Judging The Right Green for Emerald

If green stands for prosperity then emerald green is the prosperous green ever. While it is a known fact that emeralds are green in color not many people can grade its color in terms of value. Color is an extremely important determinant of worth in case of colored gemstones. Like all other gems emerald's color is scaled based on three factors namely hue, tone and saturation. The most appropriate description of emerald green would be like that of a fresh young green grass. It is vivacious and concentrated green in medium to medium dark tone.

Emerald, Hue:

We all know that the basic hue of emerald is green. But what makes some emerald appear warm and others cold. This happens because of secondary hue or overtones present in emerald. While some emeralds are green-green other might be bluish-green or yellowish-green as blue and yellow are secondary hues present in emeralds. While yellow as an overtone makes them appear warm, they look cold in bluish hue. Their ideal hue might vary depending upon individual choice and design requirements but when we talk in terms of trading value vivid green is considered supreme.

Emerald, tone:

Tone refers to lightness or darkness of color. A high quality emerald should be medium to medium dark in tone. While emeralds in lighter tones look pale, the ones that are extremely dark appear mostly black even in their signature green hue and thus are not preferable.

Emerald, Saturation:

Saturation tells one about the intensity or richness of hue. Higher the saturation, better the color. But when color is excessively intense it appears black or grayish, destroying the original hue of stone. Gray saturation is also referred as masking. Masking is a negative factor that depreciates quality of emeralds. Therefore while intensity of color is important it should not affect its vividness.

Color potential:

Artistry or faceting has got a lot to do with utilizing color potential of a stone. A deep cut usually darkens the color whereas a shallow cut lightens it. Therefore a deep cut stone is not only color rich but easy to mount on jewelry. In case of stones that have color zoning make sure that there is less or no dark extinction or washed out areas. Presence of large windows and excessive extinction areas means that faceting is not utilizing gem's color potential to its fullest.

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