Had a thought today: More or less every major coloured gem and diamond mine in the world is currently closed, including every emerald mine I know of except maybe Afghanistan.
Although demand has dropped, it will surely outstrip the supply if the supply is ZERO.
People are still getting married and buying gifts, and since people are NOT spending money on trips or fancy dinners, so we become one of the last luxury options for people to spend their money on.
Will there be a shortage?
If so, with a lack of merchandise on the market, will we see ‘artificial inflation’ in the gem markets or will the goods already in the market be enough to feed the demand of the world?
Best regards to all, I hope you are all staying safe and healthy!
I think you are being really, really optimistic. People will be spending their money on essentials. Unemployed people aren’t known for rushing out and buying jewellery and at least 15 million became unemployed in the US in the last 3 weeks. Elsewhere unemployment figures will be equally bad. All the dealers I know are sitting on a ton of stock with no demand so forgive me if I rather doubt your hypothesis…
There are of course people being laid off, but there are millions of nurses, doctors and other medical professionals, as well as every other person who supports them, they are all getting overtime and bonuses right now as billions of dollars get poured into the sector.
In Canada the government is giving out grants and loans left, right and center to anyone who is going to start a business manufacturing medical supplies.
There are nurses putting in 6x 12 hours who are going to break $130k because of bonuses etc. Nurses love jewellery.
A lot of people are going to be making a lot of money, it’s our job to find them and sell to them.
Hi,
I do think David might have a point, but maybe in another way. At this point production may come to an almost standstill. But as mostly is the case after each crisis people tend to buy their way out of the misery and cheer up by getting themselves and others precious goods. Allthough the market -and economy- in the US is far different from some other parts of the world. In the US people are laid off AND not getting paid atm, whereas in i.e. the EU life is coming to the same standstill, but people are still being paid.
People in many producing countries… well, they will find themselves yet again on the wrong side of the equasion, so even for a long time after Corona production might still be low. Unfortunately many of those countries are having a poor health system, so when Corona will hit there, it will be bad and that might just be a matter of time. And Corona seems to have hit developed countries first (because of more international contacts?).
So the equasion might indeed be less production plus higher demand resulting in higher prices.
Developed countries recovering faster from Corona and underdeveloped ones experiencing a completely disrupted economic and social structure. Not a situation I would like to earn my money from.
100% agree that isn’t the scenario I would like to profit from.
I don’t subscribe to any particular religion, but I still feel that profiting from misery is ‘bad juju’/‘bad karma’ or whatever you want to call it, anyone I have seen make a fortune from suffering (particularly gambling and weapons manufacturing) is a miserable human being.