Coloured Gemstone/ Rare Stones Market

Though the coloured gemstones market is not as big as the diamond market the confidence in the industry is increasing as ever. The rough diamond market is around 16 Billion US dollars whereas rough gemstone/ rare stones produced yearly are around 2-3 Billion US Dollars globally. 

Though diamonds are more expensive than coloured gemstones but at times per carat prices for emeralds and rubies exceed that of white diamonds (as per the statistics from Sotheby’s and Christie’s auctions).

 

Diamond started getting its share of success back in 1947 when Debeers launched its campaign “A Diamond is forever”, till then only 10% of brides in the United States chose diamond engagement rings. In comparison to that small scale, artisanal mining made up 70-80% of the coloured gemstone market wholesale and retail. The gemstone suppliers actively marketed coloured gemstones. With larger companies like Gemfields, KGK Group etc, providing consistent supply has been increasing the confidence of gemstone wholesale suppliers and the gemstone wholesale market.

 

Coloured Gemstones

 

Known for their beauty and rarity, coloured gems are minerals often in crystalline structures. Some coloured gemstones have a brilliant hue because of the impurities it has. Like rubies and sapphires comes from the same mineral, rubies possess traces of chromium to absorb yellow-green light, giving them a red hue. Sapphires have a blue hue because of the vanadium tint, and traces of iron create yellowish-green colours. Then there are fancy sapphires that are tinted any other colour than blue. 

And emeralds are a beryllium aluminium silicate mix that is colourless when pure, but chromium or vanadium reflects green light it.

 

Coloured gemstones mining

 

Coloured gemstones are extracted in many parts of Asia, South America and Africa. One of the unique aspects of the gemstone wholesale market is that the particular characteristics of the rare stone vary greatly by its source. This particular reason gives gemstone suppliers provides a powerful opportunity to create a strong marketing story around the specific gemstones.

Most of the world’s emeralds are produced in Colombia, Zambia and Brazil. Colombia still produces 50% of the emerald production globally and is the undisputed leader in emerald production. Lately, Zambia has become a crucial producer of emeralds as they produce bluish-green colours which require less treatment other than emeralds.

 

15 years ago, after the discovery of huge ruby reserves in Mozambique, it became the largest player in the ruby market, with Burma also being a key producer and a player in the ruby market. Australia is the largest producer of blue sapphires with Kashmir, Sri Lanka and Madagascar also holding a place in the sapphire market.

 

Risks inherent to the coloured gemstone market

The supply chain of coloured gemstones is quite volatile. A significant portion of mines operating in countries like Myanmar where political risk is higher makes the supply chain very volatile. 

In diamonds, companies like KGK Diamonds and DeBeers have worked to standardize procedures to prevent conflict diamonds from entering the supply chain. However, in this regard, the gemstone market still lags somewhat.

 

Companies involved in mining coloured gemstones

Gemfields is the world’s largest coloured gemstone producer. It owns 75% of the world’s largest emerald mines. 

And the majority of companies involved in coloured gemstone mining and development are privately owned, including KGK Gems, Fura Gems etc.