1) Certificates and discounting
Think about diamonds and one of the first things that springs to mind is certification. How many one carat diamonds, or larger, have you sold without a certificate? Now think of how many times you’ve dealt with a client, showed them a diamond and certificate and had them say,“I’ve seen stones with similar qualities on the certificate but they were much cheaper than yours?”
This problem in the diamond trade is probably worthy of a whole other article but suffice to say that most consumers do not understand the pricing of diamonds and therefore do false comparisons aided, incorrectly, by the information contained in grading certificates.
Retailers have to compete on price and discount to attain a diamond sale. On the other hand in the coloured gem trade the vast majority of certification is issued for the purposes of stating authenticity (natural or otherwise) and the presence of any treatments.
There are no internationally-recognised grading systems for colour and clarity and generally speaking, certificates for coloured stones are not used like diamond certificates for shopping around on price.
2) Rarity offers increased margins
Go shopping for a round, half carat, G colour, SI1 and you’re likely to have many, many choices. The same goes for your customer who can price a diamond like this from shop to shop or website to website.
But the same doesn’t apply to coloured stones. Sure, if you have a parcel you can find pairs or sets of stones. However, for the average consumer, going shop to shop, looking to purchase an individual stone, it would be fair to say that it would be unlikely that any two stones are identical; each stone is individual in hue, tone and saturation of colour, brilliance and cut.
For example, let’s look at a selling a 7x5 oval ruby. Rubies come from a number of localities and may vary in hue according to their origin.
For example: Burmaese rubies often have a pinkish overtone whereas some African stones almost resemble garnet; Thai, Madagascan, Mozambique and Vietnamese rubies all may vary to a degree in colour.
The rubies you source may not only vary from another retailer in terms of hue, but also the quality of the cut, the inclusions and the overall look of the stone. Sourcing particular shapes or sizes in some gems is difficult. All of these variables lead to the conclusion that the coloured gem you present is unlikely to match all the variables of another stone.
Clients therefore will choose a stone based on personal preference.
Diamonds, regardless of where they were mined, are going to look pretty much the same to most laypeople. Diamonds, no matter the colour, size or shape, are easier to source than most coloured stones.
Because there is no worldwide recognised certificate for coloured gemstone quality (as mentioned earlier) consumers may not, or should not, have the same confidence when buying a coloured gemstone online, so that benefit’s traditional retailers.
There are many reasons why coloured gems should become a valued part of your business. Bricks and mortar stores need to find additional ways to make coloured gems a more attractive choice for consumers. The first step for all of us is greater education to enable you to increase sales.