Gemstones
Gemstones are extremely abundant in nature and come if a much larger variety than people realise. The abundance of these means that Gemstone Jewellery does actually work out to be very competitive in the majority of cases. The different types of stones vary dramatically in their appearance, from the beautiful blues of amazonite, to the bright purple of charoite. These stones are found in many different places and are extracted in numerous ways. They then undertake a process to get them into the form most of us are used to seeing which is as jewellery.
Gemstones make up a large part of the jewellery market, with such a variety of stones, and the flexibility to have them in necklaces, ear rings, rings etc. The Growth of this market over the last century has been dramatic and changed considerably since the early days. As more stones have been identified, and as the extraction and polishing processes have improved, so has the variety of stones, their shapes, and the uses they can be put to. The ability of man to take these elements and make them into beautiful pieces has resulted in a huge market place. The economic growth seen in the last century, and the subsequent growth in disposable incomes has meant that things such as Gemstone Jewellery have gone from being a product restricted to the elite, to now being a product available to the masses. As the ability of producers develops, and so the jewellery changes in styles, so the market place will continue to thrive.
