Ruby in ring from Myanmar (Burma) and Sapphire in ring from Sri Lanka (Ceylon)Peridot in this ring is from Arizona, USA
Most people do not realize and appreciate what it takes to bring a beautiful gemstone to the market. A majority of gemstone mining is done by artisanal miners working with hand picks and shovels. The work is extremely strenuous and even sometimes dangerous with the mining working in deep underground tunnels or on very high mountain sides. Once the rough gemstone material is unearthed, these miners sort it and put together the best pieces to sell to a broker. The mining areas often unfortunately do not have the gemstone cutting expertise so these miners get very little for their hard work. Luckily there are many organizations now that are working with local people to develop cutting skills so that they can eventually make a better living.
For now, for the most part, gemstone rough travels thousands of miles to the major cutting centers of the world. These locations include Thailand, China and India. Bangkok, Thailand, for example, has some of the world’s best cutters who are experts at what they do. Fashioning and cutting a gemstone requires great skill and it is also an art form. Knowing what material to cut away, how to best display the stone’s color, clarity and brilliance, the right methods for treating (like heat treatment) the gemstones takes years and years of experience.
Once the gemstones are ready for the market, they are sold often in these locations. Large jewelry manufacturers and gemstone wholesalers travel great distances to seek out the gemstones that are right for their clientele. The large jewelry manufacturers most often purchase commercial quality goods that are available in bulk for the large volume of pieces they produce. Similarly, wholesalers from New York, for example, travel to the cutting centers often looking for middle market and one of a kind gemstones. These buyers also need great skill in what they do. Did you know that natural daylight is not the same around the world. So a beautiful ruby that has the perfect pigeon’s blood red color in Bangkok will not actually have the same color in New York. So the buyers have to adjust what they buy accordingly.
The large jewelry manufacturers then use the gems they have purchased to mass produce gemstone jewelry for large catalog companies or home shopping channels. The wholesalers would sell their goods to the independent or small retail jeweler who then creates more unique and one of a kind pieces. When you stop and think about it, you can really gain great appreciation for all the people across the globe who actually play an important role in the pieces of jewelry we ultimately wear and enjoy.
The tanzanite in this ring is from Tanzania, Africa
The peridot in this ring was mined from Arizona
