Is it True That Nobody is Buying Gemstones Right Now?

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

I had a chat with a lovely PS recommended appraiser who I have known for years. She told me that "no one is buying gemstones right now, and diamonds are hard to sell as well."

What are your opinions regarding her statement? I have read from some sources that the gem market in general has been slow since fall of last year. I am really interested in opinions from those who routinely buy or sell gemstones. For me it is just a hobby, but it is very interesting in how the market fluctuates.

 

[dk168]

Still buying here, and I wish I could buy less frequently.

DK

 

[Lady_Disdain]

I hear that the Chinese are still buying strong, which is keeping prices high.

 

[NKOTB]

I've noticed a huge slowdown on LT. I've seen gems at really good prices just sitting there for long periods of time.

 

[mochiko42]

The March show in HK seemed a bit slower than the ones in 2014-2015. (Obviously this was just my impression so not backed up with hard analysis!). Overall it seems luxury sales by Chinese in HK have reached their peak a couple of years ago. Luxury retail sales and even luxury property sales (the main indicator of economy in HK, most of the money comes from China) have dropped. I think the Chinese are still buying gems but not in the crazy 'gold rush' (dont even look at the price tag) way that you saw a few years ago. The very high end is relatively unchanged, people still have to move their money out of China somehow, you know?

My Thai friend whose family company (they produce elaborate diamond jewelry like parure sets, mostly for Middle Eastern clientele) usually exhibits in HK, Basel, and Dubai decided to skip Basel this year in favor of the June show in Hong Kong due to the slow down in Europe and exchange rate. She said Asia is slow too but still better than Europe.

The gems auction and sale groups on FB also seem much quieter these days.

 

[lovedogs]

I've also noticed a huge slow down on LT with gems....great deals just sitting. Same with some of the FB groups. It's odd.

 

[eos512]

well the truth is that the Chinese market has been going down remarkably especially for tourmalines. The wholesale prices has dropped indeed although the high-end market tends to remain the high price. Thanks to collapse of the stock market and week exchange rate of RMB, the spare money that could be spent or invested in gems has shrunken considerably. I am not sure about the gem market in Thailand, it should be going in the same direction.

 

[Xrisus]

I don't think I have bought anything in over a year, and have no plans anytime soon. Interesting that others are possibly doing the same. I have no good reason, other than finding other hobbies in addition to collecting gems and minerals. So sad as a lot of them are just sitting in a safe deposit box now. I know I will come back around to finding uses for them, but it may just take a while.

 

[colorluvr]

I've gotten a couple of inquiries on stones or rings I've listed on LT when they are first listed, but they quickly get pushed off the first few pages and then seem to disappear into oblivion so I've stopped listing even though I have several I'd like to sell. It just doesn't seem worth the effort. I've talked to a few other colored stone sellers and they've said the same thing.

I know after my splurges with Prima last year I've stopped buying, but that is because I have most of what I want now and just need to come up with the $$$$ to get them set. Personally for me, I'm paring down and just keeping my favorites.

 

[chrono]

Sales have slowed and there are fewer Chinese buyers, per the Gem Forecaster.
http://www.preciousgemstones.com/gfspring16.html

 

[Loves Vintage]

Re: the great deals on LT right now, do folks ever post these to the "Somebody's gotta buy this stone" thread? As a relative newbie here, I can never really tell whether a stone is good deal. And then, once I start looking around at other sites, I get overwhelmed. I do love a good deal though! I am quite timid about buying from LT, too. Not sure why!

 

[PrecisionGem]

This year in Tucson seemed busier than last year, and the vendors I meet with all expressed a good show, better than last year.

I think one thing that happens with Loupe Troup, is that once a stone sits for a while people will avoid it. Same thing happens on my site. It's like the stone an STD, no one will go near it. I would think that the Loupe Troup audience is a very small subset of colored stones buyers, and it may not grow much.

 

[J_Orstadius]

Mixed signals.
Two clients I recently visited had, independent of each other, been allowed to borrow large 500-600 euro/carat tourmalines from vendors at the Inhorgenta fair (Munich, Germany) earlier this year – in a way that just screamed that the vendors did not have an easy time getting rid of the stones.
The tourmalines were classic pink and maybe 4-6 ct in size, stones that would have had considerably lower wholesale tags before the "Asian boom". Stones like these might stay hard to sell for a while.

On the other hand, the collective feedback from individual goldsmiths in Sweden appear to be that the local demand for CS is better than the previous couple of years.

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

Thanks everyone for the thoughtful replies.

 

[PrecisionGem]

That's a really pretty cut on the heart shape in your avatar. Well done. I have not cut a heart in years, but that may inspire me to cut one.

 

[J_Orstadius]

Thank you Gene, actually the accomplishment is not mine but one of my cutters'. (Unfortunately. I would love to learn the craft, some day).
The stone inspired me as well – to the extent that we created our graphic profile from it Hope to see some hearts from you!

Johannes

 

[lambskin]

Re: the great deals on LT right now, do folks ever post these to the "Somebody's gotta buy this stone" thread? As a relative newbie here, I can never really tell whether a stone is good deal. And then, once I start looking around at other sites, I get overwhelmed. I do love a good deal though! I am quite timid about buying from LT, too. Not sure why!

ditto-that's what I love about that topic/thread- PS friends giving a 'heads up' on a great buy. I see more diamonds than colored stones on offer at our city's "Jewelers Row" and a lot of empty kiosks that had housed a lot of independent jewelers. I see no yellow gold pieces such as bangles, earrings, chains-just a lot of diamonds set in white gold or platinium. Not too many watch dealers too. IMHO and based upon my observations, women in my area want super high end purses and shoes- rather than bling. Also, I know some neighborhood ladies that opt for cosmetic surgery, chemical peels, Botox, personal trainers, etc rather than bling. There is only so much disposable income (not talking upper 10%) and the choices are changing. I am not buying for three reasons- private high school and college for two kids, I am wary of gem treatments/fakes coupled with the uber high price of gold and platinium and I just do not go anywhere nice anymore to wear bling.

 

[theredspinel]

This thread is so interesting.

 

[chrono]

There are a lot of very well priced stones in LT if one looks carefully (really old postings that have been pushed back so you'll have to dig around).

 

[mochiko42]

There are a lot of very well priced stones in LT if one looks carefully (really old postings that have been pushed back so you'll have to dig around).

True. And someone really needs to buy OTL's stones that are listed on there!! I can't believe some of those stones are still there...

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Interesting - my local gem guys have been telling me that most mines are still selling mine runs to the Chinese, leaving little quality rough here and sustaining the high prices. Of course, they have a vested interest in keeping the price perception high

And yes on OTL's stones! Grab them while you can.

 

[PrecisionGem]

I just had a look at Loupe Troop. I'm surprised at the number of dealers selling there. I'm not sure how I would feel about that if I were a non trade person listing stones there. I also wonder if it is a good idea for dealers to list stones there.

 

[chrono]

I just had a look at Loupe Troop. I'm surprised at the number of dealers selling there. I'm not sure how I would feel about that if I were a non trade person listing stones there. I also wonder if it is a good idea for dealers to list stones there.

Gene,
Many of us are also unhappy with how Trade members are deliberately flooding both LoupeTroop and DiamondBistro, but unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about it. When window shopping or shopping for a particular stone, I make sure to only buy from sellers who are not in the Trade. I also deliberately do not purchase from these same sellers outside of LT and DB.

 

[minousbijoux]

I just had a look at Loupe Troop. I'm surprised at the number of dealers selling there. I'm not sure how I would feel about that if I were a non trade person listing stones there. I also wonder if it is a good idea for dealers to list stones there.

Gene,
Many of us are also unhappy with how Trade members are deliberately flooding both LoupeTroop and DiamondBistro, but unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about it. When window shopping or shopping for a particular stone, I make sure to only buy from sellers who are not in the Trade. I also deliberately do not purchase from these same sellers outside of LT and DB.

I couldn't agree more with both of you. This is discussed off the board in multiple groups with many deciding not to buy from those Trade members who post there. The owners of LT have been approached and many of us have shared our feedback with them, but given that they sponsor LT as a generous labor of love and never signed up for monitoring duty, to date nothing has happened. Oh well.

 

[theredspinel]

I'd only heard of LT when I read of it here so I'm not totally clued up on how it's supposed to work. I know as a consumer 1 day it's very likely I'd like to sell something of mine there and it sure would be better if there were not proper trades people there to compete with on prices

However I view it in the same way as ebay. You have the everyday average people selling their household clutter from their garage and you also have the 'big boys'/ proper business/trades people. Is LT trying to be like the eBay of gems? Or is it specifically meant to be a medium for second hand pre owned sales stuff? (In which case wouldn't trades people be breaking the rules for it)?

 

[PrecisionGem]

After reading some of the comments here, I really thing Loupe Troop should be reserved for non trade members. It's actually good business for us in the trade that you have an outlet to sell stones you no longer are in love with. Often, these stones are sold for the purpose of using the money to buy new stones from us. What I particularly like, is seeing a stone of mine being sold for more that the original person paid for it.
People in the trade should invest the time, effort and money in their own website, and leave these other places for the occasional seller as a good outlet, with out compitition of trade members to sell stones they no longer need.

 

[caf]

I just had a look at Loupe Troop. I'm surprised at the number of dealers selling there. I'm not sure how I would feel about that if I were a non trade person listing stones there. I also wonder if it is a good idea for dealers to list stones there.

Gene,
Many of us are also unhappy with how Trade members are deliberately flooding both LoupeTroop and DiamondBistro, but unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about it. When window shopping or shopping for a particular stone, I make sure to only buy from sellers who are not in the Trade. I also deliberately do not purchase from these same sellers outside of LT and DB.

Ditto.

 

[arabella]

Just wanted to chime in to say that I totally agree with everything that has been said about LT!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[chrono]

After reading some of the comments here, I really thing Loupe Troop should be reserved for non trade members. It's actually good business for us in the trade that you have an outlet to sell stones you no longer are in love with. Often, these stones are sold for the purpose of using the money to buy new stones from us. What I particularly like, is seeing a stone of mine being sold for more that the original person paid for it.

People in the trade should invest the time, effort and money in their own website, and leave these other places for the occasional seller as a good outlet, with out compitition of trade members to sell stones they no longer need.

Gene,
I agree wholeheartedly with the above and yes, LT was started as a place where Pricescopers could sell/buy their stones safely with no listing cost. Unfortunately, there are Trade members who take advantage of this as well.

 

[mastercutgems]

I do not understand why they do not make it ( LT ) a "non trade" selling venue ??? I always thought it was until I just looked

I think it was a neat idea for there to be a place where non-trade people could sell or trade off their gems/jewelry they no longer wore or just needed to sell in a friendly environment with no real competition from people trying to make a living off the craft...

I think that is something the non-trade masses need to take up with those in charge to create that or a new environment for non-trade people...

As for the topic it ( the gemstone/jewelry world) has been in the stinker for well over a year; with the currency exchange, election year here in the states, etc. the economy worldwide is not that great and I deal worldwide on about every level from the miner, the cutting factories, consumer both high end/ middle, and cheap; people are hanging on to money and waiting to see what shakes out in the world economy...Plus as another had said people's tastes change and they take on new hobbies and adventures; I know I am the same; from minerals, to gems, to Samurai swords, to farming, mountain bike riding, fly fishing, etc. the list goes on and on... LOL I do not buy the rough and gems to re-cut like I did 3 years ago as I too am a consumer and I am just paying attention to the signs and not gambling on what someone will want in the next year like I used to...

But I am thankful and Blessed and I am farming also as everyone has to eat I was taught many years ago to diversify you assets, hobbies, as it will make you a more well rounded individual and it is also more fun

Most Respectfully;

Dana Reynolds
ASG Certified
Supreme Master Gem Cutter
#96CGE42