What are the prices of gemstones?

The price of different gemstone jewelry can vary incredibly. Supply and demand obviously is a big factor in this matter, but also historical reasons. Gems that are highly esteemed or considered as 'classic' (the ICGA even has a category of "collector's gems"), can cost a huge amount of money.

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Basically, the gemstone prices are determined by the formula detailed below:

Gemstone Value = (price per carat * weight) * weight* color * clarity * quality * shape


It is important to note that there is quite a difference between gemstone prices though. For example, a 2 carat heated sapphire may cost $1000 while an untreated 3 carat could cost $125. The International Colored Gemstone Association (ICGA) explains that the prices of gemstones lead to the following gemstone categorization:


The Traditional Gemstones Category consists of rubies, emeralds, and blue sapphires. These gemstones have the highest price in the jewelry market. Although many of these gemstones are enhanced, they are still considered precious stones, a title that raises their price when compared to other gemstones. The prices for attractive blue sapphires for example, general begin at about $200 per carat.


The New Classic Gemstones Category includes tsavorite garnets, aquamarines, tourmalines, tanzanite, and imperial topaz. As of late, the demand for these gemstones has increased, raising their prices accordingly. Tanzanite is a gemstone that is part of massive marketing attempts, especially for men's jewelry.


The Collector's Gemstones Category includes beryls, moonstone, morganite, spinel, and zircon. The clarity and hardness of spinel for example, make this gemstone a great purchase. The brilliance of zircon can only be surpassed by that of diamonds.


The Affordable Gemstones Category includes amethyst, ametrine, andalusite, blue topaz, citrine, diopside, iolite, kunzite, peridot, rhodolite garnet. These are all lovely colored gemstones and at $10 per carat, they are more affordable to the general public.


It seems that there are a few guidelines that help set gemstone prices. Supply and demand are a large part of this issue, and demand is heavily influenced by the marketing efforts of the jewelry industry. When a gemstone isn't on high fashion demand, it most likely won't be marketed aggressively so the price in turn will be lower. Once a gemstone is in high supply, the jewelry industry doesn't have much power to affect the prices as long as there is no cartel on that particular gemstone (like the De Beers cartel with diamonds). The main thing to remember if you're searching for the best value for your dollar is to check on gems that are not quite as well-known, and thus less aggressively marketed.

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In general the higher the carat weight, the higher the prices of diamonds and gemstone jewelry. However, popularity of differing sizes of certain gemstone can affect prices. Normally, prices range from as low as 1USD/carat for a normal amethyst up to 20,000-50,000USD for a collector's three carat pigeon-blood ruby.

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