01

What to look for

Under 10x loupe: tiny irregular cavities that contain three things at once: a tiny solid crystal, a droplet of liquid, and a gas bubble. The gas bubble moves slightly when the stone is tilted. They often appear as a transparent cloud with a dark speck inside.

02

What it means

Three-phase inclusions are strongly associated with Colombian emerald deposits and can be an important origin clue. Zambian and Brazilian emeralds tend to have different inclusion fingerprints.

03

Expert move

The gas bubble movement is the key tell: tilt the stone and watch for the bubble shifting. Always check inclusion type before labeling an emerald as Colombian.