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 June 2009
In our newsletter this month:
• Gemstone Prices during Recession
• New and Interesting Gemstones
• Rare and Unusual Gems
• Customer Questions
Gemstone Prices during Recession
The prices of many goods fall during periods of economic recession. Multiple factors contribute to declining prices, including falling consumer demand, liquidation sales, and attempts to stimulate business through discounting. Depending on the severity of the economic downturn, the effect may be shortlived. In a protracted recession, such as Japan experienced in the 1990's, a nasty deflationary spiral can develop, where steadily falling prices lead consumers to delay purchases in the hope that they can buy the same goods in the future at a lower price.
But not all commodity prices fall during recession. While oil prices fell dramatically during the current recession, the price of gold has remained stubbornly high, even rising from the start of the global economic crisis in October 2008. This is not unusual in a recession, when speculators seek a safe haven in gold.
The high price of gold has certainly cut into jewelry sales, even leading some consumers to cash in their gold jewelry. Sales of luxury items like jewelry are always slow during economic downturns, but the high price of precious metals has made times even tougher for many jewelers and jewelry designers.
Surprisingly, the gems trade has not suffered to the same degree. This is because the market for fine gemstones tends to be supply-limited, not demand-limited. The demand for the finer stones always exceeds supply, and the better the stone the more competition there is to buy it. Smart gem dealers put as much effort into establishing sources for good stones as they do marketing their wares.
We are fortunate to have a diversified business, with customers in more than 90 countries. That has helped cushion the impact of the recession on our business. In fact you may have noticed that we've actually increased our buying in these tough times while many other dealers are cutting back. For us it's an opportunity to buy special stones at good prices. We've been buying more calibrated pieces and more top-grade sapphire, including many unheated stones. We've also added substantially to our stock in aquamarine, spinel, tanzanite and spessartite garnet.
Few economists are brave enough to forecast an end to this recession. We're all hopeful that we might see some improvement by the end of the year. In the meantime we're taking advantage of the opportunity to buy some especially fine gems.
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| New and Interesting Gems -- updated November 9th |
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Watermelon Tourmaline from Nigeria: Watermelon tourmaline is one of the most distinctive gems in the world. We have just purchased a small number of exquisite pieces from Nigerian with outstanding color and clarity. These are the finest we've seen this year. |
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Boulder Opal from Australia: Boulder Opal is the second most prized form of opal, after black opal. The name derives from the fact that this opal is found embedded in ironstone boulders. Boulder opal is especially attractive because, like the black opal, it has a dark body tone which adds vibrancy to the play of color. We've just purchased a small lot of excellent pieces, in sizes between 4 and 15 carats. |
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Clinohumite from Tanzania: Clinohumite is a rare mineral. It is a member of the humite group of minerals, which includes humite, clinohumite, chondrodite, and norbergite. Only three sources of gem-quality clinohumite are known: the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan, the Taymyr region of northern Siberia and the Mahenge plateau of Tanzania. Usually clinohumite is found in sizes under 1 carat but we just have acquired a small number of new pieces from Tajikistan in the 2-3 carat size. |
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Huge Topaz from Brazil: Gem-quality minerals are sometimes found in exceptionally large sizes. We've acquired some natural topaz from Brazil in sizes between 360 and 507 carats. We currently have 4 pieces in a light champagne color with outstanding clarity (all of been graded IF). Collectors take note. |
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Fluorite from Namibia: Fluorite is said to be the most colorful mineral in the world. We've just bought a new stock of some very colorful pieces, including electric greens and blues and some fascinating multicolor pieces. Most of the new pieces are in the 10 to 45 carat size, with a few larger stones, all with excellent clarity. We've recently added some very colorful cabochons as well. |
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Color-Change Diaspore from Turkey: Diaspore, sometimes marketed under the name Zultanite, is a color change gem from Turkey recently introduced to the international market. Under natural or fluorescent light, Diapsore has a kiwi green color, with flashes of yellow. Diaspore displays a champagne color under incandescent lighting, and when exposed to subdued lighting, such as candlelight, has a pinkish hue. We've recently bought a substantial number of new pieces, with a good choice of cuts and sizes. |
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Snowflake Obsidian from Mexico: Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass. It is formed when felsic lava extruded from a volcano cools without crystal growth.In some stones, the inclusion of small, white, radially clustered crystals of cristobalite in the black glass produce a blotchy or snowflake pattern, and this is known in the gem trade as snowflake obsidian. |
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Unheated Sapphire from Tanzania, Madagascar and Thailand: Our unheated sapphires have been very popular and we continue to increase our stock (now over 700 pieces). For the discriminating gem buyer who will accept nothing less than 100% natural, you'll find pink, blue, green, yellow and violet pieces, all guaranteed to be unheated. You may be surprised how affordable these are in the smaller sizes. |
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Seraphinite from Russia: Seraphinite is a trade name for a particular form of clinochlore, a member of the chlorite group. The dark green color of seraphinite is enhanced by a silvery and feathery shimmer caused by mica inclusions. Seraphinite was named for the seraphim, the highest order of angels, because of the feather-like appearance of the chatoyant fibers in the stone. This fascinating gemstone is a new addition our inventory. |
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Top Grade Amethyst from Brazil: We've just acquired some top grade natural amethyst from Brazil in very large sizes, ranging from about 20 to 75 carats. These are all VVS or IF clarity in the richest purple we've seen in amethyst in a long time. If you've been looking for a very special piece of amethyst, you'll want to check these out. |
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Demantoid Garnet from Namibia: Demantoid is the rarest and most valuable of the garnets, and is one of the most difficult to find of all colored gems. It is one of the few colored gemstones with a luster and brilliance similar to diamond. We have built up a stock of more than 100 pieces of Namibian demantoid, including some very fine matched pairs. |
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Amber from Poland: Amber is the fossilized hardened resin of the pine tree, Pinus succinifera, formed mainly in the Eocene epoch of the Tertiary period, about 50 million years ago. Amber has been used since prehistoric times for jewelry, amulets and religious objects. The most prized pieces contain inclusions of insects or plants or pyrites. Most amber is found in the Baltic region. We buy amber just a few times a year from our source in Poland and we've just added a new stock. |
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Turquoise from Afghanistan: Turquoise has been known and valued for thousands of years. We've bought some new pieces from Afghanistan, in an interesting variety of blue and blue-green hues. We've also found some of the popular apple-green turquoise that we first carried last year, and some superb matched pairs in blue. |
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Huge Star Rose Quartz from South Africa: We carry many large gemstones, but none as large as these Star Rose Quartz. We've collected 9 pieces over 100 carats, with the largest weighing in at an amazing 974 carats. The star effect in rose quartz is unusual in any size, but quite rare in these very large stones. |
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Axinite from Tanzania: Axinite is a group of brown to violet-brown or reddish brown minerals that sometimes occur in gem quality. Axinite is distinctive for its strong vitreous luster when polished, and its interesting pyro- and piezo-electric properties. Axinite is also popular with mineral collectors due to its unusual crystal structure. We have found a small stock of golden brown Axinite from Tanzania. |
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Spinel from Burma: We buy fine spinel whenever we can find it, and we've recently added some very fine pieces of Burmese spinel. You'll find red, violet, orange, blue and gray in a variety of shapes and sizes, including a good selection of pairs and lots. |
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Blue Sapphire from Madagascar, Ceylon and Tanzania: One of the most classic of all colored gemstones, the blue sapphire is always fashionable. This brilliant and hard-wearing gemstone is perfect for any kind of jewelry. We've added many new stones to our stock of more than 400 blue sapphires, including a number of excellent cornflower blue pieces. |
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Jadeite from Burma: Jade has been known and treasured for more than 7,000 years. But only in 1863 was it discovered that jade is actually not a single mineral. What was traditionally called jade is in fact two separate and distinct minerals: jadeite and nephrite. Jadeite is the rarer and more valuable jade, with the most famous deposits coming from Burma. We have verified samples of our Jadeite at the AIGS gemological lab in Bangkok. You'll find a good range of colors in these, including white, green and lavender. |
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Spessartite Garnet from Mozambique: We have added a large number of new pieces to our extensive inventory of this very popular gem. We now have over 500 pieces in stock, in mandarin and red-orange, in both cabochon and faceted. The range of sizes and quality grades is extensive. Our most recent additions are in the best mandarin orange color, mainly in smaller sizes. |
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Color-Change Garnet from Tanzania and Madagascar: We've recently found some rare Color-Change Garnet from Tanzania with a dramatic color change from greenish-brown to red pink. We have a small number of pieces, mostly eye-clean, in the 1 to 2 carat size. We've added these to our substantial stock of Color-Change Garnet from Madagascar. |
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Sphene from Sri Lanka: We have added some excellent new pieces to our stock of this rare gemstone famous for its remarkable dispersion or fire. These are bright golden and green pieces in interesting shapes and cuts, including a number of rounds in smaller sizes. Sphene tends to have inclusions, but we've found a number of eye-clean pieces. |
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Emerald from Colombia: We have just received a new stock of Colombian emeralds with rich color and good transparency. These are mainly ovals and pears in smaller sizes, ideal for earrings and ring settings. |
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Rare and Unusual Gems
Each month we feature a rare and unusual gem from our inventory. This month we feature a rare flawless Paraiba Tourmaline from Mozambique.
A rare vivid blue-green tourmaline was first discovered in the Brazililan state of Paraiba in 1989. Lab analysis showed the unusual color was due to the presence of copper and manganese. Market demand for these stones was so strong that the Brazilian mines were soon worked out. Fortunately similar material was discovered in Nigeria in 2001, and then in Mozambique in 2005.
The Mozambique material is regarded by many experts as the closest in color to the original Brazilian cuprian tourmaline. But where the Brazilian stones tended be heavily included, the Mozambique mines sometimes yield very clean specimens. But the 2.21 carat trillion pictured above is the first Paraiba tourmaline we've found that is graded IF.
Customer Questions
Every month we answer questions of general interest from our customers. Please feel free to send your questions to help@gemselect.com. |
| Q: |
I have heard that the sapphire from Kashmir is the best. Do you sell this sapphire? RG, Canada |
| A: |
Kashmir sapphire is indeed the most famous sapphire in the world. But it is extremely rare. New sapphire is rarely found in Kashmir, and in fact most of the material that exists was discovered more than 100 years ago. You will almost never see genuine Kashmir sapphire offered for sale; indeed they rarely appear even at the high end auctions.
Apart from its extreme rarity, Kashmir sapphire is valued for its intense cornflower blue and its silky sheen (due to rutile inclusions). You will sometimes find a similar color in the best sapphires from Ceylon, Burma and Madagascar. Here is an example of a fine cornflower blue sapphire from Sri Lanka (Ceylon).
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| Q: |
How can I find the untreated stones on your website? I want to buy a blue sapphire that has not been treated in any way. Thank you. CY, Singapore |
| A: |
We have created pages where you can view just our unheated sapphires and our untreated gems in all varieties. Just click the links to visit the pages. Once you reach these pages you can use the blue pull-down menu to sort the gems by size, weight, color, shape and price.
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| A final note -- If you send us email, please be assured that we answer all our email very promptly, 6 days a week. But we sometimes have problems with spam filters on the receiving end, so please adjust the settings on your mail client so you can receive mail from help@gemselect.com.
Happy gem hunting,
Your friends at GemSelect |
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