Gemstone & Corundum Conundrum
A three-carat ruby, emerald, sapphire or tourmaline can be worth $100 or $100,000. The difference lies in two major categories: color (including hue and brilliance) and country of origin.
For example, a three-carat, pale aquamarine with inclusions can be worth as little as $50 but a very clean aquamarine with so-called Santa Maria color can be worth $20,000 or more. A three-carat red ruby with violet or pink overtones and heavily included can be worth as little as $200, but a three-carat pigeon-blood-red ruby from Burma, and not heated, can be worth $250,000.
A three-carat tourmaline that’s been treated or is poor color can be bought on TV shopping channels for a few hundred bucks, but a vivid red tourmaline can be worth $1,500 or more. Another confusing aspect of tourmaline is blue-green tourmaline. These stones are often called Paraiba tourmalines; they bring a premium because of their intense color. To further confuse the public and some jewelers as well, true Paraiba only comes from the Paraiba mine in South America, which has long been dormant. Paraiba is different from other blue-green tourmaline because it contains copper. Three-carat copper-bearing tourmaline from South America can be worth tens of thousands of dollars.
Emeralds are a completely different category. They are made of the same material as aquamarines — beryl. If an emerald is too light, it is not called an emerald; it is called green beryl. True emeralds, when not deep green and heavily included, can be literally worth $100–$200; however, a three carat deep green hue with few inclusions can be worth $25,000 to $30,000.
And then there is jade; probably the most difficult. By law, anything green can be called jade really. Two predominant kinds of jade are nephrite, which is very common, and jadeite: when it is pale green and uneven color without inclusions it can be worth $200, but a beautiful deep green, Prell shampoo color, finely polished and translucent, can be worth $5,000 to $20,000.
What does this mean to you? It means when you’re buying or selling you need to either know your jewelry or trust your jeweler. You can trust Old Northeast Jewelers: we have been buying and selling fine gemstones since 1984.
