A chance pass through Quartzite, Arizona, piqued my interest. It corresponded with an annual crystal show where thousands of “rock hounds” convene in the aptly named outpost to sell glittering pillars of rose quartz, regal amethysts, and malachite as swirled and green as the back of an ancient gilded turtle. The RVs and tents parked alongside the highway, Burning Man style, demanded investigation.

I soon found myself haggling over the price of golden-colored citrine with a bolero-wearing man named Brian. Later I forked over a few bucks for a rotund couple of break-at-home geodes (dinosaur eggs, I called them as a child) that came with an oversize nutcracker that looked like it came from a construction site circa 1976.

Turns out, I am late to develop an appetite for “near-gemstones,” as diamond dealers call this $1 billion-plus industry. Virtually every Los Angeles-based celebrity you’ve heard of keeps them, whether Kate Hudson’s amethyst chunks credited with healing properties for emotional distress and issues with the nervous system, Adele’s performance-anxiety reducing crystals, or Gwyneth Paltrow’s rose quartz, which some believe promotes harmony and love. Victoria Beckham (black obsidian), Bella Hadid (blue celestites), and Kylie Jenner are fans. Kim Kardashian named her perfume collection Crystal Gardenia.

Today, the crystal-collecting set goes beyond the type of people who shop at health-food stores or practice reiki. The Astro Gallery of Gems on Fifth Avenue in New York attracts famous clients with its $30,000 pieces of barite and six-figure specimens of mesolite. (“Letterman was in here last month,” its star saleswoman Ruth told me the last time I was there.) Sotheby’s and Christie’s sell them for tens of thousands of dollars alongside meteorites and fossils. Mardani Fine Minerals reports annual gross sales of $25 million to $40 million, with profit margins varying from 20% to 70%.

The market was strong before covid-19 and remains unaffected. The coronavirus pandemic is expected to dent the $76 billion diamond industry (as of 2018) by 20% this year, but the value of near-gemstones such as quartz, amethyst, citrine, and malachite is holding steady.

“Near-gemstones are becoming very attractive,” says Martin Rapaport, chairman of the Rapaport Group and founder of the Rapaport Diamond Report and RapNet online diamond trading network.

The diamond market was already expecting a drop in 2020. Wealthier people are buying fewer, rarer gems, he says while those of more modest means are forgoing jewels and gemstones in favor of crystals.

“The diamond market is going to come down significantly this year, but there’s a lot of demand that has moved down to the lower cusp of [crystals and minerals], which are less expensive,” he says. “The need for emotional gifting is going to be intensified, and quarantining is going to drive more buying in general. Near-gems fall directly into this segment.”

James Hyslop, the head of the science and natural history department at Christie’s, agrees. Coronavirus has only strengthened a market that has been “historically undervalued. The sense that everyone has is that interest in the market for minerals and fossils and meteorites is at an all-time high,” Hyslop said on the phone from London. “It’s extremely healthy at the moment.”

Earlier this month, Christie’s “Sculpted By Nature” auction culled $1.09 million (£820,375) in total sales, making it the most successful online sale for the company’s natural history department, outperforming a similar sale it held in October 2019. Many of the lots sold for more than their top estimated value. Among the top crystal sellers were three different rounded Gogotte formations formed from quartz crystals and calcium carbonate in Fontainebleau, France. They took £37,500 apiece.

“I’ve seen ones selling for a hundred times what they were selling for 20 or 30 years ago,” Daniel Trinchillo, the founder and president of Fine Minerals International, told Business Jet Traveler in December. “I’ve seen collections worth 5 and 10 times what they cost 5 or 10 years earlier.”

Mineral collecting became popular in the U.S. by the 1970s, when buyers began focusing more on how they looked than their scientific relevance. They are treasured as much for their beautiful hues as for their supposed healing benefits.

But if you believe the hype, some crystals are said to offer benefits perfectly in tune with the covid-era anxiety: Ocean-blue azurite can assist in clairvoyance and intuition; sodalite obelisks allegedly encourage calm and rational thought; statuesque tourmaline pillars promote self-confidence; and polished, swirling agate is recommended by fans for rebalancing and cleansing.

The likes of calcite, quartz, and fluorite in myriad colors have become pieces of decor in hotels, cafes, and retail businesses. In the latest fashion campaigns for Celine, crystals show up in the brand’s Instagram ads as props for handbags and jewelry. At the Mandarin Oriental, they’re used in wine wands to help extrapolate tannins. The aptly named Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas held an exhibition earlier this year celebrating the role of crystals in culture.

“Acquiring crystals is a bit like acquiring art,” says Anthony James, an artist who showed his work at Crystal Bridges. “You’re forming a relationship.” James uses computer programming to mimic naturally forming crystals in a process he calls “organic digitization” of “polycrystalline shapes.” His unique pieces, which are the size of refrigerators and bigger, sell in the high six figures.

The first rule of shopping for crystals is to buy the best you can afford.

“It’s better to buy one really good piece than spend the same amount of money on five mediocre pieces,” Hyslop says. Specimens with richer, more vibrant colors without flaws are worth-and will cost-more than those with broken edges, weak coloration, and pockets of milky sediment.

And size matters, but only to a point.

“The prices rise according to size-to the point where you can’t pick up the crystal anymore-then they drop again because some of these items these are just too big,” says Hyslop. (You try moving 500 pounds of solid fluorite into your upper-level loft.) “It isn’t necessarily the price that would be the inhibitor. It’s the logistics of moving these things around.”

The pricing scale generally follows a stable per-kilogram increment structure. At The Crystal Matrix in Glendale, California, you can purchase a piece of quartz that you can hold in your hand for a couple hundred dollars. A piece of malachite and azurite nearly 10 inches across sold for £12,500 in Christie’s May sale; a similar piece just over three inches across sold for £3,750.

On the other hand, there is something to be said for having the biggest piece of something.

“When you get into really big center pieces for a museum exhibition, prices shoot up again,” Hyslop says. “The biggest ones are incredibly valuable-six and seven figures.”

The third rule of crystal shopping: There’s no “right” crystal to collect. Focus on the ones that spark your interest, then learn as much as you can about their provenance, follow auctions that sell them, and ask insiders and experienced dealers for insight.

“Buy a crystal for its beauty or get a crystal to use for healing,” says James, the artist. “What is relevant is your intention.”

Waves of mainland capital are flooding into equities, especially megacap Chinese banks, countering losses sparked by sweeping national security legislation. Tension is also building in the foreign exchange market, where options and forwards show the pegged currency will reach the weak end of its trading band.

Stability in financial markets would reinforce the message being promoted by officials and tycoons alike: that tougher laws on dissent will bring calm to a city wracked by violent protests. The city’s leader Carrie Lam cited gains in the Hang Seng Index on Tuesday as evidence that investors weren’t worried the new laws will undermine Hong Kong’s position as an international finance center.

“China needs to deploy some funds to help stabilize the Hong Kong dollar and capital flows in the city — that’s paramount,” said Steven Leung, executive director with UOB Kay Hian (Hong Kong) Ltd. “Some foreign investors worry the security law will threaten Hong Kong’s status as an international financial center and they might exit.”

The city’s stocks need all the help they can get. The Hang Seng Index lost almost 7% this month, clocking up the biggest drop relative to the MSCI All-Country World Index since the Asian financial crisis in 1998. Short selling volume on Hong Kong’s main board climbed to 21% of total turnover Friday, the highest proportion in data going back more than two decades.

The stakes are high: a panicked business community could trigger cascading outflows that crash its markets and cause runs on its banks. A wave of emigration could create a brain drain that damps its appeal as a financial center.

The $4.9 trillion stock market, the world’s fourth largest, is now the most volatile since 2012, according to a measure of historical 100-day swings on the Hang Seng Index. Options traders are preparing for more turbulence: eighteen of the 20 most-owned Hang Seng Index derivatives are puts protecting against losses.

While Hong Kong’s currency remains supported by tight liquidity conditions that keep its interest rates high versus those on the greenback, there are signs that some hedge funds may be changing their positions. The Hong Kong dollar’s 12-month forward points remain extremely elevated after spiking to the highest level since 1999 last week, showing demand to speculate against the currency.

Local companies are lining up to defend China’s expanded powers. Hong Kong property developers issued a statement saying the national security law will guarantee stability and prosperity, even as their shares tumbled to multi-year lows. More public displays of support will likely come: Hong Kong’s former leader Leung Chun-ying exhorted people on Friday with HSBC Holdings accounts to stop using them, saying the British bank had yet to express its position on the law.

The city’s police chief Chris Tang added to the chorus, telling state broadcaster CCTV that the new legislation would help strengthen investor confidence in the city, according to Radio Television Hong Kong.

Such efforts to calm the business community aren’t new. Back in the early 1980s, the then free-floating currency plunged as London and Beijing held talks over the return of Hong Kong to Chinese rule. The colonial government arrested the slide by pegging the Hong Kong dollar to the greenback. Maintaining confidence became an important focus for the British rulers in the run up to the 1997 handover, especially as hundreds of thousands of Hong Kongers migrated to Canada in order to obtain overseas citizenship.

There is no shortage of evidence that Beijing has repeatedly intervened in its domestic stock market to maintain order during politically sensitive periods. It also has plenty of tools at its disposal to minimize moves in the currency. Such control has long dulled the appeal of Chinese assets to foreign investors.

Whether the Communist Party’s tightening grip over Hong Kong will extend to the city’s free-wheeling financial markets remains to be seen. But it’s increasingly becoming clear that in Hong Kong, like on the mainland, stability is paramount.

The SET edged up ahead of the third-phase relaxation of lockdown measures from Monday (June 1), which will allow venues such as gyms and cinemas to reopen. Curfew hours will also be cut to 11pm to 3am, and foreigners will be allowed to enter Thailand on a case-by-case basis.

A Krungsri Securities stock analyst expected the index to fall to between 1,325 and 1,330 points before rebounding, due to uncertainty amid US-China tensions after Beijing passed new national-security legislation for Hong Kong,

“A renewal of the trade war might emerge as the US prepares to announce a new policy towards China today [Friday],” the analyst said. “Meanwhile, the index will also be under pressure from the tight SET valuation.”

However, the SET will rebound on expectation of the third phase of lockdown easing, while investors can speculate on stocks which have been added to the MSCI calculation.

The 10 stocks with the highest trade value today were BAM, BANPU, AWC, PTT, GULF, KTC, ADVANC, CPALL, MINT and KBANK.

As of 4.30pm, the price of crude oil dropped by US$1.30 or 3.86 per cent to $32.41 per barrel, while the gold price rose by $10.50 or 0.61 per cent, to $1,738.80 per ounce.

US and European indices were on a downward trend, while Asian indices had a mixed day.

Japan’s Nikkei Index closed at 21,877.89, down 38.42 points, or 0.18 per cent.

China’s Shang Hai SE Composite Index closed at 2,852.35, up 6.13 points, or 0.22 per cent, while Shenzhen SE Component Index closed at 10,746.08, up 92.58 points, or 0.87 per cent.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed at 22,961.47, down 171.29 points, or 0.74 per cent.

South Korea’s KOSPI Index closed at 2,029.60, up 1.06 points, or 0.052 per cent.

Taiwan’s TAIEX Index closed at 10,942.16, down 2.03 points, or 0.019 per cent.

Monrat Phadungsit, president of Land and Houses Fund Management, said investors were buying back stocks at this time because they have a large amount of cash in hand.

“Most investors have 10 to 15 per cent of cash in their investment portfolios now, compared to just 5 per cent under normal conditions,” he said, adding that the economy is likely to recover as the Covid-19 situation is improving and many countries are gradually easing lockdown measures.

“We expect the index next year to hit 1,550 points, while this year it is expected to move between 1,300 and 1,450 points,” he said.

“However, investors must be careful because the index could drop below 1,200 points due to uncertainty following the second wave of Covid-19 infections, creating an outbreak that may be worse than the first one.”

Somchai Amornthum, executive vice-president at Krung Thai Asset Management said the index gained positive sentiment from lockdown easing measures, progress in the search for Covid-19 vaccine, central banks’ moves to inject liquidity and governments issuing Covid-19 relief measures.

“We expect the index at the end of the year to be at 1,350 points as it will rely on the Covid-19 outbreak and when the vaccine is completed,” he said.

Chai Sophonpanich, chairman of Bangkok Insurance, said his company expected the index in the next three months to drop to 1,200 points due to uncertainty over the country’s political situation.

“We expect the index at yearend to be 1,340 points, less than 1,500 points in the previous year, though the index should rise to 1,900 points in the next two years,” he said.

He added that in the next three months, the company aims to buy stocks in the food and energy industries as they have a greater chance to grow and will sustain less impact.

As of 9.28am, buying price of a gold bar was Bt25,750 per baht weight and selling price Bt25,950, while gold ornaments were priced at Bt25,286.88 and Bt26,450, respectively.

At close on Thursday (May 28), buying price of a gold bar was Bt25,800 per baht weight and selling price Bt26,000, while gold ornaments were priced at Bt25,332.36 and Bt26,500, respectively.

The Gold Spot Index price on Friday morning moved to around US$1,721 (Bt54,797) per ounce after the price rose by $1.5 to $1,728.3 per ounce at close on Thursday.

Investors were selling gold as a safe haven asset due to tensions between US and China. Recently, President Donald Trump said US was preparing to announce a new policy towards China on Friday in reaction to Beijing’s move to enforce a new national-security legislation in Hong Kong.

Gold price in Hong Kong dropped by HK$20 to $15,890 (Bt65,261) per tael.

The index is expected to fall to between 1,325 and 1,330 before rebounding, due to uncertainty following the conflict between US and China after Chinese lawmakers approved new national-security legislation for Hong Kong, a Krungsri Securities stock analyst said

“A renewal of the trade war might emerge as the US prepared to announce a new policy towards China today [Friday],” the analyst said. “Meanwhile, the index would be under pressure from the tight SET valuation as well.”

However, the index would rebound from hopes of the third phase of lockdown easing this week, while investors could speculate on stocks which have been added to the MSCI calculation.

He recommended investors to buy:

▪︎ Stocks which have been added to the MSCI calculation – AWC, BAM and KTC.

▪︎ Stocks which will benefit from the government’s tourism stimulus measures, such as MINT, CENTEL, ERW and AOT.

▪︎ Stocks which will benefit from the third phase of lockdown easing, such as MAJOR and SPA.

▪︎ Stocks whose second quarter performance will improve, such as CKP, TASCO, STA and RS.