Content

• Steps
• Advice
• Warning

Many "emeralds" are actually emeralds, green glass, or imitation jade made of a variety of materials. You need to do a lot of tests before you can come to the conclusion that a gem is real or fake, as the results are not always accurate without a dedicated gem-tester. If you have an emerald, you might also want to try whether it's a natural or a synthetic lab-created gem.

Steps

Method 1 of 2: Evaluate the emerald

1. 

   Find the fault of the gem through the jeweler's magnifying glass or magnifying glass. Consider the gem under a magnifying glass, ideally the jeweler's 10x magnifying glass. Hold the magnifying glass so that the light hits the gem at an oblique angle, preferably a thin ray of light if possible. If you observe very small blemishes or irregular patterns, it is likely that it is real jade - though not necessarily an emerald. If the gem is transparent, with almost no "impurities", it may be synthetic emerald (artificial jade, but it's real), or not at all a gem.
   • Air bubbles only appear in natural emeralds located near impurities of various shapes. If you only see a cluster of air bubbles without other impurities, perhaps that gem is glass - but it could also be synthetic emerald.

2. 

   
   
   Check out the sparkle effect. True emeralds will not or very little reflect "fire", ie colorful flashes of light appear under light. If your gem emits rainbow-colored rays of light it is not an emerald.

3. 

   
   
   Observe the colors. Beryl is only known as emerald if it is dark green or green-blue in color. Lemon yellow beryl is called heliodor, and light green beryl is simply called green beryl. Lime-yellow jade can also be olivine or green pomegranate ruby.
   • The line between emeralds and green beryl is fragile - two jewelers may disagree on the classification of a gem.

4. 

   
   
   Consider the wear of the sections. Glass and other soft materials often wear off quickly. If the edges of the sections look soft and worn, the gem may be fake. Imitation jade usually has convex "orange peel" convex structures and the edges of the section are slightly rounded. Look for the above features using a magnifying glass.

5. 

   Check out the class. Imitation jade "graft" is made of two to three layers of different materials, usually with a blue layer between two colorless layers. If the stone has not been attached to the jewelry, you can easily see these layers when soaking the stone in water and observed from the side. If a stone has been attached to the jewelry it will be a little more difficult to see, but you can try to look at the edges around for unusual color changes.

6. 

   Observe emeralds through the dichroic glass. Some gems show different colors when viewed from different directions, but you only need to use a fairly cheap tool called dichroic glass to distinguish it. Place the stone close to one end of the dichroic glass and look through the viewing box. The stone will be illuminated with a diffuse light source as white as a cloudy sky. Rotate the stone and dichroic glass to see from all directions. True emeralds emit two colors, cyan-green when viewed from one angle and lime-yellow from another.
   • Strong chromatic duality (two very pronounced colors) is a sign of high quality emeralds.
   • The result may be irregular due to internal reflections from a surface, properties of fluorescent light, or from light that reaches the field of view without shining through the stone. In addition to this, you should use other methods to get accurate results instead of just using one method.

7. 

   Beware of cheap stones. If the item seems suspiciously good, trust your intuition. Vibrant green, natural emerald usually costs at least 11 million dong per carat. If the price is unbelievably low, perhaps the stone is glass or crystal rather than emerald.
   • Synthetic emeralds are much cheaper than natural jade, but not as cheap as most other synthetic stones. A small synthetic emerald costs approximately 1.5 million VND per carat.

   

   Kennon Young

   Gem expert Kennon Young is a gem examiner graduated from GIA, and a JA jewelry technician. He received the highest certification in jewelry appraisal, ASA Gem Appraiser, 2016.

   

   Kennon Young
   Gemstone expert

   If the emerald is attached to a jewelry item, you need to check the mounting method as well. If the jewel is held in glue instead of with pins, it is probably fake. Also, if you see circular cross-section seams then the likelihood is that it's molded stone or plastic will be much higher.

8. 

   Take the stone for inspection. If in doubt, bring the stone to the jeweler for a professional examination. The jeweler has specialized tools to give you the correct answer, along with a detailed description of your stone.
   • Find a jeweler licensed by a national organization, such as in the United States that has the Appraisement Association or the American Gem Association. A degree in gem trading is also a plus.
   • Avoid appraisers associated with a particular retailer, especially one that is looking to sell you the gemstone you want to inspect.
   • Inspection fees vary significantly and can be charged per item, hourly or per carat. You should not choose an emerald that charges a percentage of the value of the emerald.
   advertisement

Method 2 of 2: Recognize synthetic emeralds

1. 

   Understand synthetic emeralds. Synthetic emeralds are created in a lab and have the same chemical composition as natural emeralds. They are real emeralds, but they are much cheaper due to the lower cost of manufacturing. If you suspect someone is soliciting to sell you a synthetic emerald at an inflated price, use the following tests:
   • For a sure test go to the next step to using an emerald test filter.
   • If you don't want to buy a filter, you can move on to other tests. These tests still require some instruments, because synthetic emeralds are difficult to discern with the naked eye.
   advertisement

Use a filter

1. 

   Buy 3 types of emerald test filters. You can find online for a Chelsea filter, a synthetic emerald test filter and an endorsement filter. The latter two are called "Hanneman filters" and can be sold in pairs.The price of all 3 filters is about 60 USD (about 1.2 million VND) so it may not be worth buying if you only try one stone.
   • In some cases, you will also need a jeweler's magnifying glass for a close up look. Most emeralds do not need this tool to observe.

2. 

   Watch through the Chelsea filter. The first step is to examine the emerald through a Chelsea filter:
   • Place emeralds under incandescent light on a flat white background. (Fluorescent light can distort the results.)
   • Cover the metal or other rocks attached to the emerald with paper towels to prevent the colors from being reflected.
   • Hold Chelsea glasses close to your eyes and pay attention to the color you see through the filter from a distance of 25 cm or a little closer.
   • If emeralds are red when seen through a Chelsea filter, take the next step to try a synthetic filter.
   • If emeralds are green through a Chelsea filter, you will go to the test with the confirmation filter.
   • If the emerald is red-purple, it is synthetic jade. You can confirm the color by looking through both types of filters (synthetic and validated) - if the gem is green through both glasses, it is a synthetic gem. If the gem has a green tint through the synthetic glass but has a red color through the certifying glass, it is a natural gem.

3. 

   The next step is to use a synthetic filter. If an emerald is red or pink when viewed through a Chelsea filter, it contains chromium. Both natural and synthetic emeralds can contain chromium, so you need to distinguish with a synthetic filter in the test kit:
   • Take the emerald about 10 cm away from the light source and observe through a synthetic filter.
   • If you still see red or pink, that gem is a synthetic emerald created with the flux method.
   • If you see a green this time it's a natural emerald, probably from Columbia or Russia.

4. 

   Observe the gem through the confirmation filter. This method is only useful if the gem is green through a Chelsea filter. Please follow these steps:
   • Move the gem about 10 cm away from the light source and observe through a synthetic filter.
   • If the color is cyan, mauve, or pink, the gem is an emerald synthesized by hydrothermal method.
   • If the gem is still green (not cyan), move on to the next step.

5. 

   Examine the emerald through a jeweler's magnifying glass. If there is green through the Chelsea filter and through a certified filter, it can be a natural gem or a synthetic gem. Fortunately, synthetic gems that coincide with this description often have different characteristics than natural gems. You can observe the emerald through the jeweler's 10x magnifying glass:
   • If the jewel is transparent and has almost no impurities, it is almost certainly synthetic hydrothermal emerald.
   • If the magnifying glass detects many small defects (needle-like crystals, blurring, etc.) that gem is a natural emerald that contains vanadium and / or iron, such as emerald mined from pearl mines in Zambia, Brazil and India.
   advertisement

Other test methods

1. 

   Check for impurities. Synthetic emeralds initially had very little impurities compared with many small blemishes found in natural jade. Later, jade synthesis technique created more impurities, but some types appear only in natural emeralds. If possible, look for the following characteristics under a jeweler's microscope or magnifying glass:
   • If there is a "body" in the gem that includes both bubbles and crystals, then you have a natural emerald. This is called "three-phase inclusions."
   • Some crystals occur only in natural emeralds: green actinolite fibers such as bamboo, mica scales, or pyrite crystals.

2. 

   
   
   Shine ultraviolet light on emeralds. For this test you will need a "long wavelength" ultraviolet lamp - the cheapest and most widely available. Take emeralds into a room with dim or dark light and shine ultraviolet light on the gem and observe the color of the fluorescence:
   • Yellow, olive, or magenta fluorescence is a sure sign that it is synthetic jade.
   • If there is absolutely no fluorescence, that gem could be a natural emerald, but that is still uncertain. There is a synthetic emerald that also does not have fluorescence.
   • Earth-pink or red-orange fluorescence can indicate natural or synthetic jade.
   advertisement

Advice

• The refractometer is a great tool for identifying gems but is quite expensive and difficult if you haven't learned how to use it yet. If you can use a refractometer, check to see if the gem has a refractive index between 1,565 and 1,602; It is about the refractive index of natural emeralds. You also need to check the optical birefringence (double refraction) - around 0.006. Synthetic emeralds have an optical birefringence of about 0.006 or significantly lower, and refractive index is typically between 1,561 and 1,564 or as much as 1,579. If the result is outside this range, the stone is most likely fake.
• The term that sounds like the name of the country of origin ("Colombia"; "Brazil") actually only refers to the appearance of the gem. Each region usually produces emeralds of a certain color, and the pearls that match that description are often referred to by the regional name. This is only a general rule, as different gems can be produced in each region.

Warning

• Emerald is hard to scratch but its brittleness is enough to break on impact. The hammer is not a good tool for trying out gems!