Industry news & reference
Sourcing, pricing, tariffs and trade — the stories that affect what a stone costs and how it moves across a border, alongside standing reference material on treatment and certification. Each item links to the original publication; the note underneath is ours.
Gemfields' first Montepuez ruby sale since writing down the mine sold 90 of 99 lots for $52m, with the strongest bidding on larger, fine-quality stones. A reassuring demand signal for ruby sellers after last month's impairment news.
Gemfields wrote down Mozambique's Montepuez mine by $125m after premium ruby recovery missed forecasts — a reminder that grade assumptions at even top Southern African ruby sources can disappoint, something rough buyers should price in.
AGTA's multi-year Washington lobbying is turning into real country-by-country duty-free treatment for loose coloured gemstones as new US trade deals close. Worth tracking which producing countries land exemptions first — Zimbabwe isn't among them yet.
Zambia's Kagem mine sold every lot at its first commercial-grade emerald auction in nine months, with the average price up nearly a third on the last sale. A useful signal that buyer demand for rough coloured stone is recovering.
Fura Gems sold 96% of lots by volume at its Bangkok rough-ruby sale, with the strongest bidding on larger Mozambican stones. An encouraging sign that buyer appetite for good rough ruby holds even as overall coloured-stone demand stays soft.
Independent confirmation of a new Paraiba-type tourmaline source outside Brazil, Mozambique and Nigeria could reshape supply for copper-bearing tourmaline. Worth watching for anyone trading or grading stones by origin.
A 25% US tariff now applies to polished coloured stones from Brazil while rough material stays exempt. That split matters to anyone exporting cut stones into the American market.
Government credits the rise partly to a policy shift toward beneficiation over raw export. The same value-retention argument sits behind cutting and polishing gemstones in Zimbabwe rather than shipping rough.
Rubellite led tourmaline interest at the Hong Kong fair, with buyers chasing quality over volume. A useful read on what the Asian trade is actually asking for ahead of the September show.
GemGuide has raised Mozambique ruby and cut its Burma chart from ten grades to four, citing scarcity of unenhanced material. When a price guide drops grades rather than adjusting them, availability has become the constraint, not price.
Consumer demand has softened while prices for fine material hold firm. Scarcity at the top of the market is doing the work that broad demand used to.
More than 90% of sapphire on the market is treated, and untreated fine material has tripled in price since the pandemic. The mid-range has thinned, pushing sellers toward either commercial parcels or genuinely fine stones.
Standing material rather than news — what treatments actually do to a stone, and what an independent report does and does not certify. Undated on purpose: this does not go out of date the way a tariff announcement does.
What heating, fracture filling, diffusion and irradiation actually do to a stone, and how each should be disclosed. Treatment is often the single biggest thing separating two stones that look alike in the hand.
What an independent GIA report covers on a coloured stone, including treatment identification and geographic origin. Useful if you want a second opinion on anything before it changes hands.
Headlines and links belong to the publications named. We reproduce no article text — follow the link to read the original.
Tariffs, supply and origin all move what a stone costs to land. Tell us where you are buying into and we will tell you how it affects the price.