In 1976, Rakesh’s father Satya Narayan Manandhar set up Gem House on the premises of Hotel Soaltee Crown Plaza in Kalimati, where costumers were foreigners. About a decade and a half later, Satya Narayan extended his Gem House venture to New Road targeting the local market.
“Back then there were a handful of jewelry shops in this neighborhood,” recalls Satya Narayan. Now about 75% of the front lanes of New Road house jewelry shops. And most of these stores have a range of gemstones to offer along with the assortment of gold and silver jewelries.
It’s not that the trend of gemstone is new to the Valley. Murky photos of former queens adorned in jewelries festooned with precious stones still hang in most of the old palaces and buildings inside the Valley. And for centuries, wearing gemstones for various astrological and religious beliefs has and continues to be part of our lives.
Gemologist Nikki Joshi, 26 still remembers how she accompanied her father, a diamond merchant, to the palaces to get jewelry orders. “Back then only a few Newars, royal family and the Ranas were interested in gemstones, and mainly diamonds.”
Satya Narayan’s son Rakesh, the in-charge of the New Road branch, has noticed a shift in commoner’s attitude toward gemstones. He cites an example, “There are instances when I’ve disposed of bulky gold jewelries and designed light ornaments studded with gemstones.” And this is the demand of time.
If we observe the international trend, mingling statement jewelries accentuated by gemstones (that do not adhere to traditional design philosophies) with simple apparel is in the rage. The trend is yet to set its foot in Nepal though. Rakesh opines, “Today’s women go for stones that complement their dresses.” He adds, “A simple chain with stoned pendant fits anywhere, be it office or any function.”
Nikki Joshi who teaches gemology at Handicraft Design and Development Center in Pulchowk says, “Amongst the array of gemstones available in the market, the trend of buying diamond is high.” For this, Nikki credits the advertisements. “But the value of a gemstone depends upon the learner as well,” remarks the gemologist.
According to Nikki, the value and trend of colored gemstones is higher than the diamonds in the international market.
“The reason for diamonds doing better than the colored stones is because the price of diamonds is fixed. The price of diamonds is fixed whereas prices of colored stones are not,” she adds, “The price of colored stones depends upon
the interest of the buyers and sellers alike. And how one values certain gemstones also influence the price factor. In the international market, colored stones claim big prices.”
According to Nikki’s observation of the present market trend in Nepal, if a buyer likes a particular set of colored stones, the seller can quote any price for it but on diamonds, one has to abide by the Rapaport Diamond Report (RDR) which follows the four Cs -- cut, clarity, carat and color method.
The prices of different colored stones are also determined by the four Cs as well but the value is comparatively less than the diamonds as they don’t have any definite price. And seeking value, Valley denizens prefer buying diamonds.
The Rapaport Diamond Report is first-hand source of the primary diamond pricing information. Rapaport sets the standard for establishing inter-dealer prices in the diamond market.
For centuries, the traditional set of nine gemstones “diamond, ruby, cat’s eye, pearl, coral, topaz, hessonite, emerald and sapphire” famously known, as Navaratna has been in use for religious and astrological purposes by people of different communities in Nepal. “Newar, Chettri, Brahmin and Sherpa are some of those communities,” informs Nikki.
Aquamarine, amethyst, quartz, turquoise, tourmaline, green garnet are some of the other gemstones found in the Valley’s market. Finding of mines and extraction of precious stones such as ruby, jasper, and garnet in different part of Nepal like Sankhuwasabha, Rapti and Ganesh Himal also make headlines now and then.
But like most other businesses, the market of gemstones is also dominated by products from overseas. Rubies from Myanmar and Thailand, and topaz and iolite from India are imported to the Nepal. And even if there’s availability of local gemstones in the local market, there are no statistics of how much is consumed, informs Haribhakta Upadhaya , a researcher of gemstone market of Nepal and writer of books Nepal Ratna volume I and volume II.
Few years back Satya Narayan Manandhar, who also tried his hands in cutting and finishing gemstones, had to wrap up this venture due to the lack of market. Satya Narayan, a jewelry merchant for three decades says, “We don’t have skilled manpower and cutting machines in Nepal for the fine finishing and cut. So we are bound to import gemstones with fine cut and finishing.”
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