Oil-only Sandawana Emerald 1.46 (PEM146)

1.46 Carat
Fresh Vivid Green
Medium Dark 70
Lightly Included

GRADING REPORT PEM146

• Identification: Natural Unheated Emerald
• Carat: 1.46
• Shape: Pear
• Measures: 8.76x6.38x5.09 (millimeter)
• Color Grade: Excellent
• Tone: Medium Dark 70
• Color Zoning: None
• Clarity: Lightly Included
• Cutting Grade: Very Good
  • Brilliancy: 33%
  • Depth: 79%
• Origin: Sandawana, Zimbabwe
• Treatment: Oil Only

Certificate No: IGI 208628617

Overall Grade: Very Good+

Comment: Newly permitted into our stock: Oiled emeralds. (Please read here if you want to know why.)

A high chromium content in Sandawana emeralds is a blessing, but also a bit of a pest for the camera-man since it is the chromium that produces this somewhat unnatural glowing on photos. As you can see in the handshot the gem shows that most vivid intense green but without the silvery undertone. This 1.46 pear shape is almost free of inclusions even under the lens but, study the close-up shot into the crystal below, has a hazy structure that tilts the crystal towards translucency, yet the gem is classified as 'transparent'. Read here about emeralds on photo. One of the best greens the gem kingdom has to offer, challenged only by fine tsavorite and some rare chromium demantoids, and of course by the also chromium varieties of tourmaline or diopside but these are exceptions, not the rule. Almost 9x6mm will make a fine pendant in vivid green, eye-catching and noble. The solid traditional cutting is symmetric and well dimensioned. The original IGI report with 'good color quality' and 'Zimbabwe' is part of our pricing, as is a 1000 sqm of rainforest protected in your name and our Leadership-Donor at the NhRP. Sandawana emeralds over one carat have always been considered a rarity and these gems here have been held in a private collection long before the mines have closed down. New material is practically non-existing (though some hope for fresh finds). 

Read about Sandawana Emeralds. Here is a bit more about Emerald grading by the GIA. Here is Dr. Guebelin at a time when the Zimbabwean mines were just discovered.