The $2.2 million sale of a Game of Thrones Fabergé egg helped the owner of the world-famous jewellery brand to report record annual revenue today and extend its run of payouts to investors.
Gemfields, the London-listed precious stone producer, is also working on a Fabergé tie-in with another world-famous screen franchise: James Bond.
The company’s chief executive, Sean Gilbertson, told The Standard that the 007 egg will be “quite a complicated piece,” and it would be the “first and only” one of its kind, adding: “Whether or not we’re actually able to finish that this year or next year remains to be seen, but obviously, it’s a very, very exciting project.”
Overall, the producer of emeralds from Zambia and rubies from Mozambique reported a rise in revenues of almost at third to $341 million (£279 million) and earnings of $166 million, up a quarter, in what Gilbertson called a “remarkable” year.
It means the company, which floated on the London market on February 14, 2020, just before the pandemic hit, will payout $35 million in dividends to shareholders this year, also a record.
Gilbertson pointed out that a spike higher in demand for emeralds and rubies means that the word record prices set by those gems at auction houses, such as Christie’s Sotheby’s and Bonhams, means they are more expensive per gram and per carat than diamonds.
“At the top of the market you’ve got both emeralds and rubies overtaking white diamonds,” he said.
There were also signs of interest from high-end clients in using gems and set-piece jewellery as investments, at a time when headlines point to turmoil in financial markets and concern about conditions within some banks.
“When a client pays $2.2 million for a piece like the Game of Thrones egg, they are very much looking at that from an investment perspective … It’s a different and unusual way for somebody to combine the inherent value of a precious metal or gemstone with something very artistic.”
Shares in Gemfields rose 1.5% to 17.2p.
