GEMSWORLD | 19 | 2023 焦点 The market is constantly looking for something new and different, especially now amid uncertainties and challenges. And that is what we want to offer – alternatives and diverse choices. - Rehman Ansari, CEO of Emergreen Exports With a multitude of coloured gemstones available in the market today, consumers have at their disposal much broader choices, including nonconventional gems that are gradually catching up with their more popular counterparts in terms of demand and consumer interest. Apart from the winning trio of rubies, sapphires and emeralds, a great deal of coloured gems has since risen in status in the trade. Among the most favoured and commercially successful of these are tanzanite, tourmaline, spinel, peridot, opal, aquamarine, amethyst and garnet, to name a few. Their soaring prominence is largely attributed to mainstream use by leading jewellery maisons: A necklace adorned with an exceptional 131.21-carat spinel centre gem by Bulgari; an eclectic Brazilian aquamarine collection that includes rings, necklaces and earrings by Van Cleef & Arpels; and a variety of Boucheron jewellery pieces with tanzanite as centre stones, among others. With buyers’ changing preferences – influenced primarily by trade developments, increased awareness and education, and evolving social conventions – a number of lesser-known, non-traditional gemstones are gaining steam in the industry of late, particularly in mature gemstone and jewellery markets such as the US and Japan. Glowing alternatives Buyers can choose from an expansive range of coloured gemstones at Emergreen Exports, led by perennial favourites sapphires, rubies and emeralds. Lesser-known gemstones however are steadily rising in popularity, especially among collectors, said CEO Rehman Ansari. This includes amblygonite, an unusual gem that comes in a variety of colours, from mint greens to light pinks and yellows, and subtle blues. Mined from Brazil, Rehman’s selection of amblygonite stones exhibits hazy blue hues reminiscent of the coveted aquamarine colour. These stones sell for US$100 per carat and have a hardness of 5.5 to 6 on the Mohs scale. Demand mainly comes from Japan, South Korea and China. “Amblygonites are not well-known. They do not come in big quantities either, making good-quality ones harder to source,” explained Rehman. “These gems are best suited for rings, earrings and pendants.” Emergreen Exports also offers petalite, a rare colourless stone from South Africa that has become a preferred choice among collectors. It sells for US$40 per carat. Another white gemstone gaining favour in the trade is goshenite, a white beryl that the company sources from the US. Also in its inventory are danburite from Mexico – a durable stone with a hardness of 7 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale; and grandidierite – a rare, gem-quality mineral from Madagascar that sells for US$40 a carat, to name a few. “The market is constantly looking for something new and different, especially now amid uncertainties and challenges. And that is what we want to offer – alternatives and diverse choices,” noted Rehman. Blue kyanite in the rough 蓝晶原石
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