November is traditionally a slow month for the colored stone industry and this year has been no exception according to Sanjay Goyal of STS Gems. “We’ve had no major orders this month. For the last month or so we’ve sold some normal garnets. There was some demand for tanzanite, which is still rather hot, but this is a slow time.”

            Harshad Patel of Ambe Gems agrees with the Goyal’s assessment of the market. “The problem is it’s all a little slow. December’s Christmas so we’re waiting for that and it should pick up after then.”

            Several traders claim that the entire year has seen sluggish trade. “This year has been very quiet with not many orders and new customers – either local or foreign. Most are our regular Thai buyers. Last year was far better,” said Noppa Prugsanuwong at Natty Gems.

            Claus kappler of KEK Gems is of another opinion. “The people who claim that business is slow are dealing only in natural stones. What they are experiencing is a cross over. At this time, people are going more for the synthetics and less and less for the natural.

            “The past two months have been great for synthetics,” Kappler says, “But demand for natural stones has been dropping all year.” Asked why this is, Kappler points to the consumer. “Perhaps because they have less money to spend of they have less money to spend or they are thinking of the resale value. There is no fixed price for the stones and the consumer feels over charged. So they are moving towards the synthetics which have the beauty without the price.”

            “Synthetics are selling well, says David Glickman of Lambert Holdings. “More than they have in the past. We do sell man-made and treated stones. I don’t see a problem with them as long as they’re sold as synthetic or treated.”

            But he disagrees with the point that the market is turning its back on natural stones. “Tanzanite is very popular and in short supply. The classic stones—emeralds, rubies, blue sapphires—are always popular and all of the birthstones.”

            Boongerd Yarcom of Thai Precious Gems agrees that classics are a mainstays. “Ruby and sapphire are the only stones that are selling well. Ruby is low in quantity but high in price because it is difficult to find large size stones for buyers, while sapphire is plentiful, but the big Japanese buyers of emerald don’t come to Thailand these days, they go straight to Colombia.”

            “We’re doing much better than last year, and I think it will even be better still next year,” said Bunharn Buncharoen of B H Buncharoen gems. “Black sapphires, semiprecious stones, and small rubies are our best selling gems, only single stones aren’t doing so well.”

            Goyal of STS also noted a demand in September for amethyst and garnet while in August tsavorite was quite popular.

            Some of the non-classic stones that dealers are finding popular are tanzanite and tsavorite. “There’s also a huge demand for yellow sapphire but it’s very scarce. It’s the same with Burmese spinels and even jadeite—good quality supplies are hard to come by recently,” says Glickman.

            Of the naturals Kappler is selling, emerald is at the forefront, while amber has maintained its popularity over the last two years. “All the markets are very hot for amber—the US, Asia, Europe—everywhere.”

            Glickman also finds a huge demand for amber. “It’s enjoying a great popularity because of the “Jurassic Park” phenomena and we have some pieces from the Dominican Republic with insects in them that are very popular.”

            “There’s currently also an interest in Thailand in pearls because the import duty was virtually eliminated so they’re very popular right now. And now that they’re able to culture black pearls they are also becoming more popular,” says Glickman.

            As for newcomers to the local market, there are emerging pieces of multi-colored fluorite from Brazil—“It’s too soft for most jewelry,” says Glickman.

            Another relatively new stone is the mandarin or orange garnet from Namibia. “There are only one or two mines says Glickman, “And it is quite distinctive.”

            So when will trade really pick up? “We’re waiting for Tucson (the AGTA GemFair). That’s a really major show. Then we’ll know what’s going on,” said Goyal. Kappler too is also eager to visit the Arizona trade fair. “It’s the next big show we’ll attend. You can find everything there—the retailers, the big wholesalers—everyone. It’s getting more and more like a flea-market but it’s still an event everyone goes to.”