POPULARITY OF GEMSTONES RISES IN INDONESIA

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, March 14 (Antara) -- Over the last few months, precious stones have been seen gaining popularity in Indonesia, with gemstone lovers across the country scurrying to buy the rocks.          So it comes as no surprise that gemstone traders offering various kinds of precious stones are found not only in modern malls, traditional markets, roadsides and places frequented by customers, but also in events such as communal gatherings.          Exhibitions and online retail websites have also become effective platforms to sell gemstones, where transactions worth billions of rupiah are carried out.          For instance, a natural stone exhibition held in Aceh province this week concluded a transaction of Rp7 billion.          Websites that provide sales services also capitalize on the country's booming precious stone market. Bukalapak.com, for example, can book hundreds of millions of rupiah in gemstones transactions per day.