Where the trade buys and sells in person: gem markets, trading districts, diamond exchanges and gem towns, with what is traded and when to go.
Asia
Trading district
Bangkok gem district (Silom, Mahesak and Surawong)
Bangkok, Thailand
Traded: Cut and rough coloured stones, especially ruby and sapphire; jewellery manufacturing
More about Bangkok gem district (Silom, Mahesak and Surawong)
Wholesale gem offices along Silom, Mahesak and Surawong roads, with the Jewelry Trade Center at their heart, home to dealers, cutting agents and gem laboratories. Most coloured-stone tender viewings take place in Bangkok. These are trade offices, not shops: call before you visit.
When
Weekday office hours; most dealers see buyers by appointment
Traded: Polished diamonds; India's diamond imports and exports
More about Bharat Diamond Bourse
India's main diamond exchange, at the Bandra Kurla Complex, with thousands of trading offices, customs clearance and banks on site. The trade moved here from the Opera House area after it opened in 2010. Entry is for members and their guests.
Traded: Rough and cut ruby and sapphire, mostly from Africa, Madagascar and Sri Lanka; many other coloured stones
More about Chanthaburi gem market
Weekend street market on Si Chan Road and the lanes around it, in Thailand's ruby and sapphire town. Local mines are largely worked out: stones arrive from Africa, Madagascar and Sri Lanka to be cut, heated and sold. Treatments are not always disclosed, so buy important stones with a laboratory report.
When
Friday to Sunday, from mid-morning (Saturday is busiest); quiet on weekdays
Traded: Mainly cut and polished Sri Lankan gems; cutting, heating and testing services nearby
More about China Fort gem market
Long-established gem trading quarter in the coastal town of Beruwala, with dealers' shops, cutting workshops and testing laboratories. The organiser of the Gem Sri Lanka fair is based here.
Traded: Jade and jadeite, beads, pearls and small gems
More about Jade Market
Covered market of jade stalls at Kansu Street and Battery Street in Yau Ma Tei. Quality and treatment vary widely, so it is a place to look and learn rather than to buy important jadeite. Hong Kong's trade buying happens mainly at its March and September fairs.
Traded: Coloured stones of every kind, especially emerald; cutting, carving and beads
More about Jaipur walled city (Johari Bazaar)
One of the world's main centres for cutting coloured stones, concentrated in the walled city around Johari Bazaar and Gopalji ka Rasta, where a jewellers' quarter was set out when the city was planned in 1727. Emerald cutting grew into a major industry in the 20th century.
Traded: Rough and cut sapphire and other Sri Lankan gems
More about Ratnapura gem markets
Open-air trading in Sri Lanka's 'City of Gems', in the middle of the island's gem-gravel mining area. Dealers buy and sell face to face, often without receipts. The government gem laboratory in town can test stones.
When
Early morning, daily: around the Clock Tower from about 6 to 9 am, then at other markets in town
Traded: Gold jewellery wholesale; also diamonds, coloured stones, jade and pearls
More about Shuibei jewellery district
One of the world's largest jewellery wholesale areas, in Luohu near the Hong Kong border, with thousands of businesses in trading centres. The surrounding Qingshuihe area supplies more than half of China's gold jewellery. Gold is usually sold at the world price plus a making charge per gram. Metro Line 3 to Shuibei.
Traded: Jadeite: carving, finished pieces and wholesale
More about Sihui and Pingzhou jadeite markets
Two of China's main jadeite manufacturing and trading towns in Guangdong: Sihui, where GIA reported more than 200,000 people working in jadeite, and Pingzhou in Foshan, with thousands of jadeite stores. Treated jadeite (bleached and polymer-filled, 'B jade') is common in the trade.
Traded: Diamond cutting and polishing; natural and laboratory-grown diamonds
More about Surat diamond markets
Where most of the world's diamonds are cut and polished. Trading has long taken place in the Mahidharpura and Varachha bazaars; the Surat Diamond Bourse at Khajod, opened in December 2023 with more than 4,000 offices, was built to bring the trade together.
The centre of Israel's diamond trade, around the Israel Diamond Exchange, whose trading floor in the Diamond Tower is among the largest in the world. Entry is for members and their guests.
Traded: Gold jewellery (mostly 18K to 24K), diamond and gem-set jewellery
More about Gold Souk
More than 300 gold and jewellery shops in the old souk on Dubai Creek in Deira, and some 500 more in its newer extension. Prices follow the day's gold rate plus a making charge.
About a square mile beside Antwerp Central station, through which most of the world's rough diamonds pass. The car-free Hoveniersstraat, Rijfstraat and Schupstraat form its core; its four diamond bourses are open to vetted members.
Traded: Coloured stones and agate: cutting, carving and trading
More about Idar-Oberstein
Gem town on the Nahe river where agate cutting began in the late Middle Ages. It now cuts and trades coloured stones from around the world, and is home to the German Gemmological Association and the German Gem Museum.
Traded: Diamonds, coloured stones, jewellery manufacturing and retail
More about Diamond District (47th Street)
The block of West 47th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues: jewellery shops at street level, and dealers, cutters, setters and laboratories in the exchange buildings above. The Diamond Dealers Club is the trade's exchange.
Emerald dealers (esmeralderos) trade on the street around Avenida Jiménez and Carrera Séptima by the Plaza del Rosario, and in the emerald trade buildings nearby. Imitations and synthetics are offered to unwary buyers: buy through established dealers and with a laboratory report.
Traded: Aquamarine, tourmaline, topaz, alexandrite and quartz; rough and cut; mineral specimens
More about Teófilo Otoni
Brazil's gem trading town in the gem-rich northeast of Minas Gerais, with more than 2,000 traders and a large cutting industry. It hosts the FIPP international gem fair, held since 1989.
Traded: Tanzanite (traded in Mererani) and other Tanzanian gems
More about Arusha and Mererani
Arusha is northern Tanzania's gem trading and cutting city. Since 2021 the government has required tanzanite to be traded and processed in Mererani, where it is mined, about 65 km away, where an auction centre has been built.
Traded: Rough sapphire in every colour, and other gems from the surrounding deposits
More about Ilakaka
Sapphire boom town since the 1998 discovery, where Sri Lankan, Thai and Malagasy buyers work from local offices. Much quieter today than in its boom years.
Places, not businesses: JewelLoop does not rank, recommend or endorse any dealer. Days and hours change, so check locally before you travel. Street markets also sell imitations, synthetics and undisclosed treatments: buy important stones with a report from a recognised laboratory, and follow the export and customs rules of every country involved.
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