Via geology.com via The Economist:
... Dealers say prices for high-quality rubies are up by 50% this year and have doubled in the past two years. Top-notch sapphires that in 2009 would have fetched $65,000-80,000 per carat (a unit of mass equal to 200 milligrams) now change hands for $150,000 or more...
"Jewels have long been regarded as a very stable and highly portable store of wealth over the long term, so an upward trend in tangible, portable assets like diamonds is not wholly unexpected during times of economic turmoil."
Rahul Kadakia, Christie's Americas' head of jewelry.
Rueters
August 24, 2011
