I know good quality rubies emeralds and sapphires are considered the best investment but rubies and emeralds are very hard for me to evaluate. I like eye clean and loupe clean gems if possible. I have found eye-loupe clean tourmalines and love them.
Which of the following are good for investment long term for my children/grandchildren? I am 68 in good health but they don’t have interest in gems so I will find someone to sell my inventory upon my passing, if this is possible. Which should I keep which should I sell now? Most set in gold, platinum with diamonds.
All excellent cuts.
1)Monte Belo AAAA 4ct indicolite and 3+ct both loupe clean
2)Ouro Fino Rubelite AAA 6.15ct and 6.70ct. Eye clean one pear one oval
3)Diaspore AAA OCTAGON 9x9 4:5 ct many other pieces. Does anyone think Diaspore is the next gem to increase in price?
4) I have multi colored tourmalines crystal clear from old mines not in production now but are smaller than a carat.
5) AAA natural canary (bright yellow) tourmaline 1.3cts, 1ct. And many other canary pieces
6) natural golden tanzanite 1.2 ct 1.3ct. I could not find information on this anywhere? Beautiful gems but not sure at all. Loupe clean.
7) grandiderite many but not crystalized. Is it supposed to be?
8) narsipatnam alexandrite, small stones in rings. Good color change not crystalized.
Of course I have more…… I did not buy from India on eBay. I think I bought all at super prices. Thank for helping me.
Hi, I will not advise on most of these gemstones hopefully another community specialist may be able to assist, however in my 40 or so years with gemstones I have never heard or seen a golden Tanzanite, I would suggest it does not exist??? natural unheated Tanzanite is trichroic, which means it has 3 different colours when you look at the gemstone, should be purple/blue, grey and green from different angles.you may want to have it identified, all the best and regards
There is a yellow (golden) Zoisite
I think because Tanzanite is a Zoisite, then all Zoisites must be Tanzanite 
I am not near to being an expert and it is hard to say what you can keep without seeing the finished jewellery. But IF the gemstones have to decide then you may keep number 1,4,7 and 8 for investment. And you may sell the others. Again the finished jewellery have to decide.
Just basing my answer solely on the gemstones, I agree with KhalifaM71217 but I would also add 6.
Yes the stones he called cognac in this video about tanzanite are what I have set in jewelry. So these are natural zoisite before heat treatment which makes the blue color correct?
Just a small amount of Tanzanite is naturally blue out of the ground, most are shades of brown until they’re heated. (Some with a reddish/yellowish tint) ___Now it’s the rare yellow natural fancy colors of zoisite (sometimes called Fancy Tanzanite) that are very expensive, and usually those stones are left untreated.
This is a website that will interest you…The Rare Gemstone Company They do have natural yellow fancy tanzanites.This company is a member of ICA and associated with GIA and Gem A. Also have been mentioned in Forbes, etc. In other words, reputable. You will probably get some valuable info on what other stones you should invest
Gemstones are collectable investments. The Big 3: rubies, emeralds, and sapphires are the most known to the general public. The others tend to be specialized by the gemologists/jewelers depending upon their preference. For instance, I love color changing gems such as color changing diaspore (Zultanite) and alexandrite among others.
I know a jeweler who thought the color changing diaspore was going to be a sure fire investment and built up way too much of his store inventory. Well, it didn’t sell because the public was not educated in the gem. He was forced to sell off the gems below cost.
Like all investments, there are no guarantees. Good luck!
The Blue Indicolite and Red Rubellite tourmalines along with Chromium Tourmalines ( Green) all keep going up in value yearly. The Multi color and pariaba tourmalines ( especially clean stones) are going up in value in leaps and bounds. Grandiderite Only if its blue is the one your after. Let the greenish ones go. Canary tourmalines are going value somewhat but not as much as the others. Hope this helps!
Yes these are good sources of information, thank you. I have seen many colors of zoisite in the last few days. I have learned vivid-intense blue tanzanite which was recently actually given a color destination. It is extremely rare saturated blue. Thank you JCBellGG.
Thank you for your response. I agree with you, it’s all a gamble. I don’t think the diaspore will ever be as popular as a more vivid colored stones. I think it is so beautiful cut in a trillion and mounted in yellow gold. Of course I like warm colors more than cool colors personally.
Are you familiar with some of the color shift (not sure if shift or change is the right word ) of the some of the garnets? Such as beautiful mint green and pastel pink garnets? Both were spoken of as rare since not many exist. Most found are small stones.
Even if it all doesn’t work out as I hope I’m having fun learning and becoming a student of gems.
This helps a lot. I have seen a few crystal clear ones which I assume you are calling blue. The ones I have are blue/green turquoise color but not super clear. I have some larger pieces of these. Thank you Allwoodmike.
I too am a senior and have no interest from any family members on these gems after I pass.
I think a good question for the two of us is……what are some good alternatives for us to try and sell our collection off at below wholesale pricing…
Thanks,
Cbass
I hate to be a killjoy, but it is rare that folks who are not in the trade and do not buy in bulk or in Thailand or Sri Lanka or close to the mines in Africa are able to buy at wholesale. Usually it is a case of buy at retail and sell at wholesale, which is usually the going price when you try to unload a gem collection. gemval.com is a valuing service on line which keeps track of gemstone prices over time for various species. It is a subscription service and doesn’t cost a lot to subscribe for a few months if you want to value your gems and see the historical data for colored stones. If I recall correctly, gems in general appreciate about 10% per year, which is close to what you would get in the stock market, I guess (index funds) except that you have that buy retail, sell wholesale problem.
If you know your wholesale prices for rough and can buy well and have stones cut at a good price, you can make money doing this, but it takes a lot of experience. I started cutting and buying in 1996, took a Gemologist Cert from GIA and studied stones, cutting and rough prices a lot and in the past few years I think I have done OK investing in rough that will be cut and sold. But we’re talking 15 to 20 years of experience and knowing the right people to buy from and use for cutting.
I don’t know much about diaspore prices and my price Guide (Gemworld) does not have a category for it. You already have some answers for tanzanite, altho’ I would add that much of what’s coming out of the ground now in Tanzania is what is called “diesel,” as it is dark brown in color, but heat treats easily to nice blues. If you can find someone to heat it for you, you might do well to have the cognac stones heated to blue. It is always a little bit of a gamble, but the color change is pretty reliable from what I hear.
I love tourmaline and deal in good greens, blue greens, indicolites and pinks and reds. Except for chrome, which is hard to find in good greens anyway, the other colors are not as valuable as the pinks, reds, greens and blue-greens. You can look around the internet to see what prices for cut stones are…I would say about $200/ct for really good color in the above hues, maybe somewhat more if it is absolutely clean and top, top color.
Probably your best bet for selling is on some of the FB groups for that or on ebay, where you can really talk it up and possibly get somebody interested in a sale at a retail price. Colored stone prices are always rising because there is an increasing number of middle class people who want jewelry, particularly in Asia and this drives prices up. However, there are multiple sources for tourmaline, so there is probably not going to be any shortage. As time goes on, the public may prefer “lagoon blue” or some other color and prices for those hues may go up. Without seeing what you have it is hard to say what it would sell for and hard to say whether you should keep it to appreciate or sell it and put the money into a stock market account for your heirs.
Wow! Some of these stones are absolutely stunning. I can’t decide what color I want! I’ve seen some yellow and orange but not as clean and bright as these are. Thanks for posting this site.
All the best,
Otter
Thanks for the read.
Do you mind sharing your basic source that you purchased your good deals from ?
Tom C
Yes. To my humble opinion emerald ( Muzo), sapphire, Ruby, Nice big tourmaline, high Quality blue Tanzanite, Kunzite, are maybe on long term are the best investments. Of course set in fine handmade quality rings, but than a good craftsman needs to deliver you fine work is to me the best way to investment. Also the design of the ring is very important. Than you don’t sell the paint only but a painting of you know what I mean. Classical works also stay stabile in price. New artists need to make their name still while seem to be forgotten after a decade or two. Classical names have already earn their appreciation, same with jewelry. To firm prices you do not specially need a name but high quality is demanded. The investment is of course more demanding but if you looking for investing in jewelry it is a must
An investment is obviously something you buy with the intention of selling later for a profit.
As someone who sells unique stones, rarity and value are not always aligned. Many gemstones are “rare” but have a diminished value because they are unknown. If future buyers don’t know of the gemstone trying to get them to buy it is a task.