2009, year of the crisis?

So we survived the year of the crisis and despite all Cassandra calls, we, of the gem and jewellery industry, did so quite well.

At the beginning of the year crystal ball owners predicted a continuation or even worsening of the crisis. The word was for more bankruptcies, dramatically rising unemployment and the scary term "hyper-inflation" was not to be overheard.

Luckily the augurs were only half right. Yes, a few more banks went bust or had to be salvaged by the taxpayer. Yes, unemployment has risen sharply and yes, in the face of gallopping public debts the ghost of high inflation is still hovering above our heads.

But: despite the bad omens, 2009 was not a bad year for the industry, even though large-scale investors, seeking gemstone-shelter for what was left of their riches after the stock exchange crash, stayed away.

Sales of upper-middle class class gemstones more than compensated for the slight slump in the sale of large high-end gems. Reasons for this might be the currently very low interest levels, as well as the loss of consumer confidence banks are struggling with these days. Our goldsmith and jeweller customers told about quite a number of jewellery buyers turning to the ruby showcase (rather than the local bank) with something in the line of "at these interest rates?" on their lips...

Which takes us directly to the gemstone of the year:
Ruby sales in 2009 definitely exceeded our expectations. This might be due to the colour reds vicinity to the current trend colours purple and pink.
Another, equally plausible and without a doubt more romantic reason was brought up by one of our customers. The lady, a goldsmith of truly remarkable skill and taste, argues that at times of crisis, people tend to invest more into relationships. And, after all, ruby is the gemstone of love...
Read more in the first item of our news/articles/2010 section

Other good sellers of the past year were, as was to be expected, amethyst, pink and red tourmaline, pink sapphire as well as multicoloured sets consisting of either a plethora of colours and different gem varieties (e.g. a mix of amethyst, citrine, garnet, iolite, aquamarine, peridot, turmaline etc.) or of a range of colours of one and the same gem material (e.g. sapphires in many different shades and colours).