b"THE STATE OF RETAIL DIAMONDSJEWELRYCOLORED DESIGN STONESMore widely available are the emeralds from Zambia, some of whichhave the problem of, Is it going to impact my bottom line next month?Michelou says are even more beautiful than Colombian material. The brands have been informed of what is happening at the The oversupply of commercial-quality goods is impacting thismines, and they understand the material, the rarity of it, and the African nation, where, as of press time, production at Gemfieldssourcing process. Kagem mine remains suspended, a move it initiated in December. Also, and perhaps more importantly, they understand the psychology The miners most recent emerald and ruby auctions held priorof the end buyer and how to educate them. to the announcement had yielded lower-than-expected revenues, which it attributed to an oversupply of Zam- COLORS GROWING MARKET SHAREbian emeralds on the market at discountedThe colored gemstone market, as a whole, is prices, lower production of premium rubies,Gems, by definition,experiencing a surge in interest.a weaker luxury market, and civil unrest inare freaks of nature.For years, GemGuide, a trade magazine Mozambique. Once you understandpublished by GemWorld International, To address these challenges, the minerthat part, yourecognized colored stones as an entire category, announced a package of measures designed tousually accounting for somewhere between 9 cut costs and streamline its business, whichunderstand thatand 11 percent of the fine jewelry market, but included the months-long suspension of miningwhatever comes outGemWorld International Inc. President Stuart at Kagem. in gem form and gemRobertson said in Tucson that isnt the case However, some say the use of terms like dis- quality is rare.anymore.counted prices can give a skewed perception ofWere seeing color increasing its market the emerald market. SIMON DUSSART,share. Its become a major profit center, he said Grizzly Mining (the competitor GemfieldsASIA LOUNGES during the presentation he co-hosted alongside is believed to be referring to when it mentionsBranstrator, GemGuides editor-in-chief. discounted prices), which also mines emeraldTheres a refreshing atmosphere of in Zambia, offered a total of 1.93 million carats inopen-mindedness that has developed amid the its December emerald auction. increase in demand.Dussart noted that while theHigher prices across the board are encour-volume of material in the Grizzlyaging buyers to embrace cool inclusions, auction was high, in reality, theunusual colors, and non-traditional cuts.proportion of gem-quality materialSuppliers of the Big Three are was not. learning to ride the wave too.Because it was a lot, it lookedIn 2023, Thailand-based gem-like the prices went down, hestone manufacturer and supplier says, when in fact, prices for theNavneet Gems & Minerals launched a high-end material have not gonewholesale line of portrait-cut Mozam-down at all. bican rubies in non-traditional shapes If you look at the collectionslike kites and hexagons, as well as in from the high jewelers, there arecalibrated cuts. significantly more emeralds, andThe initial collection featured material from so its like, emeralds must be all theruby mining company Fura Gems, and Navneet rage, he says. But no, theres just An emerald ring from Chopards Insofu highrecently expanded the collection with a deep-more emerald right now on the market. jewelry collection, which debuted in 2025. Theer-color material sourced from Gemfields ruby entire collection was developed from a singlemine in Mozambique.rough gemstonethe 6,225-carat Insofu THE ROLE BRANDS COULD PLAY rough emerald. The expansive market is even leading some to While the luxury jewelry brands once boughtplayfully predict that a new Big Three is on the only material from top localitiesthink Colom- horizon. bian emeralds, Ceylon sapphires, and Burmese rubiesthey are nowJason Stephenson, a gemologist at supplier Pala International, a bit more country agnostic, according to Dussart, who pointed towrote in a recent opinion piece for Prism, AGTA's magazine, that he Van Cleef & Arpels as an example. believes the contenders for the title are rare varieties of garnet, spinel, Perhaps, he wonders, the brands are the better way to move theand Paraba tourmaline.ultra-expensive fine quality material, recalling a recent occurrencePeople have an appetite for everything beautiful, precious, and with a luxury brand that was looking at an extremely rare, super-rare in general, Dussart says, and those certainly are adjectives that clean untreated ruby from Thailand weighing more than 5 carats.apply to a clean colored gemstone.Its what the trade would refer to as a unicorn stone. Gems, by definition, are freaks of nature. Once you understand [The brands] can make phenomenal marketing around it to custom- that part, you understand that whatever comes out in gem form and ers who not only have the firepower to get it but on top of that, dontgem quality is rare. It may not be as rare as another, but its still rare. 76 STATE OF THE MAJORS 2025"