back
7 comments
Emeralds can be manufactured artificially now, and with higher quality than mined gems, so rocks like this should have little monetary value.
Part of the perceived value is the difficulty in finding it in nature.
When you can artificially make one that looks identical to a natural (cut) one, then the perceived value will be nil. Unless they're going to start valuing uncut gems...
The one being referred too is the size of a mini fridge.
It's actually not. Have you looked at the photos? It's not a single crystal, it's a big, ugly black mass with some parts that are green crystals, all pointing different directions. If you actually tried cutting any gems from it, they would be a tiny fraction of the size (though some of them quite large, admittedly, but nowhere near the size of a mini-fridge). At the very best, you might get a gem the size of a mini-size coke bottle.
Fair point, but the instances where people want something interesting and big, that is often as much a plus as anything yes?

Lab grown gems like this for lasers, etc. are a different beast entirely. Can we even grow a coke bottle sized pure emerald?

Maybe, if so that would be pretty neat too. But for a different customer yeah?