Gemstones Of The Future

Joel Arem writes:

Jewelry store is where the public learns about stones. And the typical jeweler’s business in colored stones is only 10% +/- of his overall trade. Because of this most jewelers are not well informed about colored stones and cannot effectively promote them. A cyclical chain of events begins here at the jewelry store and ends there as well. What is not offered to the public, the public has no chance to discover, and without awareness there is no demand. Therefore obviously without demand, there will be no sales or increased sales. The break in this vicious circle will come only through education. As we all know, education in the form of advertising is expensive but this is what is needed to change the direction of the gemstone market. The best example of this is the classic success story of the diamond industry on a grand scale and the familiar story of tanzanite on an impressive smaller scale. We, the gemologist, jeweler and gem dealer, have the responsibility to educate the public about what gems are available. This can be accompanied by increasing the varieties displayed and more importantly knowing all there is to know about each and every one of them. Of the 259 mineral + species only 30-40 are durable enough for us in jewelry and of the remainder about 15 are seen with regularity and are considered commercial. The rest are either too soft or fragile and should be classified as what he terms the ‘collector’ stones or ‘exotics’.

It is necessary to consider some of the reasons why diamonds are so popular. The first consideration is supply. There is sufficient quantity available to be marketed on a large scale. The market was created and maintained brilliantly. What the public buys is what the public sees. If gems are not shown to the public through the jewelry stores and if they are not promoted at this level, they will never become popular. There is also a fine balance between supply and demand. Some gemstones have disappeared from the marketplace due to exhausted sources. Gems are like oil wells, when they are depleted that’s the end. You go to some place else.

The real excitement will come when the gemologists can convince the jewelers to learn, to promote and to teach the public. This will achieve a ground swell of interests that will result in exposure, high prices, more enthusiasm and mining + new localities. It will all start to happen. It’s our job and our challenge.