Fura: Australian Sapphire Auction

You've certainly heard of it, the Fura Australian Auction was held in Bangkok from 15 to 23 November 2021, with over 1 million carats of sapphires in blue, teal, parti, green and yellow colors. The rough is from Queensland's Anakie-Sapphire Fields. This is the same area that yielded the magnificent "Pride Of Queensland," the world's largest cut yellow sapphire weighing 169 carats, as well as the famous "Black Star of Queensland."

We were thrilled to attend this auction since we have been collaborating with the Inverell Sapphire mine in New South Wales, Australia, for many years. It was really interesting to compare the various colors and qualities offered by other mines throughout Australia. Seeing such a significant quantity of rough sapphire so close to our office is also particularly unique, since Australian rough stones are rarely found in Bangkok. Last but not least, it was fascinating to examine untreated yellow rough sapphire. Several samples appeared to be rather promising, and we had our eye on a few of them!

Certain parcels piqued our interest, and we naturally bid on a few of them. We can't wait to get the final decisions!

Selecting the appropriate rough stone sample is incredibly tough, as in the majority of cases, you will end up with some material that will provide no attractive color after cutting. To pick the optimal rough material, extensive experience and expertise in gemstones are required. Indeed, to select the right one, the colors in the rough must be positioned correctly and exhibit excellent clarity. Needless to say, the less inclusions, the better!

This auction option was really unusual, and we didn't want to miss out on any opportunity to get high-quality material. Therefore, to ensure that we were selecting the appropriate rough material, we requested the General Manager of one of our cutting companies to accompany us to the auction. His outstanding abilities and years of experience enabled him to select the appropriate rough stones within seconds. He was able to inform us rather than the rough could be cut, heated, or even used for any other project.

In some countries, such as Australia, teal and parti color sapphires have recently emerged as a new color trend. These two distinct colors are far more easily obtained through heat treatment than blue sapphires.

On the one hand, a heat treatment can take several weeks to achieve the desired blue color. Parti color sapphire, on the other hand, requires a week of heat treatment to achieve it. This can be very advantageous since we can use the same rough material to create blue and teal sapphires.

Participating in auctions such as the FURA one in Bangkok is critical for us because we monitor market trends and listen to our clients.