Visit to Indonesia

Bebek Tepi Sawah restaurent, Bali

I recently visited a few of our clients and my close friends in beautiful Indonesia. Food was delicious and I loved the culture.

I, of course visited many jewellery shops and the Rawabening gem market, a popular gem market in Indonesia. Market was an experience itself. Not what we see in Sri Lanka; round gatherings under the trees in early mornings for a couple of hours with merchants carrying both million dollar stones and cheaper ones just in their pockets. You won't see the same merchant the following day, they vary by the day. Rawabening market is a big building and shops are open during ordinary business hours, same merchants everyday. You need to ask the merchant to bring out their best stock hidden in a safe, otherwise they won't show it to you. I got to see some beautiful gems but didn't find any natural sapphires that caught my eye, which was disappointing although I wasn't looking to buy.
 

My friend and I then went window shopping for fine jewellery. In one of the most popular jewellery shops in Jakarta, I saw this beautiful necklace with 12 matching sapphires (medium to dark blue) and a matching pair of earrings with three 1.5 carat stones in each earring. These pieces were proudly displayed in an alarmed display case and are unable inspect closely. Knowing the value of matching sapphires I was curious to know the prices. Jeweller said they are not for sale but the earrings alone are about US$5,000. She went on to say that the making of the earrings alone cost her $3,000 suggesting 6 matching sapphires of over 1.5 carat each are worth just $2,000. I was taken-back by the cheap price and was immediately concerned about the genuineness. I asked whether the stones are natural or chemically treated. She said they are natural but unaware whether they are chemically treated or not, and that they never get their stones certified. Suspicious much?
 

We hopped into about 15 more fine jewellery shops and heard the same story each time, “stones are natural but they are unaware whether the stones are chemically treated or not” (except just one store who provided only certified sapphire). Some jewellery were over $15,000. They of course tell the customer that their sapphires are ‘natural’. I find this extremely misleading and unfair for the customers who trust their jeweller to do the right thing by them. Customers think they found a bargain!  
 

Don't get me wrong, I am sure there are jewellers in Indonesia who use 100% natural sapphire, but it is disappointing that ‘non-disclosure’ still happens in the industry. When you buy a precious natural gemstone always remember to request the stone to be certified.
 

Other than this insight to the jewellery industry, we had a great time visiting Bali and enjoying some delicious food with some amazing people!