Gemstones bring colours to the jewellery market, and surprise consumers with a kaleidoscope of colours, shapes and cuttings. As the recent market demand and interest have seen an upward trend, more and more companies and designers use coloured gemstones in jewellery making. Hong Kong Jewellery has interviewed gemstone suppliers with different business models and expertise, seeing how their market strategies, interaction with customers and expansion in China market contribute to their success.
Diversification
Hong Kong-based Po Yuen Gems Company was established in 1967, focusing on only one kind of gemstone-chrysoprase or the Australian jade. In the company’s nearly 50 years of history, they offer full production services of chrysoprase to customers in Europe to the United States and Asia including mining, manufacturing, and export. To stand out from many gemstone companies which provide the same gemstone, Po Yuen insists on selling chrysoprase without diversification.
“We focus on only one kind of stone for almost half a century, which makes us different. When people look for chrysoprase, they will come to us. Many companies, especially those in the West, bring variety to their product combinations in order to diversify risks when some of the stones do not go well in the market. However, we don’t follow this trend. And that is why we have obtained a high recognition of offering the best quality chrysoprase to consumers around the world,” said the company’s director Wilson Cheung.
While Paul Wild, Germany, has chosen to engage in the huge variety of coloured gemstones for the global market. This Kirschweiler-based company was founded in 1927 as a manufacturer and exporter of gemstones worldwide. One of their competitiveness is that they can satisfy consumers’ different needs with a wide spectrum of gemstones. The company’s manager in China Tatjana Li said: “We have the biggest variety of gemstones so that we can offer any stone that you can imagine in medium- to high-end products. Customers especially designers prefer to come and get what they want from us without the need to walk around finding a specific kind.”
In spite of offering gemstone products with a long history, Paul Wild did not engage in opal until 2012 when they began processing Ethiopian opals. The warm shades of these stones and their lively, shimmering play of colours have impressed consumers, the strong market demand has surprised the company and hence confirmed the successful strategy of product diversification.
Sourcing
The limited sources of rough gemstones make them rare, which is also one of the reasons that the market demand increased rapidly, putting more and more pressure on suppliers. Since 1977, Po Yuen has owned a chrysoprase mine in Queensland, Australia, where the best gem quality chrysoprase is mostly found. According to Cheung, the location of mines determines the quality of rough and products they offer. After mining, the rough stones are then exported to the company’s factory in Guangdong, China, to be cut and polished into finished products. Through controlling the whole production process, they can ensure the quality of products.
“Our company is always trying to do mining business by travelling to Africa, Sri Lanka, and other locations where we can find gemstones, and trying to open more and more mines to support our supply,” Tatjana Li explained how Paul Wild seeks channels for sourcing different gemstones. Compare to diamond industry’s mining business, gemstone mining is more difficult to calculate and locate. “It’s easy for diamonds in terms of mining. You can better calculate how much and how fast you can get out from your mines. However, gemstone mining is different. You cannot forecast where and what quality and sizes you can get. So what Paul Wild dose is that we prospect and make geological study, and it takes a few years,” she added.
Expertise
Realising the growing potential for coloured gemstones in the world especially in China, besides offering high quality gemstone products, the two companies also strengthen their expertise to be more competitive. Improving production techniques such as cutting, polishing and carving, and creating new shapes and sizes of finished gemstones help them explore new customers and product lines.
According to Paul Wild’s recent press releases, clear and single-coloured gemstones can be made sparkling through reflecting facets, such as opalescent opals cut classically to cabochons will come alive through the display of colours. Round shapes can enhance the luminous play of colours of the Ethiopian opals most clearly with the movement of spheres emphasising this effect. Apart from cabochon and round, they also cut gemstones in pear and oval shapes.
“For a long time, especially high- value coloured gemstones were only classically faceted or cut to a cabochon. A lot has changed here in a very short time,” Markus Paul Wild, a qualified gemstone cutter and CEO of the company stated. He also mentioned the Characters cut technique which was invented by him in 2012. “Characters retains the natural shape of the raw stones. Edges are carefully smoothed, indentations and protrusions highly polished. And so, unique pieces come into being, just like the people who wear these stones,” he elaborated. The essence of this technique is as people display different characteristics, so do gemstones. The character of a stone depends on Mother Nature including its crystal structure, size, colour and hardness.
For Po Yuen, they work closely with consumers, mostly wholesalers, on new shapes and sizes by experienced cutters based on rough stones. Cheung said: “We observe from every interaction with our customers. We found that Chinese consumers are very smart and well-educated about the product’s grade, price range, and quality different companies offer. They only want the best gemstones because they know the best is the rarest, and will be a good investment.” In fact, Po Yuen has their advantage to appeal to Chinese consumers. Under the influence of Chinese tradition and culture, green gemstone like jade is the people’s common choice. “When you are talking about really nice apple-green gemstones in the market, there are emerald and jade. But basically, that’s it. We offer the best quality of chrysoprase products that can satisfy Chinese consumer’s needs,” said Cheung.
Future
Like other categories of jewellery industry, gemstone companies also need to face the challenge and look into the future. “It’s getting tougher and tougher to mine good materials; nevertheless, it’s good for customers because they will have a good value for money as a good investment if they buy gemstones earlier,” Cheung estimated. With offices in Paris, New York and Beijing, Paul Wild pays more attention to the change in customers’ tastes; for instance, Chinese consumers are looking for gemstones that speak for individuality and personal style. In China, the company will also organise events to promote coloured gemstones not only in large cities, but also in second-tier cities.
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