Deciphering gemstones: Equipping retailers to optimize sales

by carly_midgley | November 1, 2017 10:58 am

By Hemdeep Patel

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“I don’t know what’s the matter with people: they don’t learn by understanding, they learn by some other way — by rote or something. Their knowledge is so fragile!”

~Richard Feynman

I was first introduced to Feynman’s Nobel Prize-winning work during my time as an undergraduate astrophysics student. Though the quote appears to be brut and unforgiving, it does carry an element of truth that’s hard to deny. Simply put, a deeper understanding of any given topic allows you to build a stronger foundation on the subject, thereby giving you a greater ability to convey those ideas to others. When faced with outside challenges, this foundation serves as an excellent resource to meet ever-changing situations. This is a common thread running through industries and businesses that have had to stand strong in the face of challenges. Success is the reward for the one who understands how individual parts relate to a whole.

The jewellery industry is no different. Many jewellers have faced a variety of challenges throughout the last two decades. In my articles, I have tried to illustrate a better and complete understanding of some of the ways the trade can help provide opportunities for success and satisfaction for both jewellers and customers. Whether it is the differences in diamond grading reports or how to incorporate computer-assisted design (CAD) into a business, self-learning and empowering oneself with knowledge can only increase success.

Gemstones are underrated

Perhaps the one part of the industry that has been very close to me is the one I was born into: the coloured gemstone sector.

There is a general sentiment amongst retailers to not give gemstone jewellery much importance. And in fact, the global numbers seem to prove this to be true. Forbes estimates 2017 retail global jewellery sales would reach an estimated US$257 billion, with finished gemstone pieces only comprising anywhere between US$18 and $21 billion, according to Russell Shor of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). At this level, gemstone jewellery would make up only seven to nine per cent of total sales.

Perhaps what the numbers fail to convey is that on average, coloured gemstone
jewellery has the highest profit margin of all sectors within the jewellery industry. The only thing standing in the way for many jewellers to seize this opportunity is the know-how of developing a strong understanding concerning how to accurately describe gemstones, so a customer can recognize nuances and see how they are equated to value.

Gemstone grading

Unlike diamonds, where the stone’s value is directly connected to its grade, but in most instances cannot be seen by the unaided eye, the nuances of coloured gemstones are connected to a value a customer can see and evaluate for themselves. Perhaps the best part of this evaluation process is, in most cases, it can be done without the aid of a loupe, microscope, or other piece of equipment.

Once a customer sees and recognizes these minor nuances, they are able to distinguish how specific characteristics impact the quality and value of a particular gemstone. Further, I would argue the most difficult part of any purchase cycle is to have your client agree to your value proposition. This can be made easier when your customer can agree and acknowledge the nuances you have pointed out and how these details can impact the stone’s value.

Sharing knowledge

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So where does this understanding of nuances begin and how can you best represent it to a client? It certainly cannot begin by reducing gemstones to the letter grade language of AA, A, or B, or to good, better, or best. Though this form of grading may simplify the way a gemstone could be ranked, it provides no additional value or information that could inform a client of what they are buying.

I do understand the reasoning behind this simplified method of grading stones. Unfortunately, there is a growing segment of today’s consumers who are educating themselves regarding their gemstone jewellery purchases. They can come armed with a checklist full of characteristics of what their ideal gemstone should look like. Thus, presenting a gemstone with an alphabet soup grading system would seem counterproductive to this buying process and possibly unhelpful.

Showing stones

I would also suggest retail salespeople don’t necessarily need to be gemstone-trained to address a client’s needs. In fact, there are many successful salespeople who don’t have any formal gemmological training, but rather possess a keen eye to identify nuances in various gemstones and how to present them to customers.  It always starts with knowing what to look for—knowing what characteristics make a fantastic gemstone.

The only way to learn the answers to these questions and become aware of these nuances is by asking questions.

Take a blue sapphire, for instance. One might ask, “What is an ideal colour for a blue sapphire?”  Though the answer seems obvious—it should be blue—it doesn’t stop here.

What counts in gemstone cuts?

The colour of a gemstone is determined by three important components: hue, tone, and saturation.

The hue is the actual wavelength of light the human eye perceives. Most gemstones have two hues: the primary and secondary hue, which are seen as one combined wavelength.

Tone refers to the light or darkness of a stone. This is much like a green lawn during the day as opposed to night. Though the hue of a lawn hasn’t changed, the grass appears green in the day and nearly black at night. 

Lastly, saturation refers to the intensity of the hue. The most common example of saturation is how, when increasing the number of drops of food colouring in a glass of water, the intensity of the hue in the glass increases, too.

So, let’s go back to the question, “What is an ideal colour for a blue sapphire?” The more complete answer might be a slight violetish-blue with a medium tone and a vivid saturation.  Understandably, this example refers to an ideal blue sapphire, but for a salesperson, who has knowledge of these nuances, they might be able to help a customer buy a not-so-ideal blue sapphire due to budget restraints by pointing out one of the available stones shows a better violetish-blue hue, even though the stone is slightly darker than what is ideal.

Another gemstone characteristic not often spoken about is how well a stone is cut to maximize its brilliance. I have always been drawn to well-cut gemstones because it is the only way a stone can announce its presence on a piece of jewellery.

On many occasions, even when the colour is not ideal, whether it lacks good tone or saturation, a well-cut stone can mask deficiencies by announcing the gemstone’s hue like a lighthouse.

Gemstones can be found in a wide variety of cut styles, such as traditional native cuts, which focus on the weight retention of the original rough stone and allow stones to come to market at a lower cost since very little of the original rough has been faceted away.

Over the last 20 years, however, stones have been cut with a concerted effort to facet a better-cut gemstone to maximize a stone’s brilliance.

Though the gemstone-cut grade cannot be formalized like a diamond, there are some key features both share that make evaluating a gemstone’s cut easier (and with no need for tools other than a loupe). In most cases, a loupe is not even necessary.

Gemstones can be cut to show three distinct features: brilliance, extinction, and windows.  The brilliance of the gem refers to the light reflected back to your eye when you view it. The brilliance of the stone can only be appreciated when areas of extinction exist, which are the dark or blackened areas of a stone. This is similar to how a diamond has areas of reflection, or white flash areas, and darker areas. The contrast, called a harlequin pattern, is pleasing to the eye, and determines whether a gemstone is considered well cut; too much of one or the other, brilliance or extinction, renders results deviating from ideal.

The last of the three is the window, and this is, perhaps, the least desirable feature. Windows refer to an area of a gemstone where neither brilliance nor extinction is seen; the light passes right through the stone. All that’s seen is whatever lies under the stone. In many gemstones, however, this feature is unavoidable (e.g. aquamarines). Again, a knowledgeable salesperson who is showing an aquamarine with very little windowing would highlight this difficult-to-find feature to counterbalance a stone not having the most ideal colour.

As I have continued to write and discuss over the last nine years, knowledge without understanding is fragile. And when there is an opportunity to find success by using our innate skill of perception and inquiry, we should do so.  The challenges the industry continues to face show no signs of easing, and so it will be what knowledge is truly understood that helps jewellers find opportunities to grow.

[3]Hemdeep Patel is head of marketing and product development of Toronto-based HKD Diamond Laboratories Canada, an advanced gemstone and diamond laboratory with locations in Bangkok, Thailand, and Mumbai, India. He also leads Creative CADworks, a 3D CAD jewellery design and production firm. Holding a B.Sc. in physics and astronomy, Patel is a third-generation member of the jewellery industry, a graduate gemmologist, and vice-president of the Ontario chapter of the GIA alumni association. He can be contacted via e-mail at hemdeep@hkdlab.ca or sales@creativecadworks.ca.

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