Out with the Old, in with Tucson 2025
Cecile Raley Designs had a fairly busy holiday season and, if you notice our total listing numbers, they have gone down a bit during the last couple of months.
Time, therefore, to refresh and restock. And for that, I will need your input. For this year’s Tucson, we are prepared to spend a little bit more as we have sold down on all of the Denver purchases from September 2024, and I have been emptying the safe since I broke my ankle last spring. Let me take you through the various categories I intend to refresh and invite your comments.
Sapphire: My focus will be on interesting cuts – kites, hexagons, fat ovals like 3x2 and 4x3, rounds above 4mm, and as much in the purple and magenta range as I can find. So in terms of colors, I am hoping for saturated pinks, purples and blues, but lavenders and lilacs we love also. Which cuts interest you most?
Note that pink sapphire in sizes other than melee are usually heated, and there has been increased retail interest in these colors. Correspondingly, vendors have raised prices to curb buying and meet demand. But I have had more requests for these so I will do my best. Hot pink and purple were my best sellers last year.
A color I am confused about buying is teal. The market seems to demand teals and there are a lot of sales, but I hardly sell teals at all. So is there any interest in teal colors, such as greenish, or warmer greens, yellows?
Finally, we have run out of many small sizes, is there any interest in anything particular? 4x2 marquis, 4x3 ovals, 5x3 pears, small hexagons or kites, etc etc. I am wondering how much people still want to buy any of the specialty cuts in any of these.
Ruby: If the Canada Ruby company is back in business, I will be going there for stock. In my view, this is a small investment opportunity as many buyers don’t want to buy rubies from conflicted areas such as Myanmar. I also always look for saturated unheated and heated rubies, but the prices for these have gone up significantly. Under 2mm, I can source most rubies, but, for instance, finding even matching sets of marquis, small ovals, or pears is more difficult. Most rubies I can get my hands on sell quickly but I will do my best.
Paraiba: I have sold down quite a bit on stock. I have hoarded some single one carat pieces that are between 10 and 15K and I have more green paraibas, but what I am really looking for would be some pieces that are below one carat but above a half carat. That is what I am getting the highest demand for, and that category is the most difficult to fill. Ideally I would find round gems but as the rough material is long and narrow, cutting the rough into round shapes is very pricey. And since it is the cost of the rough that dictates the cost of the faceted piece, it often turns out that the final price of a round gem is more than what most clients like to pay.
On the more positive front, I think I can supply more melees in blue to green, round and other shapes, without raising prices this year. I have been working with a new supplier for a year and a half now, they are directly in Brazil and they have offered a consistent supply.
Other Tourmaline: I am always on the lookout for vibrant pinks and blue greens, or icy tones. While the neon pinks do not sell very well, I personally think they are a wonderful alternative to the more expensive pinks like neon sapphires in the same saturation, and despite their rarity, the pinks have not gone up in price as much as sapphires have.
Benitoite: I have my usual meeting with the Benitoite folks before the AGTA and GJX begin the first week of February. But note that I still have small ovals and rounds available. I will therefore be buying less. I am going to ask for small specialty cuts for the most part, as well as rounds above 3mm if possible.
Cobalt Spinel: Again, I would need your advice on this. I have not sold much cobalt spinel in the last few years. Prices have actually been stable for about 2 years, although supplies are down to what people have hoarded. There’s been nothing fresh coming from Vietnam and insofar as anything hits the market, it is old stock. The new blue Mahenge pocket appears to be done or more would have hit the market. I still have blue spinel from Sri Lanka, cobalt spinel from Vietnam, and cobalt spinel from Mahenge, mostly in smaller sets but also a few pieces in the .2 carat range that aren’t round. Again, the rough doesn’t really favor round shapes and the lack of supply doesn’t allow for matched sets. One has to work with a mixed shape and size set and design from there.
Here are some of the cobalt spinels currently in the store and click here to see them all.
Burmese Red Spinel, Mahenge Spinel: I always, always, always look for neon color spinels in reds or pinks, but prices are pretty close to exorbitant at this point, even for melee. Both Burma and Mahenge spinel demand have outpaced supply. In 2020 you could still get them at reasonable prices but even the larger gem dealers that used to stock them, such as Yavorski and Nomads, are very sold down. I look at their stock at every show, hoping there’s some magic they are pulling out of their drawers still, but there’s just nothing left. The best material at this point is mildly included. And even those are expensive, and even those are hard to get in the very neon colors. But if I find the material, I usually buy it!
What I can still get is Mahenge spinel melee 2mm and under. I know one supplier that has parcels still. But Jedi pinks or reds from Myanmar I can’t restock. My vendor for those from the last 5 years has quadrupled in price and their stock is down 80% nevertheless.
Pink and Lavender Spinel: I do continue to buy those but prices of lavenders have gone up as well, as purples and lavenders have been very popular colors. The more reasonable colors, at this point, are the peachy tones, as compared to sapphires in the same saturation.
Zircon: I am less interested in the earth tone zircon or the yellows, even though I think they are super pretty. But whenever I can find truly saturated blues, especially in nice cuts, I will source them.
Demantoid Garnet: Of course I will be replacing the melee I sold as well as add a few other sizes. There are only rounds in small stones, but there are three shades. I call them “olive,” “apple,” and “emerald.” That’s probably self explanatory; olive is the cheapest by less than half and the least popular even though it is not any more common than the more desirable apple and emerald green. Emerald is the most expensive. I tend to pick a large, a medium and a small size in melee. If anything particular is of interest, please let me know.
Purple Garnet: In light of the most recent purple craze, I feel I should stock up on more purple garnet again. That, at least, has not gone up in price as much in the last few years.
What I probably won’t buy are peach toned sapphires as they are mostly not pretty in the lower price range. I feel the same way about alexandrite but I do have access to melee if you are prepared to pay a few thousand per carat (…!). Kornerupine is basically wiped off the planet, except for some overpriced single medium sized specimens (between half and one carat).
In terms of shapes I will work hard to get 5-6mm rounds as that was my most popular size in the last several months. I had made a point to stock anything pretty in that size and shape, and it all sold. I will look for 4mm pairs as well as 7mm rounds. Past that I cannot source anything sufficiently interesting in an affordable price range – that’s my humble opinion anyway.
I will stock up on hexagons and kites as well as Asscher if I can find it, but I would prefer not to buy too much of these specialty shapes as they might go out of style. I'd be interested in your input into this and your preferred gemstone shapes in particular.
Last but not least, I have pre ordered hauyne, and if anyone else would like some in sizes that aren't listed right now, you need to let us know asap. The vendor for these will be at the GJX show and he is setting aside what I would like to have so it doesn't get bought right away: 1.5mm, 1.8mm, 2mm, 2.5mm, 3mm) but the amounts will be very limited due to my funds. Remember if you tell me to buy things I have to use money, lol, and if it isn't your money then it is mine. Once that runs out then there won't be anything for you to see...
Looking forward to your comments. Please email us at cecileraleydesigns@gmail.com