Gemscentric

Written by Julian Robov


Thirty Eight


At nine o’clock, Rudy, James, Gary, Toni and Bill finished dinner at the Rembrandt hotel on Sukhumvit Road. They unanimously decided to continue their meeting at Rudy’s residence. James drove an Audi A1. Since the deal with Seri was more or less complete, their next mission was to tap into their old market and the business itself. In addition to that the Blue Color City concept needed a bit more refinement to be realistic. That’s what they wanted to talk about before the final meeting with the architects Potch, Busaban and Khanita. They didn’t want Seri to know the parallel business development. They were back at Rudy’s residence, ‘Pailin Shelter’.
It was Potch’s idea. Ironically, the title did make sense given the experience he had while in captivity in Cambodia, and the only difference this time was its amenities. They were better and safe.
“Okay friends, we need some more brainstorming ideas. We’re now running out of time. Let’s get back again to our earlier proposal,” Rudy said, as others took their seats in the conference room.
“Drinks?”
“I’ll go for a Singha beer,” Toni added. “It’s rather interesting. After my return from Singapore, what I noticed was that very same old scene. The rich Chinese from Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei were flocking to our clients offices looking for top quality blue sapphires, and if you looked the way they were spending their money, it was hard to believe that there was any crisis at all in their respective countries. Our clients were telling me these rich ladies were spending millions, and what our clients needed were top quality blue sapphires above 5carats to quench their demand. So there we go. All we need is that top quality blue sapphires with an identification report stating its natural and untreated status. They really don’t care about its origin. They are quite well informed nowadays.”
Everyone in the conference room listened attentively to Toni’s comment.
“If this is true, we need a consistent source to keep feeding our clients,” Rudy interrupted.
“Do you think Chantaburi can meet the demand? I don’t think so. That means we need to go out of Thailand.”
“We need our people to be in countries where there is steady mining — Nigeria, Madagascar, Tanzania, Australia and Sri Lanka to mention a few. Do you think Seri can do something about it since he is our partner?” Bill said, sipping the orange juice.
Meanwhile, James was checking the details on his Palm Pilot. He had other ideas.
“There are quite a few sapphires coming from Montana (U.S.A),” Gary said. “The only problem is getting large sizes. The blues look great, but only after heat treatment. I don’t think our clients will like the idea. All they want is untreated blue sapphires. Even in New York and California where our rich clients are concentrated, they too are insisting on untreated blue sapphires. To me it looks like the GM food scare. Anywhere you go, they are talking about organic food. The perception is they are safe. Now the blue sapphire demand looks like a spin-off from the organic food insomnia. Just a thought. It’s getting rather difficult nowadays to get a top quality, and at the same time untreated gem. For some reason, they aren’t there.”
“Maybe we should emphasize more on education and disclosure,” James added. “People are aware of environmental degradation all over the world. How many gem pits in the world are dug with a conservation mentality? A very few. That means rarity. How many mines can we afford to work with a conservation mentality taking into consideration the cost of labor, natural disasters, the unpredictable local politics, and the wild swing among consumers. We need to tell them the truth. Otherwise, we are going to see synthetic blue sapphires in various forms flooding the market. Without heat-treatment availability becomes difficult.”
Rudy winked at James. “Okay guys, let’s take a short break. You guys will be staying with me tonight.” Gary, Bill and Toni nodded. They then disappeared into the kitchen to fetch more drinks and snacks.
Rudy’s cell-phone rang.
“Just checking. Are you okay, dear?” Potch asked.
“Yeah! I am finalizing the details with my friends. They are staying with me tonight. So it’s going to be a busy night, or should I say early morning,” Rudy said consulting his watch.
“Okay, then,” she said. “I don’t want to disturb your friends. I’ll call you later.” She then hung up. James was listening and said nothing.
“Listen, James,” Rudy added. “It’s now show time. I don’t think Seri is really co-operating. He has a hidden agenda. I know too well. Tell me what information you have gotten regarding surface diffusion-treatment of blue sapphires.”
“This is how the whole process works. Poor colored corundum’s are selected carefully for treatment by the experts, and they make sure they are not polished,” James said.
“That means, the stones are mostly preformed, aren’t they?”
“Yes and no. Then they are kept in a crucible containing a mixture of aluminum, titanium and other metallic oxide colorants. Now when the brew is ready, the crucible is heated anywhere between 1600-1800°C for a long time anywhere from days to weeks depending upon one’s experience or should I say instincts. Gradually when the conditions becomes right the magic brew starts to diffuse into the surface area, opening a thin colored skin. With caution and light repolishing the baby should be ready for use,” James explained.
“How thick will the new skin be?”
“We’re talking about a few tenths of a millimeter,” James replied. “Listen to this. There is another one. They call it D-SDTC(Deep surface diffusion-treated corundum). The penetration can reach up to 0.50mm, but normally it’s between 0.10-0.40mm. If done properly, it looks great and probably Seri’s product is SDTC(Surface diffusion-treated corundum). He doesn’t know how to separate a SDTC(Surface diffusion-treated corundum)from D-SDTC(Deep surface diffusion-treated corundum). So I think we should fuck the asshole with our D-SDTC(Deep surface diffusion-treated corundum). It’s gonna work, if we play the game well. Even his accomplice, Jeffrey wouldn’t know the existence of D-SDTC(Deep surface diffusion-treated corundum). All we need to do is stage a new deal using women—not men, to achieve our goal. Even some of the gem chefs in Chantaburi may have difficulty identifying SDTC(Surface diffusion-treated corundum) from D-SDTC(Deep surface diffusion-treated corundum). It’s an American pie. You know something? The other day, I heard some of our Thai friends claiming they are the best gem chefs in the world. Boy, this one is going to really cut their balls. Let’s see how it’s gonna work. We’ll use some brokers to set-up this deal in a safe place so that Seri doesn’t feel suspicious—period.”
“Well, it sounds perfect to me. But we have to make sure it doesn’t slip into the gem trade. Otherwise, we’re dead meat, buddy, if someone finds out that it originated with us. I know a woman who can be a good conduit. Let’s call her Ms Jambo. Her mother is from Nigeria, and father, English—an assembled gem. For a fee, she will do anything, and she makes a living collecting fees traveling around the world. In fact, I met her some eight years ago in Switzerland, at an auction house, and double-checked lately. She is still alive,” Rudy said. “We need to rehearse the whole thing first before we set-up the stage. Once perfected, nail the fucking asshole. Now how would you identify these treated blue sapphires?”
“It’s a little bit tricky. Some of the deeply color treated gems can simulate a natural gem of similar appearance. You need something more. An immersion cell, microscope, a frosted white filter, and, of course, good eyes. Di-iodomethane immersion with the microscope—that’s the magic liquid required to see the tell-tale signs. If trained well, you should be able to see the color bleeding along the facet junctions, girdle, and culet edges. If pits, cracks, and cavities are visible on the surface, you should expect some degree of color penetration. Repolishing may not do a good job. Overall, I would say with some practice, one should be able to differentiate a natural blue sapphire from surface diffusion-treated blue sapphires. That’s all I can think of at the moment,” James commented.
“Good,” Rudy said. “One more thing. This information should be known between us only.”
“I think so. I know what you mean,” James replied.
Meanwhile, Gary, Bill and Toni were still tongue-testing Thai delicacies in the kitchen. Non-stop.
“Hey, what’s going on? I can’t believe my eyes,” James said jokingly while munching a few donuts from the dining table.
“Okay, what time is it now?” Bill asked confusedly.
“It’s now three in the morning,” Rudy replied. “You know what? I think you all need a good sleep. We’ll continue the meeting tomorrow.”
“That sounds good,” Toni said. “We have a problem walking straight.”

Suvit Ploychan was awakened by at three in the morning by the phone. Before he could converse, his bedroom was slammed open by a masked intruder. He wore black clothes, black shoes, carried a gun, loupe, tweezer and a cleaver. He approached Suvit stealthily and asked whether he was a gem dealer. At first Suvit said yes, and later no.
“What did you do before you were a gemstone dealer?“ he asked.
“A monk,” Suvit said.
“No!” he shouted angrily. “You were not a monk. I can tell that you are lying.”
“I am telling the truth,” Suvit insisted.
He said something in a language Suvit couldn’t understand.
Later, he kicked Suvit in a kung fu style felling him to the ground in pain. He then tightened Suvit with a rope, and pulled up a chair with one hand, and stepped on top of it lifting Suvit, and then dropped him down from a ceiling fan. There was excruciating pain on Suvit’s neck, exploding into his brain.
“I want to cleave your stomach and neck,” he shouted.
“Nooooooooooooooooo,” Suvit cried in vain.
Suvit saw his wound on his stomach and neck, the flesh red and bleeding around the edges after the first swing by the cleaver. He remembered his wife Mai, and a son, Joey, who had gone on vacation to New Zealand.
Red ants were then released onto the wound swarming over his neck and stomach biting like hot needles.
“Stoooooooooooooooop!” Suvit cried loudly.
As if in a trance, the intruder untied Suvit from the ceiling fan and jerked him to his feet. He was then kicked from behind, and Suvit fell.
“Do you still want to do gem business or do you like to threaten and kill people in the street, because they took away your business? By the way, do you want to live?” he asked.
“Yes,” Suvit said. “If you allow me to live, I will. But who are you?”
“You are a liar,” he said calmly.
BAM! He kicked Suvit’s rib so forcefully, he fell over arched in agony. He then tied a plastic bag over his head. Suvit couldn’t see anything, and when he tried to breathe, there was no air. He went wild kicking the floor.
After a while he pulled the bag off for Suvit to gasp lungful of air. The ritual went on and on as time passed pathetically slowly. Suvit couldn’t make any difference. He was lying on the floor bleeding heavily from the stomach and neck wound. Blood was all over the floor.

As Suvit raised his head to say something, the intruder sank his teeth into Suvit’s forearm, and bit hard and deep—like a crazed dog. He fell unconscious.

A deep surface-diffused blue Mitsubishi van was waiting outside. Another masked man wrapped Suvit in a plastic bag for convenience. He was still breathing showing signs of endurance.

In three hours, they reached a privately owned man-made lagoon in Chantaburi. There were a few crocodiles sunning themselves on the banks. Suddenly one croc glided with just nostrils and hot golden brown sapphire-like eyes glinting over the water looking for something. The plastic bag was unwrapped gently for the final ritual. The approaching croc locked jaws on Suvit, spinning off balance a bit, and then tore the body with terrible force, before drowning deeper. Another croc was seen tail-walk to nab a bird in mid-air. It wasn’t lucky this time.