Three Decades on 47th Street

I've been walking the same block for 35 years. The dealers change, the market cycles, but the stones keep teaching me something new every day. That's the part nobody tells you about this business — you never stop learning.

I started young, sorting melee diamonds in a back office on West 47th Street before I could legally drink. By my mid-twenties, I was buying and selling at auction, traveling to Geneva and Hong Kong, sitting across from dealers who'd been in the trade since before I was born. You earn respect on this street by knowing what you're looking at — and more importantly, by knowing what you're not seeing.

That's what I bring to Spectra Fine Jewelry. Not just inventory. Judgment.

What I Look For

I don't buy stones because a piece of paper tells me they're rare. I buy them because I understand what makes them rare — and when the market has mispriced that rarity.

Kashmir sapphires. I've handled dozens over the decades, and I can tell you this: no origin produces a cornflower-blue like Kashmir. The silk, the softness, the way light moves through the stone — it's unmistakable. These come to market maybe a handful of times a year, usually through auction, and I've flown to Geneva more times than I can count to raise a paddle when the right one appears.

Argyle pink diamonds. I was buying Argyle pinks before most American dealers understood what the mine would become. The closure in 2020 didn't surprise anyone who'd been watching production decline for years. What you're seeing now — the price trajectory, the scarcity — I saw coming. That's the advantage of being early.

Burmese rubies, unheated. There's a fluorescence in unheated Burmese material that heat treatment kills. The stone glows under sunlight in a way that treated rubies simply cannot reproduce. I source these directly, often recutting them to unlock color that the original cut left on the table.

Colombian emeralds. Colombia produces emerald with a depth of green that no other origin matches. The trap is clarity — Colombian material almost always carries inclusions. The skill is knowing which inclusions matter and which don't. That's decades of handling thousands of stones.

Paraíba tourmaline. That neon, electric blue-green that looks like it's lit from within — there's nothing else like it in nature. Copper-bearing tourmaline from Brazil's Paraíba region, and to a lesser degree from Mozambique and Nigeria. The color is everything. I'll forgive inclusions on a Paraíba that most dealers would reject, because that electric glow is worth more than a clean stone in a dead color.

Signed vintage. Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Bulgari, Harry Winston. I've spent years developing relationships with estates, private collectors, and European dealers who surface Tutti Frutti bracelets, Panthère brooches, and 1970s Alhambra pieces that never see the auction catalog. When I buy vintage, I authenticate personally — hallmarks, construction, stone setting — before anything goes on my memo or my shelf.

The Recutting Advantage

Most dealers buy finished stones and sell finished stones. I take a different approach.

I recut and repolish diamonds to improve clarity, symmetry, and light performance — sometimes moving a stone up an entire clarity grade or transforming its optical character. The same applies to colored stones: a sapphire or ruby with the right color but poor proportions can become something extraordinary with the right recut.

This isn't common. It requires understanding rough geometry, light behavior, and what a specific piece of material can yield — skills that most modern dealers never develop. But when you can look at a native-cut Kashmir sapphire and see what it can become with the right hand, you can create value that simply doesn't exist on the open market.

The Auction Floor

I've spent enough time in the salesroom at Christie's Geneva and Sotheby's to understand the auction dynamic in my bones. The estimate games. The reserves. The difference between a piece that will soar past its high estimate and one that's being shopped because it failed privately.

When I bid for clients, I'm not bidding blind. I've inspected the stones in person, under proper lighting, with loupe and microscope. I know what the lab report says — and what it doesn't.

The Labs I Trust

For colored stones, I work with the three labs that set the global standard: SSEF in Basel, Switzerland; Gübelin Gem Lab in Lucerne; and AGL in New York City. These are the institutions the auction houses and serious collectors rely on for origin determination and treatment detection on important stones. For diamonds, GIA remains the benchmark.

My Philosophy

Rarity over size. Color over clarity. Buy the best example of what you're after — and if the best example isn't available right now, wait. The stone that's almost right is the one you'll eventually sell at a loss to buy the one you should have bought in the first place.

I don't stock everything. I stock what I'd want to own myself.

Let's Talk

Whether you're looking for a specific stone, building a collection, or just want to understand what's out there — reach out. I'm at 44 West 47th Street most days, and I'd rather spend an hour showing you stones than convince you to buy something you're not ready for.

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About Lawrence Paul