Are Some Emeralds Inexpensive?

Purchasing emeralds can be complicated for the beginner because there is such a huge price difference between low quality and high quality emeralds. The country of origin has a big effect on emerald prices as well. Generally speaking Colombian emeralds will cost more than Brazilian emeralds with Zambian emeralds being the cheapest. Emeralds are found in many other places but these three countries are the top producers and will likely be what most people see for sale. Price differences between countries of origin is because each one has a distinct type of emerald color. Colombian emeralds have the best pure green hues with just a slight amount of blue. Brazilian emeralds are similar to Colombian but often have a brown or gray secondary color while Zambian emeralds tend to have too much of a blue component to their color.

Low quality emeralds that either have poor quality transparency or color can be found for a few dollars per carat. Light will not pass through these emeralds because they are opaque. They may also have such pale green color that many gem labs would not call them emerald but green beryl instead.

High quality Colombian emerald prices start around $1000 to $3000 per carat so you can expect to pay about $4000 for a very nice quality 2 carat emerald. At this price you should expect to have very good color and reasonable clarity with moderate treatment or oil. Almost all emeralds in this price range will be enhanced with oil, resin, or polymer. This enhancement is considered acceptable worldwide and has been done for centuries. Above $3000 per carat you start to see emeralds for sale that have little or no treatment and larger sizes.