Luxury jewelry demand soaring in emerging markets

When Elizabeth Taylor's famous Krupp diamond was auctioned off after her death last year, it found a new home in Asia.

The purchaser bought it for $8.8 million. The late film star had purchased it for $305,000 decades ago.

The man who sold her that diamond, Ward Landrigan, CEO of Verdura, tells BNN that the sale represents a shift in the global jewelery market: strong demand from emerging economies.

The growing moneyed-classes in emerging economies are spending their newly earned wealth on luxury goods, according to Landrigan.

"The fancy-coloured diamonds are leading the pack in terms of price, because they are so rare. But other coloured stones, like fine sapphires and fine rubies, [and] fine emeralds, have all gone up in the last 18 to 22 months," he says.

And all of the pent up demand, he says, is pushing up the price of diamonds.