Jewellery expo shows thirst for gems

It's commonly known that diamonds are a girl's best friend, but what about other precious stones? Well some very expensive jewellery is currently on display at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center. With over 2,000 exhibitors, the show has attracted lots of potential buyers.

The 8th annual East China Premier Jewellery exhibition features a variety of jewellery, including gemstones, pearls and even watches. In 2008 there were only 500 exhibitors. This year, there are four times as many.

Xia Weifang, customer, said, "I do a lot of performing, and I think this pearl necklace will make me look better. I also saw some other nice jewelry, such as gold inlaid jade. And those colored stones are nice, too. It's just I'm not sure whether old people like me can afford them."

Xia is not alone. The fair organizer says traditional jewelry like gold and jade still makes up a big part of the market in China. But she says Chinese consumption habits have changed over the past two decades.

Pan Muxian, China Gem & Jewellery Trade Assn., said, "In the first "yellow stage," people were fond of gold. And then consumers started to buy stones in the second "white stage." And now comes the 'colorful stage' in which more people are able to afford the expensive colored gemstones."

The owner of this pair of Burmese rubies says they are worth more than one billion yuan. They're on display here for the first time, because he says he has confidence in the Chinese market.

Ravi Lunia, Faidee Gems company, said, "China is still very young in terms of maturity with the color stones. It's like a five-years, ten-year plan minimum to start with. Because not like what people are coming now and just buying everything. It's not, it's just they're learning. It's a learning curve for the moment. So basically we are here to teach people what the Burma ruby is about and it's the best value for future investment. Because you see for Burma rubies the prices have gone like 300 to 500 times in the last five years."

And to protect all this expensive jewelry, some 150 security cameras, 200 security guards and five police dogs will be watching over the visitors who will need an ID card or passport to get into the exhibit hall in the first place.