钻石光芒减淡 彩色宝石成新宠

在过去八年中，红宝石和蓝宝石的价格增长速度超过了钻石，这一现象反映出彩色宝石在全球日益流行的趋势。究其原因，一方面可能是因为彩色宝石的价格相对低廉，人们可以承受得起；而另一个重要的原因，或许是越来越多的女性消费者开始为自己购置宝石饰物，因为受到安吉丽娜•朱莉和凯特王妃等名人的影响，彩色宝石往往会成为她们的首选。安吉丽娜•朱莉是绿宝石的忠实用户，而凯特王妃手上一直戴着戴安娜王妃留下来的那枚蓝宝石戒指。钻石制造商公司的创始人表示，2010年以来，彩色宝石的需求量增长了三倍，相比之下钻石的销量下降了。他认为这是女性主导市场的表现。他指出，购买珠宝对男人来说通常是一种望而生畏的经历，他们往往连戒指的码数都不知道，而女性非常清楚自己想要什么，她们有时甚至会要求将戒指上的钻石换成彩色宝石。

Over the past eight years, the price of rubies and sapphires appears to have increased faster than that of diamonds.

Coloured stones are, of course, much more affordable than their pricier, harder, relatives.

And millions more people, especially in Asia, want to buy them.

But could another explanation be that many more women are now buying gems for themselves?

That is the theory being put forward by one of Hatton Garden's most established jewellers.

Vashi Dominguez, the founder of the firm Diamond Manufacturers, believes prices are now being driven by the choices that women make.

When men choose gemstones for their partners, they often go for diamonds, he says. But when they do the choosing themselves, many women prefer at least one coloured gemstone in a piece of jewellery - a ruby, a sapphire, or an emerald.

They have also received encouragement from celebrities like Angelina Jolie and Penelope Cruz, who can afford diamonds aplenty, but who often choose to wear sapphires and emeralds instead.

Not to mention the Duchess of Cambridge, with the engagement ring she inherited from Princess Diana.

Demand for coloured stones has increased threefold since 2010, according to Diamond Manufacturers' Mr Dominguez.

As a result, the company is selling fewer diamonds.

"It's because women are driving the market," he says, "even in China."

If men choose jewellery, he says, they tend to buy a ring with a single diamond in it, otherwise known as a solitaire.

"Buying jewellery is normally a very daunting experience for a man," he says.

"Often they don't even know the ring size, while women really know what they want. Some women even say, 'Can you change the diamonds to sapphires?'"

The market price of coloured stones appears to reflect their growing popularity around the globe.

Gemval, which claims to offer the world's first online valuation tool for gemstones, reckons that the price of sapphires rose by 37% between January 2006 and January 2013.

Rubies rose by 47% over the same period.

Emeralds rose significantly in 2005, but between 2006 and 2013 only rose by about 6%.

According to the RapNet Diamond Index (RAPI), the price for one-carat diamonds has risen by 32% since 2006.

In other words, sapphires and rubies have outpaced diamonds over the past seven years.

Jaspreet Chawla, a London-based gemmologist, believes the price rises reflect a growing trend in certain markets.

"In the US and Germany there is a more pronounced move towards coloured stones," she says, "increasingly so after Kate Middleton wore a sapphire.

"But the UK is still diamond-dominated."

Celebrities may indeed be helping to make coloured gemstones fashionable.

Penelope Cruz and Elizabeth Hurley both have sapphire rings, while Halle Berry and Angelina Jolie are fans of emeralds.