Hi Heather, to get a better idea about if it's a natural emerald or not, you can do a Refraction Test at home. This is how you do it. Look through the stone, with a 10x power magnification loupe, there are many things you will notice, natural stones often have inclusions; needle-like angular things inside the stone.
Now, under loupe, and in good light, focus on a pavilion facet line of the stone- this is where the two facets join. Tilt the ring back and forth in between your fingers, while looking at the facet junction of the stone. If it looks like two and splits apart and comes back together it is doubly refractive. Peridots, topaz, tourmaline, quartz, amethyst, synthetic rutile, zircon and EMERALD are all doubly refractive stones. Hope this helps. Good luck! Cheers Lamez
