Insignificant Oil Emerald Quality

Emerald is a naturally included gemstone and thus inclusions in emerald gems are acceptable up to an extent. These gems are created over millions of years in an unimaginably tough condition. Therefore, the absolutely eye clean emeralds are ultra-rare and highly expensive. Even the top-quality emeralds are slightly included. Most of the emerald are clarity enhanced and are subjected to a variety of treatment (fissure filling, oiling, resin and epoxy filing) carried out in a clarity enhancement laboratory.

Amongst various treatment methods, oiling is quite common. Oiling is a traditional clarity enhancement process that fills the fissures and enhances the beauty and clarity of the emerald by using transparent oil. The extend of oiling in emerald is often considered to determine its quality and value in the market. Higher is the degree of clarity enhancement, lower will be the quality. Insignificant oil emeralds bear minimum oil content as they have lesser number of surface reaching fissures. So, the chances for oil to enter inside the crystal is astronomically low. Such emeralds are termed as ‘Insignificant oil emerald’ and are counted amongst the premium quality gemstones.

The quality of Insignificant oil emerald is further evaluated on the basis of its origin, color, clarity and carat.

• Origin – Emerald mines have been found in Colombia, Brazil, Zambia, Russia, India, US, Australia and Afghan. Due to its highly saturation and perfectly balanced green and blue color, Insignificant emerald from Colombian are considered superior than other origins. It is closely followed by Insignificant oil emeralds from Zambian, Brazilian or Ethiopian origin.

• Color – The color of insignificant oil emerald ranges from pure vivid green to yellow green and deep bluish green. The finest quality Insignificant oil emerald display a consistently distributed vivid green hue with medium saturation. Emeralds with slight bluish green hue are also counted amongst the premium quality gems. However, the presence of excess yellow or blues (secondary hues) often disturb the gem’s beauty and degrade its overall appearance.

• Clarity – Many a times, buyers have a misconception that insignificant oil emerald will have no inclusions, which is not true. They do have inclusions but that doesn’t extend up to the surface. The higher quality pieces are slightly included or almost clean with only small, faintly visible inclusions. In contrast, stones bearing higher number of visible inclusions belong to the slight lower quality range.

• Cut – Insignificant emeralds are rare to find. Therefore, they are often faceted in shapes and cuts that save maximum carat weight. A skilfully cut emerald appears richly colored and cleaner hence considered more valuable.