| Galatea's
DavinChi Cut™ Turns Gemstone Design on Its Head
By putting the pavilion on top and the table on the bottom Chi Huynh
gets special optical and coloration effects.
The Ironmaster's
Gem: Jeweler Larry Bruno recycles lowly slag into a lovely new stone
When Larry Bruno built his new store across from picturesque Springfield
Falls in western Pennsylvania, he knew he had lucked out. His store would become
a destination for romantic couples seeking diamonds and a chance for a photo next
to the falls. What he didn’t bargain for, but has since come to love, is
the 19th century iron furnace ruin that’s sited next to the falls and just
under the cliff on which his store sits.
 Corralling
Coral: On the Endangered Species List?
At least six different kinds of jewelry coral (corallium) will be added
to the ever-growing CITES list of endangered species in March 2010 when this maritime
flora and fauna watchdog group-- composed of representatives from 178 nations--meets.
Does coral need restricted harvesting and trade? Or is this going overboard?
 2009
Emmy Jewelry: Steppin' Out with My Baubles
Since most Hollywood divas can’t leave home without jewelry, colored
stones—most on ears, wrists and finger—stole their fair share of scenes
at the 61st Prime Time Emmys.
Mission Possible:
Slashing Prices with No Loss in Markup or Margins
Lisa Brooks-Pike has learned how to be a non-traditional jeweler who
can sell traditional jewelry by re-inventing it. And sells most of her jewelry
for under $500. She shares her method in this insightful article.
Jewelry
Management Software: Building An Information Foundation for Success
Building a customer data base is an ingenious pyramid scheme that contributes
to survival in hard times and leads to success in good ones. Here’s a profile
of one such data-base builder called the Edge and a happy, born-again user.
The C1-C7
Grading System for Diamonds and Zircons
The C1-to-C7 color grading system developed for champagne diamonds works
equally well with zircons and any other colored stone known for champagne colors
and earth tones.
The Argyle Tenders:
Diamond Rhapsodies in Blue, Purple, Brown, Pink and Red
When in 1983 fabulous purplish-pink diamonds from Rio Tinto Zinc’s
Argyle Mine in Western Australia started trickling on to the market, few realized
that the company would make popularization of fancy color diamonds one of its
main missions. The success of that mission has written a new, momentous entirely
unexpected chapter of diamond history.
More Blue, Less Provenance:
Recutting the Wittelsbach
The entire gem world is reacting to rumors of imminent recutting of the
famous Wittelsbach diamond by its new owner Laurence Graf as if this gem’s
survival in its current form were as important as the survival of the spotted
owl or snow leopard.
Apache Peridot:
Land of Spirit, Land of Stone
Sometimes you encounter a place where the hand of the Creator is evident
in a dramatic way. The San Carlos Apache Nation is such a place. The story of
its famous gemstones is the story of a people who are intrinsically bound to the
land and its elements.
Kenya's
New Double-Barrel Color-Change Garnet
Kenya’s
new color-change garnet performs miracles in different lighting environments.
In fluorescent light, it looks the bluest any garnet has ever looked; in incandescent
light, you’d swear it was a very fine alexandrite.
Pixel Perfect:
Editing Your Show Photos with Freeware and other Software
So you've gotten back from Las Vegas with tons of digital gem pictures and you
want to put the best results on-line. There's just one problem: images that may
be good enough to show your staffers are not good enough to show customers. Here's
how to get from flawed to flawless.
New Gemstone
Treatments: A Coming Crisis
An abridged version of this article by Joel Arem appeared in the May-June 2009
issue of Colored Stone under the title “Ending Diffusion Confusion.”
This is the full version of the scientific paper from which that condensation
was made using its original title.
Follow the Yellow
Brick Road: Gold Liquidation
Continuing our series "Gold Fever" GemMail presents the story
of Michael Shields who has turned from dealing in second-hand diamonds, jewelry
and watches to dealing primarily in gold--and is doing ten times the business
since the switch.
Chrysoprase
Chalcedony: Marlborough District,
Queensland, Australia
Chrysoprase is a form of green cryptocrystalline quartz referred to as chalcedony
or chalcedonic quartz. Chrysoprase chalcedony is highly prized in the Asian market
and among gemologists worldwide.
Sunstone
Hunting in Tibet
It was to have been the scoop of a lifetime—being the first reporter to
visit Tibet’s new, much-ballyhooed andesine mine. There was only one problem:
No one in Tibet had ever seen or even heard of it.
From
Cropland to Outcropping: Vietnamese Pink Tourmaline
As soon as gem trekker Dudley Blauwet saw the dozens of motorbikes parked in the
corn field at Khai Trung, Vietnam, he knew the locals had switched from farming
to gem mining--in this case, pink tourmaline.
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