Over the past eight years, the price of rubies³ and sapphires（蓝宝石） appears to have increased faster than that of diamonds.

 

Coloured stones are, of course, much more affordable⁴ than their pricier, harder, relatives.

 

And millions more people, especially in Asia, want to buy them.

 

But could another explanation be that many more women are now buying gems⁵ for themselves?

 

That is the theory being put forward by one of Hatton Garden's most established jewellers.

 

Vashi Dominguez, the founder⁶ of the firm Diamond Manufacturers, believes prices are now being driven by the choices that women make.

 

When men choose gemstones（宝石） for their partners, they often go for diamonds, he says. But when they do the choosing themselves, many women prefer at least one coloured gemstone in a piece of jewellery - a ruby⁷, a sapphire¹, or an emerald（绿宝石）.

 

They have also received encouragement from celebrities⁸ like Angelina Jolie and Penelope Cruz, who can afford diamonds aplenty, but who often choose to wear sapphires and emeralds instead.

 

Not to mention the Duchess of Cambridge, with the engagement ring she inherited from Princess Diana.

 

Demand for coloured stones has increased threefold since 2010, according to Diamond Manufacturers' Mr Dominguez.

 

As a result, the company is selling fewer diamonds.

 

"It's because women are driving the market," he says, "even in China."

 

If men choose jewellery, he says, they tend to buy a ring with a single diamond in it, otherwise known as a solitaire（单粒宝石的饰物）.

 

"Buying jewellery is normally a very daunting⁹ experience for a man," he says.

 

"Often they don't even know the ring size, while women really know what they want. Some women even say, 'Can you change the diamonds to sapphires?'"

 

The market price of coloured stones appears to reflect their growing popularity around the globe.

 

Gemval, which claims to offer the world's first online valuation tool for gemstones, reckons that the price of sapphires rose by 37% between January 2006 and January 2013.

 

Rubies rose by 47% over the same period.

 

Emeralds rose significantly in 2005, but between 2006 and 2013 only rose by about 6%.

 

According to the RapNet Diamond Index (RAPI), the price for one-carat diamonds has risen by 32% since 2006.

 

In other words, sapphires and rubies have outpaced diamonds over the past seven years.

 

Jaspreet Chawla, a London-based gemmologist, believes the price rises reflect a growing trend in certain markets.

 

"In the US and Germany there is a more pronounced move towards coloured stones," she says, "increasingly so after Kate Middleton wore a sapphire.

 

"But the UK is still diamond-dominated."

 

Celebrities may indeed be helping¹⁰ to make coloured gemstones fashionable.

 

Penelope Cruz and Elizabeth Hurley both have sapphire rings, while Halle Berry and Angelina Jolie are fans of emeralds.

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