Living Coral, the vivid name for this shade, speaks of a subtle and demure wonder, expressing exactly what the company thinks humanity needs in this day and age. Coral, a living creature is also a very famous gemstone here in the Philippines, but unfortunately is often collected by unsavory means, and also dyed with artificial reddish colors.

While here at Gemcamp we do not examine coral as part of our services, we have seen some other gemstone varieties that may tickle your palette in style for this year's color of the year. Peach and pinks never go out of season, but the spectrum often leans from one side to the other, depending on the specific gemstone species.

Morganite is a beautiful pastel colored peach gemstone, whose hue we can expect to see gaining popularity this coming year. Many collectors of this light-tones stone, are familiar with its relation to emerald and aquamarine as a fellow member of the beryl species. Morganite was named after J.P. Morgan, who was himself an avid collector of fine and exotic gemstones.


Padparadscha sapphire's orange-pink color is also a perfect match for this pantone selection. Named after the Sinhalese term for lotus-flower, this variety of sapphire can often times out-value the traditional blue variants, even in top tier qualities.

Leaning towards the pink side of the spectrum, some people forecast that pink sapphire and rubellite tourmaline may also rise in market reception. Fashion forward design houses may most likely incorporate these two gemstones into their lineup of outfit styles and swatches. Both stones are very popular in most country-based trading markets today.

Let's not forget about pink and orange diamonds either. Fancy colored diamonds have always been considered as fine, top level gemstones (when naturally colored), but recently smaller pink diamonds have also made their way into middle market jewelry designs. The movement for natural, inclusion-visible, earth-mined diamonds in contrast to eye-clean man-made stones, is also contributing to the growing demand for all quality tiers of pink diamond.

With this year coming to an end, our team is preparing for a short tour (December 21 to January 3) to Seoul (Korea) and Tokyo (Japan). It seems that even in other asian countries, there is a widespread concern over the dilution of lab-grown diamonds into retail diamond jewelry.

The adornment of colored stones is becoming a lasting trend within the halls of many monarchs from the West. From princess Diana's ocean blue sapphire ring, to the ruby engagement ring Prince Andrew gave to Sarah Ferguson when he proposed. A movement towards large and valuable colored gemstones seems to be gaining traction as more and more of the public markets flock to the admiration of their vibrant hues.



Princess Eugenie, age 27, had recently just announced her upcoming wedding to James Brooksbank at the Windsor venue that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are also scheduled to be using earlier in the year. While the two royal couples are most likely going to plan some of the most extravagant celebrations in history, we can see an early glimpse of that grandeur from the elegance of their wedding jewelry.

Gem experts and gemologists have valued Eugenie's Padparadscha sapphire engagement ring to be worth around £100,000. Padparadscha is a term in the gem trade that refers to sapphires that possess a pinkish orange to orangey pink hue, and finely intense saturations. This range of color has grown in popularity over the recent decades as a fine variety of fancy sapphire. While blue hues are vastly more common (and popular), Padparadscha hues are more totally associated with the finer markets and high-end jewelry pieces. Some even tout it to be worth more than its high-end blue counterparts, given its scarcity and relatively modern rise to fame.



Eugenie's center sapphire is also surrounded by a total of 12 diamonds, two of which were cut into pear-shapes to give a more contemporary feel to the design. Like her mother's and Princess Diana's ring, this particular center gem was also fashioned into a brilliant oval-cut style, pursuing the classical elegance of royalty, while deviating slightly from the traditional round shape most commonly seen in the trade.



Meghan Markle's own engagement ring, hosting three brilliantly cut earth-mined diamonds, is estimated to be worth around half of Eugenie's, probably fetching around £50,000 at current market prices. Diamonds have indeed come a long way, and are even being transitioned as a commodity investment- like gold or platinum, by some big named companies. Despite their growth, colored stones seem to be pacing faster in terms of overall increase in market reception and demand.

Royal wedding jewelry has since deviated from the realm of large solitaire diamonds, ever since the unveiling of Princess Diana's famous blue sapphire. Her descendants and many other monarchs across the world have been venturing into the realm of sapphires and colored gemstones for their precious gifts.

Corundum varieties like ruby, blue sapphire and Padparadscha colors are all the rage these days, blending beautifully with high fashion collections, royal engagements and even celebrity preferences. Many who choose to use these rare and illustrious stones tend to seek out something just outside the realm of traditional luxury, developing their taste for a more diverse type of lifestyle.