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Gemstone traders shine in Bali market
A middle-aged man holding a small flashlight examined a Burmese ruby jewel
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middle-aged man holding a small flashlight examined a Burmese ruby jewel. He was seemingly engrossed by the luminous red stone with its six-fingered starry gleam.
“This is quite a rare ruby. It’s a clear and starry crystal,” Handri, a stone seller told the man as the latter nodded and smiled.
Handri said “Rp 2 million” when the man asked the price of the soybean-sized gemstone. After
the two bargained for a while, the man walked away with the stone for Rp 1.5 million.
Handri, an East Java native, is one of many gemstone traders running his business at Pasar Burung (bird market) on Jl. Veteran, Denpasar.
Initially dominated by bird traders and lovers, Pasar Burung has become a heaven for gemstone enthusiasts. They even established the Bali Association of Jewel Fans, whose members are mostly jewel traders from the market.
Jewel enthusiasts can also go to the west side of Pasar Kreneng traditional market in Denpasar to look for gemstones.
In Kreneng, only a small number of traders have permanent kiosks, while the rest sell their precious stones by displaying them in jewelry boxes on a portable table. Some of them simply display their products on the floor.
Jewel lovers usually buy stones for different reasons. Some are attracted to their beauty, while others collect them or buy them as an investment.
Buyers even collect them because they believe in the supernatural powers of those stones.
Whatever their motivation is, they will usually flock to Pasar Burung from the morning until afternoon, every day. Meanwhile, in Kreneng, traders only open their stall from morning until 1 p.m. Middleman or jewel brokers tend to frequent both markets.
Many types of jewels can be found in Pasar Burung and Kreneng, ranging from agates, tiger eyes, jades, turquoises, crystals, amethysts, opals, to more refined stones such as emerald, blue sapphires and rubies.
But one should be cautious of fake jewels in these two markets. It is better to go with someone familiar with gemstones to avoid being conned by traders.
“This is quite a rare ruby. It’s a clear and starry crystal.”
“I was once cheated when I bought a blue sapphire. I thought the stone was genuine, but it turned out to be a fake,” said Parwata, adding he lost Rp 100,000.
Stones cost from as little as Rp 10,000 to hundred millions of rupiah, depending on the type, size, rarity and myths attached to them.
“A Kresnadana jewel could worth hundred millions rupiah, but the price also depends on the stone’s size and condition. Balinese are crazy about this stone,” Handri said.
Kresnadana is the Balinese name for black sapphire, which has unique sparkling blue and green shimmer. The stone’s light forms six-edged stars with a yellow-red sparkle. Very unique and rare, many jewel lovers collect this stone and are willing to pay an arm and a leg for it.
“Kresnadana is believed to boast supernatural energy, bring prosperity, wisdom and long-lasting power,” said Mangku Bajra, a jewel lover from Sanur.
Many Balinese also search for rambut sedana ot kecubung rutil (rutilated quarts). This crystal clear stone features jumbled gold yellowish hairs or feathers inside.
The Balinese who believe in the God of Rambut Sedana, The God of Money, especially traders, believe the aura of this jewel can bring more financial prosperity and luck to their business.
Many buyers not only look for stones, but also for mystical objects like snail fossils.
The most sought after stone is the akik brumbun or panca warna (five colors), which can be found across Indonesia, particularly in West Java and Kalimantan. You can buy it on the cheap at Pasar Burung and Kreneng.
“The ordinary akik [gemstones] are only worth between Rp 10,000 and Rp 20,000 each, but the picturesque one can fetch millions of rupiah,” said Udin, a gemstone seller in Kreneng.
Each akik brumbun stone features different pictures, whose beauty depends very much on the sculptor’s stone rubbing skills.
The pictures can be of human forms, puppet characters, animals, plants, flowers, natural landscapes, numbers, letters, weapons and certain symbols.
Buyers will spend hours browsing through markets, to find the perfect picture or inspect gemstones at traders’ stands.
The lucky ones will find gemstones with pictures of dragons, tigers or other distinctive images at low prices.
“I recently bought a stone with the picture of a dragon. It looks abstract at first glance. But on closer inspection, I noticed a picture of a dragon spewing fire. I bought it for just Rp 6,000, and sold it to a collector for Rp 1 million,” said Wayan Sudha, a jewel enthusiast from Grenceng, Denpasar.
As more people getting interested in buying jewels, this business is surely very lucrative.
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Clarification
The accompanying photos on the article Gemstone
traders shine in Bali market on page 22 in our
Thursday, April 1 edition were taken at the Irwan
Holmes exhibition at the Prapen Gallery in Gianyar,
and the semiprecious stones were from the collection
of award-winning designer Holmes.
The Jakarta Post, April 3, 2010, page 22
