As a gem merchant since 1950, I buy and sell precious and semi-precious gemstones from all over the world. Below is a reprint of a June 1995 article I wrote describing my observations about some of the gem markets at that time. While prices have certainly changed over the last 15 years, these observations about the factors that influence gem prices remain as they have always been – valid and useful.
Reprinted from “The Gem News” – June 1995 – by Anil B. Dholakia:
Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Anil Dholakia and I have been in the gem and precious gemstone business for approximately 45 years. I would like to share my observations about some of the markets that I have done business in during the last 45 years. During that time frame, many new gemstones have come and gone. I have noticed a number of factors that can contribute to this. One such factor is the fact that sometimes the deposits become depleted. Another factor includes geo-political conditions that can affect the prices of gemstones.
When I was in my 20’s, I started visiting Far Eastern gem sources and traveled to Thailand, Burma, Indonesia and had an extended stay in Japan during the 1950’s. The Japanese market was young and most of the jewelry was made of pearls and some white gold. Some opal, jade and amethyst was also used; however, there were no colored gemstones being used in Japan to make jewelry. Now it is one of the largest gemstone markets in the world.
During this period, Burma was under various socialist/communist regimes which was the main reason why there few gemstones coming out of this area. One good example of a gemstone increasing in value was in the late 1950’s when Jade was becoming scarce in the United States.
Another example of gemstones increasing in price includes Kunzite. Back in the early 1950’s, Kunzite could be obtained from Brazil for as little as 25 cents per carat. Good Kunzite now sells for $35 to $50 per carat.
Of course everyone is now familiar with the increasing value of Tanzanite — which back in the 1960’s could be had for about $2 to $3 per carat in commercial quanity. Now Tanzanite can sell for up to $200 to $500 per carat.
Iolite was not even on the market back in the 1960’s. The only people who bought Iolite were collectors who purchased the gemstone for themselves. Back then, Iolite sold for about 25 cents a carat. A good Iolite now is in the range of $50 per carat and above.
Alexandrite is another exmaple of gemstone that rocketed skyward in terms of price. When Alexandrite first came out, it was considered only semi-precious. It has now become one of the rarest and most expensive gemstones in the world.
Demantoid Garnet is another example of a gemstone that has become rare and very expensive. Back when Demantoid was not considered rare or precious, it was used in the United Kingdom in silver jewelry during the last century. It is not an extremely valuable and expensive gemstone – often bringing anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 per carat.
It is not hard to see that there is a pattern here.
Anyone who has dealt in selling gemstones for profit and replacing their inventory can tell you that this story repeats itself over and over again. The gemstones you used to buy ten years ago at 25 cents per carat cannot be had for less than $25 per carat. It happens over and over again.
Some other factors that affect the prices of gemstones are:
- Demand for the gemstone.
- Acceptance of the gemstones from one or another major world markets (Asia, Europe, USA).
- In many cases, a particular mine or deposit will become depleted with a 5 to 10 year period.
- Political conditions inside a producing country can change.
These different forces alone or in combination with one another have almost always had the effect of pushing the price of a particular gemstone(s) upward for as long as anyone can remember.
More information about Rare and Collectible Gems is available on our business website – www.gemanil.com.
The Gem Merchant 