Southern Jewelry News
  • Featured
    • All
    • Featured
    • Featured Retailers
    • Retailer Roundtable
    • Sponsored Content
    • Supplier Spotlight
    Lambrecht’s Jewelers, 130-years-old and counting
    Celebrate with Gold®
    Tracing Diamond’s Origin
    Pickens, Inc.: Steady pace wins the race
  • Latest News
    • All
    • COVID-19
    • Furry Friends
    • Industry Awards
    • Industry Events
    • NRF
    • On The Move
    • Other News
    • Tradeshow News
    • Video
    • What's New
    VAHAN launches 2022 campaign – “A Moment for Me”
    FDIC Economist, Dr. LaVaughn Henry to keynote 2022 ASA International Conference
    Michelle Meltesen joins John Atencio Wholesale team
    Kovel Collection introduces Busy Bee designs
  • Podcast
  • Columnists
    Motivating your sales staff
    Keys to Effective Communication – Part IV
    The Retailer’s Perspective: With great power comes great fails
    The Retailer’s Perspective
    The Story Behind the Stone: Yearning for Kazakhstan
    10 Cybersecurity Questions small and medium businesses should ask in 2022
    Motivating your sales staff
    IAS Training’s Keys to Effective Communication – Part III
    Kate’s star-studded style. What will the next trend be?
    Motivating your sales staff
    IAS Training’s Keys to Effective Communication – Part II
    Retailing in a post-PC world
  • Classifieds
  • Subscriptions
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Print Subscription
No Result
View All Result
Southern Jewelry News
  • Featured
    • All
    • Featured
    • Featured Retailers
    • Retailer Roundtable
    • Sponsored Content
    • Supplier Spotlight
    Lambrecht’s Jewelers, 130-years-old and counting
    Celebrate with Gold®
    Tracing Diamond’s Origin
    Pickens, Inc.: Steady pace wins the race
  • Latest News
    • All
    • COVID-19
    • Furry Friends
    • Industry Awards
    • Industry Events
    • NRF
    • On The Move
    • Other News
    • Tradeshow News
    • Video
    • What's New
    VAHAN launches 2022 campaign – “A Moment for Me”
    FDIC Economist, Dr. LaVaughn Henry to keynote 2022 ASA International Conference
    Michelle Meltesen joins John Atencio Wholesale team
    Kovel Collection introduces Busy Bee designs
  • Podcast
  • Columnists
    Motivating your sales staff
    Keys to Effective Communication – Part IV
    The Retailer’s Perspective: With great power comes great fails
    The Retailer’s Perspective
    The Story Behind the Stone: Yearning for Kazakhstan
    10 Cybersecurity Questions small and medium businesses should ask in 2022
    Motivating your sales staff
    IAS Training’s Keys to Effective Communication – Part III
    Kate’s star-studded style. What will the next trend be?
    Motivating your sales staff
    IAS Training’s Keys to Effective Communication – Part II
    Retailing in a post-PC world
  • Classifieds
  • Subscriptions
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Print Subscription
No Result
View All Result
Southern Jewelry News
No Result
View All Result
Home Columnists

The Story Behind the Stone: Color Fever

Diana Jarrett GG, RMV by Diana Jarrett GG, RMV
August 1, 2016
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Jarrett Gem Center
The Jakarta Gems Center

Colored gemstones – especially the pricey coveted ones – are sourced from exotic locales in foreign countries with odd sounding names to most Westerners. It’s all about the geology – simple as that. Those of us in the trade understand that stones have come from Bangkok, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and other remote destinations.

Off the Radar – But on to Something

Jakarta as a gem hub has not been so much on the radar screen for many Westerners. But in this Indonesian capital, the Jakarta Gems Center previously called Pasar Rawa Bening or the Shiny Swamp is really a marketplace like none other. Traders come looking for gemstones and precious metals alongside diamonds, and perhaps some shoe stalls, and a drug store. Veteran hagglers know to visit during the weekdays before the weekend rush of crowds push the prices up.

But in this bustling hub where bargaining is expected, ‘civilian’ buyers are catching gem fever – in other words, people who’s mainstay is more of a traditional business, like insurance sellers and office workers. The reason is pretty obvious. Anyone can buy if they have the money – which may not be much by our standards for gemstone rough.

It Starts with One Stone

It doesn’t take long for a curiosity to turn into a hobby and soon morph into a fever for color stones. Actually residents of this small country have professed to have borne a good case of gemstone fever for the last decade or more. Impulsive buys by local residents can be transformed into a burgeoning side business some citizens have found.

According to north Jakarta resident Aris, he has to cap his impulsive gemstone spending however. “I set a maximum budget of Rp 5 million [US$400]. Otherwise, I’ll be in trouble with my wife,” he chuckles.

Jarrett skyline
Jakarta Indonesia

The Lure of Color

Untung, a local gemstone polisher at Rawa Bening Gems Center in East Jakarta acknowledged an increasing number of visitors over the past two years. He said he was always busy during his store’s business hours. “I can polish up to 10 gemstones daily,” he confides. Taking a philosophical approach, he compared gemstones to women. “Falling in love with a gemstone is just like falling in love with a woman. Even though it looks pretty, if we don’t feel the chemistry, we won’t like it.”

The Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia puts this gem fever into perspective with an assessment of their annual output. They claim that there are more than 40 popular gem varieties and many rare gemstones recovered from the region including diamond, ruby, sapphire, emerald and opal. That colorful cache sounds like it can keep that region’s fever going for some time.

Award winning trade journalist and gemologist Diana Jarrett is a Registered Master Valuer Appraiser and a member of the Association of Independent Jewellery Valuers (AIJV). She’s a popular speaker at conferences and trade shows. Jarrett writes for trade and consumer publications, online outlets, her blog: Color-n-Ice, and www.jewelrywebsitedesigners.com. Contact her at info@dianajarrett.com, visit her website at www.dianajarrett.com, and follow her on Facebook and Twitter (Loupey).

Diana Jarrett GG, RMV

Diana Jarrett GG, RMV

Award winning trade journalist and gemologist Diana Jarrett is a Registered Master Valuer Appraiser and a member of the Association of Independent Jewellery Valuers (AIJV). She’s a popular speaker at conferences and trade shows. Jarrett writes for trade and consumer publications, online outlets, her blog: Color-n-Ice, and www.jewelrywebsitedesigners.com. Contact her at info@dianajarrett.com, visit her website at www.dianajarrett.com, and follow her on Facebook and Twitter (Loupey).

Related Posts

Motivating your sales staff

Keys to Effective Communication – Part IV

July 6, 2022
The Retailer’s Perspective: With great power comes great fails

The Retailer’s Perspective

June 30, 2022

The Story Behind the Stone: Yearning for Kazakhstan

June 30, 2022

10 Cybersecurity Questions small and medium businesses should ask in 2022

June 27, 2022

Latest News

What's New

VAHAN launches 2022 campaign – “A Moment for Me”

July 6, 2022
Columnists

Keys to Effective Communication – Part IV

July 6, 2022
Industry Events

FDIC Economist, Dr. LaVaughn Henry to keynote 2022 ASA International Conference

July 6, 2022

Other News

Michelle Meltesen joins John Atencio Wholesale team

Kovel Collection introduces Busy Bee designs

GN Diamond shares jewelers’ creative marketing tips

Stuller introduces several new offerings at JCK Las Vegas

JSA reports crimes against U.S. jewelry firms in 2021 exceeded pre-Covid levels

GCAL partners with VDB to add 8X® Cut Grade search filter

Southern Jewelry News

© 2022 Southern Jewelry News.

Additional Information

  • About
  • 2022 Trade Shows
  • Media Kit
  • Contact

Get Social with Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Featured Articles
    • Featured
    • Featured Retailers
    • Retailer Roundtable
    • Supplier Spotlight
    • Sponsored Content
  • Latest News
    • What’s New
    • Industry Events
    • Tradeshow News
    • On The Move
    • Other News
    • Furry Friends
  • Columnists
  • Classifieds
  • Subscriptions
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Print Subscription

© 2022 Southern Jewelry News.