Here lies the snare! The connoisseur must ask, “Does the beauty of this stone from this source justify paying a premium price?” The answer generally may be yes, if the best stones from the area in question are truly the best of their kind. However, it is important to stay focused. The aficionado collects gems, not generalizations. The gem under consideration must be judged for what it is: its beauty, not its geographic origin.

The rarity factor
The relationship between beauty and price is, at best, problematic. People have preferences. In the gemstone market preference creates demand, which is a primary determinant of price. Are yellow stones intrinsically more or less desirable, more or less beautiful, than blue? Obviously not! Such partiality is clearly subjective. All colors are created equal. Yet a fine blue sapphire commands a much higher price than a fine yellow sapphire. This is purely a function of subjective preference, which manifests itself as market demand.
In the gem world, beauty drives demand and rarity drives price.18 This is a catchy little phrase, but what does it mean? More to the point, what weight should the connoisseur give to the rarity factor when deciding on an acquisition?

There are two categories of rarity, actual and apparent. Some gem varieties are found in very small numbers and can be classed as actually rare. Other varieties are in such high demand that though relatively numerous they are very difficult to find in the marketplace. Gems that fit into this second category are apparently rare. Another name might be market rarity. Of the two types,

apparent (market rarity) is the more important. Unless the item is in demand, then its actual rarity doesn’t matter very much. Fine amethyst is actually quite rare, yet due to relatively lackluster demand its price remains relatively low. Things really get interesting when a gem is both apparently and actually rare. These are stones that are in short supply and also in high demand. Alexandrite and blue diamond are good examples of gems that are both apparently and actually rare. Gems that fall into this category will command the very highest prices.

It is fair to say that, with the exception of colorless diamonds of less than ten carats, the finest examples of all gem species and varieties are, at least, apparently rare and difficult to find in the marketplace. From the connoisseur’s viewpoint the very finest examples of any gemstone are rare and difficult to obtain. Amethyst is an excellent example. Amethyst is a type of quartz, one of the earth’s most abundant minerals. Even so, the deep Siberian quality described in Chapter 9 is extraordinarily difficult to find. The author has sorted through thousands of parcels of cut and rough amethyst at the source in Brazil and Africa and come away without a single example of the finest quality of this relatively common gem.

In almost all cases rarity increases with size (tanzanite is perhaps the sole exception. Fairly large examples of the very finest quality tanzanite are relatively more available than smaller gems. A one-carat gem-quality tanzanite is much rarer than a twenty-carat stone.