“Behind every strong brand is a strong personality.” This is especially true for Constantin Wild, who leads his eponymous gem business with an absolute passion for stones in all their cuts and colours. His family-owned company can trace its history to 1847, with Constantin (the fourth generation) taking the helm in 1996. In recent years, I have returned to Constantin Wild time and time again on these digital pages to discuss once-in-a-lifetime Imperial topazes, minerals of royal calibre, AI-generated art, and fancy colour sapphires. There have also been some great interviews, including a conversation in 2023 when Constantin told me that “you must collect when available” to avoid missing out on truly special gems. It is safe to say that Constantin Wild, both the man and the business, are renowned experts in the field.
Imperial Triumph
The highlight of the Constantin Wild booth at Jewellery and Gem World Hong Kong is the Imperial Triumph suite. This layout of 17 Brazilian Imperial topazes is undoubtedly one of the best, if not the best, examples of orange, pink and red-colour topazes ever achieved. In terms of weight, the set contains more than 250 total carats, including a 22-carat orange Imperial topaz, a 16-carat magenta pink gem, and a 29-carat “finest orange” example that really stands out. Further gems in the layout are described as exhibiting pink, reddish-orange, orange, pinkish-orange, orangey-purple-red, and hot pink shades, which demonstrates the breadth of colours that fall under the ‘Imperial’ umbrella.
“The Imperial Triumph is a lifetime project,” Constantin tells me. “I have been collecting Imperial topaz for more than 40 years, picking and choosing the best ones in every year’s production. It was out of fashion for a long time, but I always believed in it; it’s super rare, hard, durable, brilliant and sparkling in all shades from golden to orange-pink and red.” The skill, according to Constantin, is finding the specimens of orange-coloured Imperial topaz with pink undertones, which enhances the warmth of the gem. “Ultimately, those tones are the rarest to find,” he adds, “and when they have a hint of red, they are the unicorns of the gem world.”
Rainbow Shades
Constantin Wild will present four further layouts in Hong Kong. The first is a suite in peacock colours, including tourmalines, smoky quartzes, peridots, amethysts, blue zircons and tanzanites. Highlights of this 190+ carat layout include two oval-shaped tanzanites weighing more than 33 carats, a 26-carat peridot from Pakistan, and two blue zircons, totalling upwards of 27-carats, hailing from Cambodia.
Next, there’s the Dancing Koh Samui layout, featuring round, oval and cushion-cut gems in shades of blue, violet, yellow and green. There’s something quite acidic and zesty about this 174-carat suite, led by gems hailing from Cambodia, China and Tanzania. Definitely not a layout for the faint-hearted jeweller! I particularly like the ‘Pink and Purple’ selection of gems, including danburite, kunzite, morganite, and amethyst. The largest gem is an 18-carat cushion-cut amethyst in a royal shade of deep purple, which can be traced back to Brazil. What’s especially crucial about this suite is the injection of colourless danburite, which enhances the pale pink, hot pink, lilac and purple shades of the other gems.
Finally, there’s the Wheel of Colours, featuring green and red tourmaline, demantoid garnet, purple sapphires, Santa Maria aquamarines and mandarin garnets. These stones are composed like a sensational gemstone tennis necklace, including oval, round and emerald-cut gems that dance from deep green to bright orange, magenta, green and pale blue. The colours should clash and fight against each other, but somehow, it all works! This is where Constantin’s experience in sourcing and selecting gemstones really shines.
“It’s about colour. Combining colours. Mixing shapes,” Constantin explains. “You need a very large collection of various varieties and colours of gems to open your trays and start pairing, matching and combining. It has to start with the gems. Starting with a colour scheme and then searching for the gems will not work because of the rarity and limited availability. I must buy them when they are available – I cannot order them like a commodity.”
Solo Stars
Let’s not forget the single stones that Constantin Wild will present this season, which include a remarkable 15-carat ‘canary’ tourmaline, a 4-carat ‘lagoon’ tourmaline, and a 5-carat red topaz, which appears to have some interesting colour zoning from the pre-show pictures we have seen here at KaterinaPerez.com. It is important to put these gemstones into context – they are incredibly rare thanks to their size, colour saturation, and clarity. “Educated consumers request unique quality, individualism and the unusual,” Constantin explains, “but Mother Earth only delivers very little… it’s an almost impossible mission to source.” The high jewellers who get their hands on these gems will be very lucky indeed, allowing them to produce distinctive, unrepeatable pieces.
If you are visiting Hong Kong this year, make sure to stop by Constantin Wild to see some of these treasures for yourself. For collectors, now is the time to seek out natural Imperial topaz and bluish-green ‘lagoon’ tourmalines; both are on Constantin’s radar as the next big thing. To own some of these mineral specimens is to encompass the talents of the Earth in the palm of your hand. I can’t think of many things that are so romantic!
