As one of the big three in gems, sapphire is never too far away from the spotlight. The appearance of a new source in Madagascar and concerns related to the unstandardised use of colour terms which have significant impact on the price, are viral topics in the industry.
Madagascan sapphires
Traditionally blue sapphires of the highest quality come from the legendary Kashmir valley in the present day India and Pakistan but Kashmir sapphires are extremely rare nowadays due to depletion of mines and little mining activities. In March 2017, Swiss Gemmological Institute (SSEF) issued a trade alert after blue sapphires from a new source in Madagascar were found to display ‘Kashmir-like’ appearances. These Madagascan sapphires “are characterised by a subtle and fine milkiness, which results in a velvety blue colour as is known from top-quality Kashmir sapphires”, according to the alert.
While there have always been sapphire productions in Madagascar, according to an Associated Press (AP) article published in April 2017, more high-quality sapphires have been found in the biodiverse area known as Corridor Ankeniheny-Zahamena during the previous six months than were found in the entire country over the past 20 years. This sapphire rush reached such a scale that the biodiversity of the area concerned is threatened. Some local schools near the region even had staffing problems as teachers left their jobs to try their hand at mining. In the article, Vincent Pardieu, senior manager, field gemology department of Gemmological Institute of America (GIA), Bangkok said: “It’s the most important discovery in Madagascar for the past 20 or 30 years.”
Mining in Madagascar is mostly carried out by independent artisan miners, some of whom are sponsored by foreign buyers. Almost all mining of rubies and sapphires are controlled by Sri Lankan companies or merchants in the country, said Muhammad Mansoor, president of SapphireBazaar.com, an online coloured sapphire and ruby trading company with offices in the United States, Madagascar, Turkey and a lapidary in Sri Lanka with a production capacity of approximately 60,000 carats per year.
Compared to Sri Lankan sapphires, many of the sapphires mined in Madagascar are identical while they come in a generally lower price point due to the difference in supply chain. An exception is the violet colour, which is actually cheaper in Sri Lanka as it is scarce in Madagascar, Mansoor explained. Interestingly, in his experience, Sri Lankan sapphires are much more popular among retail buyers simply because of the name ‘Ceylon’ despite the widespread ignorance amongst end-consumers about the meaning of ‘Ceylon sapphire’ and its association with Sri Lanka. Many of their wholesale buyers prefer Madagascan blue sapphires because of first the lower prices and second the easier availability to meet custom cut orders.
Supply & demand
“There has been an increased supply of blue sapphires in the market due to a surge in African production, particularly from Madagascar. As a result there was a slight drop in price by approximately 20 percent. However, with these new mines depleting, prices have shifted back to where they were”, said Nabeel Salie, director of operations at Natural Sapphires Ceylon, a group of companies involved in the trading and manufacturing of loose blue sapphires and jewellery. With their own mines in Sri Lanka, the company processes over 50,000 carats of sapphires annually. Their loose sapphire business involves calibrated stones of one to five carats, layouts of five to 12 carats and pairs and single pieces from 12 to 100 carats.
Muhammad Mansoor, whose business focuses on loose sapphires below two carats, observed an increase in prices, citing that “prices are increasing for all colours, especially for blue sapphires”. A significant factor is the change in mining regulations in Sri Lanka, including heavy licensing fees, enforcement of strict safety regulations, banning of river mining and certain restrictions on heavy machines which limited mining operations, coupled with increased demand for blue sapphires in the Far East and India.
Nabeel Salie said demand has shifted mildly from the East, mostly China, towards the United States and Europe. Customers in the East are generally more quality conscious and are after the finest goods while in the West there is greater demand for commercial grade goods. For single stones, ovals, rounds, cushions and pears in royal blue hue are bestselling, while layouts and pairs ranging between US$150 and 12,000 per carat move the fastest, he commented.
A representative of Blue Gems, a blue sapphire trading company established in 2003 in Thailand, commented that loose stones of one to four carats are bestsellers, and the most popular shape is oval. They observed that the price of smaller stones is more stable as they tend to move faster. Their customers generally ask for sapphires of Sri Lankan origins. This year, to directly reach more end-consumers, they have developed retail platforms on Instagram, Wechat, etc.
Mining operation
Comparing the mining operations in Sri Lanka and Madagascar, Muhammad Mansoor said in Sri Lanka, the previously independent artisan miners are now employed by companies who have obtained licenses and approval from government authorities. It has led to more environmentally friendly practices and safer conditions for miners whereas in Madagascar, the case is almost opposite.
As a result of the vastness and remoteness of the deposits in Madagascar, mining is carried out by independent artisan miners. While the local government is trying to regulate mining it is hindered by corruption and poverty. Also, unlike Sri Lanka, mining in Madagascar does not require deep-tunnel mining, which makes safety concerns less severe there. In addition, the Ministry of Mining and Minerals is carrying out education related to safety and ethical mining by providing free on-site courses regularly through cooperation with the Gemmological Institute of Madagascar (IGM), Mansoor explained.
Colour terms
As with other coloured gemstones, trade colour terms such as ‘cornflower blue’ and ‘royal blue’ play crucial roles in determining the price of blue sapphires. In March 2017, a seminar dedicated to the naming of gemstone colours was held during the Hong Kong International Jewellery Show. While speakers from established organisations have different opinions on how to approach the colours, there is no consensus whatsoever among the trade.
Cidgem Lule of Gemworld International advocates the use of a standardised colour communication instead of the trade colour terms, such as their “World of Color” communication system, which is based on the Munsell colour system that specifies colours in terms of hue, lightness and colour purity.
Michael S Krzemnicki of SSEF mentioned that so far there is no international standard for terms such as ‘royal blue’. Nevertheless, in 2015, SSEF and Gübelin Gem Lab harmonised their internal criteria although final grading results may differ as it depends on the independent opinion of each lab. In SSEF, for a blue sapphire to be named ‘royal blue’ in their report, the gemstone will be graded by comparison with a master set of natural sapphires. Apart from the presence of a blue colour of strong saturation either without or with only a very slight purplish hint, there are specific chemical and spectroscopic properties related to colour that a natural, untreated blue sapphire needs to fulfil in order to qualify as ‘royal blue’.
For other labs, there are different solutions and views. For instance, GRS Gemresearch Swisslab creates their own colour trade terms, including ‘GRS-type royal blue’ and ‘GRS-type cornflower’ which are used in their grading reports. While in its publication GRS Color Terms Go Global it has provided verbal description of the colours represented by these terms, it does not provide any physical explanation or parameters.
At this point it is up to the trade and end-consumers to choose what systems and communication approaches to use.
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