b"THE STATE OF RETAIL DIAMONDSJEWELRYCOLORED DESIGN STONESA MATTER OF PRICE privately owned mines, which arent obligated to report production. A simple understanding of the law of supply and demand can explainThe main source of ruby production today comes from deposits in why prices of the Big Three, in the finest quality, are skyrocketing,northeast Mozambique, which were discovered in the late 2000s.but there is some nuance. Although Gemfields announced a record per-carat price ($321.94) Gemstone dealer and bespoke jeweler Simon Dussart of Asia Loungesfrom its December 2024 auction of mixed-quality rough rubies from its explains, There used to be three prongs in the marketthe low, theMontepuez mine, those who have been attending rough sales in the mid-range, and the high range. One could argue there was a fourth one,region report that, generally, the quality and quantity of the material the super high end, but thats like, an oddity of the high end.are decreasing. But the mid-range is dying. However, the mine remains the sole option for bigger brands that The loss of interest in this category, which he describes as eye- require coherence in material, such as precisely calibrated melee-size clean material, the bread-and-butter for the average self-purchaser,ruby with consistent color.is affecting the mining business, Dussart says.Rubies are also mined, on amuch smaller scale, in pockets A lot of the mines are no longer profitable. They needed to have allWere seeing three segments in order to produce, and now they are stuck producingacross several other countries, for the low end, which demands increasingly lower prices, but they cantcolor increasingsuch as Vietnam, Tanzania, and really do it [that way], so youve got more and more treated materials. its market share.Sri Lanka, as well as Afghanistan, The trade has an increased demand for higher-quality materialIts becomethough trading involving the that is untreated, which is one of the reasonsbut not the onlya major profitlatter poses some challenges for reasonwhy the price of the material is skyrocketing. U.S. dealers.Since the pandemic, untreated fine sapphires have tripled in center.Last year in Afghanistan, the price, and Dussart says ruby was inaccessible for him even STUARTTaliban, which took control of before the pandemic.ROBERTSON,the country in 2021, indicated it I seldom go anywhere above 3 carats in the red andGEMWORLD was going to focus on minerals to blue department, he says. Rubies, pre-COVID, thathelp Afghanistans economy. was out of my range anyway because it was already inIn 2022, the U.S. government the six figures, but now its like, forget about it. Itsissued a license allowing for impossible. economic activity in Afghanistan, as long as it was not linked to the Taliban or any persons RED-HOT RUBYor entities on the Office of Foreign Assets Controls Today, untreated fine-quality ruby is exceedingly rare,sanctions list.making it basically a specialized market.So, if a dealer or a company is not connected to the Taliban A museum-worthy set of rubies ranging in weightand not sanctioned, they could trade legally, though it from 7.11-17.88 carats sourced from five differentis not likely, according to the Jewelers Vigilance Com-countriesMyanmar, Tajikistan, Thailand, Mozam- mittee, because it would be very difficult to prove a bique, and Madagascartook longtime collectorbusiness is unlinked to the Taliban, as the entity is the Jack Abraham more than 40 years to curate, he saidgovernment of Afghanistan.in an interview with the American Gem Trade Asso- However, during a presentation on the colored ciations Prism magazine.gemstone market in Tucson, GemGuide Editor-in- To many in the trade, material from MyanmarsChief Brecken Branstrator said one of her sources (formerly Burma) Mogok Valley remains incomparableconfirmed that rough gemstones are still flowing out in quality, but production has decreased significantly.of Afghanistan, largely through Pakistan.Earlier this year, Gemfields published Under- International and at-source politics are an unavoid-standing the Global Supply of Emerald, Ruby andable aspect of dealing in gemstones, from years-long Sapphire.U.S.-imposed sanctions banning Burmese rubies to The research reviews the evolution of coloredcurrent-day criticisms of the mining concession in gemstone supply over the past 40 years. Its also anMozambique as Gemfields navigates heightened illegal update to the mining companys 2022 global marketactivity amid the countrys civil unrest. analysis of the Big Three. Still, there are vendors committed to ethical practices, The report stated that, as of 2009, more than 90a surging area of interest within the industry, that are percent of the rubies with a price above $50,000 perThree of the rubies in collector Jackleaning into alternative ruby sources.Abraham's suite of five no-heat carat auctioned at Christies were from Mogok, arubies from five different origins.A few years ago, wholesaler Columbia Gem House testament to the materials popularity and value. From top to bottom: A 9.08-caratlaunched its Pomme Ruby, collection, featuring oval-shape unheated Thai-origin According to Gemfields report, the drop in productionruby; a 7.11-carat oval-shapeapple red gemstones produced by artisanal miners can be explained by the depletion of the depositstheunheated Burmese ruby; and ain Madagascar.8.47-carat oval-shape unheated Mogok Valley mines as well as the deposit discoveredTajikistan-origin ruby. For sourcing-conscious designers, Pomme Ruby is in 1992 in nearby Mong Hsubut also the increase inthe dream gemstone. Its untreated nature and traceable 72 STATE OF THE MAJORS 2025"