Bill Larson to Present at Dallas Symposium:
August 25, 2012

The theme of this year’s symposium is “Expeditions to Bring Out Mineral Specimens from Around the World.” Pala’s Bill Larson will present on “Burma’s Ancient Valley of Gems and Rubies,” regarding travels to the source in Mogok. Herb Obodda will discuss “Dangerous Beauty: Minerals of the Hindu Kush,” regarding the opening of Afghanistan and Pakistan for mineral specimens, 1969–present. Mineral cleaning and preparation technology will be handled by Jon Voelter. Rock Currier will look at “Exploring the Mines of Dal’negorsk, Siberia,” and Les Presmyk will discuss “Bisbee, Arizona: History, Significance and Treasures.”

Two sessions will address “Science for the Collector.” Dr. David London, of the University of Oklahoma, will speak on “Gem-Forming Pegmatites: How Nature Makes Big, Clear Crystals.” Dr. Peter Megaw, president of IMDEX/Cascabel, will present on “Formation of Open Pockets of Collectible Crystals in Carbonate Replacement Deposits – Tsumeb , Dal’negorsk and Milpillas.”

Seating is limited, so see the symposium website for details. It will be held at the Edwin L. Cox School of Business on the campus of Southern Methodist University. An evening gallery event will be hosted by The Arkenstone.

Last year’s symposium featured luminaries from seven institutions from across the country. It’s available from BlueCap Productions. To receive a 10% discount, just enter the code  palaintl when you’re asked for it while ordering. What’s Hot In Tucson 2012 and What’s Hot In Munich 2011 also are available. Click images below for more info.

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Intergem Bullish re 2012 Show

The 28th Intergem show will be held October 5–8 in Idar-Oberstein, Germany. A pre-show press release claims expectations that the show should be “excellent… since the gemstone market has strongly recovered.” Local dealer Constantin Wild was quoted: “Coloured gemstones are becoming rarer each day, selling stones is easier than buying at the moment.” Blamed for the shortage is the closure of mines and cessation of exploration during the economic crisis.

(Photo: Herbert Piel, PIELmedia, courtesy of Intergem)

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World of Gems Conference III: October 13–14, 2012

It’s time again for the third biennial World of Gems Conference, to be held October 13–14 at the Intercontinental O’Hare hotel in the Chicago area. The conference is hosted by Gemworld International, publisher of the gem-pricing authority, The Gem Guide.

Slated topics include corundum treatment levels, padparadscha sapphire, gemological qualities of garnet, gemstone nomenclature and more. Presenters include Christopher Smith, John Emmett, Shane McClure, Brendan Laurs, Alan Hodgkinson, Jack Ogden, Mary Johnson, Gary Roskin, Richard Drucker, Stuart Robertson and Cigdem Lule.

Speakers 2008, L–R: John Koivula, Dr. James Shigley, Hpone-Phyo K. Nyunt, Paul Shannon, Dr. Lore Kiefert, Robert Kane, Richard Drucker, Gina Latendresse, Eric Braunwart, Christopher Smith, Ron Ringsrud, Gary Roskin and Stuart Robertson. (Photo: Elise Skalwold; see her report from the 2008 conference)

Post-conference books containing the proceedings for both 2008 and 2010 are available on the conference home page. [back to top]

Pala’s Featured Stones: Azurite-Malachite

This month we feature some colorful free-form cabochons with a mix of azurite and malachite. This material was mined pre-1960s from Bisbee, Arizona, and purchased years ago by Pala International as specimens, then cut more recently by Bud Standley. Similar specimens have been mined in Morenci, AZ, and more recently at the Milpillas Mine in Sonora, Mexico.

Azurite-Malachite. Various shapes and sizes. For reference the bullet shaped stone at lower right is 11 ct, 18.66 x 14 x 5.11 mm, Inventory #16149. Click to enlarge. (Photo: Wimon Manorotkul)

The material features intricate flow and growth patterns, bands of alternating dark and light blues and greens. And brilliant cornflower to cobalt-blue azurite showing some bullseye patterns left after botriyoidal formations have been cross-cut and polished. Then, as if bubbling right out of the blue, radiating bands of malachite create an exquisite contrast. Two copper minerals are blended together to make a truly unique and beautiful gem.

Pala International has an extensive selection of azurite and malachite in specimens, rough, cabochons and free-form.

Interested? Call or email us to inquire. [back to top]

Research Roundup

SSEF Brings GemExplorer to the Web

SSEF, the Swiss Gemmological Institute, which last year introduced its GemExplorer iPhone app, has now taken it to the World Wide Web. You can browse by type of gemstone or continent. You can mouseover virtual push-pins on a world map to get locality/gemstone and mine information. Visit the GemExplorer website.

GIT: Glass Haüyne and Treated Sapphire

This lovely 1.04-carat haüyne is in a size more commonly seen for such a rare variety. Inventory #17308. (Photo: Mia Dixon)

The Gem and Jewelry Institute of Thailand (GIT) issued two recent reports. “The Artificial Blue Glass Sold as Rare Gemstone ‘Haüyne’” concerns two sky-blue gemstones sold as haüyne. The mixed cut stone weighed 6.11 carats—pretty hefty for a stone that usually weighs in at less than a carat.

Physical inspection was inconclusive, and actually pointed towards haüyne, but Raman spectra left no doubt that the material was artificial glass with some interesting characteristics, outlined in the report.

Earlier this year, two other blue stones came into the lab, claiming to be heat-treated sapphires. This time physical inspection revealed telltale signs of glass filler, including color concentrations, unhealed fractures, bubbles and yellow/blue/pink flash effect. Unfortunately, the stones were sold as being only “conventionally or traditionally heated.” Read the report, “Blue Dyed and Clarity Modified Sapphire with Cobalt+Lead-Glass Filler in Fractures and Cavities.”

GemExpert on Jambolite

Prof. H. A. Hänni, who along with Prof. Johannes Hunziker make up the consulting firm GemExpert, has archived some of his gemological writing on the firm’s website. While at SSEF in 2008, Dr. Hänni produced a report on jambolite from Tanzania, which caught our eye. The blue areas of the unidentified material resembled lapis lazuli; green areas resembled chrysocolla. Fractures and cleavage planes, under weak magnification, indicated filler.

The material turned out to be natural but yet unnamed. Dr. Hänni: “Jambolite was proposed as a trade name, a welcome solution considering the complex mineralogical situation and the fact that there is no precedence of similar ornamental material already named.” Read “Jambolite - A natural impregnation of a rock by copper minerals.”

Journal of Gemmology: Emerald Fingerprinting and
Spinel from Tajikistan

Abstracts of two articles from Gem-A’s journal are available. D. P. Cronin and A. M. Rendle write on using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy to nondestructively determine geographical point of origin (GPO) in emerald samples from six distinct GPOs. It worked: the compositional diversity was readily apparent, thus suggesting individual GPOs.

The second article, by S. A. Ananyev and S. I. Konovalenko, looks at spinel from the Goron deposit, southwestern Pamirs, Tajikistan.

Four hues of pink spinel from Tajikistan. Click each image for details. (Photos clockwise from upper left: 1/4 Mia Dixon, 2/3 Wimon Manorotkul.)

Geminterest.com

The French website Geminterest.com has some material in English, and some of the French-language items are fairly easily transliterated. There are reprinted articles and brief reports called “FlashData” sheets. And you can always use a web translation tool like this.

This screenshot is taken from the translated “FlashData” PDF on conch pearl, from Geminterest.com.

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Diamonds

First, the markets…

Bloomberg TV’s Susan Li recently asked the question, “Are Diamonds Now an Investor’s Best Friend?” After looking at the poor performance over the last year of diamonds (down 20%) compared with the markets of gold, equities and property, she looked at a BMO Capital Markets projection of 3% rise in 2013 and 5–7% in 2014 onwards. She then spoke with Shlomo Tidhar, Acting CEO of the Singapore Diamond Exchange, who admitted that diamond liquidity for investors is in contrast to other markets, but the outlook remains bright for diamonds as an investment choice. See the video here.

GIA Senior Industry Analyst Russell Shor wrote last month, noting an 8% drop in diamond prices since April (per Harry Winston). He mentions that the Diamond Trading Company clients at the July sight were expected to defer at least 50% of their allocations, for as much as eight months. June’s deferment was perhaps as large. Shor discusses other details of the market as well.

CNBC: “Diamond Rush”

Later this month, in its “Diamond Rush” documentary CNBC travels to Botswana and DeBeers’s “crown jewel” diamond mine (that would be Jwaneng) before heading off to Las Vegas and the jewelry show there. Next, the Diamond Dealers Club on New York’s 47th Street allows cameras in for the first time. Rounding out this tour is a visit to Arkansas. The Crater of Diamonds State Park, in southwestern Arkansas, has a multi-acre prospecting area, which has brought diamondista Glenn Worthington of Murfreesboro some stunning successes.

It has risen! Glenn Worthington unearthed the “Easter Sunrise Diamond” just before shutting down for the holiday weekend. He and his wife Cindy don’t plan to cut it. (Photo: Glenn Worthington)

On April 9, 2009, Worthington found the 2.04-carat yellow diamond pictured above, which Worthington, a devout Christian, named the “Easter Sunrise Diamond.” It was, truth be told, found on Maundy Thursday, but who can quibble when you’re in possession of a beauty like that? It is the second largest he has found.

The largest diamond uncovered by Worthington in about 32 years of searching came less than a year later, on February 18—and, no, it was not dubbed the “Presidents Day Diamond.” The color and shape lent itself to be known as the “Brown Rice Diamond.” But once faceted, at 1.21 carats it sparkled.

Sans bran. The “Brown Rice Diamond” at left is shown in its faceted state, next to the “Easter Sunrise Diamond.” (Photo: Glenn Worthington)

See “Crater News” for more photos of these and other diamonds, and for much detail on their discovery. Worthington tells us that he updates his Facebook page every day with news of the new finds. See also Wikipedia for a list of notable diamonds found at the site. [back to top]

F+W Media Acquires Interweave

Former print publisher F+W Media, which moved into the new media arena, has acquired the parent company of Interweave, publisher of Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist, and 15 other jewelry and craft magazines. The magazine now will have access to the new owner’s 20+ e-commerce stores and other plans in the works, according to a July 31 press release.

Interweave was the publisher of Colored Stone before its demise in 2010. A searchable CD archive of the 2009–2010 editions is still available at a reduced rate. [back to top]

Dr. Shah’s Gem & Jewelry Stamp Museum

Jewelled insignia of the Order of the Golden Fleece, 1730, housed in Dresden’s Grünes Gewölbe (Green Vault), repository of more than 4,000 items of treasure. (Image courtesy Dr. R. Shah)

Late last month, Dr. Rajnikant Shah unveiled a virtual museum devoted to postage stamps of gemstones, minerals, jewelry, clocks, coins, and gold and silver. The museum database has over 10,000 items. Visitors can easily filter down to an area of particular interest. A search function also is available.

According to the website, Dr. Shah began collecting at school in Jaipur, India, in the year of the country’s independence, 1947. The first stamps came from his parents, who lived in Burma. Thirty years later, he found himself in the United States in his family’s profession: gemstones. The travel that the business required gave him access to stamps from a variety of countries. In his choice of philatelic themes, he brought together his hobby with his profession.

Visit Dr. Shah’s Gem & Jewelry Stamp Museum here.

From Brazil, this meter-marked first day cover features stamps depicting alexandrite, cat’s eye chrysoberyl and indicolite. (Image courtesy Dr. R. Shah)

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Wikiwars

Distance learning institution ISG gets the yank…

G&G

Every once in a great while you run across a Wikipedia entry in dispute. Take Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, the late Indian guru whose mashup of ancient traditions drew devotees in droves. A recently screened 2010 documentary, Guru: Bhagwan, His Secretary & His Bodyguard, lays out in detail how otherwise spirit-loving people became ideologically driven to steamroll all resistance to the guru and his colony in Oregon, prior to his deportation.

But even the deceased and discredited can maintain devotees. On Wikipedia we expected to see a struggle between the Bhagwan’s faithful few and naysayers, with Wikipedia’s referees in the middle. While the 30-page Rajneesh entry has a lot of behind-the-scenes discussion and debate, there’s little sign of turmoil.

Not so for a gemology-related entry that was terminally turmoiled—and we’re not talking about andesine (the entry for which is plain sleepy), but there is a connection. Last week, gemologist Robert James, who has devoted three websites to the red andesine controversy, had the Wikipedia entry pulled for his San Antonio-based International School of Gemology (ISG). The page experienced so many edits, both by critics and ISG partisans, that it was dropped by Wikipedia gatekeepers.

We visited the ISG entry a few days prior to its demise (see cached version here). First, you have to look past three color-coded warnings (à la Homeland Security Advisory System). Quite a bit of fuss for a distance learning institution.

• Red: article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedia’s deletion policy
• Orange: The neutrality of this article is disputed
• Orange: This article’s references may not meet Wikipedia’s guidelines for reliable sources

Moving on, the introduction explains that the school was founded by James in 2004 and that it had its roots in Gem-A before going it alone. Next, a section titled Controversy contains two items, but without any introductory context regarding the controversy, which would baffle some readers. The first item refers to a June 2009 critique by Dr. Joel Arem in Colored Stone of James’s take on diffusion versus dyeing. Second, citation of a review of 2012 Jewelers Guide to Treated & Created Gems, issued by the World Gem Society (WGS), but omitting that WGS is a late-2011 adjunct to ISG. (Elsewhere, James pointed out that the review’s author, Jeffrey Bergman, actually was a “competitor,” given his status as VP of the similarly-named International Gem Society, founded in 1998.) Again, with no context for WGS’s inclusion in the ISG entry, the uninitiated visitor is left feeling like something was missing. We decided to take a look under the hood, beginning with History, which documented the hundreds of edits the page had endured.

The page was created on May 3, 2007 by “Robert The Jeweler.” While there are myriad jewelers named Robert, it’s of interest that, regardless of identity, the impression is that it was James himself who authored the page. This is notable because one of the Wikipedia no-no’s is self-promotion, while at the same time the Wikipedia community values notions like “Ignore all rules.”

Leaving aside the issue of who was doing the promoting, the 5/3/07 version was very brief, stating among other things that the school was a member of AGTA and Polygon. In September 2009, James announced that ISG was leaving Polygon due to an unnamed fraud concern, but the school website speaks of membership currently. The same can’t be said for AGTA, with that bridge burned well before October 2009 when James called the AGTA’s Tucson GemFair “the ghost town of the Tucson Gem Shows” following CEO Doug Hucker’s call for a convention center upgrade. What wasn’t a ghost town was the ISG student body on 5/3/07: 1200 students from 51 countries. (In the ISG forum’s articles section, we counted the names of 129 students who were given diplomas and/or certificates between March 16, 2011 and the same date in 2012.)

In late August of 2007, ISG courses were added to the entry, complete with tuition fees. A year later, an editor IDed the school as being a United Kingdom university, presumably due to the Gem-A reference. December 2008 saw the first mention of andesine, in reference to a September 2008 Colored Stone article on ISG’s report of copper diffusion of andesine. (James contends to the present day that sources of natural red andesine in China do not exist, and that all visited localities of production have been “salted,” a ruse, he says, that producers have had years during which to accomplish prior to visits.)

That’s as far as we got before the ISG page and most of the documentation was removed on July 8. The reason proposed for the deletion, and then adopted: “No reliable sources can be found. Article is being used as a WP:COATRACK to attack the subject.” In other words, the subject of ISG (coat rack) was being obscured by edits (coats, hats) made by James’s critics, who often cited online forums, which the gatekeepers considered off-limits as supporting documentation. During the last days of the page, on June 14, James took Wikipedia itself to task, stating that the website and its operation pose a threat to the Internet. James claimed that prior to the edits, the page was written by ISG graduates. He then pointed to instances on Wikipedia of cyber-bullying and malicious code. Finally, he mentioned that some critics fear that Wikipedia, by its nature of editability, is inherently unstable and unrestricted.

YourGemologist.com

Apart from the Wikipedia entry, James uses several venues to advance his own critiques, that of andesine being only one. They are listed on his home page. And they have irked some in the gemological community perhaps in the same way as when a youthful Richard W. Hughes took industry conventions to task years ago. (Some may recall the 1987 International Gemmological Conference in Brazil where Hughes declared that the future challenge would lie not in identifying synthetics, but rather in separating natural from treated stones, a then-radical notion that was resisted by one elder as not conforming with the CIBJO rules of the day, which required no such disclosure for “traditional” treatments like heating sapphire.) Whether James’s assertions will stand the test of time, or he has the prospect of producing a Ruby & Sapphire, is another matter.

YourGemmologist.con

On June 19, not long before the demise of the ISG Wikipedia page, we received “An Open Letter to Members of the World Gem Society” from The Gobsmacked Gang, “a large group of respected gemologists and dealers on three continents dedicated to gemological integrity and full disclosure of all treatments.” Fearing retaliatory cyber-bullying by James, they remain anonymous, but in a postscript to his June 20 reply, James lashed out at gemologist “Richard W. Hughes and your ‘Group,’” whom he suspects to be behind The Gobsmacked Gang.

The open letter boldly asks WGS members to cancel their memberships. (James, in turn, followed up ten days later with an email welcoming 21 new members.) The letter points to a new website that has begun the task of countering James’s assertions. While the open letter is dryly straightforward, with perhaps the hint of a wink, the website is over the top with in-jokes that will leave James’s detractors in chuckles if not stitches, his minions less mirthful, and the rest looking for clues. Regardless, there are enough links on both these websites for weaders—er, readers—to be brought into the loop. [back to top]

Colombia 1 B.C.E. (Before Carranza Expires)

Al Jazeera looks at the emerald trade at the end of an era

Emerald miner Victor Carranza emerged from the emerald wars of the 1980s as the victor, whether by default or otherwise. At the end of the decade he ingeniously enlisted the aid of the Roman Catholic Church to negotiate a peace that has maintained for the most part, despite his 1998 arrest and imprisonment for retaining a paramilitary army (and later released by the Supreme Court), a 2010 assassination attempt, and allegations this year that once again he financed militias in the 1990s. The investigations likely will be futile: Carranza has been diagnosed with cancer of both the prostate and lungs and acknowledges that his condition is terminal.

Peruvian journalist Fernando Lucena, based in London, has produced a short documentary that includes what may be the last interviews with Carranza. It’s a portrayal of an industry at the brink of a power vacuum that could send the mining region back in time thirty years. It’s worth watching for the humor that Carranza still is able to generate, the segments of luscious emerald and also for the above- and below-ground footage of the mining method.

Watch Colombia’s Emerald Tzar on Al Jazeera here. It’s from the “People and Power” series.

War and Peace

This 2.16-carat Colombian emerald (now sold) has received a common oil/resin treatment. For a discussion of how this enhancement is received in China, with nasty consequences, see Ronald Ringsrud’s emerald news. (Photo: Mia Dixon)

On July 2, under the title “Veinte años de paz en las minas verdes” (Twenty years of peace in the green mines), we expected to read yet another deathbed durge for both Carranza and tranquility. Colombia’s daily El Espectador instead wrote of the reappearance in late June of Carranza in Otanche, in western Boyacá, home of the emerald mines. With pre-dawn fireworks and music, the entire town was celebrating the 20th anniversary of the peace deal, “a process led by the Church, which was attended by the State,” according to this Google translation. In addition to don Victor Carranza, three other dones were in attendance, but there was no question as to who was “el zar de zares.” Carranza briefly spoke.

Twenty years ago we began the task of ending the violence that generates nothing but more violence. A few did and now the process is all over western Boyacá. Colombia should imitate us.

After he left, local authorities proposed that a secretariat for peace be created for the western part of the Department of Bocayá.

Pala’s Carranza Connection

Pala International has owned and sold some of the world’s finest mineral specimens. As president Bill Larson likes to muse there are no absolute criteria for what is the finest, but often a piece comes along that is certainly revered. One such is the Yamile emerald specimen. Found in the Muzo mine and named for Victor Carranza’s youngest daughter, it is now in the collection of businesswoman and philanthropist Lyda Hill, perhaps destined to grace the hall of minerals in the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science. (A merger of three Dallas museums, including the MNS, will result in a new museum, opening in January, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science.)

Two views of the Yamile emerald mineral specimen. Above, photographed by Rodrigo Moncada from his Colombian Jewelry – History & Art. Below, photographed by Harold and Erica Van pelt, from Thompson’s Ikons.

Pala’s involvement began with Bill Larson being shown the piece in Munich in the late 1990s. The price at that time was in the multi-millions of dollars. The interesting part for Larson was not only the two large, superb colored emerald crystals typical of Muzo, but also that the mineral specimen had been carefully removed from a pocket so that it retained perfect, large, beautiful twinned calcite crystals. Pala followed the specimen until it resurfaced a few years later, at a considerably reduced price. This time the piece was in possession of an emerald dealer who had supplied cut emeralds to Pala for years. Larson suggested a unique situation: an offer of purchasing half and leaving Carranza with 50% ownership. This deal was approved and Larson called upon his long-time friend Wayne Thompson to purchase 25%. This he did. The emerald would later be featured on page 157 in Thompson’s now-famous book Ikons: Classics and Contemporary Masterpieces of Mineralogy.

Then-GIA president Bill Boyajian holds the Yamile emerald specimen. Upon seeing it, Boyajian told author-photographer Moncada that the Yamile was the finest such specimen he had seen in his life. (Photo: Rodrigo Moncada)

Pala cleaned the specimen and had several of the broken areas trimmed to near perfection. After holding the specimen for a year, Pala sold the piece to Fine Minerals International. The profit was split among the partners. Fine Minerals took the risk and trimmed away the few remaining flaws and then later sold the specimen to Lyda Hill. Hopefully the public will be able to visit this great memory of the Muzo mines and the legend of the Emerald Czar. [back to top]

Bowers Features Something Old, Something New(er)

We highlight two shows at Orange County’s Bowers Museum.

Sacred Gold

Residents of, and visitors to, Southern California have only two weeks left to see the Bowers Museum exhibition Sacred Gold: The Prehispanic Art of Colombia. The show goes colonial, however, with the adjunct display of the Atocha Cross, which was recovered from a 17th century Spanish galleon, Nuestra Señora de Atocha, that sunk near Key West, Florida.

Above, the Atocha Cross, featuring Colombian emeralds, which was destined for an important cleric or noble in Spain at the time of the galleon’s sinking in 1622. The reverse of the cross is decorated with engraved birds that likely were enhanced with enamel. Below, a necklace fashioned between 900 and 1600 C.E. The gold components resemble claws and were crafted using the lost wax process. The ruddy stones are unidentified. (Photos courtesy Bowers Museum)

Sacred Gold is on loan from the Museo de Oro, which is under the direction of Colombia’s central bank. In 1939, the bank began preservation efforts for the country’s archaeological treasures. More than 200 gold figures and ornaments are displayed in the show at the Bowers, which also includes ceramic funerary figures and stone tools. See a streaming video that includes the Atocha Cross and its elaborate chain, composed of gold discs, which were caps to beads that deteriorated in the saltwater.

Fabergé

If you postpone your visit to the Bowers until June 23, you can catch opening day of Fabergé: Imperial Jeweler to the Tsars. Peter Carl Fabergé was born in 1846 in St. Petersburg and began a four-year goldsmithing apprenticeship in 1861 with jeweler Joseph Friedman in Frankfurt am Main. During this time, he took in the masterworks of Europe’s artists and goldsmiths, returning to Russia to work for his father, Gustav. In 1870, Carl took over the family firm and studied with the firm’s master jewelers Peter Hiskias Pendin and August Hölmstrom. During this decade, the business worked on restoring and cataloging the holdings of the Hermitage. In 1885 Carl was appointed goldsmith to the imperial crown by Tsar Alexander III. It is then he created the first of his famous imperial eggs, commissioned by the tsar as an Easter present to his wife, Tsarina Maria Feodorovna.

The Nobel Ice Egg, was commissioned in 1913 or 1914 by its namesake, the Swedish industrialist, one of the few non-royal patrons to obtain such an objet d’art. Its jeweled and rimey exterior conceals its function as a presentation box—for the rock crystal and diamond pendant watch shown above. Such “ice jewels” designs found their way into other pieces that are included in the exhibition. Below is another presentation box, considered perhaps the finest, given by Tsar Nicholas II to French politician and statesman Leon Bourgeois, in 1902. The insignia, crafted in diamonds, is the tsar’s monogram. (Photo courtesy Bowers Museum)

Unlike other exhibitions of Fabergé works, the present one comes from a single collection, the McFerrin Collection, and is the first time it has been presented to the public. Pieces from the collection have been featured in publications and exhibitions for the past 60 years.

Egg-stravaganza at GIA

If the Fabergé display leaves you with a yen for yolks, continue making your way down the coast to Carlsbad. Master lapidarist Dieter Jerusalem offers, in Egg-stravaganza, 850 egg-shaped gems and minerals, which he collected and carved over four decades. Hailing from impressive localities around the globe, the artist employed cutting techniques he learned in Idar-Oberstein. Each egg is an exquisite 58 mm high, and some materials are from mines that now are closed or played out. For a tempting photo see Ranch & Coast. For more information see GIA. [back to top]

Sinkankas Symposium Papers Available

The tenth annual symposium in honor of John Sinkankas took place April 21 at the GIA (Gemological Institute of America) in Carlsbad, CA. The theme of the symposium was “Topaz.” Co-hosted by GIA and the San Diego Mineral and Gem Society, the event was attended by more than 125 people.

The printed papers presented at the symposium are now available for purchase from the symposium website. The specifications of the publication follow.

Photographs by Mia Dixon, John Koivula, Skip Simmons, Orasa Weldon and Robert Weldon

Table of Contents

• Acknowledgments 4
• Speaker and Author Biographies 5
• Papers –
• Dr. D.B. Hoover, The Historical Transmutation of Topaz 11
• Dr. Skip Simmons, Topaz Mineralogy 21
• Dr. James A. Shigley, Topaz Geology and Localities 31
• John Sinkankas, TOPAZ From Gemstones of North America 41
• John Koivula, The MicroWorld of Topaz 55
• Si and Ann Frazier, Topaz Words and Their Surrogates 63

Availability: April 21, 2012
Cost: USD $20.00 + shipping (varies according to shipping options and destination)
Specifications: 8/5" x 11"; soft cover, 88p., 25 col. pl., 1 B&W pl., 9 diag. and tables

Apéritif, anyone? There’s nothing lovelier than the delicate sherry color of natural imperial topaz. At left, 5.48  tcw in a cushion-cut matched pair, Inv. #19880. At right, something a little larger: a 22.50-ct oval, Inv. #17513. (Photo: John McLean)

A brief recap of the symposium and speaker biographies are available at the website.

Still available are:

• Ninth Annual Sinkankas Symposium – Diamond, 2 Volumes
• The Birthday Book of Diamonds by Harold and Erica Van Pelt
• Eighth Annual Sinkankas Symposium – Gem Feldspars

See the website for tables of contents. [back to top]

InColor on Zoisite, Spinel

The recent Spring 2012 edition of InColor contains a fine follow-up to Thomas Hainschwang’s presentation on the problems of determining heat treatment in tanzanite given at the Gemstone Industry & Laboratory Conference (GILC) in February at Tucson. See “Zoisite – More than just Tanzanite” by Thomas Hainschwang and Frank Notari (GGTL Laboratories). (See also an overview of the presentation in this same issue on page 9.)

With their usual attention to detail and considerable finesse in explaining complicated gemological topics in a manner that is both clear and understandable to the lay reader, the authors give an overview of the gem varieties of zoisite. While most people are familiar with tanzanite, the blue/purple variety, many would be surprised to learn that zoisite is found in other beautiful gem-quality colors such as pink, green, yellow and orange. (See our featured stone for February.) The authors discuss treatment, pleochrosim and causation of color, pointing out that the latter natural colors react unfavorably to tampering. Look for more from these researchers in upcoming peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Another topic covered in the same edition is “Spinel and its Treatments: A Current Status Report” by Christopher Smith (archived at AGL). As Smith points out, spinel traditionally has been free of enhancement—until now. The article covers clarity enhancement as well as heat treatment at higher and lower temperatures. For an abstract of one aspect of treatment, see Shane McClure’s “The Identification of Heat Treated Spinels,” from the GILC website.

It’s a natural. This 6.26-carat unenhanced red spinel comes from Motombo, Tanzania. Inv. #20199. (Photo: Mia Dixon)

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Six Months Later, Christie’s Sets a New Ruby Record

Christie’s Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels set a record on May 29 with the sale of a 6.04-carat cushion-cut Burmese ruby ring, designed by Etcetera. The pre-sale estimate of $2.6 to $3.9 million already seemed to put it in record territory; it sold for over $3.3 million. The “pigeon’s blood” color, with great purity and saturation, together with a high degree of transparency, made this a rare offering. The buyer was an anonymous private Asian.

The world record was for price per carat ($551,000/ct) for a ruby at auction. The previous record had been set during Christie’s sale last December of Elizabeth Taylor’s collection: $512,924 per carat—and it had taken five years for the latter record to overtake its predecessor, “The Graff Ruby,” at just under $422,000 per carat.

The catalog entry, which features a photo of the ring, included a quote from Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (of the famous blue diamond): “When a ruby exceeds five carats, and is perfect, it is sold for whatever price is asked for it.”

There is life on Mars. A 12.04-ct fancy intense pink Type IIa round brilliant-cut diamond ring by Harry Winston. (Photo courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd. 2011)

At the same sale, a colored diamond set a record just by being offered. The “Martian Pink,” at 12.04 carats, is the largest fancy intense pink diamond ever to appear at auction. In 1976, owner Harry Winston sold the stone to an anonymous private collector, but not before naming it in honor of the U.S. launch of the first satellite mission to Mars. The Christie’s news release states that

There are only two known significant sized round pink diamonds in this world, namely the Williamson Pink—a 23.60-carat beautiful pink diamond that was presented to Queen Elizabeth II on the occasion of her wedding in 1947—and the present 12.04-carat pink stone.

The release goes on to note that this stone is pure in its pink: not a trace of a secondary color. Such a rare stone comes at a price, but unlike the ruby above, the sale price of about $17.5 million was nearly double the low end of the pre-sale estimate of $8.4 million.

And other diamond doings…

Another pink…

Namakwa Diamonds announced that the group had uncovered a rare 11.36-carat pink diamond along with a 44.47-carat diamond, both from its alluvial mine in South Africa’s North West Province, according to Proactive Investors (UK) (scroll down to see photo). In terms of rough per-carat value the two rank among the top five from the mine.

Graff plans $1 billion IPO, new Asia stores

Graff Diamonds Ltd. is planning a $1 billion initial public offering in Hong Kong and as well as opening five new stores in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Hong Kong, Macau and Tokyo, according to a summary by Bloomberg of the company’s filing with the HK stock exchange. The company will be taking advantage of China’s luxury goods spending slice of the global pie, at 20%. But challenges to the plan also are outlined in the story.

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Pala at Las Vegas – May 31 – June 4, 2012

It’s time to plan for the JCK Las Vegas show. Pala International will be there in force, with one of America’s largest selections of fine colored gems.

Note: The JCK Show this year will run Thursday through Monday. The AGTA Pavilion will open the same day.

When: May 31 – June 4, 2012
Where: South Pacific and Islander Ballrooms in the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV
Hours: AGTA Gemstone Section
   Thursday, May 31 thru Sunday, June 3:
      9:30 AM – 6:00 PM
   Monday, June 4: 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM
Booth: AGTA Pavilion, booth AGTA514

We look forward to seeing our many friends there. Visit the Pala International Show Schedule for future events.

The GemFair will present four Gemstones and Pearls education sessions, including “A Closer Look at Colombian Emeralds: Passion and Profitability” by Ron Ringsrud. Also slated are Richard B. Drucker on “Top 10 Industry Issues,” Doug Hucker on “Successful Steps to Selling More Color” and Adam Graham on hosting “Gemstone Roundtable Events.” See this schedule for the full list of education tracks. And this list of GIA Hands-on Workshops. [back to top]

CIBJO Congress to Feature “Tourmaline Day” May 19

CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation, will hold its third annual gemological mini-conference, “Tourmaline Day,” on May 19, during the 2012 CIBJO Congress and the international exhibition of gold, jewelry, silverware, watches and gemstones, VICENZAORO, both being held in Vicenza, Italy. In the CIBJO press release, Dr. Margherita Superchi, who originally conceived of the annual conference idea three years ago, stated,

while tourmaline is gaining rapid recognition among jewellery retailers and consumers alike, there is relatively little attention paid to its gemmological aspects. The officers of the Gemmological Commission and I saw this as a great opportunity to help change this and we are proud to have found a distinguished panel of experts to present a set of fascinating lectures.

Presentations will be made by the following, stressing an intercontinental approach.

• Tourmalines from the Americas – Brian Charles Cook, Consulting Exploration Geologist, Laguna Beach, CA, USA and Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
• Tourmalines from Africa – Menahem Sevdermish, President of European Gemological Center (EGC), Ramat Gan, Israel
• Trapiche Tourmalines from Zambia – Karl Schmetzer, Independent Scientist and Consultant, Petershausen, Germany
• Tourmalines from Australia – Francine Payette, Editor in Chief of The Australian Gemmologist, Perth, Western Australia
• Tourmalines from Asia and from Europe – Federico Pezzotta, Curator of Mineralogy, the Natural History Museum, Milan, Italy
• Tsilaisite as a new Tourmaline species – Eugenio Scandale, Deputy Rector and Professor of Mineralogy, University of Bari, Italy
• The Tourmaline family: nomenclature and treatment declarations by LMHC – Pornsawat Wathanakul, Academic Adviser, the Gem and Jewelry Institute of Thailand (GIT) and Chair of Mineral Sciences, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand

This uncredited photo accompanies CIBJO’s announcement of “Tourmaline Day,” May 19, at the 2012 Congress. The bi-color tourmaline acorn was cut by Meg Berry, winning an AGTA Cutting Edge award in 1995. It was photographed by Wimon Manorotkul and sold by Gabrièl Mattice to a private collector.

CIBJO Gemmological Commission to consider feldspar, ruby

A pre-Congress report, issued May 9, by the CIBJO Gemmological Commission, announced that likely topics for discussion this year will be

diffusion of feldspar, the glass filling of rubies and the positions taken by laboratories on these somewhat controversial topics, not only among gemmological laboratories, but within the trade as well. Some technical updates may help to clarify the current situation and to support harmonisation.

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Pala’s Featured Stones: Tanzanian Sunstone & Tanzanite

Tanzania has been a hot spot for many gem varieties lately. Ruby from Winza, spinel from Mahenge, prase opal from Mt. Iyobo, sunstone from Masai Boma, and of course tanzanite from Merelani. Along with Bill and Will Larson’s trip to the Arusha International Gem, Jewelry & Minerals Fair they were able to buy a few select things. This month we feature a wild sunstone and unusual tanzanite to be plucked from the Tanzanian soil recently.

Indigo blue tanzanite, 4.36 carats, 11.3 x 6.8 x 5.8 mm. (Photo: Mia Dixon)

Merelani has continued to produce the world’s only source of gem quality tanzanite. Many millions of carats have found their way into the markets around the world since the late 1970s, but it seems the deposit has taken a turn and has been producing some more unusual jewels. We definitely have seen finer crystals and specimens being preserved as well as a variety of colors produced. We featured an amazing purple-pink faceted tanzanite a couple months back and now we have an intense steely blue-green emerald-cut that demands a second look. In a group of tanzanite, this unusual color stood out and earned a place in the Pala inventory.

Tanzanian sunstone, 19.53 carats, 27.50 x 13.47 x 10.27 mm. Inventory #20200. (Photo: Mia Dixon)

The sunstone being produced out of Tanzania is very sporadic, with maybe a few kilos being unearthed occasionally. Most of the material seems to be heavily included and fractured. But every once in a while a large, fine stone like this one makes it out. This 19-carat marquise-cut beauty has a metallic copper sheen at first glance. Then, as you narrow in on the inclusions and start to rotate… the gem comes alive, throwing a full spectrum of colors from within.

See our previous featured Tanzanian sunstone here.

Interested? Call or email us to inquire. [back to top]

White Flames Anonymous

Matching flame patterns on pearls and shells

Editor’s Note: Last November, we looked at work being done by Biomineralix, an interdisciplinary network studying biogenic mineralization, and its application to natural pearls. This month, Ana Vasiliu, who contributed to that article, examines of pearl-to-host matchmaking.

Perhaps the best reason to look for the origin of pearls is curiosity. The classic method for this pursuit is finding a sufficient match between the pearl’s surface (skin) and a shell material. It does work, of course; done systematically, against the classic categories of shell fabrics—the interesting patterns of nanometer-scale crystalline units orderly packed in shell materials—pearl-to-host matchmaking is quite good enough. However, lists of shell materials do not show all that the partially understood mechanisms of mineralization deployed in shell growth can produce. [1] The odds of success might not be great for rebels; yet, intensely beautiful things frustrate pigeon-holing, their structure remaining difficult to name, beyond the repertoire of shells. Some are anonymous white-flame pearls.

Flame patterns on pearls run deeper than their exotic, translucent skin, as do structures responsible for the dance of light. [2] They have much to say about pearl growth, and the uncharted possibilities of their shell materials. It is unusual to see them unfolding throughout the body of a highly translucent pearl, however.

Play of light reveals a three-dimensional spiral. Fanning sprays of aragonite laths spiral along the axis of symmetry of the pearl, not unlike the seeds of a pine cone. As, at some intervals, the alignment of laths becomes sufficiently tight, the material turns into relatively reflective sheets—the 3-D pattern seen easily by back-lighting these pearls. There are no discernible concentric growth bands hindering the three-dimensional spiral from filling up the volume of the pearl. [3] The same pearl is at the right in the next set of pictures. Click above to enlarge. See also: front, side, side, back. (Pearl donated for study by Stephen Metzler. Photos: Ana Vasiliu)

On the surface of this pearl its building blocks can be seen at around 1000x magnification: laths (see caption above), no more than a couple of microns across and much thinner than wide. However, the internal arrangement is frustratingly inaccessible to all but destructive investigation. You’d have to destroy the pearl to see how the orientation, and perhaps variations in the size and shape of its building blocks, form the obvious pattern. If destroyed, would there be another like it? Perhaps no pearl is one of a kind in a significant way. There certainly are other examples close in appearance to the “pine cone” pearl above, and many more types of white, flamed pearls. However, the mineral fabric of such pearls delivers intriguing variations in the flame patterns—more so than one might expect from the tightly controlled patterns of shell materials.

Top down, the two “styles” of flame patterns appear closely related—the smaller pearl showing a stronger, bolder version of the larger pearl’s flame pattern. (Click to enlarge.) Turn them around (see view 2, view 3), and the story changes. (Photos: Ana Vasiliu)

And yet, it is anything but easy to give a reason for the variety of pearl flame patterns. What makes the difference may only be a footnote in the process of assembly manipulating the crystallographic texture of minute, precisely matched fibers and laths of aragonite into the mineral fabric of pearls. Flame patterns are a lucky shortcut to charting long-range order in these fabrics. Studies of the corresponding shell materials suggest which rule may have been broken to get a pine-cone pearl out of well-behaved shell assembly, but the step is over a large unknown. [4] Since shell materials synthesis is somewhere at the frontier of current research, the pine-cone-like structure throughout the smaller pearl (above right) is difficult to associate with any more-or-less-related shell.

The prominently visible striped flame on the other pearl (above left) is easier to recognize: some cross-lamellar bivalve shells contain layers reminiscent of this pearl’s skin. Any of the Tridacnids could provide closely matched structural analogues. [5] Interestingly, the pearl fits the makeup of the second of three distinct layers found in such Tridacnid shells. And just as interestingly, the succession of layers in the shell is apparently not a must for pearl-making in this Tridacnid and other species of natural pearls, judging by the samples received for study so far. The perfectly precise switch between shell layers is somewhat of a mystery, with a fairly long trail in the academic literature. The feat of secretory specialization in some pearl sacs, producing only one of the materials otherwise deployed in precise sequence in the shell, shows another side of this modus operandi.

Above: Scanning electron microscope image of the pearl at the left in the preceding photo. Bands are formed of tightly packed aragonite laths oriented at an approximately constant angle against the growth direction of the shell / pearl. From band to band, the laths dip in different directions. The SEM shot catches the sharp boundary between two such bands; in the lighter one laths dip away from the viewer. Below: Large, misaligned laths on another pearl with uneven mineral fabric and no flame pattern. The material resembles, if imprecisely, shell growth under environmental stress or shell repairs. [6]

The SEM shot above might give a sense of the odds against fine pearls forming by different rules than the shell they are coming from: flame patterns depend on finely tuned long-range order in the mineral fabric. Disorder—such as among these laths, gives a pearl body with no play of light.

Note: Pearls were provided by Stephen Metzler and another private collection. SEM shots were taken at the the Department of Stratigraphy and Paleontology, University of Granada, and Biogeosciences, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon.
_____

1. See “Long-term evolution of shell matrices and microstructures: The bivalve example” in Frederic Marin, Gilles Luquet, Benjamin Marie and Davorin Medakovic, Molluscan Shell Proteins: Primary Structure, Origin and Evolution, Current Topics in Developmental Biology, Vol. 80, 2007, p. 260 (abstract here). [back to text]

2. H. A. Hänni. Explaining the flame structure of non-nacreous pearls. Australian Gemmologist, Vol. 24, 2010 (abstract here). [back to text]

3. There are no discernible concentric growth bands hindering the three-dimensional spiral from filling up the volume of the pearl, but this should not be surprising: some shell materials do not show prominent growth bands either. For reference, see note 4 below. [back to text]

4. For a description of the correspondence between crystallographic texture and fabric of cross-lamellar shell materials see Rodriguez-Navarro et al., Crystallographic relationships in the cross-lamellar microstructure of the shell of the gastropod Conus marmoreus, in Acta Biomaterialia, 2012 (archived here); and Nouet et al., Crystallisation in organo-mineral micro-domains in the crossed-lamellar layer of Nerita undata (Gastropoda, Neritpsina), in Micron, 2011 (abstract here). For a discussion of diversity in organic matrix components and mineralization, see Marin at al. cited above (Note 1) and D. Chategner, C. Hedegaard, H.-R. Wenk, Mollusc shell microstructures and crystallographic textures, Journal of Structural Geology, June 2000 (archived here). [back to text]

5. A. Yu Min Lin, M.A. Meyers, K.S. Vecchio. Mechanical properties and structure of Strombus gigas, Tridacna gigas, Haliotis rufescens sea shells: A comparative study, Material Science and Engineering, 2006 (archived here). [back to text]

6. C.A. Belda, C. Cuff, D. Yellowlees. Modification of shell formation in the giant clam Tridacna gigas at elevated nutrient levels in sea water, Marine Biology, 1993 (abstract here). [back to text]

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Islands in the Sun (and Shade): Corundum “Rushes” in Gondwana

If you subscribe to AGTA’s ePrism or Gems & Gemology, you’ll have seen a report of a “sapphire rush” on a Sri Lankan farm near the pilgrimage destination of Kataragama, in the southeastern part of the island nation. And you’ll have gotten the news of a second “rush”—of ruby and sapphire—in another island nation, Madagascar, near Didy, a farming area in the northeastern part of the country. (See Figure 30 in the first report for an illustration of the supercontinent Gondwana from which the two large islands theoretically might have emerged.)

Farming for Sapphire in Kataragama, Sri Lanka

Authors Vincent Pardieu, Emily V. Dubinsky, Supharart Sangsawong and Boris Chauviré issued the 82-page Kataragama report via GIA Laboratory in Bangkok on May 2. Shamil and Armil Sammoon, of Sapphire Cutters Ltd. in Colombo, first alerted GIA to the new find in late February. Earlier that month, the sapphire deposit is said to have been discovered by road construction workers. The story is, mm…, colorfully told of a dumptruck-load of earth on the road becoming “blue with hundreds of sapphire crystals.” Within hours ten to thirty thousand people were on the scene, clogging roads. But the earth actually was from a nearby peanut and chili farm belonging to a 23-year-old Mr. Ranga; sidebars recount his own stories. The National Gem & Jewellery Authority (NGJA) visited the area surrounding Mr. Ranga’s farm, which finally was determined to be the source, and ownership was transferred from the Forest Conservation Department to the NGJA, to facilitate division into 50 small mining lots.

On the road. A young Sri Lankan girl presenting a small sapphire she found on the road construction site near Kataragama. (Photo: Vincent Pardieu / GIA laboratory in Bangkok, © GIA)

GIA Laboratory in Bangkok wasted no time in visiting. A team led by Pardieu arrived in the mining area on March 1, about the time when miners began to move onto their lots. The team’s visits to the mining site included following sapphire “hunters” who canvassed local houses looking for stones that might be worth buying. One can imagine the challenges regarding sanitation and machinery with 500 (mainly novice) miners populating 3.5 acres. And because the cleared land had no water resources, any promising soil had to be bagged, to be washed several kilometers away. Did Pardieu and crew have luck, in-situ? You’ll have to read the report to find out.

Several pages of the report are devoted to the geology of the deposit, with several more discussing field and market observations, nicely illustrated. Samples collected are then described, following study. The report concludes with a series of photomicrographs displaying the internal features of this new material. Access the full report here.

Giddy in Didy, Madagascar

Whereas the Kataragama study is comprehensive, the Didy report gives a high-level taste of a larger publication to come. Following the sale in April of fine blue sapphires in Didy by gold miners and lumberjacks, authors Vincent Pardieu, Nirina Rakotosaona, Marc Noverraz and Lou Pierre Bryl traveled to the area on April 18. Although the deposit was located in the Ankeniheny–Zahamena corridor, which made it off-limits to mining, thousands of Madagascar miners and Sri Lanka buyers overwhelmed government agents in the jungle mining area.

Orangy red. The roughly 3-gram ruby shown here, reportedly from the new deposit, was seen in Ambatondrazaka. (Photo: Vincent Pardieu / GIA laboratory in Bangkok, © GIA)

Rakotosaona, of the Société Minière du Cap Ltd. in nearby Antananarivo, the Malagasy capital, was able to avoid the ban on foreign visitors to the mining site, which teemed with between five and ten thousand people. The gem gravels were situated beside a stream, at a depth of less than one meter, as well as on the nearby hillside. Production included limpid blue sapphires, orangy pink sapphires and orangy red rubies—some with blue zones recalling material from Winza, Tanzania.

While in Didy and in the capital of the Alaotra-Mangoro region, Ambatondrazaka, the team saw several blue sapphires that were gem-worthy, weighing up to 4 grams, and were told of other fine crystals weighing up to 30 grams. They also were shown clean orangy red rubies up to 3 grams in weight, hearing of others weighing 5 grams. Samples obtained by GIA will be written up in the near future after study. (The present “teaser,” from which this information was taken, will become available to non-Gems & Gemology subscribers in the coming months here; for now, browse non-gemological photos from the expedition on Facebook.)

But wait; there’s more…

Pardieu also found time in March to “deal with some unfinished business” in Vietnam regarding blue spinels—part of a continuing, larger project dealing with rubies, spinels and pearls. This trip came after examining in the GIA Laboratory Bangkok two rough blue spinels obtained from a merchant in Vietnam’s northeastern district of Yen The in May 2009. The two highly saturated, vividly bright blue stones, upon inspection by GIA gemologist Sudarat Saeseaw, were determined to be a natural spinel and a tumbled synthetic. The source of the genuine spinel haunted Pardieu. Follow him and his colleagues on “Field Expedition 34: Vietnam Blue Spinels.” [back to top]

Record-Settings @ Christie’s

It’s been a month of record-setting at Christie’s. Yesterday’s Geneva Magnificent Jewels sale set two. A lovely sapphire and diamond brooch by Mellerio (lot 358, right) inched close to the price-per-carat achieved in New York last month (see “Two more…” below). The high-end presale estimate was $589,967, but it went for nearly six times that: almost $3.7 million—$77,500 per carat. It’s a record price per carat for a Burmese sapphire at auction. Laurence Graff was the buyer.

A 33.07-carat Kashmir sapphire ring (362) was to have brought in as much as $3.1 million, but didn’t sell.

An antique Indian emerald turban ornament, or sarpech, (369), which had an upper estimate of $1 million, went for $4.7 million to an anonymous bidder, after a “10-minute bidding war in the saleroom between two determined bidders,” according to Christie’s. That set a record, too, for an Indian sarpech at auction.

The top earner was a pair of Harry Winston diamond ear pendants (444), realizing $4.1 million, slightly above the high-end presale estimate. A diamond and colored diamond flower brooch was sold within its estimate range, at nearly $3 million. An emerald and diamond ring (197) sold for nearly nine times its high-end presale estimate.

On Monday, May 14, Christie’s offered The Hope Ruby, a 32.08-carat cushion-cut Burma ruby ring, pictured at left below as part of the charitable auction, Jewels for Hope: The Collection of Mrs. Lily Safra. Based on the action at last month’s sale in New York (see below), more record-setting was not unexpected. Thus The Hope went for far higher than its high-end presale estimate of $5 million, selling for $210,000 per carat—$6.7 million total—a world record for a ruby at auction. The ring had been in the collection of Luz Mila Patiño, Countess du Boisrouvray, whose daughter Albina du Boisrouvray is herself a philanthropist. In 1989, to fund her charity, Albina sold her jewelry collection, including (the then unnamed) The Hope, for $31.2 million at Sotheby’s New York—at the time a U.S. record for a single-owner sale. (The story of her twenty years of charitable work in Burma was told on March 17 in The Guardian.)

Couleurs du drapeau. Three French settings frame the colors of the French flag. Left, is The Hope Ruby, designed by Chaumet, whose founder, Marie-Etienne Nitot, was Napoleon’s jeweler. Center, a potentially flawless 34.05-carat diamond, with a French platinum mark, hammer price $5.1 million. Right, a 31.21-carat Burma sapphire and diamond ring, in a setting by Boucheron, the first jeweler to move to Paris’s Place Vendôme. It fetched $676,588, or 25% more than the high-end presale estimate. (Photos: Christie’s press releases)

The buyer of The Hope Ruby, which received its name from the title of the sale, was Amer Radwan of Dubai’s Radwan Diamond and Jewelry Trading. (Amer Radwan also picked up an important diamond necklace at the Sotheby’s sale, also in Geneva, naming it the “Dubai Vision.”) The entire sale set another record: world record total for a jewelry charity auction. The proceeds were to have been given to twenty charities, but twelve more have been added due to the nearly $39 million raised by the donor (see list here).

Two more…

Two records were set during Christie’s New York Magnificent Jewels sale on April 17.

The Clark Pink, a 9-carat cushion-cut fancy vivid purplish pink diamond ring sold at $1.751 million per carat, more than doubling the high end of its presale estimate. Buyer Brett Stettner of Stettner Investment Diamonds told JCK he would have paid “far more.” Even so, the Clark Pink, to be renamed the Clark Grenald Stettner Pink (in honor of Stettner’s grandfather), becomes the most valuable pink diamond ever sold in the U.S. at auction.

The diamond was part of the estate of Huguette M. Clark, which Rahul Kadakia, head of jewelry for Christie’s Americas, called “the second most valuable private collection sold in the United States in the last decade, just behind the legendary jewels of Elizabeth Taylor.” With a presale estimate estimate of $9 million, the collection brought in $20.8 million.

A 31.53-carat sugarloaf Kashmir cabochon blue sapphire ring—not from the Clark collection—quintupled its estimate, selling for $84,300 per carat—the world auction record for a cabochon Kashmir sapphire.

And at Sotheby’s

Marie de Medici in coronation dress, portrayed by Frans Pourbus the Younger.

Also in Geneva this week, Sotheby’s offered a hotly contested 34.98-carat diamond—the Beau Sancy—with a high-end estimate of $4 million. This stone has a story, and to tell it the auction house catalog devotes two dozen paragraphs between three writers. According to David Bennett, the stone was cut in the late 1500s, but in a way that was innovative for the time. Because of diamond’s hardness, making it difficult to cut, the Beau Sancy was among “the first attempts to liberate the ‘fire’ inherent in the stone—a property of diamond so familiar and so admired today.” Bennett declares that this particular diamond is sui generis: not before nor since has a precious stone allowed light to enter, reflect and disperse like the Beau Sancy. So the stone—once the property of Marie de Medici who wore it at her coronation—had five bidders upping the ante, according to AP. It sold to an anonymous party for $9.7 million. [back to top]