The Jewellers Journal: Coloured Gemstones Have Entered The Chat

If there’s one thing June has delivered in abundance, it’s colour. And not the gentle, pastel sort. The workshop has been full of gemstones in every shade imaginable. Customers are really leaning into coloured stones at the moment and, honestly, we’re loving it.

Sourcing exceptional gemstones has always been one of our quiet superpowers. The unusual ones, the rare ones, the ones that make you stop mid sentence and say, "Right, I need a minute." But lately, people seem genuinely excited about colour in a way they weren’t before. Maybe it’s the rise of lab grown diamonds. Maybe everyone’s craving something with a bit of natural magic. Or maybe we’ve all collectively realised that life is stressful enough, and a bright green tourmaline is cheaper than therapy.

Since Matt’s been deep in his gemology course, his enthusiasm has definitely rubbed off on us. I used to look at a stone and think, "Nice colour." Now I’m mentally listing the things Matt taught me: the trace elements, the heat cycles, the pressure conditions, and the geological drama it took to get there. Every gemstone is basically nature showing off. A tiny shift in temperature, a whisper of iron, a nudge from the surrounding rock, and suddenly you’ve got a completely different colour. It’s like baking, but with volcanoes.

And then there are the sentimental stones customers bring in. They’re my absolute favourites. We see gems that have been passed down through families, picked up on honeymoons, bought on holidays, or found in a jewellery box with absolutely no clue what they are. Some customers hand them over like, "I don’t know what this is, but my grandma swore it was important."

Designing jewellery around those stones is genuinely special. They’re not just geological miracles, they’re emotional ones too. They come with memories, meaning, and the occasional family debate about who actually owned them first. Being trusted with that is an honour, even when the stone turns out to be something completely different from what the family thought. ("No, it’s not a diamond... but the good news is, it’s actually nicer.")

I’ll admit it. I took coloured gemstones for granted for years. Diamonds hog the spotlight in our industry, and coloured stones were just quietly doing their thing in the background. But now, knowing what I know, I’ve got a renewed appreciation for them. Every time someone asks for something vibrant or unusual, I get that little spark. The thrill of finding the right stone with the right personality.

So if June has taught us anything, it’s that colour is having a bit of a moment, and we’re not complaining. We’ve loved helping people find stones that feel a little different, whether that’s a vivid tourmaline, a moody sapphire, or an old family gem that deserves a second life. Safe to say, we’re hoping this colourful streak sticks around for a while.