How much are emeralds worth per carat?

We often get questions like this, and they are never easy to answer. The correct answer is that an emerald is worth what people will pay for them and that price depends on the quality and rarity of the stone. Several factors, but in particular, the 4 C’s of Color, Clarity, Cut, and Carat become the quality bases of any valuation to be made. You’ll find a discussion of the 4 C’s on our About Emeralds page. If you were to apply those 4 C’s as you browse a varied selection of emeralds, you’d quickly understand their importance in making a determination of an emerald’s quality. In a given selection you’d see cloudy, milky colored stones; emeralds that lack true emerald green color; ‘eye-clean’ stones; heavily included stones; badly cut or chipped stones; as well as small and large stones.

All of these variations are out there, so it would be impossible to assign a single market price to all emeralds. Instead they are evaluated on a more individual basis or sometimes in the ‘lots’ by which they may be purchased from the supplier. The lowest quality emeralds, which probably do not deserve that name, might be found for perhaps $10-$80 per carat if priced fairly in emerald markets. They may be green, but would probably lack the typical coloration and other gem qualities that a specimen of Green Beryl requires to be classified as an ‘Emerald’. Still, there are many who will market these poor quality stones as emeralds at ridiculous prices. Above that, you have stones that you might classify collectively as ‘commercial quality’. That term can be used to describe emeralds in a very broad quality range that would be found in most of the emerald jewelry available to consumers. Prices per carat for these stones vary greatly and can reach a few thousand dollars per carat, but size and the 4 C’s will have a lot to do with it. Beyond that, pricing of very fine emeralds is another world all together. Some may be affordable at perhaps as low as $1,000 but others may reach up to an amazing $50,000 per carat if you can believe it. Though a $50,000/ct emerald would be impossibly rare, very large, absolutely flawless, and would certainly have some important history or other significance to it. Even emeralds in the $5,000-$10,000 price range are rare, but certainly obtainable.

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