New fashion trends & an improved grading system are making colored gems more valuable.
Good news for those who want to secure collateral loans based on colored gem jewelry—diamonds may be forever but colored gems are having their day right now.
While colored gems have been a jewelry-store staple for years, they have been traditionally used one at a time or perhaps paired with diamonds. Now, however, more and more designers are following the trend of combining rainbow hues of stones all in a single piece. At the beginning of June, rainbow colored gems made a splash at the Couture Show at the Wynn Las Vegas. Major designers from around the world as well as emerging new talents displayed rings, necklaces, ear cuffs and more.
The stars of the show, interestingly enough, were both inspired by bird plumage. Stephen Webster showed his “Magnipheasant” collection including a necklace featuring double layers of feathery, marquise-shaped black diamond, rhodolite, amethyst, iolite, blue topaz, peridot, citrine, and garnet gems and a bracelet featuring a rainbow of sapphires. Alessio Boschi showed a stunning peacock feather collar featuring 15 dazzling Australian opals. This piece can actually be taken apart to create 5 different pieces.
Why all the fuss about colored gems? In part, it’s because a reliable supply of high-quality, matching colored stones is a relatively new concept, and designers are excited to take advantage of it.
Whereas diamonds are produced by big companies such as De Beers, colored stones, being rarer and more geologically diverse, are produced by a variety of smaller companies. For many years, there was no universal grading system for colored gems and therefore no way for jewelry designers to buy matched sets of stones from different suppliers without seeing them in person first. This made it very difficult for designers to plan ahead.
According to a representative of Gemfields, a London-based gem supplier, it used to take years for a designer to build up a line of couture-quality matching emeralds or other stones. Now, however, the process is much easier. Companies like Gemfields can now offer a reliable supply of matching stones thanks to a new universal grading system for rough stones featuring over 400 different grades. The system is similar to the diamond grading system with distinctions made for color, clarity, and weight.
If you have valuable gemstone jewelry you’d like to use to secure a collateral loan, an excellent first step would be to get your gemstones appraised and graded under the new system. You can come to Gems & Jewelry Inc. for help with this process, or bring us an appraisal from a qualified expert. Either way we will do our best to help you secure the quick cash you need via a collateral loan.
