Maria Krasnova, Executive Director of the renowned company “Samotsvety ot Sokolov” (Gems by Sokolov), spoke to Rough&Polished about the Gemstone project aimed at selling precious stones, as well as about current market trends, new challenges in gemology, and gemstones as an investment.
Where did your interest in precious stones come from?
My father, Pavel Borisovich Sokolov, a geologist - well known in St. Petersburg - with over 30 years of teaching experience (including extensive practical fieldwork), an expert in gemstones and collector of unique precious stones, passed on his passion for gemology and imparted his knowledge of the science to my brother and me. Later on, we started working at his company, where we gained experience in selecting and sorting out gemstones, trading in precious metals and gemstones, and the commerce in the jewelry market. This helped us in choosing our sphere of business and our own path of life.
Please tell us how your Gemstone project came about and how it is developing now.
The Gems by Sokolov project was founded over 35 years ago. We acquired the gemstone.ru domain about 20 years ago - when digitalization was not a common trend - to ensure further development and digital support. This domain fully reflects the company’s activities in the region where it is registered and operates. In the early 1990s, Pavel B. Sokolov, a professional geologist and mineralogist, founded this company. Over the years, we have never changed the company’s name, we’ve carried it throughout our lives.
What makes this project important?
Thanks to its long-standing reputation, knowledge of the market, and professionalism, gemstone.ru, offers in-stock items that are in demand. These range from calibrated gem studs for mass production to exclusive, one-of-a-kind gemstones for designer jewelry items. This diverse product range makes the company important and its business highly-demanded.
Gemstone.ru’s main advantage in the market is that all the jewelry items we offer are in stock, which allows us to fulfil orders quickly and deliver goods on-time. Our managers working at our offices in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Kostroma help our customers in choosing the gemstones they need.
How are gemstones selected and how are collections created?
Gemstone.ru is a family-run company. My brother, Alexander Sokolov, and I select and create collections for our customers. It’s worth noting that the company’s client-facing managers also take part in selecting the assortment and searching for gems. This helps us accurately sort gemstones for our customers taking into account their needs, because every manager knows the gem color and quality a client requires. It also allows them to be informed about the market situation, including what’s currently available and what’s in shortage in the market, and know the global prices for gemstones of particular quality.
Our selection approaches depend on market needs. We search for and purchase those gems that are currently in demand, are the latest trend, and, of course, the gems considered to be rare and are difficult to find. It’s something like that if you see a lot offered now and don’t take it, you won’t be able to find it again later.
For example, ten years ago, we had just two or three Paraiba tourmalines in stock. We currently have the largest Paraiba collection in Russia, comprising over 320 specimens of varying sizes.
What are the countries where you look for high-quality gemstones?
We select gemstones offered by various countries, including Brazil, Sri Lanka, Thailand (Bangkok), Hong Kong, and India. We collaborate with numerous dealers around the world and visit gemstone deposits. The market is structured in such a way that, sometimes, high-quality gemstones are not found in their ‘homeland’, so to speak. Instead, they ‘travel around the world in search of their owner’, and you can meet them anywhere. Of course, global gemstone exhibitions are a major hub for all dealers, and many transactions are made during these exhibitions.
What gemstones are ‘crown jewels’ in your collection making you feel proud now?
‘Crown jewels’? That’s a difficult question. We import some very beautiful gemstones. Perhaps, as for our new purchases, I’m proud of our Paraiba tourmalines, especially the sets of them. Paraiba tourmaline sets are very difficult to obtain. I also like our South Sea pearls and, of course, Japanese Akoya pearls! We import only the highest-quality pearls, so they look amazing!
We regularly replenish our sapphire collection with the stones of various color shades. In addition to blue, lilac, pink, and yellow sapphires, we also have unheated green sapphires from Madagascar. These gemstones have not been heat-treated to enhance their color or improve their clarity and they retain their original properties.
What are your approaches to selecting gemstones? What challenges arise when selecting gems?
The approach to selecting gemstones depends on the customers you’re selecting gems for. Until you have a clear idea about their needs, you won’t understand what they require. The selection process is based on the same three principles: quality, size, and price! This is the balance we strive to maintain!
When selecting calibrated gemstones, the main challenge is finding a gem lot of right quantity and quality at the right price. As for exclusive gemstones, this is again a matter of price and selection of sets of gemstones.
We have a fairly large choice of gems, and we constantly replenish our inventory - when we see some interesting gems, we do our best to buy them. We select high-quality natural gemstones - not only for regular gemstone collections, but also as an investment.
Topic: Gemstones as an investment. Earlier, only diamonds were investment gems. How promising is investing in precious and semi-precious stones?
Colored gemstones are a serious investment. Ruby, sapphire, and emerald are the leaders; their prices regularly increase, sometimes, their prices surge to record highs.
Depending on quality and size, investments vary. But prices for good-quality gemstones rapidly rise year after year.
Of course, Paraiba tourmalines surprised everyone with their fast-growing price! Over the past couple of years, the prices for them have skyrocketed five to seven times, and for some Paraiba tourmalines, the prices soared even higher. However, this gemstone is a semi-precious one, but it’s difficult to find Paraiba tourmalines having high color and clarity characteristics.
By the way, large-size and high-quality gemstones set in jewelry pieces ‘with a story’ behind them increase their value. However, there are also small but very rare gemstones. These can be more expensive than more popular gems. For example, cobalt spinel from Vietnam, or Tanzania-origin vivid pink Mahenge spinel.
All gemstones in our large collection have international grade reports certifying their natural origin, quality, and characteristics. We work exclusively with leading gemological laboratories, including GIA (Gemological Institute of America), C. Dunaigree, GRS (GemResearch Swisslab), Bellerophn, and the Moscow State University’s gemological laboratory.
Gemology, as all other sectors, faces new challenges. What has changed recently in this market, and what new issues are being discussed?
Since Soviet times, the domestic jewelry and PMPS (precious metals and precious stones) markets have undergone significant changes, and new realities and challenges have emerged. Russia is no longer just a producer of raw materials, but it is becoming a gem-consuming country, and increased consumption has required greater awareness from both sellers and buyers.
International ties have expanded significantly, with the domestic market becoming part of the global market.
The recent International Gemological Conference in Moscow highlighted current issues in our sector, including new methods for synthesizing (growing) diamonds and gemstones, technologies for producing fancy colors in gemstones, cost-cutting methods, and gem enhancement (treatment) techniques. A large number of new synthetic gemstones have emerged, as well as natural gems subjected to treatment using the latest methods, which is primarily aimed at changing the color of gemstones (heating or irradiation) to achieve greater transparency.
What’s new in cutting and polishing technology? What methods are used to highlight the beauty of gemstones?
As technology advances, gemstone cutting tools improve and the cutting-and-polishing process inevitably evolves, leading to new cutting trends. The trend of presenting cut and polished gemstones as art objects - pieces of art - is among these new trends. Many new ways to highlight the beauty of natural gemstones have emerged. However, classic cutting styles remain the most favorite in the market.
Have there been any major discoveries of gem deposits in recent years?
Demand and prices for natural and high-quality gemstones are growing, partly due to the limited availability of natural resources.
At the recent gemological conference held at the Moscow State University, experts discussed the significant decline in Zambian emerald production, which will soon lead to a rise in the price for them.
Speaking of new gem discoveries, the Ethiopian emerald deposits should be mentioned - these gemstones have only recently entered the market.
It must be acknowledged that collecting sets of gemstones has become much more difficult than earlier. Therefore, we often see only rings in the shop windows. Deposits are being depleted, resulting in higher prices for gems. This is despite the fact that the colored gemstone market has been on the rise in recent years. Many companies, not just jewelry firms, have begun to focus on these gems. Aquamarines and pearls - both seawater and freshwater ones - are in fashion again.
Demand for high-quality Burmese rubies and Colombian emeralds is growing.
At the same time, the geography of deposits of colored gemstones supplied to Russia has significantly expanded. Rare and collectible gems, previously insufficiently studied, are gaining popularity, such as teal sapphire, cobalt spinel, rubellite, chrysoprase, dianite...
Galina Semyonova, Editor in Chief of the Russian Bureau, Rough&Polished
