Antsirabe is one of Madagascar's main centres for the gem trade, and the market reflects this. Street vendors and small shops along the main streets display precious and semi-precious stones — sapphires, tourmalines, garnets, quartz crystals, and stranger minerals — at prices that reward those who know what they are looking at. In some workshops you can watch stones being cut and polished on simple motorised wheels.
The gem trade here operates at all levels: there are street vendors with a handful of rough stones, fixed shops with glass cases and printed price lists, and wholesale dealers who work from back rooms. For casual buyers, the smaller polished stones are legitimate souvenirs; for anyone with gemological knowledge, this market is worth a serious morning. Bargaining is universal and expected.