on.