The Knight Frank Luxury Investment Index (KFLII) report, released by the independent global property consultancy in June, focuses on the increasing value of coloured gemstones, seen to be outperforming the wider jewellery market and therefore increasingly popular with investors and collectors worldwide. The KFLII series provides data on investments of passion, such as whisky, cars, jewellery and others, tracking each over time.
The report said that although jewellery looks to have had a tough twelve months, the overall figure hides a more nuanced story.
While pearl jewellery did indeed fall back in value by 13% over the past year – after a decade of very strong growth – other sectors of the market performed much better. Belle Époque and Art Deco jewellery, for example, saw 9% growth, while Post-War jewellery was up 7%.
Andrew Shirley, head of luxury research at Knight Frank, commented, “In this issue of our Luxury Investment Index, we take an in-depth look at the performance of coloured gemstones. The interesting story here is that coloured gemstones are outperforming the wider jewellery market with some significant sales taking place already in 2019.”
At Bonhams’ London sale at the end of April 2019, several coloured gemstone lots blew away their estimates. The top performer was a 17.43-carat Kashmir sapphire ring, formerly owned by a European noble family that fetched £723,063, far exceeding its £300,000 to £400,000 guide price. The second highest performing lot was a diamond and sapphire transformable necklace by Spanish jeweller, Grassy. Dated to around 1935 and featuring a 34.59-carat Sri Lankan (unheated) sapphire, the necklace sold for £287,562 against its pre-sale estimate of £120,000 to £180,000.
Record prices per carat for rubies have been achieved with prices rising to $1.2 million in 2016, a threefold growth between 2006 and 2016.
Sean Gilbertson, CEO of Gemfields, noted, “The swing towards precious coloured gemstones is overwhelming. The past decade has seen world record prices for an emerald and ruby surpass that of a colourless diamond on a per carat basis. It surely can’t be long before sapphires overtake diamonds, too. We expect vibrant consumer interest and sector growth to continue. Responsible sourcing will receive ever-increasing attention and become progressively more important to consumers, making gemstone provenance perhaps the key driving factor.”
The Knight Frank Luxury Investment Index: Q1 2019
Record Auction Prices Of Gemstones Achieved Per Carat
| Coloured Stones | Auction Price |
| Ruby | $1,196,809 |
| Emerald | $305,516 |
| Colourless Diamond | $282,485 |
| Sapphire | $242,145 |
Shishir Baijal, chairman & managing director, Knight Frank India, said, “Promising auction prices of coloured gemstones depict that consumers prefer high quality gemstones that are rare to collect and unique in designs. More than 100% incremental value of the gemstones and jewellery over a decade have made them lucrative asset investment classes, than just purchasing it for aesthetic value. Indian ultra-high net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) are increasingly making passion-led investments in gems and jewellery. Much of the rising popularity of coloured gemstones is due to growing awareness and developments that have boosted consumer confidence, such as widespread certification, more industry transparency, and gemmological analysis.”
Evolution of Rubies: Record Prices Achieved Per Carat At Auction House Sales
Jean Ghika, global head of jewellery at Bonhams, said, “The rarity factor is an undeniable pull. Potential buyers are looking to expand their collections beyond colourless diamonds. They’re keen to seek out the very best examples of highly desirable and rare specimens, whether that be Kashmir sapphires, Burma rubies or no-oil emeralds, the likes of which they may never find again.”