Coloured gemstones investment continue to dominate the jewellery markets 

The 2018 report by Knight Frank found coloured gemstone market outperformed other wider jewellery categories, where it is highly in demand with collectors and investors globally.

One of the rare gems, a 17.43-carat Kashmir sapphire ring, was one of the best performing at the Bonhams auctions in April this year in London. A rich European family owned this ring, which exceeded the price guide ( in the range of £300,000 to £400,000) and got £723,063.

Whisk was The top-performing asset class per Knight Frank in the year's first quarter. Jewellery generally declined by 5 per cent in the last 12 months, but the coloured category did not show negative growth.

The key three gems, ruby, emeralds, and sapphires, gained significantly. Where the auction price of sapphire was estimated to be $242,145 a carat, and emerald was at $305,516 (a carat), while ruby gained significantly, and its auction average stood at $1,196,809 (a carat).

Investors diversifying

Most high net-worth individual and institutional investors are trying to diversify into these markets, creating desirability and increased demand for the rare specimens of the three varieties.

Fancy colour stones are outperforming in the jewellery market, and their sales have increased significantly in the last year. Most of the price increase is attributed to the growing awareness about such products, which boosted consumer confidence.

Introducing widespread certification, improved transparency, regulatory support, and gemological studies have enhanced trustworthiness. Even sellers are cautious as they try to sell only environmentally friendly and ethically sourced gems to the buyers.

Millennial inclination

The most suspecting buyers are millennials, who are individualistic towards the asset class. Young buyers try to gain knowledge about such items through multiple sources and search for various options online, resulting in increased market competition.

Also, the sellers are gaining clients from different parts of the world. A survey on jewellers by JCK Las Vegas found that the topmost strategy adopted by the seller was to contact the client on social sites, where 82 per cent planned to advertise their products on social media, and 61 per cent were interested in posting their products on paid search or online ads. 

The trend of making the sale at auction houses has been replaced by online auctions that offer higher transparency in deals.

Last year the auctioneers Christie and Sotheby made a total sale of $906.3 million, where a decline in jewellery sales was reported by 17.6 per cent compared to 2017.

Most of their auctions were held in London, Geneva, New York, and Hong Kong, and they said the year was dominated by the fancy/statement gemstones or the private collection from royals as the collectors have become more selective and dealers are pickier than ever.