Gemfields said it plans to acquire Faberge, a 170-year-old jeweller best known for its Easter eggs favoured by Russian czars, for $142 million to help it sell coloured stones.

Gemfields, the largest producer of emeralds, will issue 214 million new shares to fund the purchase, it said yesterday.

The acquisition, if approved by shareholders, will give Gemfields access to the luxury goods market through the Faberge brand and its retail concessions that include Harrods in London.

Gemfields is seeking to boost the popularity of coloured stones like rubies and emeralds and increase production as prices rise. High-quality emerald prices increased more than 10-fold in the past three years, according to calculations based on data from Gemfields and WWW International Diamond Consultants. – Bloomberg