The Mariinsky mine put up for auction unique emeralds and alexandrites worth $2 million

Mariinsky Mine JSC  controlled by RT-Capital LLC of the Rostec State Corporation, put up for open auction 34 kg of emeralds and alexandrites of the highest grade and the best color.
The company stated that the initial amount of three lots was $2 million. The company presents a batch of precious stones of such volume and quality at the auction for the first time. The auction will be held at the St. Petersburg Exchange digital platform on July 14, 2021.
The first lot weighing 8,964 grams with a starting price of $1.52 million offers raw emeralds of the highest characteristics, including a particularly valuable stone weighing 388 grams with reference characteristics of the first color and the first grade worth $245,000.
Ural emeralds with the highest purity and the first dark green color are highly valued in the jewelry world, and large stones are especially rare. According to the classifier of the Gokhran of Russia, the stone belongs to the category of unique emeralds.
The second lot weighing 23,847 grams and a starting price $458,000 is formed from raw materials of natural emeralds of the first color and the third grade. Such stones are highly demanded by jewelry companies or houses.
The third lot put up for auction is represented by the most expensive and rare precious stone, alexandrite weighing 146 grams with a starting price of more than $3,500. The lot will include raw materials of the first and second grades and two degrees of natural alexandrite effect.
The uniqueness of this auction is not only in the volumes of precious stones offered and their total value, but also in the high-quality raw materials. For the first time, such a volume of unique raw materials of the first color is offered to cutters and jewelers in the Russian market, the share of which is 86% (28,363 grams) of the total mass of the provided emeralds in lots.
"More than half of the emeralds in domestic stores are synthetic or refined stones of rather low quality imported from abroad. Ural emeralds are highly valued in the jewelry world. Today, the Mariinsky Mine supplies Russia with no more than 20% of all the emeralds it produces. But we are ready to increase our presence in the domestic market. This auction is the first step in this direction, with its help we plan to attract the attention of Russian jewelry houses to the possibilities of the Mariinsky Mine. In addition, the development of the internal customer base will make Russian emeralds more affordable," said Kirill Fedorov, General Director of RT-Capital LLC.
Russian legal entities and individual entrepreneurs who are registered as auction participants and have a license to work with stones of the first category on the territory of the Russian Federation will be able to participate in the auction.

Alex Shishlo for Rough&Polished