You just have to remember that gems as investments seldom work out.Unless you have a business license and are buying at Tucson or through your wholesaler in bulk parcels, it is unlikely that you will get a “wholesale price.” You may be paying less that the guy who is buying it already set, but it is still a retail price almost by definition, because anyone can buy it by the piece at that price. OTOH, when you sell, you may be selling at wholesale to a dealer who has to make a profit. Even private sales are likely to be below retail prices, because sales between individuals are seldom at retail. Why buy at retail from a private seller when you can walk into a store and get a guarantee of some sort and buy the same thing?
You might do better buying rough and having it cut, but this supposes that you know color and clarity and cutting orientation well and have experience selecting a cutter and being sure that what you are offered is genuine. I’ve done about as well as in the stock market buying rough, but that has been to some extent a fluke, as ten years ago no one knew that tourmaline would go so high. Probably a combination of TV jewelry shows creating demand and educating the public and a decreased supply, along with a rising middle class in Asia increasing demand. That said, you needed (best time may have passed) to buy big stones in excellent color to do best. In colored stones, there is also the possibility that a new strike will flood the market and keep prices from rising, altho’ they don’t seem to decline much.
I do know people—professional cutters—who are going to the markets in Asia and buying sapphire (selected sapphire, that is, and they DO have the eye) and coming back and selling it alongside their custom cut stones, This presupposes that you have a niche market for very fine cut goods of good color and that you are able to select the very well cut gems for sale at selected gem houses in Asia and buy several at a time. You have to buy a good amount because you’ve got to include the cost of your trip in the price of the stones.
One of the problems with getting into this business is that there are precious few places outside of full time employment in a high end jewelry store, custom faceting for years or somehow sitting at the elbow of a gem trader for years to acquire the info you need to be a savvy buyer of gems.
Shoot another picture of that oval, I could swear that it will window face up, but the camera does play tricks sometimes…good luck!