Lost in Peshawar’s gemstone market

PESHAWAR: Famous gemstone market is difficult to find for the unfamiliar ones, going through the bustling stalls and narrow streets of Namak Mandi Bazaar. And it is not just for directions that a first-time visitor should bring along a guide. To get the best deals, you need to work with someone who is well-versed in the market.

If the [gemstone] seller believes the buyer is just looking or window-shopping, he is unlikely to reveal their best-quality stones.Ghulam Rabbani, a trader and owner of Rabbani Gems and Minerals, told this correspondent that even fellow businessmen are hesitant to share information about their gems.

“They will only show you the gems if they are convinced that you are a real buyer,” Rabbani elaborated, “because they believe the stones will lose value if shown to non-buyers.”Rabbani deals in Afghan Kunzite and Tourmaline stones that have been cut, polished, and bargained for in Peshawar.

“We export the stones to Thailand, where traders sell them locally or to other countries,” he said.A Chinese trader named Ziyambo, who visited Peshawar several times in the last 15 years, said that he came to the gemstone market with a guide looking for Quartz stone.

Shahzad, a skilled gem cutter and polisher, was bent over his machine, with glasses on and a light near his forehead. His family has been in the industry for more than six decades.“My father was a gemologist,” he explained. “When we were in college, my brothers and I used to work with him.”

Topaz, tourmaline, aquamarine, kunzite, and tapis were among the stones available in Shahzad’s shop.He explained that traders bring raw stones from Afghanistan and various parts of Pakistan; his job is to cut and polish them before exporting them to countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and China.

In Peshawar, the government has established a Gems and Gemological Institute, where students are trained in three areas: gemology, faceting, and carving.An employee of the institute said that the institute trains workers for the gemstone industry.

“We have trained thousands of people since the institute’s inception in 2001,” he said, adding that the institute would like to send its trainers abroad for advanced training.According to sources at the institute, it generates revenue by offering training courses and other activities.