市场情报 JNA July/August 2023 | 55 Demand for coloured gemstones has significantly increased in the last five years. The pandemic further worked as an adrenaline shot for the industry. According to exhibitors at the sixth edition of GemGenève in May, the year 2022 was unusual with recordhigh demand for top-grade coloured gemstones. Besides enhanced savings and stock market profits, uncertainty and turbulence in the socio-political climate last year also drove select segments of society to view rare – untreated, high-quality, large – gemstones as an alternative asset class and a haven for wealth. Most trade players reported stable demand for coloured gemstones in 2023, with top-quality material continuing to be sought not only by the international jewellery brands but also connoisseurs. Favoured gems Besides the classic offerings of ruby, emerald and sapphire, GemGenève witnessed strong demand for Paraiba tourmaline. In the last two years, the price of this gem has more than doubled, especially for larger sizes. Exhibitors revealed that top-grade, clean Paraiba tourmalines above 10 carats were selling for US$25,000 per carat as compared to US$12,000 pre-pandemic. Another gemstone that has held its strong position in the market is spinel, with many confirming that prices have doubled in the last year and a half for the versatile stone. “Visitors were seeking spinels across all colours, from grey and pale pink to the intense pink and red hues,” said Jamshed from Pamir Gems Co Ltd. KV Gems, Garaude Paris and Nomad’s were offering exquisitely cut layouts of multi-coloured pastel hues of spinels. Most of the new spinel stock being sold at GemGenève was from Africa, Tajikistan and Vietnam. Market sources disclosed that lack of supply has driven prices out of reach for top-grade spinels, sapphires and rubies from Myanmar. Another crowd pleaser was tsavorite or grossular green garnet. Found only in Tanzania and Kenya and belonging to the cubic crystal system (like a diamond), prices for topnotch tsavorite doubled from January to April 2023. Close on the heels of tsavorite were mandarin garnets and aquamarine, which were also being purchased by independent designers. Coloured gemstone specialist Cesari & Rinaldi noted an increase in demand for goodquality hardstones like turquoise, opal, lapis lazuli, malachite and coral. And Tank Fine Gems brought a new collection of emeralds, offering more stones in unconventional shapes. Supply limitations The current challenge with coloured gemstones is not demand but consistent supply. Exhibitors specialising in the finer qualities of rubellite, tsavorite, aquamarine, spinel and Paraiba tourmaline feared that they would not be able to replace the collections they brought to GemGenève. Ruby and emerald specialists who buy rough stones from institutional miners also expressed concern over rising prices. Rahim Ulla, director of Anubhav Gems Pvt Ltd, said, “The top issue for us right now is the supply of rough at competitive prices on a long-term basis. One of our specialties are calibrated gemstones. We have long-term contracts with jewellery manufacturers at pre-determined price points. Our profit margin is adversely impacted when prices of rough emeralds, rubies or sapphires jump at auctions.” Going by the published auction values of rough emeralds and rubies by mining company Gemfields, the only one to publicly share its sales data, rough Zambian emeralds from its mine have seen an increase of approximately 83 per cent in the average price per carat since the pandemic. The comparative figure for rough Mozambican rubies from Gemfields was around 220 per cent. A major source for blue and fancy colour sapphires is Madagascar, which has experienced disruption of supply due to an export ban by the government for rough gemstones from November 2020. Although the ban was lifted in September 2022, it will take time for the industry to rebuild supply chains. Tourmaline and tanzanite ring by Tom Munsteiner Tom Munsteiner的碧玺配坦桑石戒指作品 Paraiba tourmaline from Miranda Group Co Ltd的帕拉伊巴碧玺 (Photo credit 圖片攝影: Richa Goyal Sikri)
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NjAxOTU=