Romancing The Blue

THE blockbuster Titanic has created more than just film history. When the heroine Rose DeWitt Bukater— played by Kate Winslet— wore a brilliant sapphire pendant, a symbol of her passionate love affair, no film director could have ever foreseen the impact it would have. Back home in Jaipur, the famed gem traders are reaping an azure fortune as a blue fire rages through Johari bazaar. Blue was the colour of Rose’s love. Blue is the colour of Jaipur’s trade today. The success of the film fuelled a fad in the US for the blue stone. Except, sapphire was too expensive as an accessory. So India discovered the cornflower blue tanzanite and a recession- hit Jaipur flooded US markets with it a year- and- a- half ago. Today it controls about 80 per cent of the global trade in tanzanite. The highest price commanded by a single carat of tanzanite— Rs 22,000. The Titanic may have sunk, Rose’s trillion sapphire may be resting on the ocean bed but tanzanite has helped the Jaipur gem trade stay afloat... perhaps soar would be a better way to describe it.

And as always there’s a story behind it. It was on a hot and humid day in July ’67 that a humble tailor from Goa seeking his fortune in a faraway land made a stunning discovery. Manuel d’Souza was in Tanzania trying his hand at prospecting for rubies when some Masai tribesmen led him to a deposit of blue stones. The vein ran through a section of the Merrani Hills of East Africa, 70 km from the town of Arusha and 200 km from Nairobi. To the untrained eye, the dull, somewhat brownish rough stone would have seemed worthless. But something told d’Souza that it was no ordinary stone the Masai were risking their lives to mine. Cut and polished it turned a glittering blue, much like sapphire. Laboratory tests however showed that it was too soft to be from the corundum family, and was in fact a previously unseen variety of the semi- precious zoisite— already known in its green form. This rare member of the zoisite family is believed to have been formed by the volcanic eruptions of Mount Kilimanjaro. D’Souza went on to make history and his fortune. Tiffany’s of New York named the gem Tanzanite in ’71 and launched it. It was adjudged Jewel of the Year ’99. And it was the jewel merchants of Jaipur who really got away with the prize money.

Although formally presented to the world in ’71, it wasn’t until ’97, with the release of Titanic, that the rich and famous woke up to the brilliance of this gemstone. Suddenly blue was ‘the’ colour in the US. It was a fashion statement. But few could afford sapphires, one of the most expensive in the spectrum of precious stones. "That’s when tanzanite stepped in as a substitute," says Rajiv Jain, MD, Vaibhav Gems, the first person in Jaipur to start the cutting and faceting of tanzanite.

The colours of aquamarine or iolite pale before the clarity, lustre and cornflower blue of tanzanite. When viewed in light— daylight or incandescence— the colours change from strong blue to deep purple. In fact, most of the time both colours can be seen simultaneously. What cannot be seen by the naked eye, however, is a third colour— golden brown. This secondary colour becomes visible only through a filter. "Another quality of the stone, which in turn has contributed to the high demand (the biggest demand is in the US), is its rarity," says ruby merchant Ajay Kala, honorary secretary, Jaipur Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a major player in the tanzanite market. For tanzanite, he explains, there’s just one source— the mines in Arusha. Nobody really knows how long the cache will last. And already quality stones are becoming scarce. "If you want to cash in, you have to do it now," says Kala.

Of the approximately 500 top exporters of coloured gemstones in Jaipur, about 200 are today dealing largely in tanzanite, other stones being relegated to the second position for the time being. And more are switching over by the day. "The slump in other gems because of scarcity is a major factor contributing to our concentrating on tanzanite for the moment," says emerald magnate Rashmikant Durlabhji, vice- chair-man of the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council. "I just started dealing in the stone six months ago and tanzanite already forms 10 per cent of my total exports," says Jagdish Prasad Tambi, secretary, Jewellers Association. For pioneers like Rajiv Jain, 60 per cent of his revenue comes from tanzanite— his haul for tanzanite alone being Rs 45 crore last year.

The total revenue from the export of coloured stones from Jaipur is Rs 600 crore annually. Of this, tanzanite has garnered a share of Rs 200 crore and is expected to touch 40 per cent of total coloured stone exports by the end of the year. About 40 Jaipur merchants have set up offices in Arusha, which today has a bustling Indian population, much like Nairobi.The rest have their agents there and keep visiting Arusha every two- three months. Trading is brisk and tanzanite has even been responsible for changing the work culture of Jaipur.

"Standardisation is one of the reasons why tanzanite is moving faster than all other stones," explains Jain. Till tanzanite hit the markets, only trading in diamonds  was standardised, which means prices were fixed according to sizes and carats the world over. No other stone enjoyed this unique distinction. Jain’s company, Vaibhav Gems, took the initiative in standardising buying systems which has come as a boon for Jaipur exporters. Deals are struck over the phone— the entire system works like clockwork. A consignment of rough stones is flown in from Arusha, cut and polished in two days and sold directly to buyers in the West, namely the US which accounts for about 60 per cent of the market for finished tanzanite stones and jewellery. Other markets are spread over Europe, Thailand and Japan.

TANSACTIONS are swift because standardisation has eliminated the need for buyers to see the stone physically in order to assess quality. A missed call could mean losing out on a lucrative deal to a competitor. In fact the pace is so quick that the stone is referred to as ‘tensionite’ in Jaipur. A cash- and- carry system also contributes to its appeal, whereas all other gems have a 3- 6 month credit period. There are no middlemen in this particular stone and the concept of working overtime has made an appearance on Jaipur shopfloors. Work carries on round the clock, and exporters have had to employ double the number of cutters and polishers to deal with the fast- moving volumes. Of the approximately 1,50,000 traders and artisans dependent on the gem trade in Jaipur, more than 20,000 are now solely involved in the finishing of tanzanite. Wages have been raised, a skilled craftsman earning up to Rs 400 a day. The only hitch, point out exporters, is the Indian government’s policy of disallowing the hand- carry system prevalent in other countries. Which means that the Jaipur importer has to wait for his shipment for almost a week before all the formalities are completed for release of the consignment from the airport. Then more time is lost because Jaipur isn’t connected internationally. "Can you imagine how much revenue we are losing out on just for this one impractical policy?" fumes Tambi.

The stones are cut in different shapes:  ovals, pears, octagons, marquise, trillions, hearts, rounds and squares and then faceted and polished. They are then graded according to size and quality, the price ranging from Rs 200 a carat to a whopping Rs 17,000 a carat. And volumes make up for low profit margins. But as resources deplete, prices will climb even higher, predict Jaipureans. The price factor has also acted as a deterrent for many small- time players, and the trade is mostly controlled by large business houses. But there are some apprehensions. Tanzanite hasn’t really caught on in Europe, blue being associated with sapphires and royalty Princess Diana’s engagement ring setting the standard . The craze fuelled in the US by the Titanic wave will last only till the colour blue is fashionable in the West, feel Jaipureans. Endorsed by fashion trendsetters, it might go out of vogue next year and prices will crash, warns Harsh Mathur, executive secretary, Jewellers Association.

SOME exporters are toying with the idea of introducing it in the domestic market. However, the problem is that Indians are still not comfortable with the idea of spending so much for a semi-precious stone, gold and diamonds being their priorities. The close resemblance of tanzanite to neelam ( sapphire) is another negative factor. According to popular perception, a neelam cannot be worn by everyone because of its astrological properties , negative and positive. In fact, very few jewellery stores in Jaipur stock tanzanite jewellery. Mohammad Akram of Jaipur Jewellery House in Johari Bazaar had just one piece in his glittering store— a stunning six-strand tanzanite bead necklace priced at Rs 14,805. Says he: "I make tan-zanite jewellery only to ord e r. Indians don’t really know about it and there f o re are sceptical about paying so much." Nevertheless, he’s sold about 125 single strand necklaces to big jewellery houses in the metros last year.

Such meagre domestic sales cannot compete with the demand for tanzanite jewellery in stores like Zale, the biggest jewellery chainstore in the US, or Robertsons and Tiffany’s. People like Jain are optimistic about demand: "I’ve been dealing in this stone for the past nine-ten years and I think it’ll last another ten. One of the reasons of dwindling supply is primitive mining in Arusha, and therefore the Masai cannot increase production. Further mining   will yield more gems of good quality.And who' to say that it won’t catch on in Europe? It just needs the right push."  And the Jaipur merchants are certainly pushing hard. Struck by recession a few years ago, they have made a terrific comeback with this single stone by sheer craftsmanship and business acumen. Tanzanite has been accorded a place among the navaratna— barring just the diamond. Many are buying the stone as an investment. But the real reason to own a tanzanite, according to merchants, is its rarity and beauty. A beauty comparable with only the queen among the navaratna spectrum— the sapphire. And in this blue rush, the Jaipur merchants have obviously not left any stone unturned.