The Intricate World of Precious and Semi-Precious Stones

Abstract

The market in precious and semi-precious stones can be considered as an expanding market which has escaped, to a large extent, the attention of large mining companies. The only notable exception is the mining of diamonds. Presently, the annual monetary value at the retail stage is estimated at 50 billion dollars, of which diamonds represent about 80%. It is postulated that the demand for precious and semi-precious stones will increase substantially in the next decade. Applications include jewellery, esoteric and industrial uses. The largest part of this higher demand will be met by increased manufacturing of synthetic and upgraded stones. Further improvement in the quality of synthetic gems will make differentiation from their natural counterparts practically impossible. This trend forms a potential threat for the mining of gemstones. Furthermore, it can be expected that with the improved telecommunication systems and the globalisation of the markets, the trading systems will change. This publication is a result of an MSc project for te Delft University of Technology. In this part, the characteristics of mining, production and the trading of gemstones and their future perspectives are discussed.