On the marketing side, the mavens who will always direct and lead trends are already educating their clients regarding the practicalities of the supply side. Key points include:

            -- Diminishing reserves and the true scarcity of natural colored stones.

            -- Realistic delivery times for a consistent product.

            -- Potential pricing and terms adjustments as the market improves and the true competitive edge becomes “Who has the goods?” instead of “Who can get them to me fastest and cheapest?”

            In terms of realistic QC requirements, it is important that suppliers educate buyers about the necessity of the following points:

-- Accepting a reasonable range of color variations.

-- Inspecting stones face up by eye rather than using back lighting and a loupe.

-- Accepting minor chips if located in a position where they cannot be seen in a face un inspection by eye.

-- Accepting reasonable variation in proportions and tolerance in sizing.

-- Accepting a minimum degree on inclusions depending on stone type and orientation.

-- Occasional “naturals” on rubies and sapphires are fact of life.

There are many more directions to consider for continued and growing success with natural color as the market improves and reserves become strained. Some of the most important ones include:

-- Creating jewelry designs that use multinational sets to utilize the widest possible range of variations in a given stone type.

-- Using cabochons and/or some of the innovative cutting styles which allow slightly wider acceptance parameters for small inclusions.

-- Creating jewelry designs that accept very wide sizing tolerances for the colored stones to allow maximum utilization of rough during cutting.

-- Diversifying into new stone types such as apatite, chrome diopside, chrysoprase, party-colored tourmaline, iolite, fancy opals, rose quartz, tanzanite, and many more.