Education

 
The 4 C's : Cut, Color, Carat Weight, Clarity

Each stone has full gemological data provided. Stones are graded by a GIA certified gemologist. All gemstones in the collection have full gemological data provided with each purchase and are graded by a certified gemologist from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the most respected gemstone grading laboratory in the world.

Introduction
 
This guide is here to help the beginner as well as the more experienced buyer to understand the importance of Color, Clarity, Cutting, and Carat Weight in buying a gemstone like a Pink Emerald and how these variables affect the value of the stone in the marketplace.
 
Color
 
Color is one of the most important factors in determining the value of any gemstone. When purchasing a colored gemstone, the rule usually is, the more vivid the color, the more value the gemstone will hold. This does not mean just darker is good, but actually refers to intensity of the color. The color/price matrix developed historically based on consumer demand preference. The relatively huge availability of inferior color gems usually negatively effect the price of gemstones that are plentiful in supply. When it comes to very rare gemstones, a lighter color can still command a very high price in the market place. Take for example a very rare Pink Diamond. A stone like this can be worth hundred's of thousands of dollars per carat even in the very light colors and shades.
 
Daylight, incandescent light and "fluorescent" tube lighting are all common light sources, and you should observe your prospective gem purchase in as many of these venues as possible.
 
Pink Emeralds, like Pink Diamonds, are by their nature, very light in color, hue and tone. It is extremely rare to find a Pink Emerald with an intense or vivid color tone. Usually these types of stones are either in Museums or Private Gem Collections and very seldom come on the public gemstone market.
 
Clarity
 
Clarity is the term usually used to describe how clean and pure a gemstone is using a monochromatic color corrected 10X magnification. The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has set forth standards for the clarity of Colored Gemstones. Of major importance is how the gemstone looks to the unaided eye. When free of flaws and inclusions to the naked eye, the gem is termed to be "eye clean" in the gemstone industry. Colored Gemstones should be as close to "eye clean" as possible. Many species of colored gemstones simply do not naturally occur without inclusions. Colored Gemstones are not graded to the same strict clarity tolerance levels as diamonds are but, a good rule to remember is, the fewer inclusions or flaws, usually the better the gemstone. The clarity grading of all gemstones affects their monetary value. Pink Emeralds are usually much cleaner than green emeralds and tend to be "eye clean" to" flawless under 10 power magnification".
 
Carat Weight
 
A Carat is a metric unit of weight used in the gemstone industry to describe how much a gemstone weighs. A carat is equal to one fifth of a gram. Five carats equal one gram. The term "points" is a decimal fraction of a carat. A point is equal to .01 (1/100th) of a carat. A carat is 1/142 of an ounce or in essence, 142 carats equal one ounce in weight.
 
With many gemstone varieties, the larger stones are significantly rarer than smaller stones that are of the same quality and consequently more expensive. The specific size at which a type of gemstone increases significantly in price, varies with availability of that species in the marketplace.
 
The given carat weight of two gemstones can be the exactly same, yet there physical size can be totally different and especially if they are composed of alternate species of gemstone. For example, a one carat round diamond is around 6.5millimeters in diameter, but a one carat ruby, generally would be a much smaller stone (5.5 to 6.0 millimeters). Ruby is denser than diamond and so it may take a 1.4 carat ruby to match the size of a 1.0 carat diamond.
 
To match gemstone size, use physical measurements (millimeters is the "standard" unit of the industry) rather than carat weight.
 
Cut
 
Proper cutting is what gives a gemstone its life, beauty and brilliance. The cutting is what makes the difference between a mere rock or pebble and a beautiful gemstone. Judging good cutting is relatively very simple even for the novice. When viewing a gemstone, looking at the top flat area or table of the stone. A well cut gemstone will be very bright across the entire surface of the gem and look beautiful and alive. This brightness is light being bounced around inside the gemstone, off the facets and is reflected back to your eye as brilliance.
 
Poorly cut gemstones maybe too shallow or too deep forming what is called a "window". When you see totally through a gemstone looking from the table down towards the culet, (the point on the bottom), the stone is known to have a window. Windows tend to weaken the intensity of color and can severely affect brilliance. Almost all gems have windows but the idea is to keep them to a minimum. The smaller the window the better the cutting.
 
Colored gemstones usually come in a variety of different cuts. Some of these cuts include: the oval cut, pear shape, cushion shape, round cut, radiant cut, triangle shape, princess cut, free form, heart shape and the emerald cut.
 
A well cut gemstone commands a higher price in the marketplace than a stone with a less desirable cut. The major gemstone cutting centers in the world for colored stones include, Germany, Israel, Thailand, Brazil, China, Indonesia, United States, India and Hong Kong.
 

 
The Pink Emerald Company