Colombian emeralds, selected as individual stones and set to commission.
Nothing here is held in inventory. Each piece begins with a stone, and the stone is chosen in person, in Colombia, before anything else is decided. One finished piece is available now.
The Muzo
A 1.64 carat Colombian emerald, emerald cut, bezel-set in brushed 18K yellow gold. The band is wide and flat, brushed across the top face, polished on the interior. The bezel holds the stone low, so it sits within the metal rather than above it — a signet that can be worn every day without catching.
$24,500. Available now.
Independently appraised at $24,850 retail replacement value. One piece, already made — no wait, and the stone is the one you see. Ships fully insured within two business days of purchase.
Inquire about The Muzo · Commission a piece
Finding the stone
We do not buy emeralds from importers, and we do not buy them from photographs. Stones are bought in Colombia, in person, in the same rooms the trade has used for decades.
The work is mostly rejection. A serious buying day means handling well over a thousand stones — often close to fifteen hundred — to leave with one. Most are eliminated in seconds: too dark, too pale, a fracture in the wrong place, oil doing work the stone can't do on its own. Of what survives that, most is priced beyond what it's worth.
This is the part that can't be shortcut, and it is the reason a commission takes as long as it does. There is no inventory to pull from. The right stone for your piece may be found in a week or it may take a month, and we would rather tell you that than sell you something adequate.
How a commission works
1. The conversation — a few days · nothing due
What the piece is for, who wears it, whether you have a shape or setting in mind, and what you want to spend. No obligation and no deposit. Most of these start with someone who knows they want an emerald and not much else, which is a fine place to begin.
2. The search — two to six weeks · nothing due
We go to Colombia and look against what you have described. You are told what we are seeing as we see it, including the stones we pass on and why. This is the step that varies most. A common request may be filled quickly; an unusual size, colour, or cut can take considerably longer.
3. The stone — 50% deposit due on confirmation
You are shown the stones worth considering, with an honest assessment of each and its flaws. When you confirm one, the deposit is what allows us to buy it, and design begins. The deposit is non-refundable from this point, because the stone is purchased on your instruction and for your piece.
4. The design — one to two weeks · nothing further due
The setting is drawn and rendered for your approval. Revisions until it is right. Nothing is made until you approve it.
5. Production — two to four weeks · nothing further due
The piece is made and the stone is set by hand.
6. Certification and appraisal — two to three weeks · nothing further due
The finished piece is submitted for a GIA report and an independent appraisal. Both come to you with the piece.
7. Delivery — two to three days · balance due before shipping
Shipped fully insured, signature required, at no cost to you.
Start to finish, expect two to three months. Most of that is steps 2 and 6 — finding the right stone and waiting on the laboratory. If you are working to a date, tell us at the first conversation and we will tell you honestly whether it can be met. We would rather decline a deadline than rush a stone.
Commissions generally begin around $12,000 for a fine one-carat stone in a considered setting, and move up with the stone. The stone is almost always the larger part of the cost.
Commissioned pieces are final sale. That is why steps 3 and 4 are deliberate.
How the price is set
Every finished piece is independently appraised, and you receive that appraisal with it.
We price at or below the appraised retail replacement value — never above it. If you take a piece of ours to your own gemologist, the number they write should confirm what you paid rather than contradict it. We think that is the minimum a buyer should be able to expect, and it is rarer than it should be.
This is possible because the chain is short. Most emerald jewelry passes through several hands between the mine and the showcase, and each one takes margin. Stones here are bought at origin. That advantage goes into the quality of the stone and the documentation that comes with it, not into the markup.
What I look for in a stone
Color first. Vivid green without going dark. Too dark and light can't move through the stone; too pale and it has no life. The best Colombian material holds a saturation that doesn't flatten as the light changes, and that's a quality you learn by looking at a great many stones rather than by reading a grade.
Then transparency. Every natural emerald has inclusions. The question is whether they block light or frame it. A stone can be heavily included and still be beautiful if the light gets through; a cleaner stone can be dead if it doesn't.
Then the jardin. The internal landscape of the stone, and its fingerprint — no two are alike. It's also the clearest evidence a stone is natural. Flawless emeralds essentially do not exist. Anyone showing you one is showing you something else.
Origin last, and it's the subjective part. Colombian stones hold their color in a particular way. It's a recognition built from handling, not a measurement, and it's the reason the same certificate can sit behind two stones worth very different amounts.
A report confirms what a stone is. It doesn't tell you whether it's worth owning.
Certification
Commissioned pieces are accompanied by a GIA Colored Stone Identification and Origin Report, which documents the stone's identity, origin, and any treatment. Emeralds are almost universally treated with oil to improve clarity; the report states the degree, and we tell you before you commit.
Begin
Write to us through our contact form. Tell us as much or as little as you have in mind. Every inquiry is answered personally, within one business day.