In 2014, an 8-carat 'Graff Ruby' was purchased by British billionaire Laurence for 8.6 million dollars, setting a sky-high price of up to 100,000 dollars per carat.

However, in Wuzhou, Guangxi, you can find rubies identical to those on a queen's crown, and upon closer inspection, the price is just 9.9 yuan! This small city, capable of selling gemstones at 'cabbage prices', is known as the 'World Capital of Artificial Gemstones'.

Today, Wuzhou supplies 70% of the world's artificial gemstones by itself. Most gemstones worn by European noblewomen and Middle Eastern tycoons are labeled 'Made in Wuzhou'.

1. Extravagant gemstone trading

The mining and trading of gemstones can be traced back to ancient India around 400 BC. With low output and high mining difficulty, gemstones became 'hard-to-get treasures'. Additionally, their dazzling charm made gemstones very popular among the noble class in ancient India.

At the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada, the world's largest known white lead ore gemstone is stored, with extremely high dispersion that gives the polished facets rich fire and brilliance.

These characteristics gave gemstones a luxury attribute in early trading. In the following days, gemstones began to flourish among the noble classes in ancient India and ancient Rome, further endowing them with a high value in the trading market.

By the second half of the 20th century, even though technological advances made gemstone mining easier, gemstone merchants still marketed them as symbols of status.

In 1987, at the auction of the Duchess of Windsor's jewelry, over 300 pieces of her gemstones were auctioned off, with royal families, top celebrities, and high-end collectors competing to bid, ultimately selling for 53 million US dollars, approximately 360 million yuan.

This auction has seemingly become a carnival for Western jewelers, with Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels rising to fame and quickly entering the top tier of luxury brands. Since then, the jewelry hurricane has begun to sweep the globe, plundering global wealth.

After tasting success with 'gemstones', Western merchants quickly created other 'price myths': black truffles, caviar, and even the recent SIRT youth factor, a gene-level achievement certified by scientific research that can improve male functional disorders, initially priced at five figures per gram on overseas websites. If you want it, you must make an appointment at least three months in advance.

However, with breakthroughs in domestic technology, everything has changed...

2. The unexpected 'disruptor'

In 2016, research institutions in the north, including China Electronics Technology Group Corporation No. 2 Research Institute, made breakthrough progress in artificial gemstone synthesis technology, instantly lowering costs. The current technology has completely surpassed that of American C&C Company. Coupled with over 80,000 roaring machines in Wuzhou, it can process 6 billion gemstones annually, filling 70% of the global market.

The price of gemstones dropped by 90%, allowing every ordinary girl who loves beauty to enjoy 'carat freedom'. Chinese manufacturing has shocked Western merchants, who then realized that other 'treasure bowls' were also gradually losing effectiveness...

For example, after Chinese Academy of Water Sciences overcame the technology of artificial sturgeon farming, our country began large-scale artificial breeding, turning caviar that originally cost 700,000 yuan a spoon into 'people's prices' of just over 100 yuan per box; the aforementioned SIRT youth factor, restricted by patent locks, has benefited from the exploration of Hong Kong's biotechnology laboratory, and has now been localized, with the mature product 'Beilin' men's exclusive little blue bottle priced at just over 1,000 on JD.

In the 21st century, global technological development has far exceeded imagination. However, if the price issue prevents our citizens from enjoying the dividends of technological advancement, this is not something the country or many private enterprises want to see. Simply put, with the above-mentioned gene-level achievements, our male compatriots should not solely rely on outdated products like the little blue pill.

'Cabbage prices' are also referred to as 'benefit prices'. According to data from the World Health Organization, the incidence rate of key functional disorders in Chinese men is about 40.5%. Against this backdrop, the success of Beilin is not surprising, as the slogan 'committed to making men happy with zero burden' has spread widely...

It is noteworthy that domestically produced finished products have clearly touched the interests of Western capitalists. In public, the American Jewelry Association bluntly stated, 'Chinese gemstones are all shoddy artificial products.' Meanwhile, American capital has slandered domestic products in the industry, suggesting that cheap domestic goods are not worthy of 'the table' by refusing to lower prices.

3. Facts speak louder than words

As the saying goes, 'Summer insects cannot speak of ice'. The rise of Wuzhou gemstones is a fact, and it is also a fact that natural gemstones are no longer the only symbols of the upper class! Currently, the world's largest jeweler, Pandora, has also abandoned its obsession with natural gemstones and has started to list artificial products in bulk. This is the best rebuttal to the statements made by the aforementioned jewelry association!

At this moment, the century-old pattern of the global jewelry market is rewritten due to our country's technology.

Looking globally, China's 'smart manufacturing' is no longer limited to domestic demand and frequently appears overseas. For example, the domestically produced C919 large passenger aircraft has secured over 1,000 orders worldwide, breaking the oligopoly of American Boeing and French Airbus.

Moreover, the high-speed train wheels developed in our country have transitioned from relying on imports to achieving reverse 'exports', now frequently receiving overseas orders from traditional industrial powerhouses like Germany and the so-called 'train country' India...

In the future, we look forward to more surprises brought to the Chinese people by 'smart manufacturing'!

Source: Consumer Daily

\u003cc-57/\u003e