Starter Kit. Idea 241 of 500. Cluster 12
Auction days in Colombo for the trade, with international buyers flown in, the way Geneva does it twice a year
The mechanism, from the book
The sapphire is mined here and cut here, and its value is certified in Basel and turned into money in Geneva. Every step of that chain can be built at home, and the first one is the piece of paper.
The first step
Collect from 10 dealers in Colombo the lots they would put into a trade auction and the reserves they would accept, then ask 5 buyers abroad, reached through those dealers' contacts, whether they would travel for a day of viewing and bidding. The proof is a list of lots with reserves and the names of buyers who would fly in.
- Who pays first
- An international gem buyer who already travels to Geneva and would pay to see a curated set of Ceylon stones at source in one day.
- What leaves today
- The highest prices for Ceylon sapphires are set at auctions abroad, so the price discovery and the auction fees leave the island with the stone.
Ask first
- National Gem and Jewellery Authority. Ask what permission a trade auction of gems in Colombo needs.
- Sri Lanka Customs. Ask how stones sold to buyers from abroad are cleared for export.
Check before you spend
Whether an auction house needs its own licence, how unsold stones go back to dealers, and what insurance covers the lots on display.
Find out these three numbers
- How many dealers would put stones into a Colombo auction?
- What would buyers abroad need before they fly in?
- What reserve prices would dealers accept?
A comparison from the book
Geneva. Chapter Sixteen
"The Blue Belle of Asia sold in Geneva in 2014 for $17.3 million."
The big stones sell where the buyers gather, and an auction brings the buyers to Colombo.
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
From the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? by Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. The idea and the mechanism are the book's; this kit was written for the site.