Coloured gemstones rise in demand among jewellers and investors as the supply dwindles
The increasing popularity of coloured gemstones has been driven by growing demand
Bulgari's jewellery creative director Lucia Silvestri had to wait eight years to see the beauty hidden within a rough sapphire finally realised in the maison's garden-inspired high-jewellery collection. But in her line of work, the products are always worth the wait.
"I came across the rough stone weighing over 60ct in Sri Lanka and had been trying to convince the owner to cut it properly every time I came back to see him," Silvestri recalls. "And, finally, he cut the stone in two. Now you can see there's life within the stone, like the deepest blue of the ocean and light in every corner. It's amazing."
Silvestri's ability to spot the "life" - or rather, the unique characteristics - within stones comes from years of expert training. Unlike the "four Cs" - colour, clarity, cut and carat - system for rating diamonds, assessing coloured gemstones is a more complicated and often controversial process.
Despite synthetic and artificially enhanced stones posing challenges to the trade, market confidence in coloured gemstones has grown significantly in the past few years thanks to transparent valuation standards, the establishment of institutional gemology labs and active market transactions.
"Looking back at our auctions in the past few years, I would say [natural] coloured gemstones have dominated," says Vickie Sek, director of jewellery for Christie's Asia.
"Buyers are really going for the beautiful natural gemstones. Most of the top 10 lots are emeralds, rubies and sapphires."
Graeme Thompson, director of jewellery for Bonhams Asia, agrees. "We predicted 2015 to be the year of coloured gemstones, and results from the sales definitely backed that. There's no doubt that the supply of fine gemstones is diminishing, but the demand is increasing. The more the market develops, the more people understand gemstones and have the confidence to buy."
Sapphires and rubies have outpaced diamonds from 2006 to 2013. According to the Gemval valuation guide, prices for rubies rose by 47 per cent, while the RapNet Diamond Index indicates that prices for 1ct diamonds have increased at a lower rate - 32 per cent since 2006. And luxury maisons such as Bulgari, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Chanel have been incorporating more coloured gemstones into their jewellery pieces, from rubies and emeralds to sapphires and spinels.