Gemfields emerald auction earns $9.9 million

Raj Kumar Tongya, a cutter and polisher of emeralds, is a celebrity today among the gemstone manufacturers of Jaipur. His claim to fame — a prized possession of a rare 720 carat rough emerald stone, which he bought at the Gemfields’ emerald auction last year in Johannesburg.

Gemfields is one of the world’s biggest emerald miners and Tongya’s emerald was unearthed from the mines of Kagem, Zambia.

Fielding media questions at Gemfields’ latest emerald auction in Jaipur, Tongya says, “I call it the divine green of Zambia—it’s truly a unique piece.” And as someone who has been in the business of gemstones for over 30 years, he would know how uncommon the stone is.

He passes a ray of fibre optic light through the stone and reveals the perfect crystal green beauty of the emerald. “Emeralds are beautiful and we count it as luxury now,” says Tongya.

“The emerald market in India has picked up fast in the last couple of years,” says Sanjay Singhal of Singhal Gems. While the price of emerald has appreciated by 25-30%, the demand has witnessed a growth of over 50% in the last three years, he says, quantifying the Indian market.

Ian Harebottle, the chief executive officer of Gemfields, is another man who is upbeat about the prospects of his emeralds in India.

“The Indian jewellery industry loves emeralds. Diamonds are beautiful, but emeralds have a class of their own,” he says.
No wonder then Gemfields’ auction in Jaipur drew a large crowd from across India. The five-day auctioning process, which started on March 10 at Gemfields’ Jaipur office, saw entries from more than 100 participants.

The company shortlisted 48 gemstone companies to personally examine each of the 35 lots (called schedules) that were up for bidding. On the last day when the auction results were announced, Harebottle’s company walked away with $9.9 million of realised sales, the second highest auction revenue posted by the company till date.

Of the 16.83 million carats, divided into 35 lots, that were auctioned, 12.98 million carats were sold from 34 lots. On an average, 14 bids were placed per lot out of the 44 companies that finally placed the bids. The revenues realised in the current bidding saw a jump of 37.5% from last year’s Jaipur auction when the company garnered $7.2 million of sales.

“Around 20 years ago, things in India started to change; people have disposable incomes now and have preference for coloured stones again. It is only through consistent supply, proper positioning and marketing that emeralds can compete with diamonds,” Harebottle says.

“The way I look at it, when I give my wife a piece of emerald jewellery, I am not only giving her a beautiful precious stone, but I am also leaving a legacy,” says Harebottle, reflecting on the times when emeralds were handed over from one generation to another by the Mughals and the Maharajas.

“I have to sell my emerald one day. But I will hold on to it for a long time and enjoy the status of owning one of the rarest of pieces which is seen once in a lifetime,” says Tongya. He says that before getting down to his regular business of cutting and polishing his prized possession, he plans to showcase his stone at gems and jewellery museums worldwide.