A gemstone or a precious or semi-precious stone is a piece of mineral crystal, which, in its cut and polished form is used to make jewelry or decorative home interior products. However, certain rocks such as lapis lazuli, malachite, opal and jade or organic materials that are not minerals such as Amber and Mother of Pearl, are also used for making jewelry and are considered as gemstones.
Gemstone Handinlay Columns (1100 No.), Sheikh Zayed Mosque, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Physical Properties
The precious and semi-precious stones from Aqua Imperial include the natural Mother of Pearl from the deep seas & oceans, Lapis Lazuli from Afghanistan, Agate from Brazil, and Petrified Wood from South Africa. The company offers more than 50 varieties of precious & semi precious stones sourced from across the world. These are used in home decor products to enhance the interiors.
These are the hardest stones available on earth and, hence, require least maintenance as compared to other natural products, and they can last forever.
Application
Application of the precious stone depends on the vision of the client, the architect, and the interior designer. The stones are ideal for a wide range of applications, such as, drawing room flooring in upscale villas, center table tops, dining table tops, bar counter tops, kitchen-islands, bedside table tops, bathroom counter tops and home accessories like agate coasters, lamps, decorative trays, T-lights, and photo frames. The stones have also been used as backdrops in hotel lobbies, office reception areas, and sitting area of living rooms; for flooring, on pillars and columns.
What inspired Imran Qasim, the man behind the stones business?
While exploring the markets in Pink City, Jaipur, I fell in love with precious stones and used to marvel at their potential application in areas other than jewelry. The Taj Mahal, in all its glory, and the innumerable palaces in Rajasthan were a major inspiration too, for their varied application of semi-precious and precious stones.
Semi-precious and precious stones have a wide range of applications, but most of our clients prefer Petrified wood dining tabletops, back-lit agate bathroom countertops, hand inlaid decorative lamps and multi-color agate coasters etc. We are also retailing them as ready products and we undertake major projects through architects and interior designers.
The stones are pretty expensive as the raw material is rare and their availability is getting rarer. This has had a direct impact on their cost which is increasing year to year with a price range of `3,000 to `25,000 per sq.ft.
About Aqua Imperial
Aqua Imperial, a pioneer in the gemstone slab manufacturing business, was set up in 2002 in Greater Noida with a 13,000 sq.ft. factory. The company has an American subsidiary called KYVET. The production process starts with selection of raw material that is quarried in various places around the globe and is handpicked to achieve the best color, shape and size. The raw material is put through a long process of cutting and setting at the company’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, using specialized epoxy glue that has been especially developed in-house. The slabs are manufactured in 2-3 cm thickness as standard or customized, based on special request. The application process in projects includes design to fabrication and has an average lead-time of 60 to 90 days.
Aqua Imperial has undertaken renowned projects namely, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque of Abu Dhabi UAE, Shangri-la Hotel in Abu Dhabi UAE, Royal Palaces in Saudi Arabia for Princess Mashel Bint Sultan bin Abdulaziz and Princess Madawi .
International clients include Rochdale Spear Ltd. in Vietnam, MJ Design Associate Inc. USA, Agape Tiles LLC, Florida USA, Zgallaries, USA, Marjourie Skouras Designs CA. USA, 2XL Furniture & Home Decor. Dubai, and D&A Trading Company Ltd., Vietnam.
