How to read this price list
Trade column
Roughly what a visitor buying with cash at the Pathe should land at.
Retail column
What the same tier asks in Western retail — 2–3× the trade price.
The tier decides
Treatment, report and colour gate every stone into its row — not the seller's mood.
Blue Sapphire Prices in Beruwala (2026)
Ceylon's signature export. Velvet cornflower and royal blue lead; grey-secondary stones sit at the floor. Within a tier, a fine 3 ct stone asks roughly 1.5–2.5× the 1 ct per-carat rate.
| Quality tier | China Fort trade | Western retail | What moves it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial, heatedMid-blue, eye-clean, no report | $80–300 | $200–800 | Largest supply tier; sold in parcels. |
| Fine, heatedVivid medium blue, clean cut | $400–1,200 | $800–2,500 | Cut quality and daylight saturation decide everything in this tier. |
| Royal / cornflower, unheatedReported, top 5–10% of appearance | $1,200–3,000 | $2,500–6,000 | Unheated runs 2–5× heated — the published trade rule. |
| Kashmir-depth collectorVelvety saturation, dual-lab opinion | $3,500–8,000 | $8,000–20,000+ | Rarely on open tables — usually brokered stone by stone. |
Padparadscha Sapphire Prices in Beruwala (2026)
The lotus stone — pink and orange in near-equal balance, no brown, no dominant hue. Genuinely absent from open tables most weeks.
| Quality tier | China Fort trade | Western retail | What moves it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hue-borderline pink-orangeA lab would likely call it pink or orange sapphire | $400–1,500 | $600–2,100 | The laboratory's colour opinion is the pricing event. |
| Commercial padparadscha, heatedBalance holds in daylight, 1–2 ct | $800–2,500 | $1,500–4,000 | Madagascar material lands 40–60% below Ceylon of the same look. |
| True padparadscha, unheatedBalanced lotus tone, GRS/GIA report | $3,000–10,000 | $6,000–22,000 | The unheated premium is the widest of any sapphire (50–100%). |
| Top unheated, 3–5 ctDual-lab consensus colour | $10,000–25,000 | $18,000–40,000 | Above 5 ct — auction territory, $30,000–100,000+/ct. |
Pink & Peach Sapphire Prices in Beruwala (2026)
One of the most active corners of the Pathe — engagement-ring buyers drive the vivid end.
| Quality tier | China Fort trade | Western retail | What moves it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pale / pastel pink, heatedSoft tone, common supply | $70–200 | $150–500 | Saturation is scarce — pale reads cheap at any size. |
| PeachLight orange body, bright | $80–250 | $200–600 | An orange shift toward padparadscha lifts the price fast. |
| Hot / vivid pink, unheatedSaturated, no purple shift | $400–1,200 | $800–2,500 | The Ceylon engagement-ring sweet spot. |
| "Pad-paradox" pinkOrange undertone present, 2 ct+ | $1,500–4,000 | $3,000–8,000 | Priced against padparadscha ambiguity — see padparadscha above. |
Ruby Prices in Sri Lanka / Beruwala (2026)
Ceylon stones run pinkish-red and trade on brightness and transparency; Mozambican and Burmese material sits in the same trade.
| Quality tier | China Fort trade | Western retail | What moves it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ceylon pinkish-red, heatedPastel body, some silk | $200–800 | $500–1,800 | Brightness carries Ceylon ruby, not saturation. |
| Mozambican fine red, heatedEven, vivid red | $800–2,500 | $2,500–6,000 | The modern volume tier for red ruby. |
| Ceylon / Mozambique, unheated, reportedGRS or Gübelin verified | $2,000–8,000 | $5,000–20,000 | Unheated premium 2–5× within any origin. |
| Pigeon's blood, unheatedGRS colour call, 2 ct+ | $8,000–25,000 | $25,000–80,000+ | Burma material — the designation alone adds 30–50% to market value. |
Spinel Prices in Beruwala (2026)
The trade's quiet favourite — untreated by nature, so the report question matters less and colour decides everything.
| Quality tier | China Fort trade | Western retail | What moves it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grey / dusk spinelCommon, muted tones | $30–120 | $100–350 | Noble grey has a niche engagement-ring following. |
| Pink / red, vivid, cleanSri Lanka & Tanzania supply | $300–1,200 | $700–2,500 | Clean 3 ct+ material has jumped around 50% since 2023 at the trade shows. |
| "Jedi" / hot-pink neonUnder 3 ct, dealer-show pricing | $2,000–6,000 | $5,000–12,000 | Burmese "Jedi" tone; clean 3 ct+ stones sell first at every show. |
| Top Mahenge / cobaltNeon pink, or cobalt blue | $6,000–20,000 | $15,000–50,000+ | Tanzanian / Vietnamese supply — rarely seen on the Pathe. |
Star Sapphire Prices (2026)
Pricing logic flips here: asterism first, body colour second. A sharp, centred ray can double a stone's price.
| Quality tier | China Fort trade | Western retail | What moves it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greyish / weak starFuzzy ray, light body | $40–150 | $100–500 | Sold by parcel weight, not per stone. |
| Sharp blue star, translucentSri Lanka, 5–10 ct | $150–500 | $500–1,500 | Sri Lankan blue star is the world's reference material. |
| Pinned centre ray, rich tone6-ray razor sharp, eye-clean body | $500–2,000 | $1,500–5,000 | "Both together" is the genuinely scarce piece. |
How every number on this page moves
×2–3
Retail vs trade gap
The retail column sits 2–3× above the trade floor across the whole list.
×2–5
Unheated premium
For a lab-reportable unheated stone of the same look.
×0.4–0.6
Madagascar deduction
On padparadscha and pink sapphire of the same grade.
+8–12%
Laboratory report
GIA, GRS, SSEF or NGJA — the cheapest insurance in the trade.
How we compiled these numbers
Full transparency — every figure on this page traces back to a published source.
The Western retail column transcribes published 2024–2026 retail price guides from specialist gem dealers and lab-adjacent publishers. The China Fort trade column is derived three ways: dealer-to-dealer prices quoted at trade shows (JCK Las Vegas and AGTA reporting for spinel), published wholesale-to-retail band references, and the standard trade discount of roughly 40–60% off Western retail at source markets.
Ranges describe eye-clean, well-cut stones at a 1 ct reference size. Every stone still prices individually — treat the tiers as boundaries, not rates.
- Serendib Blue — padparadscha and ruby price ladders, wholesale-to-retail bands (2026)
- CeylonVeritas — Ceylon sapphire price index by type, reviewed August 2026
- The Sapphire Bank — ruby price-per-carat tables by origin (2026) and spinel buying guide (2025)
- Vivid Carat — certified ruby market overview by origin, treatment and size (April 2026)
- International Gem Society — spinel dealer pricing reported at the 2024 JCK Las Vegas show
- AGTA — dealer-to-dealer quotes for fine Burmese spinel (2025)
- The Natural Sapphire Company — published sapphire pricing chart by colour and origin
- AfricaGems — 2026 collector's guide to unheated blue sapphire pricing
- Sotheby's — Ceylon sapphire collector guide, typical retail per-carat
- Gemstock — live padparadscha listing prices, found-vs-unheated spread
- JewelleryNet — GEMSWORLD 2025 — industry survey of spinel pricing and varieties
- Praveen Gems — Sri Lankan gems price guide 2026 (Ceylon sapphire, ruby, alexandrite)
Bench it against something real
Every range here is abstract until you hold a stone. Live listings show exactly what today's trade is asking.
Compare trade prices against live stones
Browse every gemstone currently listed on the marketplace.
Browse gemstones →
Ruby prices, explained at depth
Colour, treatment, origin, size — why two similar rubies differ tenfold.
Read the ruby guide →
Visiting China Fort
Trading hours, market etiquette and how deals actually happen.
Read the market guide →
Price-list FAQ
Are these guaranteed prices?＋
No. They are indicative ranges compiled from public price guides, trade-show dealer quotes and wholesale-to-retail band references. A dealer can honestly quote above or below — the range is a fairness check, not a rate card.
Why do you show two price columns?＋
Because it is the real asymmetry of the trade: the same stone changes hands near China Fort and again in a Western boutique, at very different figures. Knowing both sides is how you tell a fair market quote from a disguised retail one.
Are these prices negotiable?＋
Always. Gem prices across the Pathe are negotiation prices — the tiers here tell you roughly where a fair cash offer lands within a quality tier.
Are prices per carat or per stone?＋
Per carat, at a 1 ct reference size. Per-carat quotes climb non-linearly with size: fine 3 ct material asks roughly 1.5–2.5 times the 1 ct rate within its tier.
Why is the trade price lower than the retail reference?＋
Markup. Western retail adds sourcing costs, overheads, guarantees and margin — commonly 2–3 times the trade figure. At source you take on checking the stone yourself, which is part of what a retail guarantee normally covers.
Where do these numbers come from?＋
Twelve published price guides and dealer-quote reports, named in the methodology section on this page. No figure on this page is invented.
Planning a trip to China Fort?
Browse verified dealer listings and current stock before you board. Every stone is listed by a real workspace — prices live on the listing pages.
Gemstone guides
- Ruby Prices in Sri Lanka: What Drives the Cost — Why two similar rubies can differ tenfold in price — colour, treatment, origin, size and certification — and how pricing works in Beruwala's gem trade.
- Heated vs Unheated Sapphires: What Buyers Should Know — What heat treatment does to a sapphire, when 'unheated' is worth the premium, and how to read the certificate — without the sales talk.
- A Day at China Fort: Inside Beruwala's Gem Market — What a visit to China Fort's gem market actually looks like — trading hours, how deals happen on the Pathe, market etiquette and what to bring.
- How to Buy Padparadscha Sapphire in Sri Lanka — What makes a true padparadscha, how to check treatment and certification, and practical tips for buying at Beruwala's China Fort gem market.