Gemfields’ emerald rough is brought to the market by way of closed tenders. All of the rough emeralds sold are natural, untreated gems. The world’s top gem houses and emerald lapidaries are invited to attend these tenders that are hosted three to four times a year. Schedules are made up of the meticulously graded rough and after viewing the participants submit their closed bids. The schedules are then sold to the highest bidders who have exceeded the undisclosed pre-set reserve prices.

Sorting and grading infrastructure genius and gem wizard Adrian Banks joined Gemfields in May 2009 as product director. Adrian is responsible for managing Gemfields’ entire rough materials supply-chain, including grading, quality assurance, trading and sales systems.

With Banks at the helm, Gemfields hosted its first emerald tender in London in July 2009. Thirty companies drawn from Germany, India, Israel and the USA attended, and the tender saw 1.39 million carats of emerald offered in 27 separate lots. The sales from this tender totaled USD 5.9 million with 26 of the 27 lots sold.

Prior to July 2009, Gemfields had not made any significant sales of either rough or polished emeralds, having favoured a policy of inventory building in an effort to support the markets’ need for reliable, consistent supply of rough emeralds. This strategy also helped support a recovery in demand and prices on the open market during the worst of the world economic downturn.