Gemscentric

Written by Julian Robov


Forty Six


The phone rang. Jack jumped out of his bed expecting the call.
“Hi, It’s Rudy.”
“Is everything all right?” Jack sighed.
“Yep. The stones are ready, duly identified and graded with a laboratory report. I would like you to come to my office so that you can check the stones for yourself, reports and, of course, the final price details,” Rudy said.
“Already. I’m on my way. Give me fifteen minutes. I have a big surprise for you as well. You won’t believe this.” Rudy laughed, and then hung up.
He then meticulously checked the stones and the laboratory reports, once again jotting the per carat price for Jack’s convenience. It wasn’t easy, as he had to type the details on a separate sheet of paper for quick identification. He was expecting Seri, at the office any moment so that he could also watch the big transaction come to a happy end, even though Seri played no part at all finding the stones—in a short time. But since it was Seri who had brought the rich client through his broker, Rudy had no regrets. It was going to be a win-win situation.
He priced the blue sapphires a bit differently, which included his profit, and the cost of convenience. And most important of all he was getting ‘select’ stones in a short time, and Jack had no problem with the price knowing the situation. He was a bit different from the traditional buyers.

100 pieces of oval cut, 1carat, violetish blue, lightly included, fair to good cut at $900/carat.

200 pieces, oval cut, 3carat, violetish blue, lightly to moderately included, fair to good cut at $2500/carat.

50 pieces, rectangular step cut, 4carat, greenish blue, loupe clean, good cut at $3000/carat.

50 pieces, round brilliant, 8carat, royal blue, lightly included, good cut at $8000/carat.

100 pieces, cushion cut, 4 to 6carat, excellent blue, lightly included, fair to good cut at $25000/carat.

Jack hired a limo even though it was only walking distance to Rudy’s office from the Oriental hotel. He was stuck at the Oriental lane for twenty minutes, because the police had blocked the road. When he asked the chauffeur, the reply surprised him. The King of Swaziland and his retinue were passing by, and it was a tradition that the roads remained free and open for him, if and when such an occasion arose.

After twenty minutes, it was the same old chaos on the road. Only Rudy and his stupid-looking secretary were in his office. He had wanted to fire her a long time ago, but because of Seri he decided to keep her. A SORE EYE.

Jack arrived at S.B. Gem Trend International Corporation. Rudy welcomed Jack at his office. After inspecting the stones and laboratory report, he looked satisfied with the swift and professional service. Now came the difficult part. THE PRICE.
Rudy explained the quality and the per carat price per lot. There was no bargaining.

Jack knew already what he had in front of him—select stones and select prices. His customers were so filthy rich lacking time with breathing problems, he felt no guilt charging them even five hundred to one thousand percent mark-up, if he wished. All he had wanted from Rudy was a scientific report stating the stones natural status. And that had been well taken care of. Finally, Jack nodded.
“Can I ask you something? Why do you like the color blue?” Rudy asked curiously.
“Good question,” Jack added. “I have been fascinated with the color blue since my childhood. So are my customers—believe it or not. I always like to play with a bit of science, people, colors, languages, cultures, history, and, of course, new and old. At least it works for me when I sell blue sapphires. People always like stories so that they can relate one way or other when talking to their friends or boasting about their collections. America today is a rich haven for collectors and it’s growing. Once the taste is impregnated cleverly into their social habits they will take it. And that’s what I do. Educate and sell. Take for example, azure blue. The word azure appears in Roman languages as azzurro, lazurius, and lazulus, which is a spin-off from Arabic al-lazaward, lazuwerd, or the Persian lazhuward or lajward, meaning the blue stone, lapis lazuli, from the mineral lazurite. The name azure blue has been used synonymously with sky blue as well. And they are beautiful, aren’t they? Then you have baby blue used in connection with the clothes of infant boys. How about Berlin blue? An early name for the inorganic pigment ferric ferrocynide, known commonly nowadays as Prussian blue. They also have names such as bronze blue, Paris blue, Milori blue, and steel blue. To make it short, they are almost black or a very dark blue. Don’t we have blue sapphires with a similar pattern?”
“Yep. Some Australian and Nigerian blue sapphires,” Rudy quipped.
“Good,” Jack continued. “You’re right. I’ll tell you something about the color blue. In fact, blue was represented frequently as the last of the primary colors; some of the primitive languages of today still have no word for it, and instead the term dark is used to describe this concept. The Greek kyaneos, meaning dark or black, and later blue must have derived from the Sanskrit cjana’s(dark), or the Assyrian uknu(crystal or lapiz lazuli). Then you have the Latin word for sky, caeruleus, leading directly to the name cerulean blue. The Chinese chin(blue) and chin tien(sky blue) are other examples.”
“You’re an expert with blue, aren’t you?” Rudy said. “Educate me, Jack—it’s interesting.”
“Regarding blue colors,” Jack continued. “We have bluish black, a kind of black with a tinge of blue, bluish green, colors lying between blue and green, bluish gray, bluish red, bluish violet, colors between blue and violet, bluish white, whites with a tinge of blue, bronze blue, same as Berlin blue, cyan blue, Milori blue, Paris blue, Prussian blue, steel blue where the several varieties of the pigment display a bronze luster due to selective reflection. You do see these color simulants in blue sapphires from different localities.”
“I think so—partly due to different hue, saturation (intensity), and tone (relative lightness or darkness or the amount of gray),” Rudy added.
“Have you heard of Capri blue?” Jack asked.
“Nope.”
“It’s a simulation of the famous Blue Grotto on the Isle of Capri near Naples—quite close to the color of aquamarine. And Cornflower blue?” Jack said.
“Honestly, no,” Rudy quipped. “I have heard this term used frequently when people talk about Kashmir sapphires and some Pailin sapphires.”
“The color of the(blue) cornflower—Centaurea cyanus, comes from Greek kyaneos, and Latin cyanus(blue). I think that’s enough for today. We’ll continue this conversation later,” Jack answered.
“It’s interesting, Jack,” Rudy said. “Educate and sell. That’s what I have learned from you today. Thank you.”
Then, Seri called.
“He is fucking dead.” Seri was crying over the phone. “Jeffrey is dead. Someone shot eight bullets into his brain. I can’t believe it’s happening in Silom.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Rudy said. “But look, Mr Jack is in our office. The stones are with him, price settled, and we want you to be here soon.”
“Oh, no,” Seri sobbed piteously. “You take care of the situation. I just don’t have the energy to go anywhere. Send my regards to Jack. I’ll see you later.” He then hung up.
Rudy hadn’t a clue what was going on. Instead, he decided to get back to business.
“Money transfer to Singapore,” he said giving the details.
Rudy watched Jack patiently do the electronic transfer from his laptop computer. Finally, they stood up and shook hands.
“You’ve been extremely helpful,” Jack said. “Come along with me. Let’s have a drink at the Oriental. And the surprise is I met my girl. Her name is Pailin.”
“I can’t believe this,” Rudy answered. “Lucky you, Jack.”
Before they could leave, James called Rudy from his cell-phone. He had arranged a meeting with the Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand(TAT). Rudy knew the opportunity had come at last. They decided to meet again before his departure since he had extended his stay at the Oriental.