A Buyer’s Guide to Emerald Rings: Natural AAAA vs. AAA vs. AA
Published May 21, 2014 by

A Buyer’s Guide to Emerald Rings: Natural AAAA vs. AAA vs. AA

Last updated on June 12, 2023

Did you know that a ring with a 1 carat emerald can be priced anywhere from $50 to $5,000 depending on the quality of the emerald? Confused about the quality of Emerald you are buying? This write-up will help you understand how emerald qualities differ from each other, which quality is best for you and what you should be paying for it.

emerald

Background

Unlike Diamonds (which has many parameters like cut, clarity etc., read more on that at our Diamond Guide),  a novice buyer should only be concerned with the “color” of Emerald. Do not worry about the inclusions in Emeralds that are visible to your eyes, since they are just natural minerals that occur commonly in most natural Emeralds..

Today, buying a diamond is very transparent and easy due to the standardization of all its characteristics and hence the general verification that all gemological laboratories can do very easily, affordably and consistently. Hence diamonds can be put into different categories for the customer to understand what (s)he is buying.

But buying Emeralds (or other colored gemstones) can be trickier since they have no industry accepted standardization for the most part. Due to the high cost and no standard emerald grading qualities, typically only color gemstones >$10,000 come with a certificate. So the question begs itself:

How can a novice buyer be sure of the quality of his/her Emerald jewelry, from traditional retailers or online jewelers?

A lot of leading jewelers have adopted a simpler grading system to make it easier for the customer to buy Emerald jewelry. Please ask your jeweler on the quality of your Emerald based on the grading system below. We recommend buying Natural AAA or AAAA Emerald gemstones only.

Preferred Emerald Grading System: Natural AAAA vs AAA vs AA

Unlike diamonds, color gemstones do not have a perfect grading system. Hence, we along with a lot of the leading jewelers grade our Emeralds as Natural AAAA, Natural AAA or Natural AA.

Natural AAAA
(Best)

Natural Emerald AAAA gemstones are the top 10% of gemstones in terms of quality. They are rich green, moderately to slightly included and exhibits high brilliance. They are comparable to that used by the top 5th Avenue or Rodeo Drive Jewelers.

Natural AAA
(Better)

Natural Emerald AAA gemstones are the top 20%-30% of gemstones in terms of quality. They are Medium green and moderately included. They are comparable to that used by leading independent/family jewelers.

Natural AA
(Good)

Natural Emerald AA gemstones are the top 50%-75% of gemstones in terms of quality. They are Dark green, opaque and heavily included. They are comparable to that used by mall jewelers or small family jewelry shops.

Emeralds graded: Natural AA, Natural AAA and Natural AAAA

Emeralds-quality-scale1

In the image above, AAAA is from a Colombian mine, AAA is from Zambia and AA is from Brazil

Approximate Prices for the different quality Emeralds per carat:

Natural AA: $300

natural aa emerald

Natural AAA: $600

natural aaa emerald

Natural AAAA: $1400

heriloom emerald

Heirloom: $3000

So if you would like an Heirloom / Rare Emerald (better than AAAA), feel free to ask your jeweler for the same.

For all the Emerald jewelry on our own website, we typically use some of the vest best Natural AAAA sapphires from Zambia (which has very similar luster to the Colombian AAAA Emeralds). Colombian Emeralds are well-accepted as the best Emeralds known to man. A Colombian bluish-green Emerald with superior luster is considered an Heirloom Emerald and can be sourced on request. 
You can read more about Emerald mines here

What does Diamondère look for in an Emerald?

Below are the guidelines to buy an Emerald. Pick a:
1. Natural Emerald with industry-standard enhancements.
2. Emerald with a blue-green or green hue.
3. Darkish-green Emerald color.
4. Glowing Emerald (i.e. of high brilliance).
5. Brilliantly-cut Emerald only.
6. Included Emerald is fine but NO surface cracks.

However, you can request any of Emeralds Natural AAAA or Natural AAA (or even Natural AA) qualities and we will revert with prices and images within 48 hours.

Always remember – if you need anything else, just ask!

How was your first gemstone-buying experience? Share your story with us at www.facebook.com/Diamondere

CLAUDINE
FREDDY
CLAR
AHEARN

SHOP EMERALD JEWELRY:

Emerald Rings Emerald Engagement Rings Emerald Necklaces Emerald Earrings Emerald Mens Rings Emerald Bracelets

Diana G

Diana G

I have worked in the jewelry industry for over 15 years. I began my career designing jewelry and then started hand-crafting it myself. Over time, I realized that customers today while customizing their jewelry or picking out an engagement ring, could benefit greatly from the wealth of experience I have in this industry. Today, I love helping customers and in a small way, be a part of their emotional journey (since every jewelry purchase for me is an emotional experience).
Diana G

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4 Comments

  1. Robin arora said:

    This is a very informative posting. After reading your post i have learned more details about Emeralds grading.

    November 13, 2014
  2. Rajwinder Kaur said:

    I would like to buy AA certified emerald between 4.50 to 5 carat.
    Can you please provide more details and prices and guarantee for genuine emerald for the category you have in your stock.

    Thanks.

    January 5, 2015
  3. Jyoti Shokeen said:

    The article gives good information about the diamonds and its grading system , can be really helpful for a customer to understand what he is actually buying .

    July 28, 2015

Comments are closed.