Editor’s Note
The record-breaking sale of the ‘Estrela de Fura’ ruby marks a pivotal shift in the colored gemstone market, challenging historical geographic dominance and highlighting the rising importance of transparency and provenance in the industry.
On June 8, 2023, a new chapter opened in the history of gemstones. The 55.22-carat Mozambique ruby ‘Estrela de Fura’ was sold at Sotheby’s New York for a record price in a colored stone auction. This event was recorded as a significant milestone proving the growth potential of Mozambique rubies, breaking through the formidable barrier of Burmese dominance. Fura Gems, the company that mined this ruby, further solidified its reputation as a sustainable, high-quality rough stone producer and secured a leading position in the colored stone industry. In early February of this year, eight months after that historic auction, I personally visited the headquarters of Fura Gems located in the free zone of Sharjah, UAE.
After about an hour of passionate presentation, Marketing Director Gianluca Maina guided us to a room at the end of the hallway. Upon opening the door, an unimaginable space unfolded before our eyes. A massive screen covering one wall displayed dozens of real-time feeds from mining sites in Mozambique, Colombia, and Australia. As one of the few employees monitoring the screens moved a mouse, a Colombian mining site zoomed in dozens of times. Just then, a miner wearing a helmet with a headlamp inside a tunnel held up a green rough stone the size of half a palm, freshly ‘dug up,’ and showed it to the camera. I couldn’t take my eyes off the intense color of the emerald piercing through the monitor when suddenly the screen changed to show a massive open-pit mine in Mozambique. The momentary bewilderment was brief, as laughter erupted at the director’s joke that Mozambique rubies are found relatively close to the surface, so it’s more like ‘farming’ than mining. After scenes of women in red workwear sorting ruby rough on conveyor belts, and finally the Australian sapphire mine and surrounding land reclamation site, we concluded our ‘virtual’ exploration of three mines. I felt a thrilling sensation at the reality of traversing three continents thousands, tens of thousands of kilometers apart in just 30 minutes within a space of about 10 pyeong (33 sqm).
For the past 100 years, the jewelry industry has focused primarily on diamonds, while the colored stone sector has faced relative underdevelopment due to lack of investment and the absence of large-scale mining companies. In response, Dev Shetty, a key figure in the mining industry, stepped forward in 2017 for a new leap. He established the mining company Fura Gems in the UAE, focusing on transparent and stable rough stone supply. The UAE was a strategic hub offering convenient access to Southeast Asia’s cutting centers, mines across continents, and buyers worldwide. Starting with Colombian emeralds in 2018, acquiring Mozambique ruby mining rights in 2019, and Australian sapphire mining rights in 2020, Fura Gems built a global colored stone supply chain. In 2023, it commenced sapphire mining in Madagascar, securing all three major colored stone supply sources within six years of its founding.
Emerald is a variety of the mineral beryl, captivating humanity for millennia with its vibrant green color symbolizing vitality and rebirth. Unlike other gemstones, it is also famous for its inclusions, poetically called ‘Jardin’ (garden) as they resemble lush gardens. For a long time, only Egyptian, Austrian, and Pakistani emerald mines were known. Then, in the early 16th century, Spanish conquistadors discovered Colombian mines, revolutionizing emerald mining and distribution. Colombia’s emerald deposits are distributed along the eastern and western boundaries of the Cordillera Oriental mountain range in the central Boyacá Department. The eastern deposits, formed about 65 million years ago, include the Chivor, Gachalá, and Macanal mines. The western basin deposits were formed later, around 38-32 million years ago, and are home to famous sources like Muzo, Coscuez, La Pita, Cunas, and Peñas Blancas. Today, Colombia accounts for half of the world’s emerald production, with one-ninth being gem quality. Particularly, emeralds from Muzo, Chivor, and Coscuez are outstanding in both quantity and quality.
Among these, Fura Gems is the sole supplier of Coscuez emeralds. Coscuez, located about 228 km from Colombia’s capital Bogotá, is notorious for its rugged mountainous terrain spanning 46 hectares. Discovered in 1646, it was mined using traditional methods for a long time. After Fura Gems’ entry, innovative equipment and advanced systems were introduced, achieving high productivity and rapid expansion. Through scientific analysis of deposits, on-site ore processing, and real-time optimization technology based on artificial intelligence, the company also contributes to minimizing its carbon footprint and protecting the natural environment.
Coscuez emeralds encompass the widest range of colors, from slightly yellowish green to strong saturation green with a hint of blue. Essentially, one can encounter rough stones of all colors possible from Colombia. However, at Fura Gems, from the moment a rough stone is mined, crucial information such as origin, weight, quality, and ethical mining certification is recorded in a digital ledger. Each time it moves to distributors, manufacturers, and retailers, various information including cutting, polishing, transportation, and change of ownership can be updated on the blockchain. By revolutionizing the emerald’s journey based on a scientific rough grading system and blockchain technology, Fura Gems ensures transparency at every stage from mine to consumer.
In fact, technological innovation is only part of Fura Gems. They are also driving significant change in their interaction with local communities. From the outset, large-scale employment of local miners and cooperation with local businesses are fundamental. To handle large amounts of mining waste, they built an eco-friendly washing plant operated by women. At the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, they established the ‘Coscuez COVID Fund,’ providing medical care and food to over 4,000 local residents. Furthermore, through the ‘Coscuez Training Academy,’ they are helping over 2,000 residents with small business programs like livestock farming, health clinics, bakeries, sewing centers, and scholarship support. These multifaceted efforts are recognized as a crucial driving force for community prosperity and sustainable development.