Jewelry

[desperate-housewife]

I don't know enough about Zambian emeralds to know if they are desired or not, and I can see that the pieces are pricey, so I guess that means that those emeralds are known to be of decent quality (or why give them a country of origin in the title)? I'd love those of you with knowledge about these kinds of emeralds to weigh in here.

Also, anyone who has gotten the Zambian emerald Ripka pieces home who wants to give your thoughts, that would be appreciated as well. : )

[desperate-housewife]

Here is some info I found on Wikipedia about where emeralds are/have been found:

Emeralds in antiquity have been mined in Egypt since 1500BCE, and India, and Austria since at least the 14th century CE.^[11]

Colombia is by far the world's largest producer of emeralds, constituting 50–95% of the world production, with the number depending on the year, source and grade.^{[12][13][14][15]} Emerald production in Colombia has increased drastically in the last decade, increasing by 78% from 2000 to 2010.^[16] The three main emerald mining areas in Colombia are Muzo, Coscuez, and Chivor.^[17] Rare 'trapiche' emeralds are found in Colombia, distinguished by a six-pointed radial pattern made of ray-like spokes of dark carbon impurities.^{[citation needed]}

Zambia is the world's second biggest producer, with its Kafubu River area deposits (Kagem Mines) about 45 km southwest of Kitwe responsible for 20% of the world's production of gem quality stones in 2004.^[18] In the first half of 2011 the Kagem mines produced 3.74 tons of emeralds.^[19]

Emeralds are found all over the world in countries such as Afghanistan, Australia, Austria, Brazil,^[20] Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Germany, India, Italy, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Russia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Tanzania, United States, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.^[1] In the US, emeralds have been found in Connecticut, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, and South Carolina.^[1] In 1997 emeralds were discovered in the Yukon.^[21]

[kaplan206]

The ring is spectacular and my review is on site at the ring.

I drooled and drooled over the cuff, but couldn't pull the trigger for almost 800 dollars a month on EP. Thinking more clearly about it, I am sorry I didn't. I have the skinny emerald cuff and it is spectacular, but I've no idea the source of the emeralds.

Are you going to get it?

[desperate-housewife]

Kaplan, I LOVE the look of the new cuff, but I just am having a hard time seeing if the value is there for $5k, give or take. The skinny cuff looks great, too, but like you, I don't know the source of the emeralds, and if that one is a 'decent' value or not (I know all jewelry pricing is subjective anyway).

I was glad to read a few reviews on both the ring and the skinny cuff, but so far there haven't been any on the newer, most expensive cuff. It would be a shame to get that cuff and then not get the ring, but wowzers, that puts pricing into the stratosphere for the set, especially if they both end up getting put on clearance in the future!