Audemars Piguet, Swarovski and Gemfields Woo Art Lovers At Art Basel Miami Beach

An aerial view of the “Curiosity” exhibit, commissioned by Audemars Piguet for Art Basel Miami Beach.

Luxury brands like to be where the wealthy mingle which leads them to support events like the recently concluded Art Basel Miami Beach. Among the companies jockeying for a marketing advantage by associating with the finest works in modern and contemporary art were Swiss luxury watch manufacturer, Audemars Piguet, luxury crystal manufacturer, Swarovski and colored gemstone, mining and marketing company, Gemfields.

A closer view of the “Curiosity” installation. Photo credit: Anthony DeMarco

Audemars Piguet has been out front in its support of Art Basel. In May, the company announced that it has signed on as a “Global Associate Partner” with its three fairs in Basel, Switzerland, Miami Beach and Hong Kong.

A close look at the "snow" covering the chalet and the drawing of the wood grain. Photo credit: Anthony DeMarco

In Miami, the company partnered with contemporary Parisian art gallery Galerie Perrotin by presenting a new site-specific work by French artist duo Kolkoz. The installation, titled “Curiosity,” came in the form of floating snow covered Swiss Chalet placed off the pier of the Miami Marine Stadium on Virginia Key.

The graffiti-filled site has been closed for more than 20 years and at first glance didn’t seem like a suitable place for an art installation befitting a luxury watch brand. However, it turns out that was one of the reasons the site on nearby Virginia Key was chosen. The other was the water and the heat of a typical South Florida day, which also contrasts with the snowy winter scene. The “snow-covered” chalet and pier from a distance appears to just pop up out of the water. Up close it’s easy to see that the pier is covered in a white fabric while the “chalet” is an inflatable house similar to an inflatable play station for children.

Clever and playful, this installation provides a proper setting in a number of ways. It alludes to Audemars Piguet’s wintry home in the Vallée du Joux and it gives focus to the marine stadium. The stadium, which was forced to shut down following the destruction of Hurricane Andrew in 1992, is being slated for a complete renovation.

The watch brand also had a large display of its watches in the Art Basel Miami beach “Collectors’ Lounge,” which included a retrospective of its Royal Oak watch.

An art collaboration with Brazilian architect and designer Guilherme Torres and Swarovski Crystal Palace.

In the contemporary art world South America is hot and Brazil is the epicenter of this hotness. Taking advantage of this, Swarovski Crystal Palace—a program created by the crystal company where it collaborates with artists, architects and designers to create works of art with Swarovski crystal components—teamed with Brazilian architect Guilherme Torres to create the roots of a Mangrove tree in an installation titled “Mangue Groove” that focuses on conservation for Design Miami, a contemporary art show held alongside Art Basel Miami Beach.

The installation takes the form of an abstract diagram that describes the division of spaces into cells with corresponding focal points, combined with the mangrove-root imagery. The artwork used design angled structures of acrylic tubes filled with amber-colored Swarovski crystals and illuminated from within by LEDs. The metal joints of the structures are covered with dodecahedron-shaped wooden caps. These “root” structures, which Torres wanted to look “as if they were made of crystals,” are set into shallow pools of water, against a backdrop of projections of an Amazonian sunset.

Torres used the 2014 arrival in Brazil of Swarovski Waterschool, a project that teaches children about water conservation. Water is a key component in the manufacture of Swarovski’s crystals, as the theme. However, he said he didn’t want to make obvious references to it.

Gemfields made its presence known not with an art installation but with a movie project titled, “React to Film,” by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The emerald and now amethyst mining and marketing company sponsored an event at the outside orchid gardens of the Delano Hotel (still cool after all these years). The event featured three five-minute documentaries of three groundbreaking modern artists, John Baldessari, Ed Ruscha, and David Hockney, by young filmmakers, Henry Joost & Ariel Schulman, Lance Accord and Lucy Walker.

The event gave Gemfields the opportunity to show its own promotional film of its Kagem emerald mine in Zambia, starring its ambassador, Mila Kunis. It provided an opportunity for a company that owns the Fabergé luxury brand and commissions one-of-a-kind jewelry from internationally known designers to associate its company with great artists.

Assistant Editor Maria Ling contributed to this story.

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British Firm Mappin & Webb Reinvents Itself with New Creative Director and Jewelry Collection

The motif of this elaborate 18k white gold cuff from the "Empress" collection is repeated in concentric circles set with 6.15 carats of diamonds and 5.84 carats of round-cut pink gems.

Mappin & Webb is a company that has undergone many changes in its 238-year history but always had Great Britain running through its veins.

Founded in 1775 in Sheffield as a cutlery firm, the company eventually developed a specialty as a metalsmith. It is now primarily known as a jewelry and gift retailer. It has been commissioned by royalty since 1905 and currently holds Royal Warrants (given to tradespeople who supply goods or services to a royal court or certain royal persons) as a silversmith to Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles.

Today, it is undergoing another transformation under the direction of its new creative director, Elizabeth Galton, best known as the creative director of Links of London. This means revitalizing just about everything, from store concept and advertising campaigns through to collections and brand packaging. 

The Fortune Drop Necklace uses the infinity band as a small pendant, suspended from a double-loop 18k yellow gold chain.

"We feel we have a moral duty to return this glorious British brand back to an international stage and it is a journey we feel very passionate about," Galton said.

Galton recently unveiled new collections that reinterpret historic motifs from the company’s archives, making them relevant to a modern audience through contemporary designs.

The “Empress” collection was inspired by a bespoke Mappin & Webb design for the Queen of Siam, commissioned in the 1920s and rediscovered in the jewelry house’s historic archive.

The delicate and decorative circular motif was characteristic of brooches beloved by the Eastern aristocracy of the time. The 24-piece collection of diamond rings, necklaces, bracelets and earrings unite mythical exoticism of the East with a playful, modern spirit. It features modern-18k white, yellow and rose gold set with brilliant round-cut diamonds and, in some cases, pink sapphires.

The Fortune collection includes infinity bands, bracelets, necklaces and earrings pairs gleaming 18k white, yellow or rose gold with strands of sparkling diamonds.

Platinum necklace with Gemfields’ Zambian emeralds, 33.86 carats and diamonds, 7.26 carats.

The company also provided a one-of-kind necklace using emeralds provided by Gemfields, a colored gemstone miner and marketer. It was part of a bespoke jewelry collection created by leading designers with emeralds, rubies and amethysts from Gemfields.

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Gemfields Kagem Emerald Mine Showed Solid Annual Growth Despite Conflict With Zambian Government

Coomi 20K yellow gold with Gemfields’ Zambian emeralds, 120.34 carats and diamonds, 5.21 carats.

Production at the Gemfields Kagem emerald mine in Zambia increased 42 percent to 29.99 million carats for the 12-month period ended in June.

The average grade for the year increased 38 percent to 283 carats per ton, the company said Monday through the Proactive Investors website. Meanwhile, production costs fell 26 percent in the year.

Gemfields is a colored gemstone exploration, mining and marketing company. The Kagem mine is the London-listed company’s biggest asset and it provides nearly all of its revenue, even though it has interest in other colored gemstone mines. It owns a 75-percent share of the Kagem mine with the Zambian government owning the remaining 25 percent.

One of Gemfields other mines is the Montepuez ruby deposit in Mozambique. The company said it is on track to hold its first auction of rough rubies in the first quarter of 2014.

Gemfields also owns Fabergé, which it fully acquired in January. The company said the luxury jewelry brand achieved a record number of unit sales for the year.

A sale of lower quality emeralds in April netted $15.2 million, Gemfields said. Not included in the annual results was its latest auction of higher quality emeralds, held in the Zambian capital of Lusaka. This brought in revenues of $31.5 million, the second highest total ever for an auction of its kind.

The auction was originally scheduled in June in Singapore but pressure from the Zambian government to move the auction to Zambia caused the auction to be postponed until July, after the reporting period. Where to hold auctions has been a source of debate since April when the government of Zambia, Gemfields business partner, issued a directive for Gemfields to hold its auction within the country’s borders, citing capital flight.

Ian Harebottle, Gemfields CEO, said through Proactive Investors that communication between the two parties is now “much, much better” and more interactive.

However, Harebottle said the company continues “to seek guidance and to interact with the Government of Zambia.” Gemfields argues that it needs to sell Kagem emeralds at places that will likely get the most interest and the best price.

“While the two auctions held in Lusaka this year have certainly been successful, the key question, of course, remains what they would have generated had they been held abroad (where competing and undermining sources of supply, frequently illegal, are not readily available to our customers) and their potential impact on the long term growth of this sector,” he said.

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Gemfields Kagem Mine Posts Stong Gains

Miners at the Kagem emerald mine in Zambia. Photo credit: Gemfields

Mining company Gemfields has reported record annual production from its emerald mine in Zambia with a jump in grades per ton and a cut in production costs.

In an operational update for its fourth quarter and full year to June 2011, the company says annual production increased 90 percent to 33 million carats versus the previous year, as reported by the Proactiveinvestors financial news service. Gemfield's 75 percent owned Kagem mine in Zambia—the single largest emerald mine in the world. It is currently the company’s only operating emerald mine. The mine debt free, the company said.

Grade for the year came in at 478 carats per ton versus 286 in prior year, and per carat production costs were reduced by 41 percent to 43 cents per carat, according to the report. Rock handling costs for the year fell 25 percent to $3.70 per ton.

The final quarter of the year alone produced 10.8 million carats at a grade of 500 carats per ton and a unit cost of 32 cents per carat.

At its recent July auction of high quality rough emeralds, the company placed 1.07 million carats and successfully sold 740,000 carats to generate record sales of $31.6 million. Per carat prices at the July 2011 sale improved by 63 percent to 42.71 per carat, compared with its December 2010 auction.

So far, the company said it has completed seven auctions in the past two years, generating total revenue of $87.5 million.

Gemfields raises $7.5M in Emerald Auction

Gemfields said it achieved the highest auction revenues to date from its latest event in London, raising $7.5 million as prices per carat was up 83 percent from the previous auction of higher quality material held in November.

Gemfields is a mining, cutting and distribution company for emeralds specifically from the Kagem emerald mine. It is setting up a system to bring what it is defines as “ethically produced, conflict-free gemstones of certified provenance directly from mine to market on an integrated basis.” Under the plan, Gemfields will develop a structured and consistent supply chain for retailers. The company aims to become a “supplier of choice,” by offering emeralds that are natural and organic (meaning untreated or with treatments approved by international norms and fully disclosed). The emeralds being direct from a single source, along with other provisions in the sourcing and distribution of these emeralds, will guarantee that the gemstones are conflict free and mined in a socially and environmentally responsible manner. The entire supply chain from mine to market will be “completely traceable and certified,” the company said.

The auction, held July 19-23, saw 850,000 carats offered to 37 companies from India, Israel, Germany and the United States with 8000,000 million carats sold.

“We are pleased with the positive response we have received at the recent auction, giving a clear indication that demand for our emeralds is growing,” said Adrian Banks, Gemfields product director. “All indications are that the market for emeralds is likely to continue to grow at a considerable pace, supported by strong Asian and worldwide demand, and into the foreseeable future.”

Gemfields Emerald Auction in Zambia Raises $31.5 Million

Gemfields spokesperson Mila Kunis.

Maybe holding emerald auctions in Zambia isn’t such a bad idea. The ongoing tug of war between the Zambian government and colored gemstone mining and marketing company, Gemfields, over where to sell Zambian emeralds hasn’t dampened demand.

Gemfields’ most recent auction of higher quality rough emerald and beryl from the Kagem mine in Zambia resulted in revenues of $31.5 million, the second highest total to date for the company. The average price per carat reached $54, the highest unit value achieved at any auction and a 26 percent increase over the previous highest value achieved in July 2011. In addition, a 54-carat rough gem, offered as a single lot, set a new per carat record for prices achieved at a Gemfields auction.

A total of 40 companies were invited to the auction held July 15 - 19 in the Zambian capital city of Lusaka and 37 attended, with 36 attendees placing at least one bid, Gemfields said in a statement Tuesday. A total of 583,448 carats of emerald extracted from Kagem was placed on offer, with all lots being sold. The auction format is how Gemfields chooses to sell its Kagem emeralds, which account for nearly all of the company’s revenue.

The auction was held in Lusaka at the request of the Zambian Ministry of Mines, Energy and Water Development. The government first issued the directive in April, which appeared to be a surprise to Gemfields. Particularly since the two entities are business partners, with Zambia owns a 25 percent stake in the Kagem mine with Gemfields owning the remaining 25 percent.

The government in a statement said the directive is designed to promote transparency and accountability in the marketing of emeralds, stimulate local demand for emeralds, create more opportunities for small-scale miners to have access to colored gemstone markets, and increase tourism.

“Zambian gemstones have for a long time been sold on foreign markets, a situation that has contributed to capital flight and denied Zambians of the much needed benefits from the resource,” Yamfwa Mukanga, Zambia mining minister, said in the original statement.

This is the second auction of Kagem emeralds held in Lusaka. It was originally scheduled to be held in Singapore June 10-14, but was postponed and rescheduled to Lusaka due to government pressure.

Gemfields insists that it needs to sell Kagem emeralds at places that will likely get the most interest and the best price in order to compete with other emerald hubs, such as Colombia and Brazil. With the most recent sale showing such strong results the government seems to have the upper hand in this argument.

In a statement, Ian Harebottle, CEO of Gemfields, credited “favorable market conditions and particularly strong demand from our customers” for the strong results. “All indications show that demand for colored gemstones, and especially emeralds, will continue to increase at a steady pace over the coming year.”

Gemfields said its 13 auctions held since July 2009 have generated $207.3 million in aggregate revenues.

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Gemfields Emerald Auction Fetches $31.6 million

Gemstone mining and marketing company, Gemfields, said it made a record $31.6 million from its auction of rough emeralds held last week in Singapore, adding that it underscores the strong demand for its “ethically sourced” gemstones from its Kagem Mine in Zambia..

On a like-for-like basis, prices have increased 63 per cent to $42.7 per carat among the higher quality stones since December 2010, the company said.

It was the first auction of the Gemfields current financial year, but the company has held seven auctions since 2009, which have generated total revenues of $87.5 million, the London-based company said. The next major sale is planned for November.

Gemfields is the only company in the world that is attempting to incorporate a mine-to-market strategy for the emerald industry. Under the plan, emeralds would come from a single source (the Kagem mine) so the origin of each stone can be traced from the mine to the retail jeweler. In addition to the Kagem mine, which it owns a 75 percent share, the company also owns a cutting and polishing facility in Jaipur, India, where the emeralds from the mine are taken. The result of this is that Gemfields is trying to produce emeralds with a provenance in a way that adheres to fair-trade practices and in accordance with environmental, social and safety standards.

The company also owns a 50-percent share of the Kariba mine, also in Zambia, which it says is the largest amethyst mine in the world. In another twist, Gemfields is owned by Pallinghurst Resources, an investment holding company that also owns the Fabergé brand. Emeralds from Kagem are being used in creating jewelry sold by Fabergé brand. The high jewelry house has been in the news lately for releasing a number of new jewelry and watch collections, most notably the unveiling of new Fabergé eggs, the most iconic jewelry item from the brand, which traces its roots to the 19th Century Russia and was known for its jeweled creations for Russian royalty.

“The results are testament to the company’s ongoing focus on marketing to both consumers and retailers, and the quality and consistency of the emeralds produced at Kagem,” said Ian Harebottle, Gemfields chief executive.

The Singapore auction was also used as a platform to test the potential levels of demand for rough emerald and beryl from other sources other than the Kagem Mine such as Brazil and rival Zambian producers, Gemfields said.

The results weren’t included in the update, and Gemfields said it will continue to “refine and evolve” the format.

Pressure From Zambia Forces Gemfields to Reschedule Emerald Auction

A Gemfields advertisement for its Kagem emeralds from a recent marketing campaign.

Gemfields has rescheduled its auction of emeralds from the Kagem mine in Zambia due to Zambian officials’ insistence that the company hold its auctions within the country’s borders.

The London-based colored gemstone exploration, mining and marketing company planned to auction higher grade rough emeralds in Singapore from June 10-14, but a change of policy on the part of the Zambian authorities caused the company to postpone the sale, it said through the Proactive Investors website on July 1. The auction will now take place July 15-19 in Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia.

The date change will affect Gemfields financial reporting for the fiscal year, which ended June 30. The delay means the company only completed two auctions during the fiscal year that generated $42 million in revenue, compared with four auctions held during the prior fiscal year that generated $77.9 million.

The directive was issued in April in the form of a written request by the Zambian Ministry of Mines, Energy and Water Development. Despite ongoing discussions, the country’s position apparently hasn’t changed. Even though Gemfields said Zambian officials have insisted there is no ban on overseas auctions.

The government of the Republic of Zambia owns 25 percent of the Kagem mine while Gemfields owns the remaining 75 percent. In addition, the two parties own a 50-50 stake in the Kariba amethyst mine, which will also be affected by the outside selling ban. However, nearly all of Gemfields income comes from the Kagem mine.

What’s at issue is the government’s belief that it isn’t receiving enough of the economic benefits from the mine.

“Zambian gemstones have for a long time been sold on foreign markets, a situation that has contributed to capital flight and denied Zambians of the much needed benefits from the resource,” Yamfwa Mukanga, Zambia mining minister, said in its written request issued in April.

For its part, Gemfields insists that it needs to sell Kagem emeralds at places that will likely get the most interest and the best price in order to compete with other emerald hubs, such as Colombia and Brazil.

Since 2007, Gemfields has been creating a mine-to-market initiative for its emeralds using the Kagem mine as a single, traceable source for its emeralds. In addition, it is working on a program to mine its emeralds in adherence to fair-trade practices and in accordance with environmental, social and safety standards. The distribution of its emeralds includes the Faberge luxury jewelry brand, which it owns. 

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Zambia Restriction on Gem Sales A Major Setback for Gemfields

Mila Kunis in a Gemfields ad.

The Zambia Ministry of Mines, Energy and Water Development issued a directive Friday stating that all auctioning of emeralds be held in Zambia, arguing that their sale in foreign markets contributes to capital flight. The timing of this order has dealt a major blow to the emerald ambitions of Gemfields, which operates what is believed to be the world’s largest emerald mine in Zambia.

The government in a statement said the directive is designed to promote transparency and accountability in the marketing of emeralds, stimulate local demand for emeralds, create more opportunities for small-scale miners to have access to colored gemstone markets, and increase tourism.

“Zambian gemstones have for a long time been sold on foreign markets, a situation that has contributed to capital flight and denied Zambians of the much needed benefits from the resource,” Yamfwa Mukanga, Zambia mining minister, said in the statement.

The move seemed to have come as a surprise to the London-listed company and the markets. Gemfields shares fell 16 percent Monday after the government announcement. In the past, Gemfields held its emerald auctions in other locations, including Singapore and in Jaipur, India. The next auction of its emeralds was already planned to be held in Zambia’s capital city of Lusaka from April 15 - 19.

The company is in partnership with the country of Zambia, which makes this seemingly sudden announcement more difficult to understand. Gemfields owns a 75 percent stake in the Kagem emerald mine with the government owning the remaining 25 percent. In addition, the two parties own a 50-50 stake in the Kariba amethyst mine, which will also be affected by the outside selling ban.

“Not allowing Gemfields to auction abroad is going to take us out of the competition with Brazil and Colombia, which holds 30 percent each of the world's supply of emeralds,” Dev Shetty, Gemfields COO, told Reuters.

The company that wants to do for emeralds what De Beers did for diamonds in the 20th Century recently had a string of marketing successes. It signed actress Mila Kunis as its ambassador; released an emerald-specific colored gemstone jewelry line made by independent jewelry designers ranging from Theo Fennell and Stephen Webster, Shaun Leane and Alexandra Mor; and finalized the acquisition of luxury jeweler Fabergé.

Since 2007, Gemfields has been creating a mine-to-market initiative for its emeralds using the Kagem mine as a single, traceable source for its emeralds. In addition, it is working on a program to mine its emeralds in adherence to fair-trade practices and in accordance with environmental, social and safety standards.

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Mila Kunis and Jewelry Designers Launch Gemfields Bespoke Colored Gemstone Jewelry Collection

Mila Kunis takes center stage among jewelry designers at Gemfields event.

Actress Mila Kunis joined a group of fine jewelry designers to help launch a bespoke jewelry collection created with emeralds, rubies and amethysts provided by Gemfields, a colored gemstone miner and marketer.

The jewelry collection was unveiled at the Phillips Auction House in London. It was created by 36 jewelry designers that partner with the London-based company and primarily consist of Zambian emeralds, Mozambican rubies and Zambian amethysts. The jewelry ranges in price from $1,130 to $750,000.

Many of the designers who created the jewelry were at the launch, including Theo Fennell, Stephen Webster, Shaun Leane, Dickson Yewn and Alexandra Mor. They shared the spotlight with Kunis and celebrities from the U.K. and India, including Jacquetta Wheeler, Kamika Kapoor and Nina Naustdal.

To coincide with the launch of this project, Gemfields presented its new global advertising campaign featuring Kunis wearing ethically sourced Zambian emeralds and Mozambican rubies shot by Mario Sorrenti in Los Angeles.

This jewelry showcase will travel to India next and then to Las Vegas where it will be displayed at the Couture show in May. 

Gemfields first announced its relationship with Kunis and the new advertising campaign about a month ago. The company first disclosed its partnership with the jewelry designers in the fall of last year.

The campaign focuses on emerald jewelry, which coincides with Gemfields main business: the mining and marketing of emeralds from the Kagem mine in Zambia, which it has a 75 percent stake in. The same mine also produces amethysts. It is working to produce a mine-to-market strategy for their emeralds that it says will be ethical, transparent and sustainable.

The company also owns a 75 percent stake in the Montepuez ruby mine in Mozambique and the Kariba amethyst mine in Zambia.

If that’s not enough, in January Gemfields finalized its ownership of iconic Russian luxury jewelry brand, Fabergé, which receives a supply of the company’s best colored gemstones.

Earlier this month, the company released a bit of bad news in its half-year financial report, saying that core earnings fell 39 percent as it held just one auction during the period compared with two in the prior year. But production climbed by two-thirds.

Production rose about 65 percent to 14.5 million carats in the first half, mainly on higher grades recovered at its Kagem mine in Zambia. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization fell to $19.5 million for the six months to December 31, from $32.2mn a year earlier.

Revenue from rough and finished emerald sales decreased 39 percent to $27.7 million.

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Mila Kunis Featured in Global Advertising Campaign for Gemfields

Mila Kunis, recently named “Sexiest Woman Alive,” by Esquire, is the newest ambassador and the face of the latest advertising campaign for colored gemstone producer, Gemfields.

In a statement Gemfields said that Kunis was chosen “for her natural beauty, versatility, intelligence and love of rare colored gems.”

Gemfields primary business is the mining, distribution and marketing of emeralds from the Kagem mine in Zambia. It is working to produce a mine-to-market strategy for their emeralds that it says will be ethical, transparent and sustainable. The company recently acquired Fabergé, and is supplying the luxury brand with Kagem emeralds for its newest creations. Both companies are controlled by Pallinghurst Resources, a private equity company focused on the mining sector.

The advertising campaign with Kunis is photographed by Mario Sorrenti and styled by Anastasia Barbieri, featuring “a fresh-faced and modern Kunis wearing one-of-a-kind emerald and ruby jewelry created by six of Gemfields’ designer partners: Alexandra Mor, Amrapali, Dominic Jones, The Gem Palace, Sutra and Fabergé.”

Kunis toured Kagem, accompanied by Ian Harebottle, Gemfields CEO, and visited several Gemfields-sponsored community projects, including schools and a farming cooperative.

“While in Africa, I learned that the entire journey that each Gemfields stone takes is carefully considered and that the environment and the local communities where its mines are located are held in the highest regard,” said Kunis.

“Mila has blown me away with her energy, enthusiasm and dedication,” Harebottle said.

The global advertising program is running in leading publications in India and is part of a several initiatives in a multi-pronged consumer campaign that Gemfields will roll out this year.

The Kagem mine also produces amethysts. Gemfields other business include a mine in Mozambique for rubies, and prospecting licenses for other gemstones in Madagascar.

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Fabergé and Gemfields Finalize Merger

Gemfields has already started promoting its emeralds through an advertising campaign.

The iconic luxury brand, Fabergé, has completed its merger with colored gemstone miner and distributor, Gemfields. The merger, first announced in November, creates what has been planned all along for Gemfields since its founding fewer than 10 years ago: a way to produce a mine-to-market template for its colored gemstones.

Gemfields owns a majority stake of the Kagem mine in Zambia, which produces emeralds and amethysts, a mine in Mozambique for rubies, and prospecting licenses for other gemstones in Madagascar. Emeralds from Kagem are by far the company’s biggest product.

The plan is that Gemfields will provide an ethical and traceable source of providing its gemstones to consumers, thus fueling demand for its product. To help create this demand, Gemfields already begun an advertising and marketing campaign for its Kagem emeralds.

The merger was managed by private equity mining giant, Pallinghurst, which owned indirect equity interests of 33 percent in Gemfields and 49 percent in Fabergé and also held certain loan interests in Fabergé. After the transaction, Pallinghurst now owns 48 percent of the enlarged Gemfields. The deal reportedly values Fabergé at $142 million and was funded with 214 million shares in Gemfields.

Arne H. Frandsen, Pallinghurst chief executive, previously said that the merged company is the “next step in realizing our vision and strategy for our gemstones and luxury platform…. Once consummated, we will be well on the way to creating the colored gemstone equivalent of what De Beers has created for diamonds.”

“This transaction creates the world’s number one colored gemstone company, operating at both critical ends of the value chain,” Brian Gilbertson, Pallinghurst chairman, said Wednesday. “Gemfields can now take its vision for colored gemstones to the next level and Fabergé becomes the obvious consumer choice for high‐end, ethically supplied colored gemstone jewelry.”

Gemfields previously articulated a number of benefits of the transaction. They include:

* Positioning U.K.-based Gemfields with Fabergé’s heritage operating in the two most profitable segments within the gemstone supply chain;

* Advancing Gemfields’ “Mine and Market” strategy;

* Positioning Fabergé as the colored gemstone retailer of choice within the hard luxury retail sector, a sector with an estimated turnover of $54 billion in 2011 according to the Bain Luxury Market Study;

* Creating marketing, communication, management and supply synergies to deliver operational efficiencies; and

* Creating a platform to further increase Gemfields’ market share within the colored gemstone sector, while gaining exposure to luxury sector multiples and greater influence over product positioning and consumer awareness.

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