Industry insiders: There is still room for growth, reaching over 1 million yuan, and the prices of colored gemstones are skyrocketing! Someone bought it for 600000 RMB | Ruby | Industry insider

"I really feel like it's been rising all the time. I used to see my boss release four digit products, but now they're all in five digits. How can I buy them now!" Hangzhou girl Xiaoqi, who is about to turn 30 in July, originally wanted to buy a string of ruby pendants for Erli Nian's birthday, but after looking at the prices, she couldn't buy them.

Several industry insiders recently told reporters that since the beginning of this year, the price of colored gemstone raw materials has increased by 30%, and the prices of some high-quality, large carat precious gemstones have doubled. "For example, high-quality rubies can be purchased at 7 prices in the first half of the year, but they will already cost 110000 yuan in the second half." A jeweler told reporters that precious gemstones have already risen significantly in the past two years, and raw material prices continue to rise this year, which will have a certain impact on consumption. However, looking ahead to future trends, industry insiders believe that high-end gemstone prices may still rise.

Starting with a 30% increase, some may double in price

Zhejiang girl: How can we get started!

It is understood that Xiaoqi is a white-collar employee of an Internet enterprise in the west of Hangzhou. Since last year, she has been fond of colored gemstones and often ponders over them in several color gem brands' live broadcast rooms. After studying for half a year, before this year's Spring Festival, Xiaoqi finally purchased a 50 cent weight ruby from a local jewelry customization merchant in Hangzhou and made it into a bracelet, with a total price of nearly 7000 yuan.

Less than two months after putting it on, the merchant contacted Xiaoqi and said they were willing to recycle it for 10000 yuan. "I wasn't willing to sell it because I liked it more. But I didn't expect the price to rise so quickly. I was thinking at the time, 'Will it continue to rise?' As expected, in the past six months, Xiaoqi noticed that the prices of the products posted by her boss on her social media have been constantly increasing, and now there are no products below 10000 yuan.".

I originally planned to buy a 1 carat ruby pendant for my 30-year-old gift, but after asking several stores both online and offline, Xiaoqi found that it far exceeded her budget. "Those with slightly better quality start at 20000 yuan, while those with even better quality start at 50000 to 60000 yuan. The price has increased significantly compared to half a year ago. How can we proceed with this?"

Respondents provide pictures

The customer service manager of a top e-commerce seller in Hangzhou who operates valuable lottery products told me online, how about offline? The person in charge of Zhejiang jewelry, which mainly operates physical stores, revealed to reporters: "This year, the prices of color gemstones such as rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and aquamarine have generally increased by 30-50%, and high-quality raw materials have doubled. For example, unburned sapphires, raw materials are particularly scarce this year, and some have doubled." On the consumer side, also due to their own inventory, Zhejiang jewelry stated that the prices of color gemstones sold in shopping malls should be kept stable as much as possible.

However, smaller jewelry merchants will face greater pressure. The owner of a jewelry customization studio in Binjiang, Hangzhou, told reporters that due to its small size and lack of financial strength to hoard a large amount of goods, the studio can only passively increase prices after the rise of upstream raw materials. "We also know that raising product prices is not friendly to customer experience, but we have no choice but to control the increase as much as possible. For example, this ruby, which costs over 20000 yuan, has been unable to increase by 30% since the beginning of the year, which has still affected customers' purchasing enthusiasm. In the past two months, we have clearly felt sales pressure."

Someone made 400000 in less than a year

Expert: There is still room for improvement

Why do colored gemstones keep rising? Will prices continue to rise? What should consumers do next?

Recently, the reporter noticed in an interview that consumers are particularly concerned about these issues and constantly inquire about merchants.

Hu Ziwen, Executive Vice President and Secretary General of the Zhejiang Jewelry and Jade Industry Association, stated in an interview with Chao News that the price increase of colored gemstones mainly depends on the supply-demand relationship. In the past two years, many Chinese people have joined the consumption, investment, and collection of Caibao, resulting in a sharp increase in market demand; On the other hand, the raw materials for colored gemstones are scarce, and due to the influence of their production areas, the production of high-quality gemstones from high-quality mining areas such as Colombia has been decreasing year by year.

As for whether it will continue to rise in the future, Mr. Chen, a senior investor in Hangzhou, shared his views. He gave an example that last month, the largest ruby in auction history was auctioned off in New York, USA, and ultimately sold for $34.8 million, equivalent to approximately RMB 250 million, setting a new record for ruby auctions.

Mr. Chen believes that in the past three years, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and other gemstones have been continuously rising. "The more scarce and high-quality gemstones are, the more they increase in price, and the greater the investment appreciation space."

Mr. Chen revealed that he mainly bought gemstones from an investment perspective. Last August, he allocated an 11 carat high-quality Sri Lankan unburned sapphire worth over 600000 yuan to his assets. This year, the market price of this quality sapphire has exceeded 1 million yuan, which means it will appreciate by 400000 yuan in less than a year. "If I encounter a high-quality gemstone with an eye for it this year, I will continue to allocate it."

The person in charge of jewelry in Zhejiang Province believes that if consumers can afford high-quality gemstones within their economic capacity, they should try to buy better ones. "If you have a budget, you can buy 10 ordinary colored gemstones. I suggest using this budget to buy a high-quality one," he said

Looking ahead to future trends, Hu Ziwen stated that jewelry and jade sales are currently highly diversified and personalized, and colored gemstones meet these requirements and expressions, so they are still on the rise; In addition, high-end gemstones, especially those with large particles, have certain collection and preservation functions, making them more scarce. Compared to gold, these gemstones still have room for improvement.

The price of pearls has also skyrocketed, with some increasing threefold

"Not only the price increase, but also the inability to receive the goods"

In addition to gemstones, pearl jewelry has also been selling well this year, with prices skyrocketing.

According to CCTV Finance, the Shenzhen Shuibei Market is a barometer of China's gold and jewelry consumption, with pearl trade and inlay processing accounting for about half of the domestic market share.

The reporter learned from several jewelry stores in Shuibei that there have been more buyers and consumers from all over the country recently than usual. A wholesaler specializing in freshwater pearls told reporters that the booming pearl market this year has greatly exceeded her expectations.

Chen Juan, a pearl wholesaler at Shuibei Market in Shenzhen, Guangdong: Since last year, the price of freshwater pearls has slowly increased. This year's price increase has been particularly significant, with ordinary pearls rising by 30% to 50%, and the most popular ones have risen to around 80%. Not only the price increase, but also the inability to receive the goods.

Li Tao is responsible for raw material procurement at a jewelry company in Shenzhen. He has just sorted and stored seawater pearls purchased from Japan. Li Tao told reporters that the prices of some high-end imported seawater pearls have increased even more.

Li Tao, Procurement Director of a jewelry company in Shenzhen, Guangdong: We just entered a batch of Japanese AKOYA a few days ago. This batch of pearls started booking six months in advance. This year, AKOYA has increased significantly, about two to three times.

The reporter learned during the visit that in some of the main pearl sales stores in Shenzhen Shuibei, the number of customers who have purchased pearls has significantly increased since February, and sales have also shown a significant increase.

Yang Liu, the head of a pearl sales store in Shuibei, Shenzhen, Guangdong: We have three stores in Shuibei, Shenzhen, specializing in the pearl category. Starting from February this year, monthly sales have increased by approximately 5% to 10%. In May, it increased by 30% to 40% compared to the same period last year.

However, contrary to the increasing popularity, pearl production has shown a decreasing trend in recent years. According to data from the Zhejiang Pearl Industry Association, the national freshwater pearl production in 2019 was about 1.2 million kilograms, decreased to about 1 million kilograms by 2020, about 800000 kilograms in 2021, and about 700000 kilograms in 2022.

Gao Yuan, the supply chain manager of a jewelry company in Shenzhen, Guangdong: Like freshwater pearls, the breeding area in China is shrinking, and in recent years, mother oyster pearls have died on a large scale abroad, leading to a decrease in production.

In interviews, many jewelry merchants stated that with the more fashionable and diverse design of pearl jewelry, coupled with the promotion of live streaming e-commerce, young consumers are increasingly fond of pearl jewelry, which has led to an increase in pearl sales.

It is understood that the young generation of "post-90s" and "post-00s" who grew up with the Internet have gradually become the main consumers in the jewelry market. Short videos and anchor explanations are more likely to impress young consumers than traditional offline channels.

Although the pearl consumption market is hot, industry insiders remind that pearls are an organic gemstone and belong to renewable resources. It is recommended that consumers consume pearls rationally.

Diamond prices have fallen by 6.5% this year

Analyst: Starting with another 20% decline

However, compared to the vibrant colors of gemstones and pearls, diamond prices have been consistently sluggish this year.

According to a report by CCTV Finance on June 24th citing the CNBC website in the United States, the latest global rough diamond price index released shows that diamond prices have fallen by 6.5% since the beginning of this year, and are 18% lower than the historical high in February 2022. The International Diamond Exchange has released its latest price index report, stating that the diamond index has been continuously declining for 15 months so far.

According to the Diamond Industry Insider released by the Shanghai Diamond Exchange, international diamond giant and South African diamond mining company De Beers saw a 20% decrease in rough diamond sales during its fourth trade fair, due to slowing demand in China. Due to the buyer's low mood, the company also cancelled the auction. Analysts say that the price of diamonds will further "dive".

According to CNBC, a 1 carat natural diamond with slightly higher than average quality was priced at $6700 a year ago, but now the same diamond is priced at $5300.

One of the reasons why diamond prices have started to decline is the expansion of the artificial diamond market.

According to reports, in 2020, the market share of synthetic diamonds was only 2.4%. So far this year, this proportion has reached 9.3%.

Artificial diamonds, cultivated in laboratory simulated high-temperature and high-pressure environments, have almost no difference from natural diamonds, but their prices are lower, which has led more consumers to turn to artificial diamonds. With the improvement of machine efficiency, the price of artificial diamonds is also decreasing, and the profit margin of retail is also expanding.

In the past three years, the price of synthetic diamonds has fallen by 59%, while retail profit margins can reach 60%, much higher than the 34% of natural diamonds.

Analysts say that global diamond prices will further decline. It is expected that the price of natural diamonds will decrease by 20% to 25% compared to the current price in the next 12 months, and by 40% compared to the peak in February last year.

According to a report by China News Service on June 28th, Pan Helin, co-director and researcher of the Digital Economy and Financial Innovation Research Center at the International Business School of Zhejiang University, stated that diamond prices are the result of a two-way interaction between supply and demand. From the demand side, the main function of diamonds is to meet people's demand for diamond jewelry when getting married. The main market is in East Asia, and due to various reasons, many countries in East Asia have experienced a decline in marriage rates, which objectively compresses the demand market for diamonds. On the other hand, the correlation between diamonds and love is also weakening, and after centuries of marketing, consumers generally experience aesthetic fatigue.

Taking China as an example, according to data from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, China's marriage data has been declining year by year since 2014. In 2013, it was 13.4693 million couples, fell below the 10 million pair mark in 2019, and then fell below the 8 million pair mark in 2021. In 2022, the number of marriage registrations in China decreased by 803000 pairs compared to the previous year, a decrease of approximately 10.5%.

In addition, Pan and Lin also believe that many young consumers who were previously passionate about diamonds now prefer gold. According to the "2022 China Gold Jewelry Industry Insight Report", the willingness of young people in China to consume gold has grown rapidly in the past five years, from 16% in 2016 to 59% in 2021, making it the highest potential for gold jewelry consumption among all age groups.

According to Chao News, reporters found in interviews that due to the low resale value of diamonds, young people have also developed the idea that "buying diamonds is better than buying gold.". Last month, Xiaocao, who had just gotten married, told reporters that he and his wife had prepared 100000 yuan to purchase wedding jewelry. However, considering the resale value of the diamonds, he and his wife negotiated and only spent more than 10000 yuan to buy diamond rings, while the rest of the money was spent on gold bars.

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