Gemscentric

Written by Julian Robov


Twenty Three


It was a quiet day for Seri. His secretary had gone for the week to visit her parents at Buri Ram province. He was expecting a very special client. So he was alone with his gemstones and files, thinking and grading at the same time. He constantly worried about Rudy and Meechai. Snatching away Meechai got screwed up, and now Jeffrey and Robert were back in town to close another deal. The victim this time happened to be a rich New Yorker of Chinese descent. He had all the information regarding the client—a viagra addict. That meant he had blue green impairment. A perfect client if everything went his way. He loved the blue gems. So, Seri was grading a parcel of surface-diffused sapphires into several qualities by their color, clarity and cut. George Hu loved chicks of his tribe. Seri had already graded several Chinese illegal in Bangkok, who had the best assets to make his rich client happy.

The doorbell rang twice. Seri knew the visitor.
“Hello! Welcome to Bangkok. Please come in.” Seri waved him to a chair in a polite gesture.
“Thank you.”
George was staying at the Holiday Inn. “Are the blue sapphires ready for viewing?”
“I was just grading them for you. Please have a look and see which one you like. I will be happy to answer any of your questions,” Seri said cautiously.
Seri had two gem grading pads—a black and white one. So he spread the stones according to their saturation (intensity) and tone (relative lightness or darkness). He had fifty pieces of 10carat plus laid on the tray. Seri waited cautiously studying George’s move. The tricky part of the equation was persuading the buyer regarding the quality and rarity. Price wasn’t a primary factor. Getting the color in George’s head was Seri’s concern.
“Are these sapphires from Kashmir?” George asked gently.
“These pieces are from Burma, better than Kashmir, I promise,” Seri said confidently.
George sighed. Seri assumed George was getting excited.
“These blue sapphires were smuggled from Burma through one of my acquaintances. In fact for my special clients,” Seri commented.
“Chan didn’t mention about it to me—interesting,” George added.
The way George was glancing at the stones with the tweezers, and laying them in his hands, feeling the color contrast alerted Seri. He was wrong. George was grading them the right way. Seri was getting nervous, but remained silent expecting George’s next move.
“How come there is no color zoning (unevenness of color) in these stones? They look pretty clean with no fingerprints, crystals or even silk. Did you enhance these stones?” George asked in a low tone.
That was it. George was asking all the right questions. Meanwhile, Seri was pondering how to answer George’s questions correctly.
“They are not treated. These rare blues were plucked from a very special mine unknown to many gem dealers in the world. I have what others don’t have. These are what we call the royal blue color. I think you are one of the luckiest persons to have this opportunity to see them. I haven’t shown these pieces to other clients,” Seri said without any hesitation. He was a professional liar, and he had a way of convincing any skeptics.
“Do you have an immersion cell in your office?” George asked.
“Why do you need them?” Seri began to feel very uneasy. George was slowly disarming him.
“I’m afraid no,” Seri replied. “By the way, I have some green tea ready for you.”
“Thank you.” George was very polite.
He waited to hear the good news. When he returned with the pot of tea, Seri had an envelope ready for the special occasion. George opened it carefully. He viewed the photographs of several young naked Chinese chicks quietly. Seri provided a palmists lens to have a close-up but enlarged view of their assets. He chose three of them, and asked Seri when they would be available. Seri instead smiled. George knew the meaning.
First, business then pleasure.
“How many pieces do you have altogether?” George asked, while rubbing a few pieces in his hand.
“Fifty, but I can get more if you want,” Seri replied quickly.
“And the price?” George glanced at Seri.
Instead of uttering the price, Seri had the cost calculated in advance—per carat price as well as the whole lot price—if he decided to purchase them. George did some calculations with his calculator.
“Give me a few days to decide, will you? But first, I want to meet the three chicks. Are they available?” George asked.
Seri had no problem. This arrangement had worked in his favor for so long, he had no reason to refuse. If the girls did a good job, then Seri knew how to fix the right price for his blue sapphires. Normally after having a good time with the girls, his clients never bargained. So he had no reason to suspect that George would go the other way. But he wasn’t completely sure. He decided to gamble. If George played a different game, he knew how to turn him around. They left the stones where they were and began discussing other topics—politics, global warming—and, of course, women. Seri had no taste in discussing such topics, but he had to adapt. After their discussion, Seri was to send the girls to his condo where George would have the chance to grade first, and then enjoy them his way. Seri had other ideas as well. A deal was struck, and George left the office in a happy mood.