filings. Cut rubies have risen in value 63 percent since 2005 and sapphires by 45 percent, according to Gemval, an online gem appraisal site.
The reason for the shift in tastes is multifaceted. Colored stones are still less expensive, a plus for star-struck lovers on a budget during hard times. A 0.9-carat round diamond that’s internally flawless and of rare white color costs about $7,000, according to online retailer Blue Nile (NILE). A round emerald with “excellent clarity” of the same size costs about half as much, according to online vendor AfricaGems. Some of the interest in colored stones is “celebrity driven,” says Caitlin Mociun, a Brooklyn-based jewelry designer. “One reason might be Kate Middleton having a sapphire engagement ring, or even Beyoncé having a black diamond engagement ring. Those things, especially for a mass market, can definitely drive a trend.” Hollywood personality Jessica Simpson’s engagement ring sported two diamonds, but the ruby in its center got all the press and sparked numerous knockoffs. Halle Berry’s ring featured a 4carat emerald that several celebrity magazines breathlessly announced came from “closed-down mines in Muzo, Colombia.” At a gem trade show in Hong Kong last year, Russell Shor, an analyst with the Gem Institute of America, immediately noticed the new interest in colored stones. “People were all of a sudden really hot to buy emeralds,” he says.
That may not be an accident. Harebottle, whose company produces about 20 percent of the world’s emeralds, is increasing Gemfields’ marketing budget, trying to exploit fissures in the diamond industry that until recent years was controlled by De Beers. Until the 1940s, the colored-stone market was about equal in size to the diamond industry. 10