Huge, Rare Emerald Up For Auction

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Aug 26th 2010 at 11:01PM

A massive 1,040 carat emerald heads to auction this weekend on August 29 at LiveAuctioneers.com. The Polly Emerald will be offered for sale by GovernmentAuction.com. The gemstone has been appraised for $454,000 by a GIA certified appraiser. LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding for this special auction, which will consist of the lone lot selling at 6 p.m. Pacific, 9 p.m. Eastern Time. There is no reserve, the stone goes to the highest bidder. For this auction they are accepting phone bids and absentee bids with a $50,000 deposit.

Tags: auction, emerald, polly emerald

Filed under: Auctions

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Reader Comments (Page 2 of 3)

Laura Aug 28th 2010 6:24PM

Hey, Al - for knowing so much, shouldn't you know that her name is PALOMA?

Just a thought... ;)

al schrader Aug 28th 2010 6:51PM

Is a typo just like BTDT called me Albert above instead of Alfred. Lot's of people call me Albert. It's Paloma, but Palerma will do too, sounds a little better.
She was born in 1949 so I don't expect her to be in the business for long. It takes keen eyesight.
I sold most of my equipment in 1995 anyhow. Believe it or not, the big money is not in Emeralds or Diamonds. Most of the pieces I made from those I donated for organ transplants like the now famous Peridot Egg. Few people have two thousand dollars or more for a piece of jewelry.
The thing that made the most money was something called cabochons with an average price of 25 to 50 bucks. ...Tiger Eye, Amethyst, Smokey Quartz, etc....Alfred

Gene Aug 27th 2010 6:52PM

mandmjlrscvca: {Aug 27th 2010 11:38AM}; It might be better to not speak and be thought uneducated, rather than opening one's mouth and removing all doubt.
The G. I. A. :(Gemological Instiute of America): is one of only TWO FULLY ACCREDITED Jewelry and Gemology instiutes in the U. S. A.
I graduated with a double major in Jewelry Technologies and Gemology from The Texas Instiute of Jewelry Technologies at Paris Texas.
After finishing with 68 credit hours in 5 semesters; with National Dean's List and Phi Theta Kappa Honors, all the while raising my child alone and working part time to pay for it; I believe that I was not dreaming the whole time!
RESEARCH.... Just do it!
And by the way, Just because ithe mineral is beryl, and green in color, DOES NOT ALWAYS EQUATE TO BIG MONEY! Go online and get yourself a few pounds for CHEEP!

willi149s Aug 27th 2010 7:51PM

Gosh golly Gene, with all that intelligence and all those letters after your name you still managed to dazzle me with that single parent crap too. The greatest single parents aren't the ones bragging about it to the world...their children's achievements as a result of good and loving parenting speak volumes more than braggarts, chances are, everyone who comes in contact with you think you are an educaated pomp-ass bombastic bore. Crawl back into your little bag of "gems". No one is paying the least bit of attention to your comment.

Wayne Deputy Sr. Aug 27th 2010 7:22PM

It stinks on this board.........I guess that's because most of the people posting on it are full of $hit. I read these post and you people have no ideal what you are even talking about and then to try to pass yourselfs off as experts.........HA HA What a joke.

mandmjlrscvca Aug 27th 2010 9:01PM

Well Gene..... thanks for the laughs. When in the military working on nukes. Yes.. Missile electronics systems analyst.. TSC clearance too.. That and $5.00 might get me a cup of coffee at Sambo's.. Right? And over 180 college units ( equivalent of hours to + six years of university education) and grossly over educated. Also the whole gammut of GIA crap. A political hole in the wall where you have to virtually kiss the Hebes asses to get anywhere and it is known that with the right amount of $$$ you can get a cert to be a bit fudged too based on people I know who claim to have worked there. I have an appraisal on a 1.89 carat Marquise where a GIA Grad Gemologist.... with honors have you.... lol.. he had it written on his appraisal form that he graduated with honors. Well he graded the diamond sent to GIA as a SI-1 J color and it came back from GIA with the cert stating.... VVS-2, I color. That is a big difference and shows how the eyes can fool you. They have no less than three at GIA to grade a diamond and three must agree for a cert to be made. Get it? Three people. How can you depend on one jerk... and your texas education? Most people I know in the industry or 90% in any area of the jewelry business are dishonest. Period ! Gosh... almost like lawyers or used car dealers...... and GIA is not the ivory tower of Gem analysis or grading. But it is a good stepping stone for the uneducated and then about 10 years of intense work in the industry with honest people and then maybe you can pat your self on the back. That emerald is a good specimen and as the one person said.... maybe a good paper weight...... Still, the so called GIA appraiser should give the money back he or she charged for the appraisal. Or try this.. See if this persons acreditation is acceptable to the Federal Government and let them donate the stone to a museum and see if they can write that amount off on their taxes...... Not even a crook like Obama would try that.... Unless he was in Chicago...... Naw... them crooks are too smart for that.... have a great weekend.

dann Aug 27th 2010 9:23PM

What THE REAL JOKE Is the number of "experts" who come on this web site and look at a picture and pronounce that this is a "fake" or worth $200.00 or something just as stupid. Do you really think that this emerald could make it to a big auction and then draw people to pay big big bucks for it as a stone worth $2oo.oo?
I do not profess to be the expert all these "pawn show experts" are, but I have only once seen an untreated emerald of any size that did not have some of the same interior as this stone - do NOT ever think that a large emerald that is "green glass clear" is worth your money - most likely it is fake or a treated stone.

o0oooooo0o Aug 28th 2010 2:48AM

You guys are seriously cracking me up. Just read the very first letter of the article. It says "A" massive emerald.. not "This" massive emerald. If it said "this emerald" then they would be pretty much bound to show you a picture of the real item, but, as it is, they could have just put a picture of a dirt clod on there as much as a green toy rock from a tourist shop to give the viewer a general idea of the real emerald's size. I swear, with everyone on here blithering on about their gee-wow credentials in the gem world, it may actually serve some well to just take a simple course in Media 101. Maybe a reading refresher, too.

Connie Aug 28th 2010 8:39AM

its big and its useless, but hey if your rich do what you want

The Wizard Aug 28th 2010 10:39AM

These are a dime a dozen in the Emerald City of Oz.

dans Aug 28th 2010 4:26PM

These are not valuable compared to other emeralds- like good Colombian-
they are interesting, but all over India- and ebay
maybe the size but I doubt that too - these are avaiable in bags by the pound
in all sizes and for varied uses-

john bruno Aug 28th 2010 4:26PM

Emeralds and rubies, folks, are worthless in today's gems marketplace.

Big stones, even big diamonds, are dead in the water.

DAN Aug 28th 2010 4:51PM

what are worth anything?
and isn't it always quality and certain sizes anyway that is actually holds
a value?
thanks - love this subject

Johnny Aug 28th 2010 5:22PM

John Bruno, please send me your emerald, rubies, and big diamonds. In real terms prices are very high right now. The market is experiencing significant shortages in fine emeralds and rubies.

Big diamonds are especially hot right now.

Angela Aug 28th 2010 6:09PM

Oh, that baby has my name written all over it! It's... it's just... why it's the most... Oh, hell. I'll have to come back and write something when I can breath again!!! At least I live alone so I can avoid the embarrassment of anyone trying to figure out why I'm crying out "My necklace! My necklace" in my sleep.

willi149s Aug 28th 2010 9:55PM

Is GovernmentAuction.com the same dude that sent me the info about my inheritance from Nigeria? Hey, I sent you the handling fees, but I'm still waiting for my $28,782,387.49...what's the hold-up!?! Hey, what Government did you say you represented again?

kiowapecan Aug 28th 2010 10:24PM

Isn't the era of mined stones going to come to an end someday? All these stones can be made synthetically, and to a much higher quality that what can be dug out of the ground. It would seem that anyone paying an excessive amount of money because a stone is "natural" is putting that money at risk. The value is only maintained by some sort of artificial pricing structure that is maintained by the mining business, i.e. de beers. Someday, it will have to end.

Leslie Williams Aug 29th 2010 12:41AM

Gosh and golly, I surely have enjoyed all them fightin' words posted. If anyone wants to give me a belated birthday present (I am a May baby), please send that honker to me and despite its worth, I'll cherish it as a desk bibelot. Who wouldn't love a big old green rock?! Naturally, I would prefer the Queen Alexandria/Queen Mary emerald bit that Diana, Princess of Wales famously wore as a choker or headband or the incredible Elizabeth Taylor wedding-to-Burton brooch but I guess not in this life.

al schrader Aug 29th 2010 8:59AM

Don't fret Leslie. There is something called a Chatham emerald which is made by a firm that takes flawed but good colored worthless emeralds & melts them in a crucible furnace. Then they skim-off the impurities & create flawless perfect emerald material which is then cut into any size stone you want.
The beauty of broaches is that they never touch the skin & so are not susceptable to the acids & wont turn. I can make you a stunning Chatham emerald broach set in brilliant 24 Carat gold plate that would take your breath away, for a few hundred dollars. Its appearance is better than the Royals which have flaws.

crazydave5890 Aug 29th 2010 12:02PM

I think that you all are idiots. They aren't going to sell a fake emerald. I mean seriously do you people not think that the person that buys this thing is going to have it checked out by their own personal jeweler? If it's a fraud "which I highly doubt" I am sure that who ever buys will get their money back and possibly more, regardless of how. You people are as ignorant as you seem.

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