Muhammad Luqman

Located in Old Lahore near the famous Lohari Gate, Nagina market offers a diverse selection of gemstones, each with its unique characteristics, cuts, and clarity. From the deep red hues of rubies to the vibrant green tones of emeralds, the choices are endless. A wide variety of precious and semi-precious stones are available for sale in the market, including ruby, emerald, sapphire, pearl, aquamarine, topaz, garnet, amethyst, and citrine.

Lahore’s Nagina market is considered the second biggest gemstone market in Pakistan after Peshawar’s Namak Mandi, which rose to prominence in the 1980s. The price per carat of gemstones in Lahore’s markets varies depending on factors like quality, cut, clarity, and colour. “The price per carat of gemstone in Lahore ranges from Rs200 to Rs200,000. So, for every gram (five carats), the cost ranges from Rs1,000 to Rs1,000,000,” Waleed Ahmad, a gemstone dealer, said while talking to WealthPK.

He said that most of the gemstones sold in the Nagina market are imported from Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Africa. “A large quantity of local gemstones brought from Pakistan’s northern areas and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is also abundant.” Gemstone traders have also warned that the customers should be very careful while buying the stones as a number of traders are involved in the sale of fake sapphire, topaz, coral, ruby, and other stones that are, in reality, just pieces of glass. “Buyers should purchase after seeking guidance from somebody with due knowledge about the quality and clarity of the gems,” Amir Ali, a dealer, said.

According to gemmologists, some 99 precious and semi-precious stones are found in Pakistan. However, the absence of proper cutting technology and required marketing and branding skills has resulted in exporting or smuggling these stones in raw form to other countries, mainly Sri Lanka, Thailand and India, where these stones are processed and re-exported after due value-addition.

“Pakistan can export gemstones worth $5 billion every year if these are processed with the latest technology,” said Hafiz Muhammad Ahmad, Chairman of the Gold and Gems Art Promotion Council of Pakistan. Talking to WealthPK, he said that the government should support the gems and jewellery sector by developing common facility centres and basic training institutes for artisans so that Pakistan could benefit from the ever-growing international gemstone market.

“The sellers of gemstones at Nagina market will become good exporters if they have the government’s hand-holding,” Ahmad said. He said that technology centres may be established in Lahore, Peshawar and Karachi, the major centres of gemstone trade in Pakistan. In a bid to transform the gems and jewellery sector into a vibrant part of the national economy, the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Industries, is presently in the process of developing a plan to help the gemstone traders in value-addition of their precious commodity.

“We are ready to utilise all available resources to modernise the country’s gems and jewellery sector according to the global standards,” Smeda Chief Executive Officer Socrat Aman Rana said. He said that the availability of required technology can help Pakistan’s gemstone business become internationally competitive and earn foreign exchange in the quality and fashion-conscious markets.

Credit: INP-WealthPk