The 104 gm Legacy Emerald’s journey: A conversation with gem expert Liran Eshed
- Featured Jewellery
Anushka Manik- 15 minutes read
There are a few gemstones that have the ability to hold centuries of history in a single flash of green quite like the emerald. Born millions of years ago in rare geological perfect storms, emeralds are a variety of beryl coloured by trace elements like chromium and vanadium. Their famous inclusions, lovingly called jardin, or “garden”, mean no two stones are ever alike. Like nature refusing to repeat itself.
From the ancient emerald mines of Egypt, where the first known emeralds were extracted around 1500 BC, to Zambia’s modern-day Kagem mine, these green gems have always been objects of obsession that are treasured for their colour, rarity, and mysterious depth. And every so often, something appears that makes even seasoned experts pause.
Enter the 104-gram Legacy Emerald. Unearthed at Kagem and acquired through a Gemfields auction, this is the kind of discovery that sends a ripple through the high jewellery world.
As the Legacy Emerald begins its transformation from raw crystal to finished gemstones, we spoke to Liran Eshed of Eshed–Gemstar, a specialist in unlocking the potential of some of the world’s most extraordinary emeralds. He takes us into the high-stakes art of cutting, why provenance and responsible sourcing now matter as much as colour and clarity, and how India’s growing community of collectors is reshaping the global conversation around fine gemstones.
LuxeBook: The Legacy Emerald has been described as one of the finest stones Gemfields has encountered in over a decade. What was your first reaction when you saw the rough, and what told you it was truly extraordinary?
Liran Eshed: What immediately stood out was the extremely rare combination of size, high clarity, transparency, crystallization, and colour. At 104 grams, this is already an important piece of emerald rough, but size alone is not what makes it exceptional. What made this crystal so special was its exceptionally high clarity and transparency for a rough of such significant scale, together with beautiful crystallization and an incredibly saturated green colour.
Large emerald rough normally comes with major compromises. A crystal may have impressive size but contain significant fractures, inclusions, or areas that cannot produce fine gemstones. The Legacy Emerald was different. Its clarity allowed us to see deeply into the rough and recognize important clean areas with the potential to produce exceptional no-oil emeralds.
Another important factor was its Gemfields rough grade. The stone was graded 6B, which is an exceptional grade for an emerald rough weighing more than 100 grams. Material of this quality is more commonly found in much smaller pieces. To see this scale together with such impressive clarity, transparency, colour, crystallization, and grading made the rough truly extraordinary. We immediately understood that it could produce investment-grade emeralds of international importance. That is why we call it The Legacy Emerald.
LuxeBook: How has gemstone cutting evolved over the years?
Liran Eshed: Gemstone cutting has become considerably more precise as cutters have gained access to improved lighting, imaging, measurement, and planning techniques. These tools allow us to look deeper into rough gemstones, better understand their internal structure, and evaluate different sawing and cutting possibilities before making irreversible decisions.
At Eshed–Gemstar, we examine rough in natural light, study it carefully with a loupe, and use special lighting to understand the inclusions, crystal direction, colour concentration,
high-clarity areas, and possible challenges inside the material. However, technology does not replace experience.
The most important tools remain the eyes, judgement, and knowledge developed through decades of working with emerald rough. Technology provides additional information, but experience is what allows the cutter to interpret that information and understand what the stone can become.
The cutting process of The Legacy Emerald is currently underway and can be followed on our Instagram page. The reel documenting the transformation has become viral, showing the strong global interest in the journey from an exceptional rough crystal to important finished gemstones.
The objective is not simply to preserve the greatest amount of weight. It is to reveal the finest possible combination of colour, clarity, proportions, beauty, and long-term value, ultimately producing no-oil, investment-grade emeralds.
LuxeBook: Was there ever a moment during the cutting process when you had to choose between preserving size and achieving brilliance? How do you make those decisions?
Liran Eshed: Yes. The cutting process is currently underway, and balancing weight preservation with beauty, clarity, and overall quality is one of the most important considerations at every stage. The highest possible yield is not always the best result. Sometimes additional material must be removed to improve clarity, proportions, colour distribution, transparency, and the overall appearance of the finished gemstone. A smaller but more beautiful, transparent, and well-proportioned emerald may ultimately be far more valuable than a larger stone with weaker clarity, visible fractures, or less attractive proportions.
With The Legacy Emerald, the high clarity of the rough gives us exceptional possibilities, but every sawing and cutting decision must still be carefully considered. We study the crystal structure, internal features, fractures, colour concentration, and clean areas before determining how each section should be shaped. The objective is not simply to save weight. The objective is to unlock the finest emeralds hidden inside the rough and produce investment-grade stones with lasting significance.
LuxeBook: Luxury consumers today want to know not just what they are buying, but where it came from. How has provenance evolved from being a nice-to-have to becoming a defining part of a gemstone’s value?
Liran Eshed: Provenance and origin have become central to the valuation and presentation of important natural gemstones. Collectors and high jewellery clients increasingly want to understand
not only the appearance and rarity of a gemstone, but also where it came from, how it was sourced, and how its journey can be documented.
The fact that The Legacy Emerald originated from the Kagem mine and was acquired through a Gemfields auction gives it an important and transparent story from the very beginning.
Traceability is also becoming increasingly important for gemstones of this significance. Where applicable, Provenance Proof’s Emerald Paternity Test use DNA-based, nano-sized particles applied at the source to support the identification of an emerald’s birthplace.
Together with Gemfields’ transparent auction process, this physical traceability can add another important layer of confidence to the origin story of a rare Zambian emerald rough such as The Legacy Emerald.
This becomes particularly important when the expected result is a group of important no-oil, investment-grade emeralds. For stones of this level, origin, rarity, high clarity, beauty, treatment status, and traceability are all inseparable parts of their long-term value.
This is closely aligned with the work of Eshed–Gemstar: sourcing, evaluating, cutting, and presenting rare natural gemstones with serious provenance and long-term significance.
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LuxeBook: Responsible sourcing is often discussed in diamonds, but coloured gemstones are now entering that conversation. What role has Gemfields played in changing industry standards?
Liran Eshed: Gemfields has contributed to greater transparency and confidence in the coloured gemstone industry by creating a structured and professional system for presenting rough emeralds to the international market.
When we attend a Gemfields auction, we know the origin of the material and can evaluate it with confidence. The rough is organised and presented professionally, and buyers receive important information that allows them to make serious and informed decisions.
We also have confidence that the rough has not been treated with artificial substances such as resins or fillers before being presented for evaluation.
In a market where provenance and responsible sourcing are becoming increasingly important, this structure adds significant value. It allows us to evaluate not only the gemological and commercial potential of the rough, but also the transparency and strength of its story.
This becomes especially important when dealing with rough that may produce no-oil, investment-grade emeralds. Collectors and leading high jewellery clients increasingly
expect exceptional quality to be accompanied by serious documentation, traceability, and responsible sourcing.
For Eshed–Gemstar, this confidence is essential, especially when acquiring a piece as important as The Legacy Emerald.
LuxeBook: Have you noticed a shift in what younger luxury buyers are looking for when it comes to coloured gemstones compared to previous generations?
Liran Eshed: Younger luxury buyers are increasingly interested in individuality, authenticity, natural rarity, and the complete story behind a gemstone.
They are not only asking how a stone looks. They also want to understand whether it is natural, where it originated, how it was sourced, whether it has been treated, and what makes it different from other gemstones in the market.
Coloured gemstones are particularly attractive to this generation because every natural gemstone has its own character. Differences in colour, inclusions, crystallization, transparency, origin, and shape make each stone unique.
We also see increasing interest in provenance, traceability, and investment-grade natural gemstones. Buyers want stones that combine exceptional beauty with rarity, transparent origin, important quality, and long-term significance.
For an exceptional natural emerald, the story, origin, treatment status, rarity, high clarity, and beauty are becoming inseparable parts of its identity and value.
LuxeBook: India has one of the world’s oldest relationships with coloured gemstones. How are you seeing Indian collectors shape today’s global luxury gemstone market?
Liran Eshed: We have many friends and colleagues throughout the Indian gemstone and jewellery industry, and we highly value the experience, knowledge, craftsmanship, and contribution of the Indian market.
India has one of the world’s deepest and most historic relationships with natural gemstones. Emeralds and other important coloured stones are closely connected to the country’s heritage, culture, jewellery traditions, and appreciation for exceptional craftsmanship.
We see Indian collectors and members of the Indian jewellery industry as a major force and as global leaders in the purchase, appreciation, and understanding of natural gemstones, particularly important emeralds.
There is also a strong appreciation in India for investment-grade gemstones that can be preserved, collected, and passed from one generation to the next. This cultural connection to natural gemstones continues to influence international demand and the global high jewellery market.
Today, Indian collectors participate at the highest levels of the international gemstone market. Their knowledge, heritage, purchasing power, and appreciation for rare natural emeralds make them one of the most important forces shaping the future of the industry.
LuxeBook: What do you hope The Legacy Emerald will represent a decade from now?
Liran Eshed: We hope The Legacy Emerald will represent what can be achieved when extraordinary natural material is combined with experience, patience, judgement, and craftsmanship.
For us, this is a once-in-a-generation emerald rough, the kind of stone that may appear only once every 30 years. It represents not only value, but also history, rarity, provenance, opportunity, and the extraordinary beauty of natural emeralds.
The cutting process is currently underway and is being documented on our Instagram page, where the reel showing the transformation has become viral and attracted international attention.
Based on the progress so far, we expect the rough to produce an approximately 20-carat no-oil emerald-cut emerald as its main gemstone. We also expect several additional no-oil stones, ranging from approximately 3 to 10 carats, to join the principal emerald.
The objective is not simply to achieve the highest possible yield. It is to reveal the finest possible gemstones from the rough: emeralds with exceptional colour, high clarity, important size, no-oil status, transparent provenance, and true investment-grade quality.
A decade from now, we hope these finished emeralds will be admired not only for their beauty and rarity, but also for the story of their journey from the Kagem mine, through the cutting process at Eshed–Gemstar, and eventually into important collections or high jewellery creations.
We hope they will become investment-grade emeralds that are preserved, appreciated, and remembered for generations.
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