Alerts

Collection Stolen

To our mineral collecting colleagues: Sixty specimens from Desmond Sacco's world-class collection were stolen from his home in Johannesburg a week ago. Please review the image below in order to keep an eye out for them. Contact us immediately with any information. For more details, see this thread on Mindat.

Stolen. Please click to see larger view of these mineral specimens.

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Shows and Events

Tucson Time: February 3–15, 2015

After the holidays, we’re looking forward to the world’s greatest gem and mineral show in February. One-stop general information about individual shows can be obtained from the Tucson EZ-Guide.

Pala International will be represented in Tucson as follows. We look forward to seeing our many friends there. Visit the Pala International Show Schedule for future events.

AGTA GemFair

Pala joins nearly 100 exhibitors for this trade-only annual extravaganza.

Event: AGTA GemFair
When: February 3–8, 2015
Where: Tucson Convention Center
Pala International Booth: 1016

The event website now features an interactive floorplan allowing you to see who is exhibiting by area of the convention center.

Free seminars by notables in the world of gemstones and pearls are listed.

14th Annual Westward Look Mineral Show

Pala International and two dozen other world-class mineral dealers shack up at a Sonoran Desert resort.

• Collector Day (Sat) features Raquel Alonso-Perez, Curator of the Harvard Mineralogical & Geological Museum, who will present "Over 200 Years of the Harvard Mineral Collection"
• Fine Mineral Collecting and the Second Generation (Sun) features a panel of second generation mineral dealers, including Pala International's Will Larson
• Also on Sunday evening, we're told that Pala International president Bill Larson will receive Mineralogical Record's fourth annual American Mineral Heritage Award; prior recipients are Ed Swoboda, Wayne Thompson and Bryan Lees

Saturday presenter Raquel Alonso-Perez is curator of the oldest university collection in the United States. She recently unveiled the museum's newly refurbished website.

Event: 13th Annual Westward Look Mineral Show
When: February 6–9, 2015
Where: Westward Look Resort
Pala International Suite: 224, Building 20, Upper Level

See Pala International’s page on the Westward Look Show site. See also this dealer map.

61st Annual Tucson Gem and Mineral Show

TGMS is the largest gem and mineral show in the country. This year’s theme is “Minerals of Western Europe.”

Event: 61st Annual Tucson Gem and Mineral Show
When: February 11–15, 2015
Where: Tucson Convention Center
Pala International Booth: 926–929

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Tucson Transit Tips

Many shows will offer their own shuttles. View your transit and parking options here. [back to top]

East by Southwest: Native American Jewelry

As we note in this month's Pala Presents below, turquoise is one of December's several birthstones. So it's only appropriate that travelers to, and denizens of, both coasts will have a chance to feast their eyes on exhibitions of Native American jewelry this holiday season and beyond.

San Francisco: Evolving Traditions

In San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, on display indefinitely at the California Academy of Sciences (CAS), is Evolving Traditions: Southwest Native Pottery and Silver, an exhibition of Southwest Native American artistry. Dozens of examples of turquoise and coral jewelry are featured, as well as ceramic figurines and pottery, such as redware and carved blackware. Cultures represented include Navajo, Hopi and Zuni.

Stamped Beetle Pin with Turquoise. Navajo, ca. 1940–1955, unknown artist (from the bequests of Ruth and Charles Elkus). (Photo: California Academy of Sciences)

While pottery has been crafted by Native Americans in the Southwest for two millennia, jewelry employing silver is relatively recent. Prior to metalworking, turquoise had taken the form of only beads and pendants, as explained by Russ Hartman, Senior Collections Manager of Anthropology at CAS. And it wasn't silver, but rather iron and copper that first were worked, beginning about 1850. Navajo and Zuni artisans eventually crafted in silver, later trading their art and artistry with the Hopi. Only following World War II did the three cultures diverge stylistically, which Hartman goes on to describe. Yet no Native American language has a word for "art," Hartman notes; the visual creativity of the jeweler, potter, clothier is an integral aspect of the finished material.

New York: Glittering World

In New York, the Smithonian's National Museum of the American Indian focuses on the jewelry of a single Navajo family in an exhibition that is up through January 10, 2016. Glittering World: Navajo Jewelry of the Yazzie Family takes the viewer through the work of this award-winning Gallup, New Mexico institution: Lee Yazzie, his younger brother Raymond, their sister Mary Marie, and nine other siblings. "You're never going to be a master in the time that you work on what you make," says Raymond in a streaming video produced for the exhibition. "Because, you know, we all learn something new every day. We teach ourselves something new every day."

According to an Al Jazeera America profile, Lee Yazzie originally had aspirations other than jewelry making: the life of a lowly silversmith was far less appealing than that of a professional accountant. Having to drop out of school for surgery, however, Lee was forced to support himself, so he learned the jeweler's craft from his mother. This was in 1968; it wasn't until twenty years later that he thought of himself as having talent. Lee's eventual ascent from lowly to masterly is reflected in the the exhibition's title, which comes from the Navajo creation story (Diné Bahane'), wherein the People emerged from worlds black, blue and yellow, eventually coming to the white or "glittering world."

Belt Buckle. Lee A. Yazzie, 2000. Lone Mountain turquoise, sterling silver. Length, 2 3/8 in. Collection of Gene and Ann Waddell. (Photo: © Kiyoshi Togashi)

The Yazzies are conversant with traditional designs, demonstrated by Lee Yazzie's intricate belt buckled pictured above. As his brother Raymond told Al Jazeera America, in the early days he could not afford Lone Mountain turquoise, but he always could afford coral.

Bracelet. Raymond C. Yazzie, 2005. Silver inlaid with coral, turquoise, lapis lazuli, 14-karat gold accents. 2 3/8 x 1 in. Collection of Mark and Martha Alexander. (Photo: Michael S. Waddell)

Employment of coral in jewelry designs can be stunning, as in Raymond Yazzie's bold bracelet, above. But it's also sobering, with the realization that coral is endangered, having been placed on a list by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in 1985, as reported in a 1998 article in JCK magazine. (A search on "coral" at California Academy of Sciences returns thousands of hits.)

Blue Corn Bracelet. Lee A. Yazzie, 1980. Bisbee and Royal Web turquoise, lapis lazuli, coral, opal. Length, 3¼ in. Collection of Joe and Cindy Tanner. (Photo: © Kiyoshi Togashi)

Brilliantly bridging the divide between traditional and contemporary is Lee Yazzie's bracelet above, reminiscent of the Fertility Corn fashioned from pearls by New York artist John Hatleberg, which had its roots in Incan "gardens of noble metals."

Blessings Bracelet. Raymond C. Yazzie, 2002–2003. Height, 1½ in. Collection of Daniel Hidding. Windsong Studio, L.L.C. In what might be mistaken for a purely abstract design, at least three katsina (aka kachina) forms can be seen in the view above. At left, look for the yellow and blue eyes. Top center, see the black nose topped with tiny green cab; this is the "maiden," with bezel-set cabs portraying nipples and navel of orange and blue, as well as a multi-colored necklace. Overlapping at bottom center—in profile—see the black eye and red nose. (Photo: Gregory R. Lucier)

The American Museum of Natural History discusses Raymond Yazzie's blessings bracelet, pictured directly above. It is crafted from nearly 500 separate stones. Although Yazzie is Navajo, the bracelet incorporates Hopi imagery: a katsina maiden as well as five katsina masks.

And Denver…

If you're in Denver for the Cartier exhibition, extend your visit to the Denver Art Museum and take in its American Indian and pre-Columbian collections. The latter is a 3,000-piece teaching collection that includes ornaments made from jadeite, gold, turquoise, shell, obsidian, serpentine and more. Nearly the entire holdings are open for permanent viewing—inventively accessible via cruciform display cases that make for efficient use of space. Its "encyclopedic" Costa Rican array of objects is considered the finest in the United States.

Bank Job (Bonnie and Clyde Series #2) by Mateo Romero, Cochiti, 1992. The moll in this painting, from DAM's Native American collection, is accessorized with turquoise bracelet and silver concho belt. Denver Art Museum; Native Arts acquisition fund.

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Pala International News

Pala's Featured Stone: Spinel from Burma

This month we feature a lovely, bright, older fine-colored red spinel from Mogok, Burma with a weight of 7.33 carats. This fine gemstone was purchased in Denver this past September. Pala has since given the stone a nice re-polish. If this spinel looks familiar, it accompanied our Burma Bits column in October; we thought it deserved some more attention.

Ho ho whoa! Natural pink spinel from Mogok, Burma, 7.33 carats, 13.65 x 10.84 x 6.71 mm, Inventory #22156. Photo: Mia Dixon.

The gem is very reasonably priced, as it has natural inclusions. For all of its large size and color it's quite affordable. We believe that once this gem is mounted the inclusions will not disturb the viewer's vision and may add intrigue to the gem's lore.

Interested? Select inventory number above, call (phone numbers below) or email us to inquire. [back to top]

Pala's Gem Spectrum in Chinese Translation

Many moons ago, and well before the genesis of Palagems Reflective Index, Pala's Gabrièl Mattice issued a series of newsletters, The Gem Spectrum, covering a variety of topics of interest to clients and the wider public. We're pleased to offer Chinese translations of the newsletters, courtesy of Yan (Dorina) Shen, a language teacher who studied at Nanjing University.

We continue this month with Dorina's translation of Maw-Sit-Sit, which was issued in English as Gem Spectrum Vol. 3, No. 1 (May 1997).

Tucson, February 1997 was the first time many people had ever seen it. At first glimpse one gets the impression that this opaque, vivid, mossy green, material is somehow related to jade; and although it does indeed form within the jade deposits of Hpakan, Upper Burma, maw-sit-sit is a very different cousin.

It was in 1962 when Dr. Edward Gübelin first noticed the material was being referred to as maw-sit-sit, which was in fact, the mining area from where it originated. Then, as well as today, classification would prove to be quite a challenge due to maw-sit-sit's unique composition. In this issue of the Gem Spectrum, we will attempt to help you understand this most unique gem material.

Does that get the juices flowing?

Maw-Sit-Sit Chinese translation by Yan (Dorina) Shen.

Dorina also did a Chinese translation of Pala International's information on demantoid garnet this past July, and American Gemstones last month. [back to top]

Gems and Gemology News

Pearls Revisited

By Ana Vasiliu

Two and a half years ago, researcher Ana Vasiliu contributed to our pages "White Flames Anonymous: Matching flame patterns on pearls and shells," which we summarized as a study of "pearl-to-host matchmaking," a sort of species-of-origin fingerprinting of natural pearls. Since that time, Vasiliu has continued her work with Biomineralix, an interdisciplinary network studying biogenic mineralization, and its application to natural pearls. The result is "Pearls Revisited."

Nuclear schism. The nucleus of a natural pearl (Pinctada radiata) becomes detached in these photomicrographs. This nucleus also was observed by Ana Vasiliu using a scanning electron microscope in her article's Figure III (C), looking very much like a yuletide pomegranate. (The bottom image, above, was flipped horizontally for use in the title of "Pearls Revisited.")

In this new article, Vasiliu suggests that the photomicrographs she provides could be "the first images of natural pearl nuclei since electron microscopy came about." At the same time she feels it should be "improbable that they had vanished from the ever-increasing mass of academic work on nacre and shell materials." Examining references from the early 20th century through the 2000s, Vasiliu proposes that "today it would be possible—and great fun—to update the detailed plates of H. L. Jameson* and others, with beautiful microscopy showing what is possible in natural pearls."

_______________
* Jameson, Henry Lyster. "Studies on Pearl-Oysters and Pearls.—I. The Structure of the Shell and Pearls of the Ceylon Pearl-Oyster (Margaritifera vulgaris Schumacher): with an Examination of the Cestode Theory of Pearl-Production." Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1912. (archived here)

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Santa provides more than a snorkel for this elf as he dives for pearls.

Rubies: M&M's

Last month, GIA shone the spotlight on a ruby (and sapphire) locality in Malawi that began production in 1958, making it one of Africa's oldest. Yet almost nothing has been published about gemstone production in the area, called Chimwadzulu Hill, which lies 145 kilometers south of the nation's capital Lilongwe. In an effort to bring more information to light, in late September GIA Field Gemologist Vincent Pardieu, videographer Didier Gruel and expedition guest Stanislas Detroyat traveled to Chimwadzulu to collect research samples as well as document their findings. The results will be published in an upcoming edition of Gems & Gemology; field reports and video documentaries also will be posted. For now, readers can have a glimpse via "Unearthing Ruby and Sapphire in Malawi."

Rubies from Chimwadzulu resemble those mined in Montepuez, Mozambique. The two localities are hundreds of kilometers apart. (Photo: Vincent Pardieu; © GIA)

If rubies from Malawi might have been overlooked, such stones from Mozambique appear to be getting their due. A Hong Kong auction conducted by Tiancheng International on December 7 featured a pair of ruby and diamond pendant earrings whose main stones had a total carat weight of 14.18. SSEF, GRS and Lotus Gemology issued reports on the earrings, with Lotus giving them its proprietary "Royal Red" distinction, stating that each ruby would have been quite impressive on its own, but the fact that the stones are so well matched color-wise only adds to the value. The lot fetched $1.7 million—not bad—but well within the savvy pre-sale estimate.

In September, GIA researchers Vincent Pardieu, Tao Hsu and Andrew Lucas visited the Montepuez, Mozambique ruby deposit—Pardieu's third visit since 2009—with Pardieu remarking that the deposit was "uniquely situated to succeed," according to a detailed report titled "Mozambique: A Ruby Discovery for the 21st Century. [back to top]

Ruby and sapphire from Santa's workshop (and forge).

Industry News

Natural Black Opal from Ethiopia

Gubelin Gem Lab (GGL) announced in its December 5 e-newsletter that new black opal from Ethiopia had come through its doors. As we noted three years ago, much black opal has been treated, by a smoking process, to achieve its alluring appearance. In fact, the stones received by GGL were candidates for suspicion, but the lab's staff received an invitation to visit the source, which they accepted, obtaining samples that proved the material to be natural.

Without revealing the location, the newsletter stated that "it lies in the vicinity of the white opal deposit and its geological setting correlates with the same layer within the stratigraphic sequence." Being a siginficant deposit, this Ethiopian black opal is expected to challenge the Australian market.

GGL's chief gemologist, Dr. Lore Kiefert, was scheduled to give an oral presentation on this material last week at the 4th International Gem and Jewelry Conference in Bangkok.

No smoking. An array of Ethiopian white opals, Pala International's featured stones for March 2012. (Photo: Mia Dixon)

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Biz Bits

No one told this elf diamonds aren't a girl's best friend.

Yahoo! Travel editor-in-chief Paula Froelich recently visited the jade market in Mandalay from her home town of New York where, she writes, every street corner has thousands of jade bracelets going for about $5. It came as some surprise to try on a $300,000 bracelet and see fingernail-sized stones going for five grand. While it's essentially a fluff piece ("Forget Diamonds—in the Far East, Imperial Jade is a Girl's Best Friend") the article does contain a fun rags-to-riches story (if true), told by her guide Aul: To support herself a poor girl from Mandalay had to take a job as nanny for a Chinese jade mine owner up north. One day, boys threw rocks at the family's dog, and the girl picked up one of the rocks, saving it, not thinking about it until she returned to Mandalay six months later. "The girl is now a millionaire," Aul told Froelich.

(Photo: Sotheby's news release)

If Froelich needed further proof of jade's charm, she could have perused the pages of last month's Fine Jewels & Jadeite sale in Hong Kong by Sotheby's. On offer were a $700,00–$800,000 jadeite bangle, not sold, and the disc pendant pictured at right, which was—for nearly $284,000, far surpassing the pre-sale estimate that topped out at $193K. The description of the pendant is worth reprinting here:

This circular jadeite disc of extremely fine quality is carved as a simplistic circle with a hole in the centre, free from intricate carvings, symbolising the modest wish for a sense of peace. It is believed that this form bears similarity to the ancient ritual object bi, granting its wearer blessings from heaven. The outer and inner circles are also the perfect representation of completeness and wholeness, ideals of supreme importance in Chinese tradition.

On December 3, Forbes looked at the colored gemstone market in general, illustrating itself with a crowd of corundum in a host of hues, pink, blues, red, yellow and orange, all of which were set for online sale by Auctionata last Tuesday, but none of which appears to have sold. The shopping and buying advice given in the article actually might have cautioned as many readers as might have browsed—and otherwise bought—at the auction site. The article insightfully compares the "narrow margins" of the diamond trade with colored stones' "Wild West" market, and an interesting statistic is dropped along the way: 98% of today's colored gemstones have been heated. [back to top]

Burma Bits

Al Jazeera and NY Times: Bah, humbug…

Dapper duo. Know of a Santa in need of cuff-links? This pair of natural orangy-red spinels from Burma might be just the ticket. Inventory #22276. (Photo: Mia Dixon)

Burma received two lumps of coal within two days early this month. On December 2, the New York Times delivered the happy headline, "Searching for Burmese Jade, and Finding Misery," accompanied by a just-as-jolly video feature, "Jade's Journey Marked by Drugs and Death." Even the aforementioned Paula Froelich, after all her kid-in-a-candyshop enthusiasm, felt compelled to add a postscript, citing the Times article:

I should note—as with most industries that involve mining—the actual mining of jade is a dirty, dangerous business. Made especially so by the abundance of opium in the area. This article is not about that. It is about the actual jade market.

Not to be outdone in the cheer department, Al Jazeera the next day delivered "Myanmar's Jade Curse" with the subtle subtitle "China's jade obsession drives a multi-billion dollar black market that fuels a drug-infested jade mining industry." And last month, the day after we pointed to a Kachin News Group story of the death and possible murder of a man killed "on the job," The Irrawaddy characterized the deceased as a jade picker. Well, yes, sifting through mining rubble could be considered the dead man's "job." On December 7, Democratic Voice of Burma's Roadshow visited Mogok, with ruby workers interviewed. One woman, from the hills, remembers fleeing from fighting with only a bag of clothes, the only shelter for years was beneath a villager's house. This was 15 years ago, and more recently things have gotten better.

Fighting in jadeland resumed just after our last newsletter, with Burma army soldiers killing 20-some rebel cadets, as reported by The Irrawaddy November 19, scrapping the monthly peace talk in Myitkyina. (Photos of the cadets coffins spread on Facebook.) Eleven Media Group reported on other incidents. And for the history lover on your gift list, The Irrawaddy has provided a helpful chronology of Kachin conflict. God rest you merry, gentlemen…

Regal wrecks. Although they only were worn three times a year, the royal costumes of Burma's last monarch, King Thibaw, and his spouse Queen Supayalat—"aflame with rubies," "patches of mildew"—are in desperate need of conservation, according to Myanmar Times. While temporary measures have been taken, efforts are underway to obtain the services of a conservator.

Bite-Sized Bits

• Eleven Media Group: A more festive view of life in the rubyland of Burma's Shan State
• The Irrawaddy: Shan State's Muse Central Economic Zone project makes progress
• Myanmar Times: A chat with U Yone Mu who took over as rotating chair of the Myanmar Gems and Jewellery Enterprise Association from U Tay Za
• Myanmar Times: After renovation, the Myanmar Gems and Jewellery Entrepreneurs Association has re-opened its gem shops in Yangon's Myanmar Gems Emporium Hall, with a gem lab to follow
• The Irrawaddy: More resistance by Mandalay gem merchants against gem market move to city outskirts
• EMG: On the one hand, $140,000 of contraband seized, including "jade" bracelets worth… brace yourselves… $1.25 thousand
• EMG: On the other hand, authorities have nabbed more than $3.5 million in smuggled gems and jade since mobile inspection teams were deployed in 2012—but—"Statistics show the rate of contraband increased in 2014"

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Books

Understanding Rough Gemstones

By Shyamala Fernandes and Gagan Choudhary

We've been asked to call to your attention to a book that should be getting some, since it fills an interesting gap. Until the publication of Understanding Rough Gemstones, by Shyamala Fernandes and Gagan Choudhary, no book covered the subject of its title, according to gemologist and author Richard W. Hughes, in his favorable review.

While we've not seen the book, we can lay out the contents, which appear to be quite comprehensive.

1. Evaluating, Buying and Assorting Rough Gemstones
2. Geographical Locations of Gemstones
3. Gemstone Species
4. Gemstone Simulants
5. Core Principles for Understanding Gemstone Rough
   a. Crystallographic Features
   b. Physical and Optical Properties
6. Synthesis and Enhancement
   a. Man-Made Gem Materials
   b. Enhanced and Treated Gem Materials
7. Ready Reference Tabulations
   a. Classification – Group/Species/Variety
   b. Classification – Composition
   c. Cleavage
   d. Specific Gravity
   e. Hardness
   f. Crystal Systems
   g. Refractive Index
   h. Inclusions in Some Specific Gemstones
   i. Instrumentation
   j. Terminology in Hindi
8. Reality Matters [anecdotes from the rough gemstone trade]
9. Bibliography
10. Index

In other reviews of the book, Dr. Michael Krzemnicki, director of Swiss Gemmological Institute SSEF, states that Understanding Rough Gemstones would be useful for people who are visiting mines, where they'll be exposed to rough material. Author and gemologist Antoinette Matlins feels that the book gives the reader insight into all the steps involved in mine-to-market.

The book is very reasonably priced and is available hardbound or softbound. For ordering information see the book website. [back to top]

Pala Presents

With Pala Presents, we offer selections from the collection of Pala International’s Bill Larson, who will share with us some of the wealth of information in the realm of gems and gemology. And, as with this edition, gemstone-related collectibles.

Birthstone Collecting Cards: December

This month, we offer turquoise as the last in our series of twelve birthstone collecting cards.

Two other collecting card for December are available here.

But Santa stuffed our stocking with a half-dozen more. And his elves are making cameo appearances.

• May – Emerald, a German-Language card
• June – Pearl, a German-language card
• July – Ruby, a German-language card
• September – Sapphire, a German-language card
• October – Opal and the flower Cosmos, not usually associated with this month (or any other)
• November – Topaz, a German-language card

Elf or leprechaun? This emerald turns everything green with envy.

For more information on birthstones, see Palagems.com. [back to top]

— End December Newsletter • Published 12/15/14 —

Shows and Events

Illuminating Atoms: A Fleeting Glance

Readers may have noticed in our publicity of this year's Munich Show that we included a link to the International Year of Crystallography:

In conjunction with iycr2014, an exhibit of photomicrographs by Max Alexander is currently on display at London's Royal Albert Hall—but only through November 29. From the exhibition publicity:

To celebrate the International Year of Crystallography, Illuminating Atoms presents a selection of photographs by Max Alexander portraying the inspirational work of crystallographers. Through portrait and documentary photography, Max shows us the life of scientists at the cutting edge of discovery, including some of the world class facilities they use.

For those who cannot attend the exhibit, the Daily Mail last Monday issued an overview of Alexander's work in the area of X-ray crystallography. As Alexander told the MailOnline, art and science overlap in the discipline of crystallography. Thus gemstone and mineral enthusiasts are the beneficiaries of eye-catching efforts by Alexander and others who are promoting the discipline this year. [back to top]

Hard Table: Louvre Seeks Zellenmosaic Masterpiece

It may come as a surprise to readers that, for more than a decade, the most visited museum in the world has had to foot the bill for many of its expenses. Since 2003, "the Louvre and other state museums have been required to raise money for renovations and other special projects," according to a 2006 Los Angeles Times profile of the landmark. This was reflected in a recent visit to the museum's website, which is calling upon the public to fund just such a "special project" of interest to gemstone and mineral enthusiasts: the acquisition of a sort of periodic table—in the form of a four-legged, oval-shaped table.

About a quarter of the required million euros has been raised for the purchase of The Teschen Table, considered the masterpiece of the court of Saxony's principal jeweler, Johann Christian Neuber (1736–1808). At the end of his career, Neuber was curator of the royal collections in Dresden's Green Vault (Grüne Gewölbe). That treasure chamber, largely destroyed during World War II, has been restored, and a new addition (Neues Grünes Gewölbe) contains a room dedicated to Neuber's work, the Neuber Raum (according to Wikipedia).

Teschen Table. View of the tabletop. It has a width of 70.5 cm and a height of 81.5 cm. See the campaign website for detailed views. (Photo: © Philippe Fuzeau/Musée du Louvre)

The artist (and scientist) Neuber developed a technique known as Zellenmosaic, or cells-mosaic, which he first employed in snuffboxes that featured numbered hardstones from Saxony, accompanied by explanatory booklets. (The Louvre has twelve of these Steinkabinett Tabatieren on display.) The Teschen Table is the technique writ large, with the top, apron and legs inset and adorned by 128 numbered samples of semiprecious stones of the region as well faceted stones and false pearls. It is crafted in three-color gilt bronze on a wooden core. The table was a gift to Louis XVI's ambassador to Vienna, Louis-Auguste Le Tonnelier, Baron de Breteuil, following some dicey negotiations that kept France out of the War of Bavarian Succession in the late 1770s. Commemorating the peace accord, which was signed in Teschen (then in Austrian Silesia; now divided between Poland the Czech Republic), are five Saxony porcelain medallions, painted in grisaille by Johann Eleazar Zeissig (aka Schenau).

While the War is characterized by Wikipedia as a remarkable "war-without-battles," the deployment of troops took its toll, with deaths from raids, starvation and disease estimated in the tens of thousands amongst soldiers and civilians. (There may be a connection here to one of the War's popular names, Kartoffelkrieg [Potato War], since it took place during the potato harvest.) For historians, the War is considered a watershed, foreshadowing warfare to come, in terms of the huge numbers of soldiers conscripted, trained and equipped; the attendant military spending; and what would be an outmoded style of engagement, "in which armies maneuvered sedately at a distance while diplomats hustled between capitals to resolve their Majesties' differences." Reading the fascinating story of this largely forgotten, relatively minor conflict—yet involving powers like France and Russia—we are reminded of 20th and 21st century clashes, large and small.

Hard cell. The Teschen Table and its booklet, which identifies the 128 "cells" on its surface. (Photo: © Philippe Fuzeau/Musée du Louvre) A translation of the booklet's cover page:    Identification of 128 pieces of precious stones and petrified wood, found in the country of his Highness […] the Elector of Saxony, composed in the form of a cabinet on a small table, and rows in the order of numbers. By Johann Christian Neuber, Dresden, 1780.

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Pala International News

Pala's Featured Stone: Plus-sized Tanzanite

In this month's newsletter the featured stone is an impressively large tanzanite. This stone is a beautiful display of tanzanite's excellence. While its deep blue color pulls the spectator in, the stone's luster springs out. Tanzanite is a trichroic stone that displays blue, purple and red colors before faceting. Although the stone is hard enough for setting in jewelry it has but one direction of cleavage, but this has not stopped tanzanite from making its way to the forefront of jewelry display cases.

Blue Christmas? Oval cut tanzanite, 45.10 carats, 22.57 x 18.69 x 15.44 mm, heated. Inventory #362. This stone was custom-cut by Bernd Cullman, Idar-Oberstein, Germany. (Photo: Mia Dixon)

Relative to their beauty, tanzanites actually are priced lower than consumers might believe them to be. At the moment, in the trade, tanzanite has been flying under the radar due to a rather large supply. This could help you stock up a nice reserve, as tanzanite will surely rise again with mining proving to be more difficult as TanzaniteOne, the major industrial operator, reaches new depths. As many other historical stone supplies have proved, the price will only climb as the mining plunges. While this may pose a problem for dealers it could be a blessing for the average collector.

Particolored. Tanzanite crystal, 385.75 ct, 7.0 x 2.5 cm, from Merelani Hills, Arusha, Tanzania. Price available upon request. (Photo: Mia Dixon)

Mineral specimens have been preserved to a greater extent since tanzanite prices have remained stagnant, allowing for more gem-clean crystals to survive the cutter's wheel. Dealers have reported that more and more "fancy" colored tanzanites are being found: pinks, yellows, and bi-colors of blue-pink.

Interested? Select inventory number above, call (phone numbers below) or email us to inquire. [back to top]

Pala's Gem Spectrum in Chinese Translation

Many moons ago, and well before the genesis of Palagems Reflective Index, Pala's Gabrièl Mattice issued a series of newsletters, The Gem Spectrum, covering a variety of topics of interest to clients and the wider public. We're pleased to begin offering Chinese translations of the newsletters, courtesy of Yan (Dorina) Shen, a language teacher who studied at Nanjing University.

We start stateside, however, with Dorina's translation of American Gemstones, which was issued in English as Gem Spectrum Vol. 2, No. 1 (Jan. 1996). A list of American gemstone deposits by state is introduced thus:

The letter above [dated 01 Jan 1898] is only one of a beautifully compiled collection of correspondence from a book titled Letters to George F. Kunz by Lawrence Conklin. Like the music of the great composers, poignant notes and comments can posthumously capture one’s complete attention and transport the imagination to another place and time. Whether receiving or sending these letters, such respect and kinship was conveyed that one is impressed and humbled by the unpretentious knowledge freely shared by Dr. Kunz and his peers…

This is followed by a brief overview of current (1996) important American deposits in alphabetical order.

American Gemstones Chinese translation by Yan (Dorina) Shen.

Dorina also did a Chinese translation of Pala International's information on demantoid garnet this past July. [back to top]

Gems and Gemology News

Jewels in the Lotus

Last month, we were still so given pause by the pageantry of the Larson–Nakamura nuptials that we overlooked some items that might have found their way into our occasional Research Roundup review. They come to us by way of the newly formed Lotus Gemology, the Bangkok-based laboratory devoted to ruby and sapphire.

These are reports and articles of interest to gemologists as well as others wishing to dig a little deeper. While we often have pointed to Lotus proprietor Richard W. Hughes's reports on his Ruby-Sapphire.com website, these appear to be new offerings.

• Instrument Review – Presidium Synthetic Ruby Identifier: E. Billie Hughes reviews a tool that might be useful, but in a limited application
• A Geologist Speculates by John M. Saul: The subtitle of this book is On Gemstones, Origins of Gas and Oil, Moonlike Impact Scars on the Earth, the Emergence of Animals and Cancer. Richard Hughes reviews the book: "I have read hundreds of books on gemstones, but I cannot say I’ve read anything quite as remarkable as this."
• Mogok Geology Primer – Rock Talk: Wilawan Atichat, former Director of the Gem and Jewelry Institute of Thailand, and Richard Hughes look at the big picture surrounding this classic locality

Best known for ruby, Mogok also produces exquisite spinels. Some of these octahedral crystals are so perfect that they are termed nat-twe (angel polished). The photo shows a completely natural spinel crystal mounted in a ring, along with a natural spinel octahedron in the marble mother rock. From Mogok Geology Primer. (Specimens courtesy of Dr. Saw Naung U family; Photo: Wimon Manorotkul/Lotus Gemology)

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Industry News

Short Cuts

Sri Lanka Enjoys Growth

Be sure to see these items also: ICA Congress registration now online and GIA's series, Sri Lanka: From Mine to Market

Sri Lanka's gemstone export value was up 69% in the first half of 2014 compared with the same period last year, according to the Sri Lanka Gem & Jewellery Association. Here are some of the statistics:

• Blue sapphires in carats were up 12% for a total of 396,971 carats; value was up 35%
• Yellow sapphires in carats were up 18%; value was up 83%
• Violet sapphires in carats were up 18%; value rose 203%
• Padparadscha sapphires were down 21% in carats; value was up 21%
• Gemstone exports to the U.S. were down 46%, 199,377 carats (from 372,688 last year); value rose 42%
• Exports to Thailand in carats were up 56%; value rose 12%
• Exports to China in carats were up 37%
• Exports to Switzerland in carats were up 139%; value was up 321%

CIBJO Turns from Supply-Chain to Climate Change

Lord Deben (right), chair of the UK-based ethical trade consultancy Sancroft, standing together with Gaetano Cavalieri, CIBJO President, and Vivien Johnston, Corporate Social Responsibility Manager of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain and chair of the Jewellery Ethics Committee of the UK.

"For many years, our view of Corporate Social Responsibility was almost entirely focused on protecting the integrity of the chain of distribution," CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri stated this month after meeting with a key British sustainability figure. "This is critically important, of course, but as members of a greater society we have other obligations as well, and that includes providing a healthy and sustainable environment for future generations." Cavalieri met in London with Lord Deben, chair of the ethical trade consultancy Sancroft. The meeting continues the discussion of a subject that was taken up at CIBJO's congress this past May. Prior to that conclave, CIBJO measured its carbon footprint in order to measure progress.

Amber Adjustment

Our readers likely are aware of efforts in the colored gemstone industry to provide guidance to jewelers and gemologists—like the CIBJO reference guides and LMHC nomenclature standardization—but the same goes for amber. Since 1999, the Board of the International Amber Association has concerned itself with classification of Baltic amber. The most recent revisions to this codification came on September 5. Interested readers can find the changes here along with the classification here.

Baltic amber samples are available for purchase from the International Amber Association in the following languages: English, German, French, Japanese, Chinese, Polish and Russian. The definitions are based on the CIBJO Blue Book. For information on the samples, contact the IAA.

Record-setting Ruby and Sapphire Sales

One day after the record-setting sale of a remarkable timepiece, Sotheby's set a few more records in the realm of colored gemstones. One November 12, the "Graff Ruby," an 8.62-carat Burmese ruby, fetched $8.6 million, a record world auction price for a ruby as well as a per-carat record-setter for ruby ($997,727). The ruby returns to its namesake, Laurence Graff, who said after the sale, "It was a natural thing to do. Graff deals in the finest gemstones in the world and this is the finest ruby in the world. We are very proud to have it in our possession for the second time." The ruby was offered from the collection of Dmitri Mavrommatis. Also offered by the collector was a second record-breaker, a 27.54-carat step-cut Kashmir sapphire. An unnamed Asian buyer obtained the sapphire for nearly $6 million, a world record for a Kashmir sapphire, or $217,000 per carat, another record, as announced by Sotheby's.

David Bennett, Chairman of Sotheby's Switzerland and of the Jewellery Department for Europe and the Middle East, wields the gavel for the Graff Ruby. (Photo: Sotheby's news release)

For sapphire, however, another Geneva sale stole the show the day before. Christie's sold a huge, 392.52-carat Sri Lankan sapphire, the "Blue Belle of Asia," to a private collector in the room for about $17.3 million. It is a new world auction record for any sapphire.

Want to keep tabs on these world records? Lotus Gemology lists them for ruby, sapphire and spinel. [back to top]

Wisdom of Pearls

Margaritologia: A New Pearl Newsletter by Elisabeth Strack

Elisabeth Strack, author of Pearls, has issued the first edition of Margaritologia, a newsletter devoted to all aspects of natural and cultured pearls, "from natural science to history and new developments, pearl farming, pearl grading, testing procedures, price information and market situations," according to a news release. The author's aim is to "create a forum for sharing her observations with a worldwide circle of pearl enthusiasts."

The first edition of the quarterly publication, with a focus on cultured pearls from Vietnam, covers:

• Pearl topics at the International Gemmogical Conference in Hanoi, October 2013
• DNA Fingerprinting of Pearls for origin determination
• Spondylus Pearls
• A Mikimoto '3.5 Momme' graduate necklace
• Exhibition at the Schwerin Museum in 2013

Subscription information is available here.

Pearl Sustainability

"[W]hile the term 'sustainable mining' is actually an oxymoron, meaning two words with essentially opposite meanings—like 'open secret' or 'seriously funny'—'sustainable aquiculture' most definitely is not." So said CIBJO president Gaetano Cavalieri during an address before the Sustainable Pearl Forum in Hong Kong on June 21. Taking his lead from the 2005 World Summit on Social Development, Cavalieri expounded on economic sustainability, environmental sustainability, and stakeholder or community sustainability.

Efforts regarding pearl sustainability are being spearheaded by Sustainable Pearls, which organized the Sustainable Pearl Forum (see presentations and videos here) as well as the Pearl Forum in Munich (see videos here). The organization's website has an array of information available, from a history of pearls and pearl types to sustainability principles and case studies to research publications and videos.

"Where there are pearl oysters in their cages, there's lots of things growing on those cages and the pearl oysters themselves," providing sustenance for other species, says Dr. Kent E. Carpenter of Old Dominion University, who conducts "roving censuses" of associated underwater life in this streaming video.

The Pearl Fishers of Arabia

BBC is giving readers, viewers and listeners "tales from Britain's rule in India and beyond," such as a look at pearl harvesting in the Persian Gulf, in the first half of the 20th century, prior to the discovery of oil.

• An account by Australian explorer Alan Villiers of the "last gasp" of the pearl-diving industry, accompanied by his photographs
• Documents such as a vocabulary of diving terms, to wit: Azal. A diver who goes out in some Nakhuda's [Boat Captain] boat, but dives independently, keeping his own catch, paying the Nakhuda one fifth of his profits and paying his own keep…
• Performances of sea shanties lovingly sustained by members of the old pearling families

A 05 Jun 1929 letter to the British Political Resident in the Persian Gulf. Just one document from a massive digitization effort by the Qatar National Library in partnership with the British Library.

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Luxury Look

As we were preparing this month's newsletter, a gaggle of goodies flew by the editor's desk…

Swell Phones and Serpentine Lines

Last month, JCK gave its readers a look at five "over-the-top bejeweled phones" of the cell variety, beginning with a line of eleven Android smart phones announced by Geneva-based jeweler, Savelli.

"It's a precious jewel… but I don't wear it," reads Savelli's marketing tag line, taken from the lips of an au courant fashionista. But the jewel's 21st-century design has 18th-century roots, having been inspired by the (conveniently) S-shaped "Line of Grace." Also known as the Line of Beauty, it was discussed in The Analysis of Beauty (1753) by English polymath William Hogarth, perhaps best known for his pictorial social satires. "The eye hath this sort of enjoyment in winding walks, and serpentine rivers, and all sorts of objects, whose forms, as we shall see hereafter, are composed principally of what, I call, the waving and serpentine lines," wrote Hogarth in Chapter V, Of Intricacy. He liked the line so much, it appears on the book's title page, pictured above.

The eye certainly finds much to enjoy as it wanders the undulations of the Savelli smart phone collection. JCK illustrates this nicely with the jeweler's Merveilleuse Diamond Night case, encrusted with 305 white diamonds (3.99 tcw) in its oscillating frame of 18-carat rose gold, before turning to four phone creations of yesteryear.

Bling thing. While it features more than twice the number of diamonds and five times the total carat weight, this Nokia Arte Pink from 2008, can't match the simple elegance of Savelli's new releases, which are inspired by lines that "lead the eye on a wanton kind of chase" (Hogarth).

Supercomplicated

Glass Slipper

In September, we noted the speculation regarding the (non)employment of synthetic sapphire in the display panels of the latest batch of iPhones. Turns out that GT Advanced Technologies, which ran a synthetic sapphire manufacturing operation for Apple, was unable to meet production goals. Apple, in turn withheld some cash, and GT filed for bankruptcy. To repay debt, GT was selling 2,000+ "Advanced Sapphire Furnaces" on the open market. For more, drill down beginning with this October 23 story by AppleInsider.

Synthetic sapphire is used in Apple products' Touch ID sensor and iSight camera lens, but the source is unknown. According to Apple, the material will be used in most Apple Watch models to be released next year. As with past devices, the responsiveness of the watch surface will be sensitive enough to distinguish between "a tap and a press."

25-bit Technology

It may not have the functionality of Apple Watch, but last week the public's imagination was captured by The Supercomplication, an old-school analog timepiece made by Swiss watchmaker Patek Philippe in 1932. Following its sale last week by Sotheby's, appropriately in Geneva, Daryn Schnipper, Chairman of Sotheby's Watch Division, and Tim Bourne, Sotheby's Worldwide Head of Watches, said jointly,

This stellar result confirms the "rockstar" status of The Henry Graves Supercomplication. It is more than a watch. It is a masterpiece which transcends the boundaries of horology and has earned its place among the world's greatest works of art. The fascination it has attracted over the past few months, as Patek Philippe celebrates its 175th anniversary, is a fitting tribute to the genius of the Swiss manufacturer.

The Supercomplication was commissioned by New York banker Henry Graves in 1925. In addition to collecting watches, Graves accumulated artwork impressive enough to warrant its own sale in 1936 by a Sotheby's predecessor, titled "Masterpieces of Engraving and Etching: The Collection of Henry Graves, Jr.," at which was sold Albrecht Dürer's famous Adam and Eve.

Do I hear 25 complication—er—million? Tim Bourne auctioneering the Henry Graves Supercomplication on November 11. (Photo: Sotheby's news release)

The Supercomplication was the result of a competition between Graves and car manufacturer James Ward Packard, who both used Patek Philippe to outdo the other in terms of horological "complications"—features added to the workaday timekeeping function of a timepiece. Graves's commission, which took seven years to complete, resulted in The Supercomplication with its 25 complications—a number unsurpassed for 56 years. In 1989, on the occasion of the watchmaker's 150th anniversary, the firm issued the Calibre 89, with 33 complications. For more on the history and details of this historic timepiece, see the lot description at Sothebys.com.

No Smoking Gun

Henry Graves was introduced to Patek Philippe by his family jeweler, Tiffany & Co., which produced its own horologes, as covered by John Loring in his 2004 monograph Tiffany Timepieces (Abrams). But Tiffany also crafted other, sometimes overlooked, luxury items: firearms. Last week, CNN Style profiled the arms, which were produced beginning in the 1850s, peaking during the Civil War, then dropped off in the 1910s. (CNN states it was a 1911 New York gun control law that halted production; Nevada Museum of Art states they were produced until about the end of World War I.) Tiffany began crafting them again in about 1982, for about ten years. These weapons would have been considered to be ornamental rather than utilitarian.

Get a grip. Smith and Wesson New Model No. 3, .44 Caliber Double-Action Navy Revolver, serial no. 23060, ca. 1891–92, steel, silver, turquoise, lapis lazuli. Purchase, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Gift, 2013. (Photo courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art)

When Pala International's Bill Larson came across the CNN story, he was reminded of Tiffany pistols in his own collection, but of a different sort. He first saw them in the 1980s with his friend Sy Ellenhorn, a New York gem dealer and owner of CF Firearms—a most interesting business combination. Sy loved colored gemstones, especially spinels, and CF was famous for renting weapons to Broadway theaters and movies shot in the New York area. When Sy retired he sold CF Firearms and Bill Larson asked him to see if the new owners would part with these two Tiffany pistols, since they were not for sale when Sy owned them. A deal was made and the two pieces shipped to Fallbrook.

Pistol with provenance. The engraving reads, "Property of Tiffany & Co. No. 6." (Photo: Mia Dixon)

These revolvers were actually used for security at Tiffany & Co. in the early 1900s, probably when George F. Kunz was a vice President. They appear to not have been fired. The "diamond office" weapon is in mint condition. When the American Museum's "Diamonds" exhibit (curated by Dr. George Harlow) traveled to the San Diego Natural History Museum in the 1990s, these two pistols were featured as part of special local additions to the exhibit. They remain in Bill Larson's collection today as favorites of Will and Carl Larson.

Diamond defender. The engraving reads, "Property of Tiffany & Co. Diamond Office." (Photo: Mia Dixon)

Projecting an Image

If the first pistol pictured above might be considered to be a virtual weapon, by virtue of the fact that it would never be fired, we now turn our attention to virtual jewelry, which is not traditionally worn because it doesn't really exist. Neclumi (as in neck illumination) is a line of light-based necklaces that interact with the wearer, as conceived and executed by panGenerator, an interdisciplinary group from Warsaw, Poland. Neclumi uses an iPhone app interfaced with a picoprojector that casts its lightform on the wearer's neck. Static images don't do the interactivity justice; see for yourself in the streaming video below. For more information on the technology, see JCK.

Airo is one of four options when wearing Neclumi. As you move through your space, the parallel strands of the necklace are stretched based on your acceleration. Other options react to body rotation, body movement, and sound. See them all in this brief steaming video.

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Burma Bits

Locals-Only Jade Sales Set Records

Pinky ring? This natural, 4.06-carat cushion-cut spinel from Burma is attractively priced. Inventory #19633. (Photo: Mia Dixon)

Statistics for two jade sales limited to local traders in Burma were reported on October 21 by The Irrawaddy. We seem to have missed such a sale in January, which brought in 70 billion kyat (about $70 million as of Jan. 31). The article states that this was a record high (presumably for a locals-only jade sale).

A sale that ran from October 14–20 set a new record, with 126 billion kyat in jade sold, or about $126 million. Such sales to local traders began in 2011, but ceased last year due to fighting in Kachin State, which also halted legal jade production. Jade in the October sale came almost entirely from Kachin's Hpakant, which resumed jade mining, according to The Myanmar Times yesterday. The most expensive jade lot in the recent sale was valued at 50 million kyat, or about $50,000.

The kyat-only sales allow the local currency to flow into the market, according to Min Thu, the assistant director of the Myanmar Gems Enterprise sales committee. The hope also is that locals will export value-added product rather than raw jade, again benefiting the local economy. The challenges to this economy were explored by The Myanmar Times yesterday in an article titled, "Chinese Stampede Upsets Markets." The volatility of the jade market is discussed in an October 21 article, "Good Fortune is 50/50 Luck and Vision."

Meanwhile, Burma's first finished and cut-gem market, on the grounds of Yangon's Myanma Gems Museum, was scheduled to open earlier this month, as reported by Eleven Media Group late last month. Originally scheduled for an October opening, the jade sale is said to be the cause of the delay. The market will include a gem lab, and plans are afoot to open similar markets in Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw.

Also in play is the revision of a gem industry oversight law, first enacted in 1995. According to a November 7 story by Mizzima News, Burma lawmakers are trying to balance government control with gemstone industry and labor interests.

Mizzima News included an under-construction image of the Muse jade market on October 24.

Jade Jottings

Resumed jade mining in Hpakant, mentioned above, comes after clashes in Shan State between ethnic-backed Federal Union Army (FUA) troops and Burma armed forces, beginning on October 15, as reported by Kachin News Group (KNG). A few days later, the Karen National Union, Burma's oldest armed ethnic group, pulled out of the United Nationalities Federal Council, which commands the FUA, per an October 30 story by KNG. The ticklish peace process is discussed in an October 21 opinion piece in the Shan Herald, followed up by an October 28 editorial that noted the visit to Kachin of the U.S. Ambassador to Burma, Derek Mitchell. (The Irrawaddy covered the visit on October 27.) President Obama played it relatively safe, visiting Burma because of two regional summits being held in Nay Pyi Taw. The Irrawaddy opined that Obama's Burma visit would not be consequential because U.S. sanctions essentially prohibit American business engagement with the country, which might impress Burma's leaders far more than calling for a free election in 2015.

Prior to yesterday's report of resumed jade mining in Hpakant was a November 3 story by Eleven Media Group (EMG) stating that the jade market there "has ground to a halt." Fighting in the past had not affected the market, but current woes may be due to a drop in Chinese business and a crackdown on cross-border smuggling. Small-scale miners have dropped from 70 to 10. Regarding the smuggling crackdown, EMG reported on October 22 that more than half of the contraband seized at or near the border gates have consisted of timber, jade or gems. Jade and gems seized in fiscal year 2011–12 amounted to nearly $2 million. Fiscal year 2012–13 netted only about $160,000 worth, while this past year saw $1.7 million confiscated. A detailed report about the Muse customs zone was published by The Myanmar Times on November 10. Muse will have its jade market in as little as six months, according to Mizzima News on October 24.

Bite-Sized Bits

• Kachin News Group: Hpakant jade company offers compensation for the death—murder?—of a worker
• Kachin News Group: We've mentioned the collection of taxes on jade mining in ethnic areas before, but now a KIO accountant who was doing the collection has been arrested
• Mizzima News: "The Game" – An opinion piece on the effect on trade of the war economy in Burma
• Mizzima News: How donations are spent at Shwedagon Pagoda (Nov 6), and the "Valley of Fancy" across from that landmark's west entrance, with its purveyors of gemstones and jade (Oct 19)
• Myanmar Times: Famous "Stilwell Road" to get upgrade with jade company help

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Pala Presents

With Pala Presents, we offer selections from the collection of Pala International’s Bill Larson, who will share with us some of the wealth of information in the realm of gems and gemology. And, as with this edition, gemstone-related collectibles.

Birthstone Collecting Cards: November

The words from one of this month's birthstone cards, featuring fiery topaz, ring true, at least to your editor in Denver. No sooner did we lose an hour—"No sun, no light"—than we went from spring-like weather—near the 76°F record on Sunday the 9th—to setting four record lows in a row, Monday through Thursday—"no warmth, November!"

Topaz, when it is brilliant yellow, as mentioned in the the verse below, can be quite stunning, as shown in our Imperial Topaz Buying Guide. See many more examples in Gem Search on Palagems.com.

Two other collecting card for November are available here.

For more information on birthstones, see Palagems.com. [back to top]

— End November Newsletter • Published 11/17/14 —

Shows and Events

Mineralientage München 51st Munich Mineral Show:
October 24–26, 2014

Pala International's Bill Larson and Will Larson will attend this year’s Munich Show.

When: October 24–26, 2014
Where: Munich Trade Fair Centre
Hours: 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM each day
   Friday, October 24 (Trade only)
   Saturday, October 26 and Sunday, October 27 (Trade and public)

Last year's show had the second highest attendance rate in the event's fifty-year history, according to organizers. This year's special theme is "Meteorites," including the demise of the dinosaurs. "Gifts from the Sky" will be examined, including their divine—or devilish—significance for various religions.

The Munich Show observes UNESCO's International Year for 2014—Crystallography—with part 2 of the show's special exhibition on the history of mineral identification.

In Gemworld, for the second year, the Munich Show will highlight the work of recent graduates, in Young Designers' Corner. As well as being a showcase, this is a competition: three contestants will be awarded cash prizes as well as a free booth at Gemworld 2015.

For more information visit the show website. See the Pala International Show Schedule for future events.

See our ad in this year's program.

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Blue Moon: No Longer Alone

Extremely rare diamond to be paired with Butterfly collection

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles' Minblog has been insane for indigo the last two months in preparation of a special exposition featuring the Blue Moon Diamond. Faceted from 29.6-carat rough, the internally flawless 12-carat Fancy Vivid Blue diamond will be paired with the Aurora Butterfly of Peace colored diamond collection (which we touched on in January). Both will be on display through January 6, 2015. See the following blog entries, but allow some time; there's a lot to linger over.

• The Blue Moon Diamond: from rough to cut: Scroll down to see still images of the diamond being faceted
• The Making of the Blue Moon Diamond: A brief four-minute streaming video describing the painstaking process of rough to cut. First, models were made of the rough—30 in all—so each could be cut differently, with inclusions marked and removed. Once a cut was selected it took three months to do the deed
• The Blue Moon Diamond: The Opening of the Exhibit: The gala opening featured blue-themed finger-food and decor; the bubbly—Veuve-Cliquot—remained superbly straw.

Eloïse Gaillou, Associate Curator of Mineral Sciences at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, center, talks with guests just outside the museum's foyer, which was bathed in blue for the gala that welcomed the Blue Moon Diamond. The image on the right shows the diamond phosphorescing a strong orange-red. Most blue diamonds phosphoresce blue, so this places the Blue Moon in a category occupied by the Hope and Wittelsbach-Graff diamonds. Gaillou's research focuses on diamonds and opals. (Photo: Tiffany Arnolds © for NHMLA)

Jeffrey Post, Curator-in-Charge of the Smithsonian's Mineral Collection, unpacks the Blue Moon Diamond prior to testing in the Institution's highly secure Blue Room. (Photo: Eloïse Gaillou)

From Eloïse Gaillou: Finally, we were curious to look at the remaining strain inside the diamond structure. All natural diamonds show some strain features, and the Blue Moon is no exception. The colored striations are the evidence of such a strain. (Photo: Eloïse Gaillou, in between cross-polarizers)

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Cartier at DAM? Brilliant!

Note: The following article, which we ran back in December, is augmented with the fact that the exhibition's curator, Margaret Young-Sanchez, expects the show to sell out quickly. Tickets are on sale now.

Denverites and visitors can look forward to a holiday treat this fall with a homegrown show, "Brilliant: Cartier in the 20th Century," produced exclusively at the Denver Art Museum. Focusing on the maison's work from the first eight decades of the 1900s, the exhibition will feature 250 pieces: jewelry, timepieces (including the Egyptian striking clock pictured below) and more, as well as "his" items like cufflinks, cigarette cases, and Cartier's signature tank wristwatch.

DAM director Christoph Heinrich was quoted in a press release about the scope of the show: "The evolution of Cartier takes us on a journey through 20th century history, from the era of the last Czars in Russia to the Roaring '20s in America to the onset of Hollywood glamour as we know it." Heinrich explained to The Denver Post that the museum has never mounted such an ambitious jewelry show, which will include museum-quality creations owned by Elizabeth Taylor and the Duchess of Windsor (and heightened security).

Five years in the planning, "Brilliant" runs from November 16, 2014 through March 15, 2015. Since the show will not travel, you might want to.

Front and center. Necklace worn by the Countess of Granard, Beatrice Mills Forbes, from a wealthy family that specialized in thoroughbred horse racing. Her brother, Ogden L. Mills, was Herbert Hoover’s treasury secretary. This necklace was a special order crafted in 1932 by Cartier London of platinum, diamonds and emerald. The center stone is a 143.23-carat emerald-cut cabochon. Height at center 8.80 cm. Cartier Collection. (Photos: Nick Welsh, above, Cartier Collection © Cartier; Bain News Service, below, undated, courtesy Library of Congress)

See The Jewellery Editor for a slide show that will provide a perspective on the stunning size of the necklace pictured above. Wrap your mind around the 143.23-carat emerald, were it wrapped around the neck of Countess Granard, above.

Striking. Egyptian striking clock owned by Florence Meyer Blumenthal (1875–1930), wife of German banker George Blumenthal. She was a patron of the arts whose philanthropy included the Prix Blumenthal, awarded to two hundred recipients in arts and letters between 1919 and 1954. This clock, 24 x 15.7 x 12.7 cm, was created in 1927, using gold, silver gilt, mother of pearl, lapis lazuli, coral, emerald, carnelian, and enamel. Cartier Collection. Click for hi-res. (Photo: Nick Welsh, Cartier Collection © Cartier)

Crocs. Crocodile necklace worn by Mexican actress María Félix (1914–2002), pictured below, who eschewed Hollywood yet made films with everyone from Miguel Zacarías and Fernando de Fuentes to Jean Renoir and Luis Buñuel. The necklace is completely articulated, crafted from gold, two ruby cabochons, 1,023 yellow diamonds (60.02 tcw), and 1,060 emeralds (66.86 tcw), measuring 30 cm and 27.3 cm in length. When worn as a brooch, the tucked-in legs of each segment are replaced. It is said that Félix dropped off her own pet crocodile to serve as model, but cautioned that her baby was growing. It took two years to create the necklace. Cartier Collection. (Photo: Nick Welsh, Cartier Collection © Cartier)    La Doña. Below, it appears that Cartier engaged in some crocodile cannibalism, issuing in 2006 its La Doña de Cartier collection, the watch from which features scale-like band and croc-like trapezoidal case and face. Marketing included color images of a Félix stand-in. Like Countess Granard, Félix was involved in thoroughbred horse racing, by way of her last husband, French banker Alex Berger.

Cartier in the 20th Century is published in conjunction with the "Brilliant" exhibition. It also is being offered in a deluxe edition.

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Pala International News

Pala's Featured Stones: Topaz

Faceted Topaz Egg with a Nod to John Sinkankas

First off this month, Pala International's Bill Larson fills us in on the story behind a lovely faceted gemstone egg…

Inspired by the magnificent faceted eggs that John Sinkankas cut for the Smithsonian, I asked Meg Berry to do her best and turn the rough topaz crystal from Colorado, pictured (partially) below, into a beautiful egg. She took on this challenge and the result is perfect: over 900 carats of shimmering topaz.

Leftovers. A section of the original rough from Colorado: a 315.92-carat topaz specimen. (Photo: Mia Dixon)

I obtained the topaz rough in exchange from then-Smithsonian curator Paul Desautels in the late 1970s. The crystal was not perfectly terminated (see below handwritten note on label: "etched incomplete crystal") but internally it was very good. And the provenance was wonderful. It was found by legendary collector Ed Over (covered this month in our sibling e-publication) in 1935 and retained by his partner, Arthur Montgomery, until his collection was donated without encumbrance. Paul selected something of importance for the Smithsonian from me and I kept the topaz for many years until I thought perhaps it was time to try to fashion it into a gemstone egg. The fact that it is from Colorado—Over's adopted home—just made this so much better.

Paper trail. The labels for the topaz indicate 1) discovery—(1935) Over – Q.M., 2) retention—Arthur Montgomery Collection, 3)  gift—to U.S. National Museum and 4) cutting by Meg Berry. (Photos: Mia Dixon)

Meg spent an enormous amount of time working on the design and perfecting the shape. Then the many many hours of grinding and polishing. All the while trying to maximize size. The finished gem is a true work of art and a great rarity.  

All white, no yolk. As the label above states, Meg Berry's finished work weighs in at 928.87 carats. Price available upon request. (Photo: Mia Dixon)

Egging Meg On

Master faceter Meg Barry also explained things, from her point of view…

When Bill Larson asked me to facet his mondo topaz crystal into an egg, I was paralyzed! I had never attempted anything that large, much less an egg. So I started at the source: John Sinkankas. I looked at pictures and read his articles about cutting it, and dived in.

The shape couldn't have quite the same bulk around the middle as the prototype, but I was able to achieve what I considered a nice egg shape, or oversized briolette, as it has been called. I went with smaller facets that Sinkankas, for many reasons, including the fact that it is much easier to control the shape that way. Smaller facets are also easier to polish, and twinkle more.

I encountered the cleavage plane twice, once on each side, and was able to confuse it out of being a problem. The total time it took to complete the cutting was 90 hours! I may have missed Bill's target weight of 1,000 carats, but I came close, at 930. And Bill says he is thrilled that it is over 900 carats.

Rare Replay: Imperial Topaz

Also this month, we feature a wonderful vintage imperial topaz showing a perfect marriage of red and orange in a clean, large emerald cut gemstone. This is rare to find in the marketplace today. Pala International sold this gem in the 1970s and was delighted to be offered it again this month.

Regal rerun. Natural imperial topaz from Brazil, 22.72 carats, 17.16 x 12.59 x 10.15 mm, Inventory #22218. Price available upon request. (Photo: Mia Dixon)

Interested? Call (phone numbers below) or email us to inquire. [back to top]

Nuptials in Napa: Will and Rika

Pala International's Will Larson and Rika Nakamura were wed last Saturday in California's Napa Valley attended by family and friends. Congratulations to the newlyweds!

Bride and Groom. Rika and Will are pelted with petals as they exit the wedding tent. (Photo: Keiko Hayakawa)

Cheers. What would a Larson wedding be without beverages and bijoux? Rika wears a Tourmaline Queen Mine rubellite and pearl necklace while Will sports a rainbow garnet ring. (Photo: Jeanne Larson)

Groomsmen. From left, Chris Anson, Jason Engel, Carl Larson, Will Larson, Dan Szajngarten, Ben Sobczak, Trey Fleming, Jacob Ceseña. (Photo: Bill Larson)

Into the mine. The wedding reception was held in the Wine Cave of Calistoga Ranch. (Photos: Jeanne Larson)

Leap, sleep. Will Larson flies into the mosh pit, above, while a young guest takes a breather. (Photos: Jeanne Larson)

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Gems and Gemology News

The Mascara Stone

Just before the Denver shows, your editor was asked by John S. White to obtain contact information for fellow Denverite William "Bill" Ryan, the owner of a unique Brazilian topaz. Fortunately this was not difficult. Contact was made, as the two images we present here attest. Ryan, while not a collector of gems or minerals, is happy to possess the topaz as an objet d'art.

Before John retired from the Smithsonian Institution in 1991, where he was the curator-in-charge of the National Mineral and Gem Collection of the U.S. National Museum of Natural History, he had seen the topaz via its then-owner Thomas Harth Ames, the master gemstone carver who also calls the Denver area his home. (Ames is the creator of the exquisite contra luz opal carving "Aurora Borealis over Mt. Rainier.") Hoping to bring the topaz to the Smithsonian, John attempted a trade for a blue topaz, but the negotiations broke down.

The Mascara Stone. Above, the brushlike inclusion is barely visible. Below, detail of the inclusion with its uncanny resemblance to a mascara applicator. The topaz measures 16 x 12.2 x 6 cm. (Photos: Jeff Scovil)

A couple of decades ago Ryan, in turn, befriended Ames, and noticed the topaz. It's an abraded river boulder that had two of its sides removed by breaking them off along natural cleavage planes, just the way Ames had received it. It was not cut or polished; the windows are perfectly natural. "There are probably a hundred other delicate, spider-web-like inclusions in the stone," Ryan told me. White elaborated: "The topaz features at least a dozen other perfectly straight inclusions parallel to the large one. Some appear to be simple tubes, while others have very fine spiral-like features."

As Ryan explained, "Ames didn't want to destroy the stone and its inclusions but needed money to buy a new piece of topaz. So, as a favor to Thomas, I bought the stone for $4000 and have kept it in a box all these years." Fast-forward to the fall of 2014 and the request from John White, who is preparing a paper on spiral inclusions with Prof. John Rakovan of Miami University's Department of Geology and Environmental Earth Science. When he was in town for the Denver shows, White called Bill Ryan and cajoled him into bringing the topaz to the Colorado Mineral & Fossil Show at the Ramada so Jeff Scovil could photograph it. By this time the topaz had received its "Mascara Stone" moniker. We're grateful to everyone involved for letting us share it with our readers, and we look forward to the White/Rakovan paper as well.

For another topaz featuring a corkscrew-shaped inclusion, please see this month's Burma Bits, below. [back to top]

Research Roundup

This month we take a look at reports from some of the world's gemstone laboratories.

This Imitation Not Flattery

GGTL Laboratories, in their September newsletter, examined two colorless diamonds and their accompanying reports. The examination uncovered an elaborate scam. It involved obtaining GIA report information, inserting it into poorly counterfeited reports, cutting HPHT (high pressure, high temperature) treated stones to match the specs in the reports, and laser-inscribing the stones' girdles with the initials of GIA and the report numbers.

If a certain amount of attention to detail was paid in the scam, it was sloppy around the edges. Amongst the flubs: the observed inclusions did not match the plotting diagrams and the report could have benefited from a spell check, as shown here.

Blue Sapphires from Nigeria

In August, the GIA Laboratory, Bangkok issued a report titled "Blue sapphires from the Mambilla Plateau, Taraba State, Nigeria." The report comes after the appearance this past spring of large, clean sapphires of good color and considerable size—some as large as 300 carats—in Thailand and Sri Lanka, purportedly originating from Nigeria. As the report's title explains, the material was coming from the country's Mambilla Plateau in eastern Nigeria. Mambilla had been the site of earlier sapphire production, with the "classic" rough being darker than the new material. GIA had planned a field expedition to the new locality for April, but it had to be postponed. Accordingly, the present report is based on samples received by GIA in Bangkok. This preliminary report will be completed following an anticipated visit to the region. The samples studied in the report were from trusted West African sources in Bangkok. Regardless of the expedition delay, the report includes images of the deposit, obtained from a contact at the company holding the mining license, Gendutse Investment.

No yellow sapphire samples were amongst those received by the laboratory, but yellow is observed via the Tyndall effect in GIA reference sample 100309934811. The sample was placed on a slightly reflective background and a white "daylight" type fluorescent illumination illuminated it from above. As can be seen, blue color is scattered from the sides of the sample but when light reaches the lower part of the stone it becomes greenish and then yellow as most of the blue is scattered away. (Photo: Vincent Pardieu © GIA)

Despite being a preliminary report, this one contains all the information that you'd expect from the lab and its authors, Vincent Pardieu, Supharart Sangsawong, Jonathan Muyal, and Nicholas Sturman. The report leads off with a section on the background of Nigerian sapphires and their deposits, followed by a description of the rough sapphires from the new deposit. A new parcel came into the lab on June 5, and these ranged in color from light blue to deeply saturated blue. Results of scientific study are given, and many photomicrographs accompany the report, showing the internal world of these sapphires. Also discussed are the challenges associated with determining the geographical origin of the stones.

Speculation regarding a typical application of heat treatment on the sample pictured above, based on the its chemical composition, resulted in a warning from the authors: what might appear to be the perfect candidate for heat likely would produce a very dark blue to black stone. The upside is that the samples' low iron content holds the promise that these stones, once faceted, will be less likely to take on a greenish or grayish appearance.

Over the years, we've looked at the travels of Pardieu and his colleague Richard Hughes to many far-flung localities, including Madagascar. For a look at that land's waning sapphire mining, published in February, see "A Plague of Sapphires" by Aaron Ross, writing for Roads & Kingdoms/Slate.

Also in sapphire news: While Apple didn't employ synthetic sapphire in its new crop of iPhone as many had speculated, Denver-based Sapphire Technology is developing use of the material in dentistry, according to an October 7 press release. The firm's instrument line will utilize optically clear sapphire-tipped instruments that, due to their hardness, will reduce "pull-back" when used with photo-cured resin composite fillings. Metal-tipped instruments can cling to such fillings, creating gaps that "can trap bacteria, provide opportunity for further tooth decay, and provide micro-leakage pathways for post-filling hot and cold sensitivity issues," according to the release.

When Unenhanced Is Unimportant

Last spring, at the JCK Show, emerald dealer and author Ron Ringsrud was asked to speak on the mining and marketing of emeralds. Also included in his presentation were the following remarks on emerald gemology. This appeared in Ringsrud's occasional newsletter; you can sign up to receive it here.

Emeralds: Perfect Gems with Minor Enhancement

In Europe, the treatment or enhancement of emeralds is an afterthought. Yes they prefer cedarwood oil, it is well understood and it's low tech. But they pay attention to the gem; its rarity, fineness and uniqueness. The enhancement is not given that much importance; it's noted and then they move on. In the USA and China however, it's as if they never even see the emerald; they get lost in the certificates as well as endless discussions that I won't bore you with.

However, in March this year at the Basel Gem, Jewelry and Watch show, I witnessed something that surprised me: the flood of requests for emeralds with no oil or enhancement. This is both good and bad. The surprising volume of requests for no-oil emeralds is a clear sign that there are many beginners and "newbies" coming into the colored stone world. They don't understand the subtleties of gemstone enhancement and they have plenty of money so they ask for no-enhancement emeralds. This is good; we want new people buying gems.

Enhanced. A nice 1.11-carat Colombian emerald, treated with oil and resin. Inventory #20793. (Photo: Mia Dixon)

But it is also bad. It is bad in that the power of this new money is strong-arming established dealers to beg for (and sometimes demand) no-oil emeralds. These established dealers, in my opinion should turn aside those requests and bring the attention of the customer to the fineness and rarity of color and of transparency, regardless of whether the certificate says no-oil, minor or even moderate. Two years ago I sold a 10-carat cushion emerald for $300,000. It had a moderate degree of enhancement according to one gem lab. How did I sell it? I educated the customer about rarity. Rarity is not found in a lab certificate but in the unique combination of color, transparency and cut.

I have to roll my eyes when I think of all the rare, special and fine emeralds that have been passed over because a customer blindly demanded emeralds with certificates stating "no enhancement." If my emerald inventory has few or zero no-oil emeralds I don't see it as my problem; it is the problem of the customer. The customer needs to educate himself and become a connoisseur. He needs to buy for beauty and rarity and let the certificate be secondary.

The 10-carat cushion emerald with the moderate degree of enhancement could have been sent to another lab and it probably would have come out "minor" but I didn't bother. My customer and I were very happy that such a rare and special stone came across our path so we could buy it. It was the stone that thrilled us; not the subjective opinion from a gem lab—an opinion by the way, that the lab specifically states on the legal disclaimer that they are not liable for ("errors, omissions, or … negligence of employees"). Gem labs are not being criticized here; the problem is that the emerald enhancement determinations are much more difficult than, say, diamond clarity calls.

Want more of the same, er, treatment? Peruse this vintage article by Richard W. Hughes, "Cloak and Dagger: The Politics of Opticon."

Amber, Ruby and Sapphire

Amber

Six authors, led by Thanong Leelawatanasuk of The Gem and Jewelry Institute of Thailand (GIT) issued a report on Indonesian amber, published in The Australian Gemmologist ("The Characteristics of Amber from Indonesia," 25:4, 142–145). The mind does not turn to Indonesia when thinking of amber, but the report states that this is changing, with this material appearing more and more at major gemstone shows.

Ten samples were studied, all purportedly from the westernmost island of Sumatra. The color ranged from yellow to brownish yellow to brownish red. Some samples, when viewed in strong sunlight, take on a bluish sheen similar to that of blue amber from the Dominican Republic.

When compared with reference stones from the Baltic, Dominican Republic and Burma, the Indonesian ambers featured prominent round-to-oval droplet inclusions in numbers not seen in those from the other localities. The Indonesian samples came from three different donors, but their Mid-IR and Raman spectra patterns were identical. This, again, is in contrast with the patterns from other localities. The researchers suggest that this is because each locality would have its characteristic plant species, from which amber is fossilized; and, of course, the species would have been laid down in differing geologic ages.

Ruby and Sapphire

Authors Thanong Leelawatanasuk, Wilawan Atichat, Visut Pisutha-Arnond and Pornsawat Wathanakul, all from GIT, provided a well-illustrated guide to ruby and sapphire grading tools in the pages of InColor this past spring ("Ruby and Sapphire Grading Tools," Spring 2014, 46–51).

The article begins with a comparison of the "4 Cs" (color, clarity, cut, carat weight) between varieties of corundum, with clarity in yellow sapphire being typically being higher than blue sapphire, which is higher than ruby. Next, GIT's quality assessment system is described, and is noted to be in a process of constant refinement. That said, GIT's standards are based on the Munsell system, which converted common Thai color names into its own color codes. GIT also has taken the somewhat amorphous but classic terms like "pigeon's blood" and "royal blue" and created its own master sets for comparison. Likewise, GIT has done the same with cut and proportion. "Unfortunately, due to very high value of such stones, cutters are forced to maximize weight retention," the authors observe. "Hence, very few stones possess ideal proportions." Finally, clarity is discussed briefly, once again noting the differences between corundum varieties.

Galileo Galilei, Gemmologo

Portrait of Galileo Galilei by Giusto Sustermans, 1636.

Galileo Galilei is well known to school children as the father of astronomy, but like so many medieval and Renaissance investigators his pursuits were manifold: mathematics, physics, engineering, philosophy—and gemology. In a free-access edition of Journal of Gemmology ("Galileo as Gemmologist: The First Attempt in Europe at Scientifically Testing Gemstones," 34:1, 24–31), Prof. Annibale Mottana shows that at least one of Galileo's challenges was the same as that facing the modern gemologist: many of his samples were simulants.

Galileo was a university dropout who dared to use the vernacular rather than Latin in an early essay on hydrostatic buoyancy of precious metals, which he then applied to gemstone materials. It was only published posthumously—and incorrectly, omitting three pages due to a copyist's error—in 1644 by a follower, and even then, Mottana writes, care had to be taken to escape the Roman Inquisition, which had ensnared the essay's writer. The missing pages contained the results of Galileo's gemstone testing, and weren't located until 235 years later.

Mottana takes the reader through a fascinating analysis of la tavola and its accuracies and inaccuracies—such as mistaking what might have been topaz for diamond; at 141.5 carats such a diamond was worth nearly twelve large houses. [back to top]

Industry News

Business Press on Jewelry and Diamonds

Wallace Chan, from a press release regarding the 2012 Biennale des Antiquaires.

In July, when we highlighted the Biennale des Antiquaires, Paris's biyearly showcase of haute joaillerie, we mentioned a collection by Wallace Chan, who was the first fine jewelry brand from Asia and China to be invited to the Biennale. Chan likely is best known for the "Wallace Cut," introduced in 1987, a technique of intagliated gemstone carving that takes advantage of a stone's faceting to display multiple images of a single cameo-like image. The September 6 edition of The Economist published a profile of Chan, explaining that it took 13 years to develop his signature cut. This came after leaving home in Hong Kong in about 1967 at age 13 to help support his poor family, becoming a sculptor's apprentice in about 1970, going on to study European techniques, and opening his own workshop in 1974.

Chan went on to use his background to craft sculptural jewelry employing titanium rather than gold, in order to lighten the load on the wearer. As arresting as his gemstone portraits are, these sculptural figures—insects, fish, starbursts and more—also compel the eye, as can be seen in the article's accompanying slide show.

Three weeks before the Chan profile, The Wall Street Journal took note of the falling price of diamonds—six consecutive months in August—due to lukewarm sales. The factors discussed in the article are a drop in sales of larger sizes by Chinese customers and the fact that sales surged during the last financial crisis as an investment hedge. [back to top]

Burma Bits

Jade and Gem Sale Under Way

Spinel trap. An arresting natural Burma spinel, 7.33 carats. Inventory #22156. (Photo: Mia Dixon)

Burma is in the midst of the third jade and gemstone sale this year, at the Maniyadana Jade Hall in Nay Pyi Taw, according to stories by Myanmar Times (MT) and Eleven Media Group (EMG). EMG called the sale "massive" while MT said the sale was "set for low-grade sparkle" since it consists of lower-quality jade offerings. (Xinhua called it a "utility jade" sale.) U Aung Naing Oo, a spokesperson for the Myanmar Gems and Jewellery Entrepreneurs Association, told MT that low-end prices would be in the range of 1 million kyat, or about $1,000. Seven thousand lots are being sold by 341 companies, according to EMG, 230 of which are private firms. Gem lots number far less: 160 lots offered by 22 companies. Mogok is represented by 14 profit-sharing firms selling 72 gem lots, and 85 such lots offered by seven private companies. Only local dealers have been invited to the sale.

Speaking of Mogok, on September 19, MT posted a travelogue on the area written by Stuart Alan Becker. And China's People's Daily profiled Yangon's Shwedagon Pagoda last month, with its roof of gold, surrounded by 664 rubies, 551 emeralds and 443 diamonds.

Jade Jottings

Jade mining has resumed in Kachin State's Phakhant Township after a two-year suspension, as reported by EMG on October 7. Two large companies have moved more than 100 machines by river, with more expected, said a trader who felt that business was back to normal. A jade merchant told EMG that miners had left the area because both government troops and Kachin Independence Army (KIA) forces were taxing them, and the merchants couldn't afford to pay both levies—which raises the question of what arrangements the present companies have made.

Yesterday, however, as reported by The Irrawaddy, the government army ordered more than 1,000 people from three villages near Hpakant (alternate spelling) in anticipation of renewed fighting between the two armies. Ironically, the villages are under KIA control; the KIA troops were ordered to leave by the Burma army. Kachin News Group (KNG) reported today that KIA troops refused to leave. Incidentally, KIA spokesman La Nan told The Irrawaddy that only large companies—those with 30–40 mining blocks—were "asked" to pay the KIA. That is, unless an individual had a large strike. A tax-related incident, apparently involving KIO and fisherman, was reported by KNG on September 24. Meanwhile, on Monday, after citing Burma beauty queen Ma May Myat Noe's absconding from Korea with a valuable tiara of Swarovski crystals, economist Mari Oye asked the following question in an MT op-ed piece: "What is sexier than revising gemstone taxation policies?"

In other jade news, on October 4, Mandalay jade merchants formed a 72-member committee to advise the government regarding an upgrade to the city's Mahar Aung Myae jade center, even as a substitute is being built outside the city. An MT story on Monday stated that jade trading there is "booming," with the number of traders growing from a few hundred to thousands since 2008. That boom is the reason for the new center, which will be completed next year. Its location, of course, is not as convenient as the existing center. The regional government announced on October 1 that there are no plans for an upgrade. Traders told MT that they would appeal to the national government in that case.

Also in Mandalay, traders were to submit a petition to the Myanmar Gems Emporium Organising Committee on October 7 calling for heightened supervision of foreign investors, according to an October 6 story by Mizzima News. The traders claim that these investors masquerade in order to enter sales such as the present one, open only to local traders.

"The Vanishing Tribes of Burma," an exhibition of photographs by Richard K. Diran, has found a permanent home in Yangon’s National Museum, according to Mizzima News, October 12. Diran is a longtime friend of Pala International's Bill Larson, who snapped this photo of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi after meeting her at the reception for Diran, right, a year ago. (Photo: Bill Larson)

Bite-Sized Bits

• Mizzima News: Looking for a way out – How will the U.S. frame further lifting of its sanctions?
• The Irrawaddy: World Bank says Burma's economy growing faster than expected, urges tax increase and decreased borrowing
• Myanmar Times: For decades, Burma's gemlands have been plagued with the use of hard drugs (Shan state grows 92% of Burma's poppies); the Ministry of Home Affairs has announced a review of drug sentences
• Myanmar Times: We've looked at the intersection between the gemstone boom and real estate before (see last month's Burma Bits); one player in that game has a foot in both: Than Htike Lu Gems, Minerals and Construction
• The Irrawaddy: We thought this was pretty much a thing of the past, but today it was reported that three journalists and two owners of a defunct journal were sentenced to two years in prison; the story they ran actually was in error
• Myanmar Times: Buying habits in Mandalay jewelry stores are examined; "Our customers often buy sets of diamonds, rubies or sapphires"

Twisted Sister

After seeing the Mascara Stone (above), Pala International's Bill Larson was reminded of a similar topaz in his own collection…

Lava lamp. Topaz from Sakangyi, Mogok, Burma. It weighs 70.30 carats and measures 3.2 x 1.8 x 1.5 cm. (Photos: Mia Dixon)

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Pala Presents

With Pala Presents, we offer selections from the collection of Pala International’s Bill Larson, who will share with us some of the wealth of information in the realm of gems and gemology. And, as with this edition, gemstone-related collectibles.

Birthstone Collecting Cards: October

This month we feature two birthstone cards for the month of October and its stone of opal. The card pictured below includes a hanging-vine-like flower that doesn't resemble marigold or Calendula, the traditional flowers for the month. But it does incorporate one of the other stones attributed to October, aquamarine or tourmaline.

According to the verse that appears on our other card for October (originally the Roman calendar's eighth month), opal can help take the chill out of the seasons' change.

One other collecting card for October is available here.

For more information on birthstones, see Palagems.com. Oh, and the Myanmar Times on September 30 ran a table of birthstones, flowers, colors and more. [back to top]

Recycle Bin

Bill Larson Judges German Gemstone Competitions

The following item came in two days after the publication of the September edition of Palagems Reflective Index. We shared it with readers of our sibling publication, Pala Mineralis, on October 2.

Today, before the opening of the 30th annual trade-only Intergem exhibition in Idar-Oberstein, Germany, October 3–6, two gemstone competitions were held, for which Pala International's Bill Larson was tapped in his capacity as an expert in the field. The following is a translation of a German-language article in the Rhineland-Palatinate newspaper Rhein-Zeitung, which announced Bill's participation. See images of last year's winners: here and here.

"Country & People": Gemstone expert
Bill Larson is part of the jury

The American Gem expert Bill Larson is part of the jury that will decide on Thursday, Oct. 2, about the award of prizes for the 45th German Award for Jewellery and Precious Stones Idar-Oberstein and the 26th German Young Talent Competition for Gemstone and Jewellery Design Idar-Oberstein. Larson, President of Pala International Inc., is the world renowned expert on colored gemstones, mainly for rubies and sapphires. In the late 1960s, he and a business partner founded Pala Properties Int. Inc. and bought three gemstone mines, including the world-famous Pala mine. Since 1969, he has had two exceptional jewelry stores in Fallbrook and La Jolla in California. Larson also has one of the finest gem and mineral collections in the world. He is a founding member of AGTA (American Gem Trade Association) and ICA (International Colored Gemstone Association).

Above, the competition poster. Below, fellow judge (and retired mineral and gemstone photographer) Erika Van Pelt makes her final selections earlier today. (Photos: Bill Larson)

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— End October Newsletter • Published 10/16/14 —

Shows and Events

Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair: Sept. 15–21, 2014

This month, 50,000 buyers from across the globe are descending on Hong Kong for the UMB Asia-sponsored Jewellery and Gem Fair. Exhibitors number more than 3,600, from 48 countries and regions.

Pala International's Gabrièl Mattice is in attendance, shopping on behalf of clients for that certain something.

The Fair takes place at two venues, slightly overlapping.

• Raw Materials: Gemstones (including diamonds and pearls), equipment, and packaging – AsiaWorld-Expo, at Hong Kong International Airport, September 15–19
• Fine Finished Jewelry – Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, September 17–21

Notable seminars include:

• Screening for Treated and Synthetic Diamonds – A Review of Existing Technologies by Dr. Wuyi Wang, Director of Research & Development, GIA
• Emerald 2014 – The Emerald Market and Mining Situation in Producing Countries by Dr. Dietmar Schwarz, formerly of the Gübelin Gem Lab, now Director at the Asian Institute of Gemmological Sciences (AIGS)
• Launch of The Diamond Insight Report 2014 from The De Beers Group of Companies by Philippe Mellier, CEO, De Beers Group, and Stephen Lussier, Executive Vice President, Marketing, De Beers Group and CEO, Forevermark
• The Facts of Ruby and Sapphire Trade by Thanong Leelawatanasuk, Chief of Gem Testing Department, GIT
• Ruby & Sapphire: A Collector's Guide by Richard W. Hughes and Dream of the Red Chamber: The Internal World of Ruby by Hughes and Hpone-Phyo Kan-Nyunt
• The Perception of Ruby & Sapphire Origins by Dr. Pornsawat Wathanakul, GIT Director
• Mozambique Rubies – The New Star in The Market (Laboratory News) and A Trip to Mogok (Documentary Movie) by Dr. A. Peretti
• Gemological Analytical Methods of the 21st Century by Sadarat Saeseaw, Senior Manager of Colored Stones, GIA, Thailand

Two conference/seminars take place on September 20, featuring illustrious presenters: AGIL-2014 International Gemmological Conference: The Natural Precious Gems is Forever and the GAHK Seminar, Fei Cui Heritage: Scientific Research and Professional Education. See the schedule for details. [back to top]

Mineralientage München 51st Munich Mineral Show:
October 24–26, 2014

Pala International's Bill Larson and Will Larson will attend this year’s Munich Show.

When: October 24–26, 2014
Where: Munich Trade Fair Centre
Hours: 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM each day
   Friday, October 24 (Trade only)
   Saturday, October 26 and Sunday, October 27 (Trade and public)

Last year's show had the second highest attendance rate in the event's fifty-year history, according to organizers. This year's special theme is "Meteorites," including the demise of the dinosaurs. "Gifts from the Sky" will be examined, including their divine—or devilish—significance for various religions.

The Munich Show observes UNESCO's International Year for 2014—Crystallography—with part 2 of the show's special exhibition on the history of mineral identification.

In Gemworld, for the second year, the Munich Show will highlight the work of recent graduates, in Young Designers' Corner. As well as being a showcase, this is a competion: three contestants will be awarded cash prizes as well as a free booth at Gemworld 2015.

For more information visit the show website. See the Pala International Show Schedule for future events.

See our ad in this year's program.

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Treasures from India: Jewels from the Al-Thani Collection

Sixty jeweled objects from the private collection of Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al-Thani will be exhibited by The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The exhibition, titled "Treasures from India: Jewels from the Al-Thani Collection," runs October 28 through January 25. The jewels will demonstrate the evolution of styles beginning with the 17th century of the Mughal period. The objects will be exhibited adjacent to Mughal-period artwork from the Met's own collection.

Turban Ornament (Sarpesh), South India, Hyderabad, 1800–50. Gold; set with diamonds and suspended spinel beads of earlier date. Enamel on reverse. H: 18.5 cm, W: 27.2 cm. Al-Thani Collection. (Photo: © Prudence Cuming Associates)

From the exhibition press release:

Among the Mughal works will be an elegant jade dagger originally owned by two emperors—the hilt was made for [fourth Mughal emperor] Jahangir and it was re-bladed for his son Shah Jahan, builder of the Taj Mahal. In the 19th century, the dagger was in the collection Samuel F. B. Morse, inventor of the Morse code. The hilt features a miniature sculpture—a European-style head.

Finial from the Throne of Tipu Sultan, South India, Mysore, ca. 1790. Gold, inlaid with diamonds, rubies, and emeralds; lac core. H. 2-3/4 in. (6.8 cm), W. 2-1/8 in. (5.4 cm), D 2-1/4 in. (5.5 cm). Al-Thani Collection. (Photo: © Prudence Cuming Associates)

The finial pictured above is a luxurious example of the technique known as kundan, in which a gem is set in a bed of gold, often with a foil backing to brighten its color.

Aigrette. France, Paris, designed by Paul Iribe, made by Robert Linzeler, 1910. Platinum, set with emerald, sapphires, diamonds, and pearls. H. 3-5/8 in. (9 cm), W. 2-1/4 in. (5.6 cm), D. 5/8 in. (1.5 cm). Al-Thani Collection. (Photo: © Prudence Cuming Associates)

The aigrette shown above is remarkable because it mimics the plumage of the traditional turban ornament. Its center stone was carved in India during the last half of the 19th century.

The exhibition will feature an accompanying catalog published by the Met and distributed by Yale University Press. It draws on a prior study of the collection, Beyond Extravagance, edited by Amin Jaffer, published by Assouline.

It may surprise our readers (as it did your editor) to learn that Sheikh Hamad's collection was assembled relatively recently and quickly following his viewing of "Maharaja: The Splendor of India's Courts" at the Victoria and Albert Museum during late 2009 and early 2010 (see our "Overdosing on Gems"). As explained by that show's creator, Amin Jaffer, with whom Sheikh Hamad toured the exhibition, "He fell in love with India and Indian jewelry and started collecting directly as a result." His collection "is unique," Jaffer says, "in that it starts in the 16th century and ends in the 21st century." Indeed, a centerpiece of recent vintage is the "Star of Golconda," a 57.31-carat diamond brooch, assumed to be Indian, created last year by Cartier.

According to Jaffer, the present exhibition, "Treasures from India," also will be mounted in Europe.

If you go…

Be sure to take in "Fabergé from the Matilda Geddings Gray Foundation Collection," which is on view through November 27, 2016. Gray collected Fabergé when the name was unknown in the U.S., amassing one of the finest collections in the world.

The West Coast has its own treasures. Above, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is publicized with eyecatching boulevard banners. The gem collection is the third most prominent in the country, after the National Museum of Natural History and the American Museum of Natural History. (Photo: Bill Larson)

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Pala International News

Pala's Featured Stone: Yellow Sapphire from Sri Lanka

This month we feature an immaculate yellow sapphire. Properties reach the highest order on this fine jewel from Sri Lanka. Yellow sapphire has really taken off in the last couple of years as appreciation grows for varying colors of corundum. Along with popularity, prices and demand have continued their ascent as well.

Natural yellow sapphire from Sri Lanka, 27.27 ct, 18.88 x 14.11 x 11.83 mm. It comes with an AGL brief. Inventory #19961. (Photo: Mia Dixon)

Finding that quintessential "diamond look" in a sapphire is at the heart of many a yellow sapphire quest. Yellow sapphires vary in color from slightly greenish yellow, to canary yellow to lemon yellow and on into golden and orangey yellows. This fine specimen hits on many levels, with its natural gold yellow color, precision oval brilliant cut, good clarity and brilliance. Not to mention an impressive size of 27.27 carats—a fine catch for any gem collector.

Interested? Select the inventory number above, call (phone numbers below) or email us to inquire. [back to top]

Gems and Gemology News

Lotus Gemology Takes Root

Lab to Specialize in Ruby, Sapphire

Following more than seventy years in a collective career that has taken them from several spots in Southeast and East Asia and Southern California, Richard W. Hughes and Wimon Manorotkul have taken root in Bangkok with a new venture: Lotus Gemology. It is the world's first gemological laboratory dedicated only to ruby and sapphire—with spinel included for good measure.

Lotus Standard Reports are offered in two varieties. The Silver Standard is a compact, four-page report that describes the stone, gives its identification and enhancements, and provides care instructions. The same are included in the Gold Standard, which is reserved only for unenhanced rubies, sapphires and spinels (other than cutting and polishing). "We have a vision that we don’t believe is being addressed by existing labs," Hughes stated in an announcement. "Our aim is to create reports that touch the heart, as well as the head." (Photo courtesy Lotus Gemology)

If this prestigious niche sets the lab apart, Lotus also strives to reflect the beauty of fine ruby and sapphire with an exceptional report presentation, as illustrated above and below. "Gemology is not simply counting atoms," Hughes stated in an announcement. "Science cannot explain or test certain phenomena. Which rainbow is the prettiest, what song speaks to you, which person is most attractive? These are personal choices that can never be reduced to a simple set of measurements."

The Lotus Solid Gold Report, pictured above, is devoted only to unenhanced gemstones (other than cutting and polishing). The 15+ page hardcover report is augmented with color photographs and maps. One gemstone dealer, impressed with the reports, declared, "These reports will help me close sales." (Photo courtesy Lotus Gemology)

As noted above, Richard Hughes will present at the Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair. He also will lecture on the topic of "Pigeon's Blood: A Journey to Burma's Ruby Mines," as part of the AGIL conference in conjunction with the Fair. Attendees of next year's ICA Congress, mentioned below, will have the opportunity to catch Hughes's presentation on padparadscha sapphire. Will you be in Bangkok next week? Take in Hughes's lecture September 24 on "Gemological Heresies" at GIA's 85th Gemstone Gathering (details here). [back to top]

Sapphire: Science, Study, Synthetic, Summit

We focus here on several sapphire-related items regarding enhancements, optics, applications and Congress.

Cobalt-Doped Glass-Filled Sapphires – An Update

The Lotus Gemology laboratory website (see directly above) includes a Library of scholarly articles, book reviews and bibliography. "Cobalt-Doped Glass-Filled Sapphires – An Update," included amongst the articles, looks at yet another enhancement. The article is authored by Thanong Leelawatanasuk, Wilawan Atichat, Visut Pisutha-Arnond, Pornsawat Wattanakul and Papawarin Ounorn as well as Wimon Manorotkul and Richard W. Hughes, originally published in Australian Gemmologist (2013, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 14–20).

Initially studied in 2007, the technique is called Super Diffusion Tanusorn (after Tanusorn Lethaisong, a Chantaburi, Thailand treater). But the authors note that no diffusion was involved; it was a simple infilling into highly fractured, nearly colorless corundum by cobalt-colored glass, rendering it blue. The present study looked at so-called first generation (2007) and latest generation (2012) treated stones. Simple Chelsea filter and dichroscope examinations revealed a lack of pleochroism and strong red to orange-red, respectively—big giveaways that the material was neither natural nor synthetic sapphire.

Blue cobalt-doped glass fills a surface-reaching fissure in this first-generation stone. Oblique fiber-optic illumination. The color in such near-colorless stones is obtained almost exclusively from the filling. (Photomicrograph: Wimon Manorotkul)

The microscopic features, nicely illustrated by photomicrographs, make for uneasy viewing. The stuff is simply beyond inferior, as the photomicrograph above makes, er, crystal clear. Other tests are administered, but the stability testing proved scary, as would be expected. Ultrasonic cleaning: whew, no change. Exposure to a jeweler's torch: the filler decayed. Immersion in sulfuric acid: filler slightly dissolved. Immersion in sodium hydroxide: filler strongly dissolved revealing fractures clearly. Because this material can so easily be identified, a word to the wise is sufficient.
 

Unusual Optical Effect in Blue Sapphire

The Summer 2014 edition of Gems & Gemology (Vol. 50, No. 2) shone the spotlight, so to speak, on a light bluish violet sapphire, in "Unusual Optical Effect in Blue Sapphire" by Iurii Gaievskyi, Igor Iemelianov and Elena Belichenko. Several optical tests were performed on the 1.36-carat stone in the lab of the State Gemological Center of Ukraine, including the DeBeers DiamondView™ (a powerful short-wave UV light source, according to the above article). The instrument recorded a strong pink luminescence, which was attributed to a Cr3+ (chromium ion) impurity. When the stone was removed from the instrument, the stone's light bluish violet hue had been replaced with light brown. No, this was not an inadvertent treatment; it reversed within 12 hours. Such reversible instability, rare in blue sapphires, is called photochroism.
 

Gorillas in the Fist, Sapphire on the Wrist

Prior to last Tuesday's release of Apple's new iPhone 6, there was quite a bit of speculation—too much, actually—about whether the new phone would feature a display panel of synthetic sapphire, replacing Corning Incorporated Gorilla® Glass. In May 2013, the company stated the glass could be found on 1.5 billion electronic devices. Five months ago, one industry insider claimed that the phone might include sapphire glass. But that same May 2013 Corning statement showed sapphire not to pass the strength test, as demonstrated in the video below. The performance of sapphire did not prevent Apple from including a sapphire crystal on its Apple Watch display.

What's missing? The sapphire on the left already has shattered, as performed in this streaming video.

Sapphire and More: ICA Congress 2015 to be Held in Sri Lanka

Next year's 16th Congress of the International Colored Gemstones Association (ICA) will be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, May 16–19, followed by a mine tour, May 20–26. The Congress will be concurrent with the Facets Gem Show, May 15–18. Both will be held at the 5-star Cinnamon Grand Hotel. Keynote speaker at the Congress will be David Schwartz.

This is the second time the Congress will be hosted by Sri Lanka. Over 400 delegates are expected to attend. The mine tour will take place in the districts of Dambulla, Kandy, Ratnapura and Hikkadua. Presentation topics include:

• Gem deposits and production in Sri Lanka
• Ceylon sapphires – history and current status
• Worldwide sourcing – new trends and emerging leaders
• Mixed output of the colored stone industry – trends, branding and corporate social responsibility (CSR)
• Gem treatment, enhancement, detection and disclosure
• Market trends and opportunities
• New tools in gem and jewelry marketing
• Certification, origin, fair trade and corporate responsibility

Dr. A. Peretti, of GemResearch Swisslab will be on the speakers panel, with topics including Royal and Cornflower Blue Sapphires and Pigeon's Blood Rubies. Information on the Congress will be posted at the ICA website in the coming months. [back to top]

Industry News

Diamonds: Lost & Found

We look at coverage of the notorious Pink Panther jewel thieves as well as a new diamond find and some recent jewelry collections.

Lost. For twenty years a gang nicknamed the Pink Panthers has coordinated elaborate and well-executed robberies and thefts, such as the December 4, 2008 heist at Harry Winston's in Paris in which three of the male thieves were dressed as women. Their deeds were the subject of an extensive April 12, 2010 article in The New Yorker and their subsequent criminal conduct, including escapes from custody, is outlined in a Wikipedia entry.

The 2013 documentary Smash & Grab, directed by Havana Marking, was four years in the making and includes interviews with some of the gang members and their associates, according to a Gulf News story in March.

Smash & Grab, the documentary about the Pink Panthers, uses graphic representations of recreations and interviews and well as traditional footage.

Also in March, the gang's career was covered by a CBS 60 Minutes segment that was rebroadcast on August 31, two minutes of which are posted here. That's more than a minute longer than it took the gang to drive into (literally) Graff jewelers in Dubai and make off with millions in diamonds.

Lost? and found. On September 9, Petra Diamonds announced the "recovery" of a 232.08-carat colorless diamond at its Cullinan mine in South Africa. It is a D color Type II and likely will be sold in the second quarter of the company's fiscal year, which began July 1. By comparison, the Cullinan Heritage, at 507 carats uncut, brought in $3.5 million when it was sold in 2010—a record price for a rough diamond.

Lost and found. In doing some spring cleaning in the late summer, your editor ran across an item sent in June by Mia Dixon, Pala International's resident photographer. We're all familiar with movie tie-ins, but this one really catches the eye: a line of jewelry inspired by Angelina Jolie's portrayal of Maleficent in the film by the same name. Italian designer Gianluca Gabbani, who apparently was wowed by the film, created a ring, bracelet and headpiece inspired by the crows that attend the malefic Ms. M. Meanwhile, Daniel-Philip Belevitch's Crow's Nest created a seven-piece collection that includes work done in rhodium with black diamonds. See photos on Professional Jeweler. [back to top]

Burma Bits

Development Developments

It's ironic that the Chinese city of Shweli, across the border from Burma's Muse, is known by the Chinese as the "jade city," according to a September 8 Myanmar Times story. After all, jade mainly comes through Muse, Shweli's mirror on the Burma side. That could change, now that plans are being made for a jade market in Muse, as part of a huge development plan.

Super market. An artist's rendering of the jade market in Muse, scheduled for a 2015 year-end opening. An August 18 article by Myanmar Times included a photo of the under-construction district, of which the market is only a part. The district will occupy 294 acres and building it could employ as many as 1000 workers.

One Burma jade dealer, working in another border town on the Chinese side said he'd move to Muse in a minute if the jade market opens as planned, in 2015. He said that doing business in China is costly and risky. For instance, in the case of a dispute, Chinese authorities tend to side with fellow nationals. The new market will not be without its own risks, since it must attract enough business from both Mandalay sellers and Chinese buyers. Mandalay trader Ko Myo Myint said the market actually could boost smuggling in order to bypass customs.

Meanwhile, in Yangon, Burma's first cut-and-finished gem market is scheduled to open next month in the complex housing the Myanma Gem Museum, as reported by Eleven Media Group on September 11. The plan is for the market to feature a laboratory and a bank that can provide merchants with loans so they can set up workshops and factories for value-added gem-related products.

Red-y? A superb natural Burma ruby, 2.72 carats. Inventory #22003. (Photo: Mia Dixon)

Development in Yangon and Mandalay has triggered a speculative real estate buying binge, according to another Eleven story on September 2. Some areas have seen a 2000% surge in prices. An Eleven story on August 24 stated that "well over half" of all money coming into Burma is being invested in real estate. Yet another Eleven story, September 3, claimed that more than 1000 foreign nationals stream into Burma each month, mainly from China. Many of these go to Mandalay, buying up property; but Eleven states this is an old story. Xinhua reported on September 1 that Burma has removed eleven restrictions on business activities by foreigners, including jade and gemstone prospecting, exploration and production. At least some of this activity, it would seem, is facilitated by black market banks, which were profiled by a DVB story September 12. Such is the contention of an August 29 story by Eleven, regarding Burma's attempts to fight money laundering. New "bylaws" against such laundering were being rushed into place, according to Eleven, September 1. Skepticism about the bylaws' efficacy were expressed a week earlier in an Eleven story.

Jade Jottings

More than 1000 people were displaced in Kachin's Hpakant Township, in Burma's jade land in late August, as reported by The Irrawaddy. Jade firms, which deposit soil into the Uru River and its tributaries is to blame, according to that article and another by Eleven. An unsigned commentary by Eleven noted that flooding leads to health problems as well as displacement.

On the horizon, nevertheless, is a bid by about 80 companies to resume jade mining in the region, according to a September 2 story by Eleven.

Jade exports rose 15% in the current fiscal year, as reported by Eleven on August 27. But two weeks later a Commerce Ministry adviser, Dr. Maung Aung, complained that local business owners didn't have a clue about the market, including designs that attract customers.

At least there was some bright news from Kachin Independence Organization: clashes between KIO forces and the military are down, as reported by Kachin News Group (KNG) September 6.

Bite-Sized Bits

• Eleven: Two years after Tay Za asked to leave, he's replaced as chair of Myanmar Gems and Jewellery Entrepreneurs Association
• KNG: Tay Za joins search effort for missing climbers in Kachin
• Eleven: Taiwan has its eye on Burma's jade and ruby
• Eleven: Mobile units to target gem (and other) smuggling
• Mizzima: NGO director compares addiction and HIV in today's cities with Mogok and Kachin in the '90s

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Pala Presents

With Pala Presents, we offer selections from the collection of Pala International’s Bill Larson, who will share with us some of the wealth of information in the realm of gems and gemology. And, as with this edition, gemstone-related collectibles.

Lotus and Bee: Birthstone Collecting Cards

This month we feature four birthstone cards for the month of September and its stone of sapphire. Two cards include birth flowers: morning glory (recognized in the U.S.) and Aster (recognized in the U.K. and U.S.).

The verses on the cards tell us that skies as blue as sapphire await the child born this month and, who, upon wearing the stone will be wise and free from mental illness.

Three other collecting cards for September are available here.

As we did with July's birthstone, ruby, we turn to Tagore's Mani Málá appended to Richard W. Hughes's Ruby & Sapphire (1997, 489), and we find the range of color in sapphire likened both to the lotus and "the Bhramana (the black bee)." We can't help but recall the poem by West Bengal poet Kamalakanta Bhattacharya (1769–1821), which uses the same imagery.

The black bee of my mind is drawn in sheer delight
To the blue lotus flower of Mother Shyama's feet,
The blue flower of the feet of Kali, Shiva's Consort;
Tasteless, to the bee, are the blossoms of desire.
My Mother's feet are black, and black, too, is the bee;
Black is made one with black! This much of the mystery
My mortal eyes behold, then hastily retreat.
But Kamalakanta's hopes are answered in the end;
He swims in the Sea of Bliss, unmoved by joy or pain.

For more information on birthstones, see Palagems.com. [back to top]

Sapphire, The Royal Gem

Ninety years ago, The New Mine Sapphire Syndicate of London published a pamphlet-length overview of "the most valuable deposit of precious stones existing in the United States of America"—the firm's sapphire-bearing claims of Judith Basin County, Montana. The claims actually started out as gold mining claims; unfortunately, that production couldn't even pay for the water brought in for washing gravels. But, in a sentence from the pamphlet that tests 21st-century attention spans,

The sluice boxes, however, contained a large number of blue pebbles which, while no importance was attached to the find at the time, were subsequently identified by Messrs. Tiffany as sapphires of high grade and thus an enterprise which appeared to have culminated in an absolute loss, brought in the end substantial reward and led to the location of the lead from which the stones had become detached, and the development of an industry which during the quarter of a century of its existence has produced and placed on the markets of the world gems to the value of several millions of dollars.

Read the full, nicely illustrated text here—if you have the patience.

North America, showing the position of the "New Mine." We now know this locality as the famous Yogo Gulch.

[back to top]

Gemming in Ceylon

A reprint by H. V. Sardha Ratnavira

The following brief overview of gem mining in what is now known as Sri Lanka was written by H. V. Sardha Ratnavira, gemological student. It appeared in the Winter 1939 edition of Gems & Gemology (Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 51–52; used with permission). Ratnavira is the father of Gamini Ratnavira and was the first Asian to qualify at the Gemological Institute of America, in 1937–1938, when it was still in Los Angeles. The images are from "Ceylon's Gem Mines," included in Peter Bancroft's classic Gem and Crystal Treasures.

Nestling among the peaks of the Sabragamuwa district lies Ratnapura, famous throughout the world as the city of gems. Star sapphires, blue sapphires, rubies, cat's-eyes and a large variety of other gems, of quantity unlimited, are found here. It is here that one finds the gemming industry of Ceylon at its best. Here one comes across many gem pits, all working at full speed, producing stones that will form the basis of some of the finest jewelry that Ceylon offers.

If one be interested in gem mining, he first has to obtain a license to work a gem pit. An application must be forwarded to the Government Agent of the district, who will refer the matter to the Ratemahatmaya, or Headman. The matter does not end here, for the Police Vidane (police officer) must be informed, too, that he may make inquiries as regards the intended site of the gem pit. If the site belongs to the government, permission will not be granted. These inquiries naturally cannot be rushed, the usual period extending from two to three months. The gem mining business is carried on mainly by the Singhalese.

Once the application has been passed the applicant consults an astrologer as to the time most auspicious for the opening ceremony. The method of choosing the site is not done in a scientific manner. Usually the site is chosen near a spot which has been well known to produce gems, and a trial is first made by digging a small section of the ground. An experienced man can always tell whether the site is workable, usually by the presence of gem-bearing rock known as "Thiruvana" in Singhalese. Before work is started, prayers and offerings are given to the "Powers That Be" beseeching success in the undertaking. This ceremony is performed on the site. The first spade of gravel is turned by the owner of the gem pit and then the miners start to work on it. These miners are enrolled from the ranks of the villagers of that district, who, of course, have a wide experience in this type of work.

As regards the shares, the majority belong to the owner, the remainder being divided among the miners. The value of the shares depends on the quality as well as the quantity of the stones found. The owner sometimes furnishes food, but this usually is supplied by the miners themselves. In the case when the owner pays for the meals, the miner returns half of his share. This system is called in Singhalese "karu howl," karu meaning laborer or workmen, and howl meaning a share. Sometimes the owner spends hundreds of rupees and does not get anything in return.

Looking down 25 meters into a gem shaft. (Photo: Gerhard Becker)

The pit is usually dug about four feet square and three to six feet deep, making room for two or three miners to work. This type is dug only if the gem-bearing gravel is found near the surface. On the other hand, the gravel may be found deep down, and if this be the case the pits are dug about six feet square and ten to twenty feet deep, or perhaps even more. If the soil be loosely packed, especially in deep pits, a scaffolding is erected inside the pit to prevent the soil from sliding in. This precaution must be taken, as very serious accidents have occurred. If a number of pits be found close together, tunnels are construded connecting them together. One disadvantage of a deep pit is that water gushes in due to the tapping of hidden springs. This water is bailed out by an especially constructed winch, a number of buckets being attached to the connecting rope. The miners go on digging until they encounter either a blackish rock called "ralu ratta" or a rocky gravel of whitish color called "thiruvana." This is an indication to the miner that the next layer must contain gems. This layer is called "illam." If after the illam they come to a layer of clay, called "malawa," they do not dig any further.

The illam is the most important layer and is broken up by the miners who use an iron rod called the "illam kura." The miners usually wear only a loincloth, and a handkerchief is tied tightly around the head, the handkerchief being used to prevent the debris getting amongst the hair. One feels sorry for the miners, for their work is hard; at the end of the day's labor they are covered from head to foot with mud. But they are a happy-go-lucky crowd and may often be heard singing while they work.

The gravel is brought to the surface in baskets and collected in an adjacent spot. When no more illam is obtainable the owner chooses an auspicious day for the washing and sorting. Until this time the heap of gravel is covered with leaves and well guarded. The usual custom on that day is to prepare "milk rice" (rice boiled with coconut milk) which is eaten on the spot just before the gravel is washed. If the pit be near a river, the gravel is transferred to the bank, where it is washed. When there is no river close by, a trench is cut near the dumped material and filled with water, the gravel being washed in this trench in large baskets. During the washing process the owner is always on the spot as the miners sometimes cannot resist the temptation to hide a good stone. As the gems are heavier than the gravel they remain at the bottom of the baskets and the sediment is washed away. The rough stones are then given to the owner, who decides with the miners whether the stones are to be auctioned or sold to a gem merchant. The money obtained from this transaction is then divided, the owner taking his share and the rest being divided as previously arranged.

"Gemming" a river. Disturbing the gravels with poles causes waste to float away, leaving gems to be gathered from river bed. (Photo: Edward Gübelin)

When gems are found in streams the procedure is slightly different. A dam is constructed across the stream leaving a space in the middle of about five feet, in front of which a wooden log is fixed. The water rushes over this log and the miners standing in front with long-handled "mamoties" drag the gravel toward them. The sand is washed away and the illam is collected in the trough. As soon as the illam is noticed the miners either dive down with baskets and collect the illam or continue using their mamoties to remove it. The washing is, of course, done on the spot. [back to top]

— End September Newsletter • Published 9/16/14 —