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Performer of 2016:
Rhodolite and other red garnets

Here is a price list (US $/carat) for hand cut, certified and untreated gemstones:

Remarks

Dollar per carat based on average (multi-carat) stones depending on variety (e.g. rubies are generally much smaller than, say zircon)

Rule: bigger is expensive, smaller is cheaper, matched pairs are higher

Prices exclusively for untreated and certified gems in 2015 (if you find stones in our stock that are cheaper they may have been graded in earlier years, snatch them before we notice and up the price)

Dark stones and bargains are here not considered

Precision cuts are works of art and can easily double a gems value

Price span within one group reflects smaller quality issues and differences in size

Presumption: international single item retail (not wholesale or parcels)

Some varieties like topaz, ruby or sapphire cost only a fraction when treated.

As a rule Burmese stones are significantly more, African stones less expensive than Sri Lankan gems

Please ask for prices of specialties such as color changers, chrome tourmaline or cats eye alexandrite (these stones are too rare and complicated for a general price lists)

Subject to the development of the US Dollar vs. Asian currencies

Blue/Violet	Poor	Fair	Good	Very Good	Excellent
*Sapphire*	<150	150-400	400-2000	2000-10000	10000+
*Aquamarine*	<80	80-400	400-900	900-1600	1600+
Indicolite	100	100-200	200-400	400-800	800+
*Spinel*	<60	60-200	200-500	500-1000	1000+
*Zircon*	<50	<150	150-400	400-600	600+
*Topaz*	200	200-300	300-800	800-1200	1200+


Red/Pink	Poor	Fair	Good	Very Good	Excellent
*Padparadscha*	<150	150-500	500-2000	2000-10000	10000+
*Ruby*	<300	300-1000	1k-3000	3000-10000	10000+
*Pink Sapphire*	<100	100-500	500-1000	1000-2500	2500+
*Spinel*	<80	80-500	500-1000	1000-2000	2000+
*Topaz*	<100	100-400	400-800	800-1200	1200+
*Tourmaline*	<100	100-250	250-500	500-900	900+
*Zircon*	<50	<100	100-200	200-400	400+
*Hessonite*	<50	<100	100-200	200-400	400+
*Almadine*	<50	<100	100-200	200-400	400+
*Rasberry*	<50	<100	100-200	200-300	300+
*Rhodolite*	<100	<200	200-400	400-600	600+
*Pyrope*	no value	<50	<100	100-250	250+

Yellow/Brown	Poor	Fair	Good	Very Good	Excellent
*Sapphire*	150	150-400	400-800	800-2000	2000+
*Chrys. Cat's*	100	100-300	300-700	700-1000	1000+
*Chrysoberyl*	<50	50-100	100-500	500-1000	1000+
*Hessonite*	no value	<50	50-200	200-400	400+
*Sinhalite*	no value	<50	50-100	100-200	200+
*Zircon*	no value	<80	80-150	150-300	300+
*Grossular*	<50	50-100	100-200	200-500	500+
*Tourmaline*	50	50-100	100-200	200-300	300+
*Scapolite*	no value	<50	50-100	100-200	200+


Purple	Poor	Fair	Good	Very Good	Excellent
*Sapphire*	100	100-400	400-800	800-1200	1200+
*Spinel*	<50	50-200	200-300	300-500	500+
*Tourmaline*	<50	50-100	100-200	200-30	300+
*Rhodolite*	<50	<100	100-200	200-400	400+
*Amethyst*	no value	100	100-200	200-300	300+




Green	Poor	Fair	Good	Very Good	Excellent
*Chrys. Cat's*	100	100-200	200-400	400-800	800+
*Sapphire*	200	200-400	400-800	800-1200	1200+
Alexandrite Chrysoberyl	150 <50	150-500 50-100	500-2000 100-200	2000-10000 200-500	10000+ 500+
*Tourmaline*	100	<200	200-500	500-750	750+
*Zircon*	no value	<30	30-100	100-300	300+
*Diopside*	no value	<50	50-100	100-200	200+
*Kornerupine*	no value	<50	50-90	90-160	160+
*Garnet*	<200	200-400	400-900	900-1500	1500+

White	Poor	Fair	Good	Very Good	Excellent
*Sapphire*	100	100-200	200-500	500-1500	1500+
*Quartz*	50	50-100	100-200	200-300	300+
*Topaz*	no value	50	50-200	200-400	400+
*Beryl*	no value	<50	50-100	100-400	400+

Learn about grading

Ask about pricing

Gemstones on the Web

If you are new to buying stones on the web, you might wonder why apparently similar looking stones are marked with completely different prices.

Compared within one company, the reason will most likely be that the gem photo does not show the stone's true beauty or else hides its flaws.

An honest web dealer will set his price based on the stone and not its photo.

However, a price will also be influenced by the sellers future expectations of the stone's value, his personal taste and the current demand for a particular variety.

If you compare prices between companies, especially on an international basis, the differences might be even bigger.

Here are possible reasons:

The cost structure on Fifth Avenue NY is different from that of a suburb of Bangkok (which does not mean NY traders sell too high but they offer a completely different service level).
Some old time traders have discovered the web as a channel to sell off their bad leftovers.
Some are said to use sample photos instead of actual ones.
You are looking at industrial quality sold at cutting costs (read below: The $2.99 question)

As a rule, never buy without certificates (third-party, not self-made, mind you) and sufficient inspection time.

When you compare carat prices, make you sure you compare on the same level:

Some companies charge extra for transport, insurance, certificates, listing etc. and you might end up paying double prices per carat before the stone is finally at your door. See our "No Extra Fees" policy.

Auction:

EBay is notorious for $10 offers on stones that the sellers claim have a declared market value of $1000. Why should someone sell a $1000 stone for ten dollars, unless he is really desperate - which wouldn't give him time for EBay anyway?

You might sometimes find an undervalued bargain on EBay (if you know more than the seller), but you will definitely not get a fine sapphire for $10. If that were so, nobody would be working anymore, let alone mining.

Nobody will sell significantly under value. In the gem trade as much as (or even more than) anywhere else the old rule applies: You only get what you pay for!

The $2.99 question. We are frequently asked:

"People sell gems for $2.99 on the Internet! What is wrong with them?"

Simple: Those are not gemstones.

They are synthetics, glass or industrial grade rough sold at "cutting costs".

Gem Photos on the web:

Today there are more good gem photos than good gems on the market.

We don't color enhance or brighten or darken our photos. Our photos are made with a "normal" Nikon 5400 and every stone is shot individually. We never re-use old photos.

Our hand-shots: Please take note that our hand photos are made with fingers of US-ring-size TWELVE (no hand-model within our budget). Thus, if you have a ring-size of, say, SIX the gem will look twice as large on your fingers.

Three shots of the same seven carat chysoberyl.
Note the color and visibility of the table feather. We would select
the left photo and mention a stronger green in the comment.

Left untouched, photos might show inclusions to dominate, weaken or strengthen a color, make a light stone darker or vice versa. If that is so, we mention it in our comment at the end of the grading report.

If you think a photo differs from our grading, you can assume that the grading is closer to reality than the photo. In any case our stones convince best in person.

Read an in-depth analysis of how to judge different gemstones by the photo:

Gemstones on Photo

Title

Investing in gemstones

Gems are not an investment that can be bought and quickly resold for profit. Whoever says so is either badly informed or not honest.

Generally untreated gemstones easily hold up with inflation and add one or two percent. Some varieties become fashionable and beat any investment fond, but you have to know which one. This is much easier than on the stock market but still you have to be on the watch.

However, gemstones are highly concentrated and mobile valuables. In accounting terms or at customs, they actually come under "cash equivalents".

This is true only in regard to a gems' portability, but in terms of cash-flow they can better be compared with real-estate. One might sell a gem at any time, but to get a good price you will have to find a buyer who wants exactly what you have.

On the other hand gems have a clear advantage over real estate because they do not to need any maintenance, they can't be confiscated by governments, and you can carry them in your pocket anywhere anytime and...

... gems are definitely the best looking of all investments. They can be a daily source of joy and you will never get tired of looking at them. (In fact it may be somewhat addictive.)

If you are not only attracted by the beauty of gems, but by their value potential, stay away from the highly fashionable and already expensive varieties like pads, pinks or rubies.

We invest in garnets, spinels, off-color sapphires and chrysoberyl. They will gain value even short- to midterm and will surely make an excellent heritage for the next generation. Untreated ones only, of course.

Title

Here is a table of gemstones we recommended for a gemstone collection with a total budget of $30.000:

Variety	Type	Size in ct	Shape	Budget in $K
Sapphire	Green Blue Yellow Pink White	1-2 <1 1-2 <1 1-2	each in a different shape	1 1 2 1 2
Stars	Ruby Sapphire	1-2 2-4	one round, one oval	2 2
Cat's Eyes	Chrysoberyl Semi-precious (Garnet or Apatite)	1-2 4-6	any	1 0.5
Ruby	Purplish or pinkish OK	<1	Round	2.5
Garnet	Red (any variety) Tsavorite Demantoid Hessonite	3-6 <1 <1 3-5	Each in different shapes	1 0.5 0.5 1
Beryl	Aquamarine Green Beryl	1-2 1-2	any	1 1
Diamond	D VS1-2	<1	Round	2.5
Amethyst	Purple	5-10	Any	1
Topaz	White	5-10	any	0.5
Tourmaline	Green	3-5	any	1
Spinel	Blue Red	1-2 1-2	Any	1 2
Jade	Imperial	2-3	Any	2
Turquoise	Blue Green	5-10	Any	1