Gemfields drives responsible!

Sources Zambian emeralds &

Offers to the world map

Responsible sourcing of coloured gemstones will receive ever-increasing attention and become progressively more important to consumers, predicts Sean Gilbertson, CEO of Gemfields and Kagem Mining. The observation came as Gemfields contributed new data and insights to the latest results of the Knight Frank Luxury Investment Index, which highlighted coloured gemstones.

Gemfields operates the Kagem emerald mine in Lufwanyama in partnership with the government’s Industrial development Corporation (IDC) and is at the forefront of promoting responsibly sourced Zambian emeralds in the international market.

 “The swing towards precious coloured gemstones is overwhelming. The past decade has seen the world record prices for an emerald and rubies surpass that of a colourless diamond on a per carat basis. It surely can’t be long before sapphires overtake diamonds, too,” said Mr Gilbertson.

“We expect vibrant consumer interest and sector growth to continue. Responsible sourcing will receive ever-increasing attention and become progressively more important to consumers, making gemstone provenance perhaps the key driving factor.”

Andrew Shirley, head of luxury research at leading independent global property consultancy Knight Frank, commented, “In this issue of our Luxury Investment Index, we take an in-depth look at the performance of coloured gemstones. The interesting story here is that coloured gemstones are outperforming the wider jewellery market with some significant sales taking place already in 2019.”

At Bonhams’ London sale at the end of April 2019, several coloured gemstone lots blew away their estimates. The top performer was a 17.43-carat Kashmir sapphire ring, formerly owned by a European noble family that fetched £723,063, far exceeding its £300,000 to £400,000 guide price.

The second highest performing lot was a diamond and sapphire transformable necklace by Spanish jeweller, Grassy. Dated to around 1935 and featuring a 34.59-carat Sri Lankan (no heat) sapphire, the necklace sold for £287,562 against its pre-sale estimate of £120,000 to £180,000.

Record prices per carat for rubies have been achieved with prices rising to US$1.2m in 2016, a threefold growth between 2006 and 2016.