有色寶石身價水漲船高
楊惟婷
國際鑽石行業基本上被戴.比爾斯(De Beers)這樣的大公司控制﹐並受投資者和華爾街銀行家的緊密關注。
有色寶石行業則不同，唱主角的仍然是小礦，以及那些遊走於世界最危險、最不發達地區尋寶的冒險家。
最好的寶石往往產自馬達加斯加、塔吉克斯坦、哥倫比亞和緬甸等國，這些國家走私猖獗、人權記錄差，礦主有時候也不願意讓外人來參觀，擔心他們直接跟當地人做生意。
有些時候，尋寶專家會從礦主或中間人手中買下寶石，然後轉手賣給富有的客戶。另外一些時候，則是批發商在泰國、印度等加工中心的拍賣會或市場上買下寶石，然後再賣給大眾。2011年緬甸的一場拍賣會就實現了28億美元的銷售額。
不管是通過什麼途徑，在紐約、倫敦以及差不多其他任何地方買寶石的人們，無論新富、收藏家還是時尚達人，都很少知道他們的寶石來自何方，即使想知道，恐怕也得不到確切的答案。
行業組織國際有色寶石協會(International Colored Gemstone Association)副會長讓•克勞德•米歇樓(Jean Claude Michelou)說，對於大部分寶石來說，寶石產自哪國這樣的基本數據都“非常模糊”。
確實，長久以來都被視為世界最重要的紅寶石、玉石出產國的緬甸，很多礦山都受軍方或其關係很近的合作方控制。但寶石也可以從民間尋寶人那裡流出。這些人的身份，在他們的大本營之外，基本上無人 知曉。
儘管這個行業的發展情況很難跟蹤，但專家說，近些年主要由於供應的不穩定，價格還是上漲了不少。以高等級緬甸紅寶石的零售價格來說，已經超過一克拉四萬美元的水平，相當於90年代中期價格水平的四倍，哥倫比亞祖母綠的價格較本世紀最初幾年的低點翻了一倍左右。主要由於中國的需求猛增，玉石價格在過去五間增長了10倍﹐到了最近勢頭才有所放緩。
如果願意長期持有寶石、甚至流傳幾代人﹐那麼回報可以是相當高的。想想小約翰•洛克菲勒(John D. Rockefeller Jr)曾經擁有的那顆62克拉的“洛克菲勒藍寶石”(Rockefeller Sapphire)吧。他在1934年從一位印度王公手中買下了它，加以重新設計，為妻子做了一枚胸針。1971年，洛克菲勒家族以17萬美元的價格將這顆寶石賣給了一位知名寶石經銷商。九年過後，它又進了拍賣場，賣出了150萬美元，後來又在2001年轉售，賣到了300萬美元以上。
還有一顆有名的藍寶石﹐是19世紀實業家詹姆斯•希爾(James J. Hill)在19世紀80年代為其妻子所購，當時的價格為2,200美元。2007年的拍賣會上，它賣出了略超300萬美元的價格。
不能不提的還有產自緬甸、重八克拉的“伊莉莎白•泰勒紅寶石”(Elizabeth Taylor Ruby)，它是理查德•伯頓(Richard Burton)1968年送給已故好萊塢影星伊莉莎白•泰勒(Elizabeth Taylor)的聖誕節禮物。2011年，這顆寶石拍出了420萬美元的價格。
鑽石是女士最好的朋友，這一點自不待言。
然而有色寶石仍然有著一股讓珠寶之王都無法企及的神秘魅力，這種魅力一定程度上是緣於有色寶石的色澤之美和稀有性。
對很多富人、特別是亞洲富人來說，沒有什麼東西抵得上擁有一袋閃亮的寶石，它們可以隨身攜帶或收藏起來，緊急情況下還可以賣掉。在國際金融危機發生、導致很多富人急需新的財富儲存途徑之後，這一點變得愈發明顯。
那些五彩斑斕的歷史無傷大雅，反倒使有色寶石更讓人沉迷。
莫臥兒王朝（泰姬陵建造者沙賈汗(Shah Jahan)所屬朝代）著名的“孔雀寶座”就鑲嵌了紅寶石和其他一些貴重寶石。
中國歷代帝王對玉石的喜愛人所周知，這種喜愛可以上溯至公元前3000年。
俄國沙皇在他們的皇冠上放了一顆據說源自15世紀、約有400克拉重的紅尖晶石。
較近的則有威廉王子(Prince William)送給凱特•米德爾頓(Kate Middleton)的一枚曾經為其母親戴安娜王妃(Princess Diana)所有的藍寶石訂婚戒指。
不過，現在要找到新的大顆寶石來緩解世人的渴求可沒那麼容易。
但對很多收藏家來說，收藏寶石就像吸食海洛因一樣，一旦開始就停不下來了。
不過，隨著有色寶石需求的不斷增長，這樣一個問題仍需回答：該行業能不能實現規範化？
從一定程度上講，答案可能就在離緬甸半個地球之遠的倫敦上流住宅區梅費爾(Mayfair)。在那裡，一群礦業元老正在制定他們自己的計劃，來獲得更多的有色寶石供應。
他們的公司“Gemfields”正力爭成為業界巨頭，做有色寶石行業的戴爾比斯。它有世界最大礦業公司必和必拓(BHP Billiton)前首席執行長的支持，已在倫敦證券交易所(London Stock Exchange)上市。該公司表示其目標是獲得世界主要有色寶石的產量當中相當大一部分的權益，並引進現代採礦工藝、以提高供應的可預見性，同時大力投入營銷，增加有色寶石的知名度。
其實，有色寶石一度像鑽石那樣流行，直到20世紀40年代戴.比爾斯加大營銷投入、打出“鑽石恒久遠﹐一顆永流傳”之類的口號。
現在，有色寶石與700億美元規模的國際鑽石行業相比顯得微不足道，而作為主角的小礦商也沒有相應的資金或規模來做出多大的改變。
如今，Gemfields在讚比亞的一座大型合資礦山所產出的祖母綠已佔全世界產量的20%。該公司說，其紫水晶供應量佔全球供應量的40%，公司在莫桑比克的一個大礦也即將開始出產紅寶石。
Gemfields希望向其他國家擴展，包括緬甸，如果緬甸政府繼續推進改革、其人權狀況得以改善的話。
Gemfields前不久還收購了源自俄國沙皇時期的傳奇珠寶品牌法貝熱 (Faberge)，目的是在構建有色寶石領域第一批“礦山到市場”供應鏈之一的過程中，利用店面遍佈全球的法貝熱在極奢圈子中推銷公司生產的一些寶石。
Gemfields還跟好萊塢明星米拉•庫妮絲(Mila Kunis)簽約，以發動一場全新的營銷活動。他們讓這位年輕女星佩戴了一條羅曼諾夫王朝風格的項鏈，這條項鏈借鑒了19世紀80年代的一種設計，鑲有 Gemfields讚比亞礦區出產的79顆祖母綠。
在Gemfields做這些努力之際，投資者也在通過其他途徑嘗試把更多的現代運作方式引入有色寶石行業，包括更加廣泛地公開定價數據、改善定級和跟蹤方式，從而讓消費者能夠更清楚他們的寶石價值幾何、來自何處。比如國際有色寶石協會就在推動成立一套跟蹤有色寶石產地的體系。協會的密歇樓說，哥倫比亞、坦桑尼亞和斯里蘭卡等國都表示了對這一體系的興趣。
與此同時，其他公司有的在宣傳其礦山到市場的供應鏈，有的在提高生產的現代化程度。其中就有TanzaniteOne Mining及其在倫敦上市的母公司Richland Resources Ltd.。它們投資乞力馬扎羅山附近曾以手工生產為主的礦區，又從一個方面轉變了坦桑黝帘石市場的格局。坦桑黝帘石是一種稀有藍色寶石，世界上僅有的已探明礦藏就在這個礦區。與此同時，近幾年緬甸帕敢礦區的機械化程度也都有提高，很大一部分人工已被推土機取代，只不過該地整體上還是很亂。如果這一切有助於提高供應的可靠性並增加需求，有色寶石有望在未來變得更加值錢。
世界重要寶石組織美國寶石協會(Gemological Institute of America)的分析師拉塞爾•紹爾(Russell Shor)說：“有色寶石行業可能會朝著這個方向走，其開採將變得更加理性、更加正規。這將是一個緩慢的過程，但我認為它是將來的方向。”
但包括不少尋寶人在內的很多人還是抱著懷疑的態度。他們認為，世界主要有色寶石礦的儲量通常都太小了，不值得做大規模投資，有時候用原始的手工工具或許還能更好地對其加以開發。
由於有色寶石礦分佈如此之廣，所在地點又如此之亂，要實現現代化可能過於複雜，更不用說過於高昂的成本了。
尤其目前除了鑽石以外，大部分寶石產區都是自古便已開採，最好的寶石早就沒有了。
總而言之，有色寶石不同於其他類型的採礦行業，因為其價值高度集中於非常小的區域和相對少的石頭當中。
除此以外，只有人、而非機器，才能將有價值的標本從沒有價值的標本中分離出來，而這些工作，目前絕大部分仍賴人工操作，尚難現代化。
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