The commodification of fetishes: Telling the difference between natural and synthetic sapphires

Abstract

On the basis of multisited research concerning the international sapphire trade, I discuss what stories told about natural sapphires can reveal about why and how people value these stones. Because the stuff of sapphires (corundum) can be cheaply synthesized in a laboratory, what is perhaps most distinctive and valuable about natural sapphires is their geological origins, a fact that people in the trade recognize and emphasize in their marketing of the gemstones. Demand for natural sapphires is attributable to more than just effective marketing, however. What the stories I cite in this article may reveal best of all are the irreproducible value-adding qualities that are understood by many to be inherent to natural sapphires. [sapphires, commodities, stories, fetishes, Madagascar]. Copyright © 2010 by the American Anthropological Association.