Business Wire India
The specific auction mix and exact quality of the lots offered at each auction vary in characteristics such as size, colour and clarity on account of variations in mined production and market demand. Therefore the results of each auction are not always directly comparable. Adrian Banks, Gemfields’ Managing Director of Product & Sales, commented: “The results of what was our first Singapore emerald auction in more than three years clearly reflect the emerging recovery among our trade customers after a protracted period of difficulty. The marked increases in the percentage of carats and number of lots sold, combined with the uptick in per carat price, bode well for further improvement in 2019. ‘Inkalamu’, the extraordinary 5,655 carat ‘Lion emerald’ which captured international media attention following its discovery at Kagem on 2 October 2018, was purchased at the auction by Rajkumar and Rishabh Tongya of DiaColor, specialists in high-value gems. Gemfields, in furthering its support of wildlife conservation, is donating 10% of the proceeds of ‘Inkalamu’ to its conservation partners the Zambian Carnivore Programme (www.zambiancarnivores.org) and the Niassa Carnivore Project (www.niassalion.org). The Inkalamu emerald will deploy fully customised Gübelin ‘Provenance Proof’ nano-tagging, allowing the “descendants” of Inkalamu (or Inkalamu’s own ‘pride of lions’) to be traced directly to not only the mine of origin, but the gem of origin. As always, we thank both our customers and the Zambian government for their support, and give credit to every member of the loyal and hard-working teams at Gemfields and the Kagem emerald mine.”
Source: Businesswire