Azim Premji, the software czar and the chairman of Wipro Ltd decided to share his successes, setbacks and the lessons he learnt during his corporate journey. He does it in an e-mail sent on April 09 to the Wiproites. We bring you some excerpts from his words of wisdom as it would be beneficial to every forward-looking person.
(via manoramaonline / Executive Knowledge Lines) Azim Premji writes:
My own successes and setbacks along the way have taught me some lessons. I wish to share them with you and hope you will find them useful.
Lesson #1
Be careful to ask what you want. You may get it. What this means is that do not ask too little either of yourself or the others around you. What you ask is what you get. When I look back at the time when I joined Wipro, I was 21. If you ask me whether I thought that Wipro would grow so by someday, the honest answer is that I did not. But neither did I think it would not. We constantly stretched ourselves to higher and higher targets. Sometimes, it seemed possible, sometimes fanciful and sometimes plain insane. But we never stopped raising limits. And we got a lot more than what we bargained for.
Lesson # 2
Respond, don't react Always be aware of your emotions and learn to manage them. There is a huge difference between people who react impulsively and those who can disengage themselves and then respond at will. By choosing to respond differently, we can prevent another person from controlling our behaviour. I remember a small story that illustrates this well. There was once a newspaper vendor who had a rude customer. Every morning, the customer would walk by, refuse to return the greeting, grab the paper off the shelf and throw the money at the vendor. The vendor would pickup the money, smile politely and say, Thank you, Sir. One day, the vendor's assistant asked him, Why are you always so polite with him when he is so rude to you? Why don't you throw the newspaper at him when he comes back tomorrow? The vendor smiled and replied, "He can't help being rude and I can't help being polite. Why should I let his rude behaviour dictate mine?''
Lesson # 3
Intuitions are important for making decisions. It is important to realise that our intuition is a very important part ofdecision making. Many things are recorded by our subconscious. Use both sides of the brain. Even that is not enough. Some decisions need the use of the heart as well. When you use your mind and heart together, you may get a completely new and creative answer.
Lesson # 4
Learn to work in teams. The challenges ahead are so complex that no individual will be able to face them alone. While most of our education is focused in individual strength, teaming with others is equally important. You cannot fire a missile from a canoe. Unless you build a strong network of people with complimentary skills, you will be restricted by your own limitations. Globalisation has brought people of different origins, different upbringing and different cultures together. Ability to become an integral part of a cross-cultural team will be a must for your success.
Lesson #5
Never lose your zest and curiosity. All the available knowledge in the world is accelerating at a phenomenal rate. The whole world's codified knowledge base (all documented information in library books and electronic files) doubled every 30 years in the early 20th century. By the 1970s, the world's knowledge base doubled every seven years. Information researchers predict that by the year 2010, the world's codified knowledge will double every 11 hours. Remaining on top of what you need to know will become one of the greatest challenges for you.The natural zest and curiosity for learning is one of the greatest drivers for keeping updated on knowledge. A child's curiosity is insatiable because every new object is a thing of wonder and mystery. The same zest is needed to keep learning new things. I personally spend at least 10 hours every week on reading. If I do not do that, I will find myself quickly outdated.
Lesson # 6
Put yourself first. This does not mean being selfish. Nor does it mean that you must become so full of yourself that that you become vain or arrogant.It means developing your self-confidence. It means, developing an inner faith in yourself that is not shaken by external events. It requires perseverance. It shows up in the ability to rebound from a setback with double enthusiasm and energy. I came across a recent Harvard Business Review which describes this very effectively: No one can truly define success and failure for us. Only we can define that for ourselves. No one can take away our dignity unless we surrender it. No one can takeaway our hope and pride unless we relinquish them. No one can steal our creativity, imagination and skills unless we stop thinking. No one can stop us from rebounding unless we give up. And there is no way we can take care of others, unless we take care of ourselves.
Lesson # 7
Have a broader social vision. While there is every reason to be excited about the future, we must not forget that we will face many challenges as well. By 2015, we will have 829 million strong workforce. That will make India home to 18% of global working-age population. The key challenge is to transform that into a globally competitive work-force. This will not be an easy task. Despite all the rapid economic expansion seen in recent years, job growth in India still trails the rise in working-age population. It is important that gains are spread across this spectrum, so that the divide between the employed and the under-employed, is minimised. Education is a crucial enabler that can make this growth as equitable as possible.
Lesson # 8
Play to win. Playing to win is not the same as playing dirty. It is not about winning all the time or winning at any cost. Playing to win is having the intensity to stretch to the maximum and bringing our best foot forward. Winning means focusing on the game. The score board tells you where you are going, but don't concentrate too much on it. If you can focus on the ball, the scores will move by themselves. I recently came across this story that I thought I would share with you. A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went into the kitchen. He returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal-some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite and asked them to help themselves to coffee. When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to wantonly the best for yourselves, you were more concerned about comparing your cups but what you really wanted was coffee. Yet you spent all your time eyeing each other's cups. Now if life is coffee, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to contain life, but cannot really change the quality of life. Sometimes, by over concentrating on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee."
Monday, May 28, 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Showdown
Memorable quote (s) from the movie:
Billy Massey (Dean Martin): Do you like sheriffing?
Chuck Jarvis (Rock Hudson): It's a job.
Billy Massey (Dean Martin): What kind of salary do you get?
Chuck Jarvis (Rock Hudson): No salary, I...
Kate Jarvis (Susan Clark): Oh, he gets two dollars for serving a warrant, three dollars for arresting anybody...
Chuck Jarvis (Rock Hudson): And thirty cents a mile for chasing idiots...
Kate Jarvis (Susan Clark): Like you.
Billy Massey (Dean Martin): Well then, you ought to thank me for doubling back. I let you make a few extra bucks.
Billy Massey (Dean Martin): Do you like sheriffing?
Chuck Jarvis (Rock Hudson): It's a job.
Billy Massey (Dean Martin): What kind of salary do you get?
Chuck Jarvis (Rock Hudson): No salary, I...
Kate Jarvis (Susan Clark): Oh, he gets two dollars for serving a warrant, three dollars for arresting anybody...
Chuck Jarvis (Rock Hudson): And thirty cents a mile for chasing idiots...
Kate Jarvis (Susan Clark): Like you.
Billy Massey (Dean Martin): Well then, you ought to thank me for doubling back. I let you make a few extra bucks.
How To Judge Different Styles Of Cut
Cutting style is the category under which facet shapes and arrangements are classified. Generally, a faceted gem will fall into one of the categories listed below, although the cutting may sometimes be so poor as to render the cutting style unidentifiable. A facet is a flat, polished surface on a fashioned gemstone.
Brilliant cut: The brilliant cut is probably the best-known cut because most diamonds are cut in this style. Its design is aimed at providing a combination of brilliance, dispersion ('fire') and scintillation ('sparkle'). All facets except the table and culet are triangular or kite shaped; this style is very common in diamonds, but is also seen in many other gems.
Step cut: The step or emerald cut consists of facets cut with parallel sides which are arranged in steps. This style is very common for emeralds, but is also seen in many other colored stones. Its chief attribute is the ability to show off a gem's color.
Mixed cut: The objective of the mixed cut is to obtain as much weight as possible from the rough. As the name implies, the mixed cut is a mixture of two styles, the brilliant and step cuts. Optically, it can also be attractive. Rubies and sapphires are frequently cut in this style, as are many other gems.
Scissors cut: This is not a particularly common cut, because it tends to waste large amounts of rough. Because of this, it is mainly limited to cheap synthetic materials. Hence, a scissors cut will indicate, but not prove, the possibility of a synthetic gem. The scissors cut is a series of long triangular- and kite-shaped facets on a rectangular stone.
Native cut: This is not so much a cutting style as a lack of style. The term native cut generally is synonymous with poorly cut. Facets are often misshapen and may not even be flat. In the Sri Lankan version of this cut, the table facet is often square or rectangular instead of the usual octagonal shape. Proportions are frequently lumpy, as the stones are cut with only weight retention in mind.
Princess cut: This is a relatively new cut but is a variation of the Barion Cut. The stones have ordinary step crowns. All of the pavilion facets except the long break facet along each side are usually no more than four degrees greater than the culet angle. A good number of facets end as a point at the girdle. The stones remain true squares, rectangles, triangles, etc. by having the facets end at the long break facet. The stones are exceedingly brilliant throughout. The square princess has twenty eight pavilion facets.
Cabochon cut: One of the oldest cutting styles, the cabochon employs no facets at all. Rather it is a smooth, polished dome which can be very high, very low, or some variation in between. It is the best style to display fine colored gems of lesser transparency. Hence, highly-flawed rubies, emeralds, etc., may be cut as cabochons; also jadeite, nephrite, star rubies and star sapphires. Cabochons come in two main types: single cabs and double cabs.
Brilliant cut: The brilliant cut is probably the best-known cut because most diamonds are cut in this style. Its design is aimed at providing a combination of brilliance, dispersion ('fire') and scintillation ('sparkle'). All facets except the table and culet are triangular or kite shaped; this style is very common in diamonds, but is also seen in many other gems.
Step cut: The step or emerald cut consists of facets cut with parallel sides which are arranged in steps. This style is very common for emeralds, but is also seen in many other colored stones. Its chief attribute is the ability to show off a gem's color.
Mixed cut: The objective of the mixed cut is to obtain as much weight as possible from the rough. As the name implies, the mixed cut is a mixture of two styles, the brilliant and step cuts. Optically, it can also be attractive. Rubies and sapphires are frequently cut in this style, as are many other gems.
Scissors cut: This is not a particularly common cut, because it tends to waste large amounts of rough. Because of this, it is mainly limited to cheap synthetic materials. Hence, a scissors cut will indicate, but not prove, the possibility of a synthetic gem. The scissors cut is a series of long triangular- and kite-shaped facets on a rectangular stone.
Native cut: This is not so much a cutting style as a lack of style. The term native cut generally is synonymous with poorly cut. Facets are often misshapen and may not even be flat. In the Sri Lankan version of this cut, the table facet is often square or rectangular instead of the usual octagonal shape. Proportions are frequently lumpy, as the stones are cut with only weight retention in mind.
Princess cut: This is a relatively new cut but is a variation of the Barion Cut. The stones have ordinary step crowns. All of the pavilion facets except the long break facet along each side are usually no more than four degrees greater than the culet angle. A good number of facets end as a point at the girdle. The stones remain true squares, rectangles, triangles, etc. by having the facets end at the long break facet. The stones are exceedingly brilliant throughout. The square princess has twenty eight pavilion facets.
Cabochon cut: One of the oldest cutting styles, the cabochon employs no facets at all. Rather it is a smooth, polished dome which can be very high, very low, or some variation in between. It is the best style to display fine colored gems of lesser transparency. Hence, highly-flawed rubies, emeralds, etc., may be cut as cabochons; also jadeite, nephrite, star rubies and star sapphires. Cabochons come in two main types: single cabs and double cabs.
How To Examine Gemstones With The Loupe And Tweezer
Upon first glance, the examination of a stone with the loupe and tweezer seems simple. However, the proper technique not only will help in locating inclusions, but it will show that the user has experience in handling and examining gemstones.
Below are a few tips for using the loupe and tweezer:
Loupe
Clean the stone carefully with a piece of cotton cloth and then pick it up directly with tweezers. Touching the stone with fingers may leave grease marks which might resemble inclusions.
If the right eye is to be used, hold the loupe in the right hand. Hold it as close as possible to the eye (or glasses), for the closer it is to the eye, the larger the field of view.
The stone to be examined should be held with tweezers and both hands should be in contact with each other. This eliminates shaking and unsteadiness.
Lighting is the next consideration and is of vital importance. One commonly used but ineffective method is to place the light directly behind the stone. The result is that rear facets reflect the light away from the stone. This leaves the stone's interior dark and the eyes blinded by glare. A much better technique makes use of a table lamp positioned so that the light faces straight down. The stone is held just next to the edge of the lamp shade so that light enters the stone from the side. Now the glare is eliminated and inclusions are much more readily seen.
Tweezer
A good pair of tweezers is another essential piece of equipment. These should be specifically designed for gemstone use. To avoid corrosion, tweezers should be made of stainless steel. Critical is the knurling found on the inside of the tips, to keep the gem from slipping. Better examples actually include a groove designed to grip the gem's girdle.
In terms of color, black is best, because it eliminates reflections. Brushed (not polished) steel is also okay; avoid brass-colored tweezers, which make rubies appear redder. In terms of tip size, the narrow tips work best with melee, but are difficult to use on large stones. For stones of 1 ct or more, a wider tip is preferred.
Below are a few tips for using the loupe and tweezer:
Loupe
Clean the stone carefully with a piece of cotton cloth and then pick it up directly with tweezers. Touching the stone with fingers may leave grease marks which might resemble inclusions.
If the right eye is to be used, hold the loupe in the right hand. Hold it as close as possible to the eye (or glasses), for the closer it is to the eye, the larger the field of view.
The stone to be examined should be held with tweezers and both hands should be in contact with each other. This eliminates shaking and unsteadiness.
Lighting is the next consideration and is of vital importance. One commonly used but ineffective method is to place the light directly behind the stone. The result is that rear facets reflect the light away from the stone. This leaves the stone's interior dark and the eyes blinded by glare. A much better technique makes use of a table lamp positioned so that the light faces straight down. The stone is held just next to the edge of the lamp shade so that light enters the stone from the side. Now the glare is eliminated and inclusions are much more readily seen.
Tweezer
A good pair of tweezers is another essential piece of equipment. These should be specifically designed for gemstone use. To avoid corrosion, tweezers should be made of stainless steel. Critical is the knurling found on the inside of the tips, to keep the gem from slipping. Better examples actually include a groove designed to grip the gem's girdle.
In terms of color, black is best, because it eliminates reflections. Brushed (not polished) steel is also okay; avoid brass-colored tweezers, which make rubies appear redder. In terms of tip size, the narrow tips work best with melee, but are difficult to use on large stones. For stones of 1 ct or more, a wider tip is preferred.
Color patterns In Opal
The vast majority of precious opal may show unique pattern to the play-of-color. The major patterns tend to fall into one of the following categories:
Pinfire: This is a mass of pinpoints, flashing different colors as the stone is moved. All colors may be seen, but red is most desirable. This pattern is fairly common and is the least sought after.
Harlequin or mosaic: Harlequin is the rarest and one of the most beautiful arrangements of play-of-color in opal; resembling a harlequin clown's costume. The true harlequin pattern appears as squares of equal size and regular arrangement. The pure pattern is particularly valuable. The color display consists of units of uneven size with distorted angles. Some dealers use the term only for the rare pattern described above, whereas others will allow more irregularity.
Flash: Flash refers to opals in which the play-of-color appears in sudden flashes that disappear or change as the stone is moved. The colors may be any shade from blue (most common) through the progressively rarer green, yellow, orange and red, with an occasional flash of violet or purple.
Red flash is most prized, but opals with violet or purple are also highly desirable due to their rarity. However, just the presence of a particular color does not make for a valuable stone; the full range of colors should be present. Stones which display all the colors, and which have colors that change with the angle of view are the most valuable opals of the type.
Exploding flash: The pattern moves outwards in all directions as the stone is moved, with red usually changing to orange or green.
Rolling flash: The patch of color moves as the stone is turned.
Broad flash: This pattern is made up of color flashes larger than 2 mm in size which are visible only at certain angles. If the flash covers a wide area it is called 'sheen'. Many precious opals fall into this category.
Other patterns include:
Floral: Resembles floral patterns seen on printed dress fabrics. The units of color are large than pinfire, more or less rounded, but slightly irregular.
Peacock's tail: Green and blue radiating out like a peacock displaying its tail feathers.
Palette: Resembles an artist's palette with patches of paint.
Pinfire: This is a mass of pinpoints, flashing different colors as the stone is moved. All colors may be seen, but red is most desirable. This pattern is fairly common and is the least sought after.
Harlequin or mosaic: Harlequin is the rarest and one of the most beautiful arrangements of play-of-color in opal; resembling a harlequin clown's costume. The true harlequin pattern appears as squares of equal size and regular arrangement. The pure pattern is particularly valuable. The color display consists of units of uneven size with distorted angles. Some dealers use the term only for the rare pattern described above, whereas others will allow more irregularity.
Flash: Flash refers to opals in which the play-of-color appears in sudden flashes that disappear or change as the stone is moved. The colors may be any shade from blue (most common) through the progressively rarer green, yellow, orange and red, with an occasional flash of violet or purple.
Red flash is most prized, but opals with violet or purple are also highly desirable due to their rarity. However, just the presence of a particular color does not make for a valuable stone; the full range of colors should be present. Stones which display all the colors, and which have colors that change with the angle of view are the most valuable opals of the type.
Exploding flash: The pattern moves outwards in all directions as the stone is moved, with red usually changing to orange or green.
Rolling flash: The patch of color moves as the stone is turned.
Broad flash: This pattern is made up of color flashes larger than 2 mm in size which are visible only at certain angles. If the flash covers a wide area it is called 'sheen'. Many precious opals fall into this category.
Other patterns include:
Floral: Resembles floral patterns seen on printed dress fabrics. The units of color are large than pinfire, more or less rounded, but slightly irregular.
Peacock's tail: Green and blue radiating out like a peacock displaying its tail feathers.
Palette: Resembles an artist's palette with patches of paint.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
The Mirror Crack'd
Memorable quote (s) from the movie:
Vicar (Charles Lloyd Pack): Oh, Mr. Rudd. I understand that you are a fillum producer.
Jason Rudd (Rock Hudson): Oh, no, sir. A director.
Vicar (Charles Lloyd Pack): Is there any difference?
Jason Rudd (Rock Hudson): Yes, sir. The, uh, producer supplies all the money; the director spends it. Then the producer yells that the director is spending too much money; the director doesn't pay any attention, and goes right on spending. The director gets all the credit; the producer gets an ulcer. You see, it's all very simple; excuse me.
Vicar (Charles Lloyd Pack): Oh, Mr. Rudd. I understand that you are a fillum producer.
Jason Rudd (Rock Hudson): Oh, no, sir. A director.
Vicar (Charles Lloyd Pack): Is there any difference?
Jason Rudd (Rock Hudson): Yes, sir. The, uh, producer supplies all the money; the director spends it. Then the producer yells that the director is spending too much money; the director doesn't pay any attention, and goes right on spending. The director gets all the credit; the producer gets an ulcer. You see, it's all very simple; excuse me.
Santa Maria Aquamarine
Here is an interesting story of a designer and her beautiful creation of jewelry with Santa Maria Aquamarine. The real Santa Maria Aquamarine is well known among collectors as one of the best qualities in the world. As always beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
(via Journal of Gemmology, Vol.27, No.5, January 2001) Francisco Bank, Prof Hermann Bank and Elena Villa writes:
Abstract
A Santa Maria aquamarine is the inspiration for the design of a necklace. Details of the stone are given, as well as the description of the design and make-up of the necklace.
The Aquamarine
Aquamarine of the highest quality and the finest blue has for many years been called ‘Santa Maria’ after such material was found at the small locality of Santa Maria in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Since there are so many places called Santa Maria in Brazil, it may have been better to have named the aquamarine after the nearby town, Itabira.
The story is told that in 1925 a mule had fallen down a hole and had broken a leg; the owner of the mule saw blue crystals in the hole and so discovered what came to be the most famous aquamarine locality in the world. For some years blue aquamarines have been mined in several ‘lavras’ (mines) in the region of Santa Maria, and were of such a good sky blue color (like the blue of tropical skies) that after 75 years people still dream today of the super color of Santa Maria aquamarine. After World War II more aquamarines were found near the original localities, but although similar, they did not quite equal the extraordinary stones of 1925.
In c.1990 blue beryls were found in a secondary deposit in Mozambique which were similar to the Brazilian ‘Santa Maria’ aquamarines and these have been called ‘Santa Maria Africana; however, in comparison they appear to have a more steely appearance than the lovely sky blue of the original Brazilian stones.
Gemological properties
Santa Maria aquamarines have the following properties:
RI = 1578-1581 (1.585-1.588)
Birefringence = 0.007-8
Specific gravity = 2.68-2.70
Spectroscopic investigation of the stone used for the necklace gave absorption lines at 370, 426, 557, 833 and 891nm. The equipment used was a Perkin Elmer Lambda 12 spectroscope.
The necklet
A Santa Maria aquamarine of 16.75ct was the inspiration for a necklet designed by one author (Elena Villa) and made by Hans Dieter Krieger of Idar Oberstein, Germany. The inclusions are disc-like and oriented parallel to each other with a rather filmy appearance.
The design
The color of the aquamarine and the inclusions ‘reflecting the shiny waves of the ocean’ inspired the creation of this unique piece of jewelry named the ‘Light Tree Water Being’. Elena Villa writes about the concept and development of the piece as follows:
“Like any other real existing being, the invented being also should have a history. Where does it come from? How has it been called into being? For me nature on earth, under water and in space, offers the richest variety of colors and shapes. Inspired by this natural diversity, the basic idea for this piece of jewelry was born. The coincidence of the strong concentrated forms of energy, light, water and earth, as well as the grace of each of these natural elements, unified in the delicate expressiveness of a jewelry piece, stimulated a new interpretation of nature through jewelry.”
“Evolution in its progress is thrilling and cannot be foreseen. The attraction to create new forms of expression, and also new possible forms of living, was more than enough reason to realize an evolutionary association between a gem and an invented being. Under such circumstances the gem can rise to life because it is no more just immobile and beautiful, but pat of a living being. The form of living and the gem turn to a symbiosis and reach a stage of subtle living effect.”
“The aim was not to have a motionless new piece of jewelry but to compose a new living being with the facilities of jewelry creation design. The result is a decorative independent individual who inspires the fantasy of the wearer as well the viewer, free and powerful with personal radiation.”
Manufacture
The piece was cast in platinum, the gold sections being formed by hand and soldered to the platinum. The aquamarine was set and then all pieces were connected by laser; the piece was finally polished with selected areas finished in a satin surface.
(via Journal of Gemmology, Vol.27, No.5, January 2001) Francisco Bank, Prof Hermann Bank and Elena Villa writes:
Abstract
A Santa Maria aquamarine is the inspiration for the design of a necklace. Details of the stone are given, as well as the description of the design and make-up of the necklace.
The Aquamarine
Aquamarine of the highest quality and the finest blue has for many years been called ‘Santa Maria’ after such material was found at the small locality of Santa Maria in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Since there are so many places called Santa Maria in Brazil, it may have been better to have named the aquamarine after the nearby town, Itabira.
The story is told that in 1925 a mule had fallen down a hole and had broken a leg; the owner of the mule saw blue crystals in the hole and so discovered what came to be the most famous aquamarine locality in the world. For some years blue aquamarines have been mined in several ‘lavras’ (mines) in the region of Santa Maria, and were of such a good sky blue color (like the blue of tropical skies) that after 75 years people still dream today of the super color of Santa Maria aquamarine. After World War II more aquamarines were found near the original localities, but although similar, they did not quite equal the extraordinary stones of 1925.
In c.1990 blue beryls were found in a secondary deposit in Mozambique which were similar to the Brazilian ‘Santa Maria’ aquamarines and these have been called ‘Santa Maria Africana; however, in comparison they appear to have a more steely appearance than the lovely sky blue of the original Brazilian stones.
Gemological properties
Santa Maria aquamarines have the following properties:
RI = 1578-1581 (1.585-1.588)
Birefringence = 0.007-8
Specific gravity = 2.68-2.70
Spectroscopic investigation of the stone used for the necklace gave absorption lines at 370, 426, 557, 833 and 891nm. The equipment used was a Perkin Elmer Lambda 12 spectroscope.
The necklet
A Santa Maria aquamarine of 16.75ct was the inspiration for a necklet designed by one author (Elena Villa) and made by Hans Dieter Krieger of Idar Oberstein, Germany. The inclusions are disc-like and oriented parallel to each other with a rather filmy appearance.
The design
The color of the aquamarine and the inclusions ‘reflecting the shiny waves of the ocean’ inspired the creation of this unique piece of jewelry named the ‘Light Tree Water Being’. Elena Villa writes about the concept and development of the piece as follows:
“Like any other real existing being, the invented being also should have a history. Where does it come from? How has it been called into being? For me nature on earth, under water and in space, offers the richest variety of colors and shapes. Inspired by this natural diversity, the basic idea for this piece of jewelry was born. The coincidence of the strong concentrated forms of energy, light, water and earth, as well as the grace of each of these natural elements, unified in the delicate expressiveness of a jewelry piece, stimulated a new interpretation of nature through jewelry.”
“Evolution in its progress is thrilling and cannot be foreseen. The attraction to create new forms of expression, and also new possible forms of living, was more than enough reason to realize an evolutionary association between a gem and an invented being. Under such circumstances the gem can rise to life because it is no more just immobile and beautiful, but pat of a living being. The form of living and the gem turn to a symbiosis and reach a stage of subtle living effect.”
“The aim was not to have a motionless new piece of jewelry but to compose a new living being with the facilities of jewelry creation design. The result is a decorative independent individual who inspires the fantasy of the wearer as well the viewer, free and powerful with personal radiation.”
Manufacture
The piece was cast in platinum, the gold sections being formed by hand and soldered to the platinum. The aquamarine was set and then all pieces were connected by laser; the piece was finally polished with selected areas finished in a satin surface.
Synthetic Diamond Market
The synthetic diamond market, especially in fancy colors are expanding. There are real concerns among experts and consumers that many are not properly trained/skilled to identify or grade them. To grade or not to grade: this is the new headache for the diamond testing and grading laboratories around the world. Natural diamond producers and dealers have their own headaches because many in the trade have difficulty explaining undisclosed treatments in way both the experts and consumers can really understand. But the key to the success for the synthetic diamond producers is their ability to grow fancy colored diamonds. Overall the growth has been slow but steady. Well known companies like Chatham Created Diamonds and Gemesis Corporations and others have developed their unique marketing strategies via branding and celebrity endorsements to compete with natural diamond producers in the dog-eat-dog world of diamond trade. The popular synthetic diamond colors include pink, yellow, blue and brown. Although colorless synthetic diamonds are produced for special markets, but for now it's the fancy colors that's appealing to the consumers. The price information for synthetic colored diamonds is limited because different producers have different operating costs and delivery techniques.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Million Dollar Jewels
1. Baroda Pearls (Christie’s) $7,096,000
2. Kashmir sapphire, cushion, 22.66 carat (Christie’s) $3,064,000
3. Blue diamond, fancy grayish blue, cushion, 9.39 carat (Christie’s) $2,392,000
4. Bulgari diamond ring, potentially flawless, rectangular, 24.65 carat (Christie’s) $2,056,000
5. Diamond pendant, fancy intense yellow (Sotheby’s) $2,056,000
6. Emerald and diamond ring, Van Cleef & Arpels (Sotheby’s) $1,888,000
7. Yellow diamonds, three pear-shaped, fancy deep brownish yellow, 38.28, 32.15, and 29.60 carats (Christie’s) $1,720,000
8. Diamond, pear, H/VVS2, 40.12 carat (Christie’s) $1,664,000
9. Pendant suspended from a 30 carat baguette diamond collar, pear, 48.91 carat, J/VS2 (Sotheby’s) $1,552,000
10. Diamond ring, Van Cleef & Arpels, emerald cut, D/VVS1, 16.98 carat (Sotheby’s) $1,552,000
11. Diamond cluster brooch, Harry Winston, D color (Christie’s) $1,328,000
12. Pair of Asscher cut diamond ear pendants, 25.05 carats each (Christie’s) $1,014,000
2. Kashmir sapphire, cushion, 22.66 carat (Christie’s) $3,064,000
3. Blue diamond, fancy grayish blue, cushion, 9.39 carat (Christie’s) $2,392,000
4. Bulgari diamond ring, potentially flawless, rectangular, 24.65 carat (Christie’s) $2,056,000
5. Diamond pendant, fancy intense yellow (Sotheby’s) $2,056,000
6. Emerald and diamond ring, Van Cleef & Arpels (Sotheby’s) $1,888,000
7. Yellow diamonds, three pear-shaped, fancy deep brownish yellow, 38.28, 32.15, and 29.60 carats (Christie’s) $1,720,000
8. Diamond, pear, H/VVS2, 40.12 carat (Christie’s) $1,664,000
9. Pendant suspended from a 30 carat baguette diamond collar, pear, 48.91 carat, J/VS2 (Sotheby’s) $1,552,000
10. Diamond ring, Van Cleef & Arpels, emerald cut, D/VVS1, 16.98 carat (Sotheby’s) $1,552,000
11. Diamond cluster brooch, Harry Winston, D color (Christie’s) $1,328,000
12. Pair of Asscher cut diamond ear pendants, 25.05 carats each (Christie’s) $1,014,000
The Great Casino Bubble
Here is an excerpt from the classic book ‘Pearl Trader’. Louis Kornitzer is of a different generation but brilliant. I am always captivated by his humor and wisdom + style and experience + the unique way he connects with the people in the gem trade. No matter how many times you read the book, you still want to read it again because you have experienced something new—a new total internal reflection.
Louis Kornitzer writes:
For one year, eight months and some indefinite number of days, I had nothing but inward praise and more tangible gratitude for my room and table boy, Tang Tai Ling.
Tang Tai Ling had so far displayed scrupulous honesty, for he never so much as nibbled at my sweetmeats, sampled my cigars or cigarettes, or allowed his finger to stray towards my small change.
But one day I began to wonder whether a twisted nose in an ashen pockmarked, though, curiously ascetic, face, was not meant as a danger signal for the unwary. I began to suspect from various trifling signs that he was well on the way to become intimately acquainted with the inside of the safe in my bedroom; and from then onward I systematically changed the combination lock once a month in the stillness of night. But for all that he bore me no grudge, I felt sure. On the contrary, I suspected that I had greatly risen in his esteem.
In the absence of definite proof of his intentions I censured myself, however, for allowing the shadow of my suspicion to fall upon him; and I was rather glad than otherwise when events proved that I had not in thought been unjust to him, and extreme danger forced him to lift the mask which hid—I hate to say it—a thief.
It happened like this.
The rooms next to mine were occupied by an American newly arrived in the colony, a self-styled doctor of medicine and, as it turned out, a thoroughgoing quack. The fellow was a heavy drinker, and one night when he had taken on a rather heavy mixed cargo of liquor he forgot to lock his bedroom door before tumbling into bed, boots and all. In the morning, consequently, there was a great commotion; his wallet, containing a big wad of money, had vanished.
The hotel management should then with propriety have remembered that for the last fifteen years, at intervals of from nine months to a year, successive occupants of that room and of the adjoining apartments, which were under Tang Tai Ling’s especial care, had been laid under contribution. But jealous of the reputation of the house, they maintained that since the whole of their staff, from bookkeeper to kitchen scullion, had been in their employ for a decade and a half, the doctor must have lost his wallet outside.
The American, however, was sure he knew better. He insisted upon going into the matter. And so, after a few days of strenuous effort, he prevailed upon a reluctant Public Security Department to dispatch its minions to the hotel.
I was not on the spot when they arrived, but I heard them come. The European and Chinese detectives presented themselves with the noise and clatter of a cavalry detachment. From the porch of my ground floor window I listened to the hubhub, and knew that down there in the basement the whole of the staff were being ordered by the management to line up in the yard to be questioned; and that then their quarters would be searched if the police should think it necessary.
In a moment, however, my door opened and Tang Tai Ling, who should have been downstairs with the others, slid into the room with a jug and glasses in his hands. Outwardly calm, he was as pale as death, and his agitation was betrayed by his nervously twitching fingers as he set the tray upon the table.
From the corner of my eye I saw him go to my wardrobe, open it, draw from under his belt a small bundle and toss it among my linen. Not a word did he say to me. I asked no questions. I did not care to investigate, or to find out anything that might compel me to act the informer. There was nothing to be said, and he crept out as silently as he had come in.
When half an hour later he re-entered my room, Tang Tai Ling was as self-possessed as ever, and with the utmost brazenness busied himself with my socks, which he declared needed overhauling. He took away a goodly bundle of them for the house-amah to see and with them, I felt, went the American’s bank roll.
If Tang Tai Ling had been obsequious before, he was henceforth a father to me, and I read that in his eyes which reproved me for still continuing to change the safe combination at regular intervals. Dared he have spoken he would have said, “No need for that now, master. Give me a chance to prove that I am grateful to you for saving my face.”
As for the American quack doctor, he fled the colony within a month or so of these events. The cause of his flight was an illegal operation which claimed the life of a young woman, so my sympathy stayed with the get-rich-quick Chinaman.
Tang Tai Ling had made good use of his years of service in Hong Kong, for in Macao, the Portuguese colony on the China coast near by, he owned a great deal of house property and some shops which members of his family ran for him. He was a good husband, I was told, to three wives, a devoted father to a numerous progeny and a doting grandsire to two sturdy Portuguese half castes.
In a manner it was to him that I was indebted for some pleasant day dreams, for he was the first cause of what I might well call “The Great Casino Bubble”. He brought me advance information of the intended sale by the Macao Government of the ancient block of buildings known as “Boa Vista” with a magnificent site, overlooking the sea, belonging to it. The property had in the course of years been let to many tenants and had latterly been used as an hotel. But the last tenants, at any rate, had found it difficult to make a living and pay the rent which the government demanded. Twentieth century hotel guests cannot be comforted with fourteenth century cheer.
And now “Boa Vista” and its grounds were for sale once more. Already invaded by the germ of a great idea, I made careful inquiries about the place. I became convinced that if one were to make extensive alternations, the buildings could be turned into a modern attractive hotel, of which the Portuguese Colony stood in great need. I pondered over the idea for a long time, and the longer I thought the greater became my ambition. It occurred to me that a casino and hotel combined might prove a still more profitable proposition—if one could work it.
Once the idea of an up-to-date casino had taken hold of me, I began to elaborate on the original scheme, till within a few days of its conception I could already see in my mind’s eye the Monte Carlo of the Far East, with myself in the role of M. Blanc. All the conditions likely to make for success appeared to be present: the position of the place was analogous, topographically, to that of Monte Carlo, the climate salubrious, the vegetation luxuriant, the scenery beautiful. There was a romantic bit of history attached to the place, sufficient of Old Portugal left to attract tourists. But in the addition to all these advantages, the nearness to two of the wealthiest Chinese provinces—Kwangsi and Kwantung—and Macao’s equidistance from Hong Kong and Canton promised to make it the Mecca of all gamblers in that part of the world, as well as a haven for those merely desiring rest and a change of scene.
I was privately informed that the Macao government was only too anxious to stop the opium traffic altogether, if some other equally productive means of revenue could be found. Everything seemed propitious. I studied the matter from all angles, and could find no snag in it. Here was a grand opportunity for organizing something really big. I amused myself by working out the whole thing in all its aspects, down to the minutest detail. And almost unawares I soon found myself in Macao.
I knew by this time a sufficiently large number of wealthy Chinese in Hong Kong, Canton and North China who, I was sure, would give the proposition their financial backing, and had sufficient faith and confidence in me to leave the organizing in my hands. I spoke to an engineer and architect friend of mine, and described to him what I had in mind, and then sent him to survey the estate and existing buildings. He reported favorably upon the site, and produced some remarkably fine drawings of elevations—were now something to impress my Chinese backers, I thought, as well as the municipal councilors of Macao who would have the last word.
There were to be an amusement pier, pleasure boats and a ferry service to the neighboring coast, a hydro with gymnasium, thermal baths and swimming pools, a casino containing rooms for chemin de fer, roulette, fan-tan, and petits chevaux, billiard tables and dance halls. The hotel was to have 250 bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, American fashion, and was to be constructed so that one could build on twice that number of rooms without interfering with the symmetry of the structure. Yes—I had my dreams!
A special feature was to be the outer gallery encircling the spoke-like wings of the main building, where as many small shops were to be installed as there were trades in the city, and where no two traders in the same commodity were to be allowed space. Ample provision for garages and repair shops were also included in the plans.
The scheme, financially, provided that in return for the concession the Government of Macao was to receive from the casino company a percentage of its net profits for thirty years, part of which was to go to the municipality of Macao to be utilized for the improvement of roads and lighting, and the clearing of slum areas; while the policing of the casino area was to be undertaken by the company, and all minor officials and labor were to be recruited from the local population. At the end of thirty years the whole of the estate and buildings were to become the exclusive property of the government.
Three million dollars was my estimate for the cost of this undertaking, and the authorized capital of the company I intended to be five million, of which my Chinese financiers were willing to find between them one a half million and give an assurance that they could raise as much again from their own circle of friends.
There was thus no need for me to worry about the money side of the scheme. Therefore, as soon as possible, I arranged for an interview with His Excellency, the Governor of Macao, to whom I submitted my proposals. Although he was pleased with it, so he gave me to understand, he remained diplomatically non-committal. But a week later our negotiations with the municipality started, to whom His Excellency had referred the matter with his recommendations that they were to consider it favorably.
Now the fun started. In those early hectic days, when I was still under the hot spell of my vision, many Portuguese officials began to discover that a visit to Hong Kong on business connected with the ‘great scheme’ assured free entertainment over long weekends for themselves and their ladies. Details had to be discussed, of course, and they argued, no doubt, that they might as well be discussed in comfort at Hong Kong Hotel as in stuffy Government offices at Macao.
One is prepared for that sort of thing in the Far East. I had more or less expected something of the kind. Moreover, you can’t entertain too lavishly folk who appreciate your genius and tell you to your face how they admire you, and how ready they are to promote your interests. I was not surprised when some of my Portuguese well-wishers informed me that they found it difficult to cooperate with me officially while little private worries were pressing so heavily upon them. Courteously they hinted that since they had honored me with their confidence I could surely do no less than relieve them of their most pressing burdens of debt, so that they might the better be able to devote their undivided attention to the furthering of my business. After all, is the want of a few hundred dollars to be allowed to interfere with your co-worker’s peace of mind?
It soon leaked out in the Portuguese Colony that I was not only a man of extraordinary enterprise, but also as different as chalk from cheese from those stuck-up inaccessible Britishers in Hong Kong—in fact, that I was muy simpatico and so generous. How I wished they hadn’t spread such lies! More and more officials came to see me, and their wives and daughters who came with them, of course, were so very charming! They had heard, these ladies, that I dabbled in diamonds too, ‘just for fun’—they said—and would I mind very much if they asked me to value for them their own diamond jewelry? Of course, they knew they weren’t really first class stones, but then father was only a Government official, and Portugal but a poor country. Still they adored diamonds, and some day—who knows?—if it wasn’t too much to hope when the Senor’s dream of Monte Carlo in Macao had become a reality and he was rolling in millions, he might perchance remember his humble friends, the wives and daughters of the Portuguese officials, who had made it possible for his dream to come true. In the meantime, if he had some teeny-weeny little stones that no one wanted—?
Would it delight you to have me confess that I ever believed that pretty speeches, pretty cars and pretty stones are perfectly suited to each other? Would you have me say more, so that you might with justice bestow upon me the honorable letters M.U.G?
So, everything went swimmingly, and as fast as official business can be transacted anywhere. Of course there were vexatious delays, vexatious only, I was told because I, a mere impulsive merchant, did not realize that Government business—at least Portuguese Government business—was not transacted on common mercantile lines. The explanation satisfied me for a while. I was still green.
I cannot recall a single instance of downright graft in connection with that grandly-conceived scheme. No one ever came up to me and said, “Unless you pay me so many thousand dollars I am going to oppose you in Council!” No one every threatened to frustrate my plans unless I handed over so much of my prospective profits—in advance. My gifts were freely bestowed to cement friendships of which I stood in need, and they were bestowed to cement friendships of which I stood in need, and they were bestowed without compulsion. It was only when my well-wishers increased out of all proportions even to the grandeur of my scheme that I first began to fear for its ultimate success.
My company had not been formed. It still existed partly in my imagination and partly on paper, backed by promises contingent upon being able to secure the approval of the Macao municipality and, of course, the subsequent sanction of the authorities in Lisbon. Hence there were no funds available for ‘preliminaries’ save those which came from my own pocket. Was it to be wondered at, therefore, that after six months of entertaining and free-will offerings I felt put out when one of the brightest dignitary—reminded me of a Portuguese proverb to the effect that he who rides on a well-grassed axle rides in comfort?
I judged that the axle had been, if anything, smothered in grease, and yet I was not riding in comfort. And I told him as much, quite bluntly. Upon mature reflection he therefore decided that the best interests of the colony would not be served by his sponsoring of my scheme: rank treason to my great cause and to me, his dear ‘amigo’. Such faithlessness should not go unpunished, and he would have deserved that I record his name here and now; if I retain it is only because of sweet Carmencita, his daughter.
Other councilors followed the traitor’s lead—some on the principle that all new things should be banned, and others just because the Governor of the Colony himself was greatly in favor of my proposals. Opposition grew like a snowball, almost overnight. My friends, their wives and daughters, came to see me no more.
Meanwhile in Hong Kong my scheme was also meeting with great opposition from those in the British Colony who thought that if roulette in luxurious surroundings were substituted for fan-tan in squalid, stuffy, unwholeseome rooms, the British youth of Hong Kong would surely got to the dogs. The British authorities, therefore, were also dead against me and did their best to break the scheme.
But above all, I had one most powerful and hitherto unsuspected opponent who had been against me from the start. This was the man behind the opium monopoly in Macao. I had said in my prospectus that there would be no further need for the ugly opium traffic in Portuguese possession as a source of revenue if my scheme were accepted. Naturally he was not going to lie down under this and see his source of income taken away from beneath his very nose. I like a fool had completely left him out of my calculations, and now, using his enormous influence and dipping freely into his long purse, he countered me at every step. He was the decisive factor behind my failure—for failure I could now see it was. While the documents were still preparing in Macao and a first report was already on its way to the Portuguese capital, I had already decided to abandon my plans. The dice were too heavily loaded against what would have been at any time a hazardous project.
And so after coming thus far my scheme was dropped, and with it all my glittering dreams of another and even more exotic Monte Carlo. It was only then that I actually met Li, the opium monopolist who had so contributed to wreck my plans. The jeweler in Hong Kong with whom he dealt had not been able to supply eight matched diamonds of hazel-nut size, and he had been told that he might find them with me. I did not disappoint him, and from then on Li became a regular visitor at my office once a week or so.
He was a strange volcanic type. The manner of his buying was like this: he would come through the door like a whirlwind, refuse to be seated since he really should not have come as he was so terribly busy. He would then say, ‘Anything good in diamonds—not too dear?’
When I had spread before him what I thought might tempt him, he would turn the stones over with a toothpick and say, “How much?’ To whatever price I mentioned he would say, ‘Too dear!’ walk to the door, there make a half-turn and add, ‘No less?’ come back to the table, pick up the stones, wrap them in any piece of paper that was handy and, with a ‘Send me the account’, disappear. Next time he would bring the check to cover the amount of his last purchase, and buy again ‘on tick’. These purchases ran into twenty, thirty and forty thousand dollars a time, and I could not imagine what he did with all the diamonds be bought. Well—I found out at last. He gave them all away. Many of the Hong Kong, Canton and Macao official’s wives sported gorgeous diamond earrings and diamonds rings. No wonder my friend Li could pull off deals that few other men could handle!
He tumbled one day to the fact that his purveyor of diamonds was the same man who had spoken so disparagingly of the opium traffic on which he himself was battening. He came and gave me a lecture, saying at the same time that if I had enlisted his cooperation he would have come in on the scheme. With his aid, I am sure all difficulties would have vanished. But it was too late. The opportune moment had gone; and it rests still with some future speculator to make my dream reality.
Louis Kornitzer writes:
For one year, eight months and some indefinite number of days, I had nothing but inward praise and more tangible gratitude for my room and table boy, Tang Tai Ling.
Tang Tai Ling had so far displayed scrupulous honesty, for he never so much as nibbled at my sweetmeats, sampled my cigars or cigarettes, or allowed his finger to stray towards my small change.
But one day I began to wonder whether a twisted nose in an ashen pockmarked, though, curiously ascetic, face, was not meant as a danger signal for the unwary. I began to suspect from various trifling signs that he was well on the way to become intimately acquainted with the inside of the safe in my bedroom; and from then onward I systematically changed the combination lock once a month in the stillness of night. But for all that he bore me no grudge, I felt sure. On the contrary, I suspected that I had greatly risen in his esteem.
In the absence of definite proof of his intentions I censured myself, however, for allowing the shadow of my suspicion to fall upon him; and I was rather glad than otherwise when events proved that I had not in thought been unjust to him, and extreme danger forced him to lift the mask which hid—I hate to say it—a thief.
It happened like this.
The rooms next to mine were occupied by an American newly arrived in the colony, a self-styled doctor of medicine and, as it turned out, a thoroughgoing quack. The fellow was a heavy drinker, and one night when he had taken on a rather heavy mixed cargo of liquor he forgot to lock his bedroom door before tumbling into bed, boots and all. In the morning, consequently, there was a great commotion; his wallet, containing a big wad of money, had vanished.
The hotel management should then with propriety have remembered that for the last fifteen years, at intervals of from nine months to a year, successive occupants of that room and of the adjoining apartments, which were under Tang Tai Ling’s especial care, had been laid under contribution. But jealous of the reputation of the house, they maintained that since the whole of their staff, from bookkeeper to kitchen scullion, had been in their employ for a decade and a half, the doctor must have lost his wallet outside.
The American, however, was sure he knew better. He insisted upon going into the matter. And so, after a few days of strenuous effort, he prevailed upon a reluctant Public Security Department to dispatch its minions to the hotel.
I was not on the spot when they arrived, but I heard them come. The European and Chinese detectives presented themselves with the noise and clatter of a cavalry detachment. From the porch of my ground floor window I listened to the hubhub, and knew that down there in the basement the whole of the staff were being ordered by the management to line up in the yard to be questioned; and that then their quarters would be searched if the police should think it necessary.
In a moment, however, my door opened and Tang Tai Ling, who should have been downstairs with the others, slid into the room with a jug and glasses in his hands. Outwardly calm, he was as pale as death, and his agitation was betrayed by his nervously twitching fingers as he set the tray upon the table.
From the corner of my eye I saw him go to my wardrobe, open it, draw from under his belt a small bundle and toss it among my linen. Not a word did he say to me. I asked no questions. I did not care to investigate, or to find out anything that might compel me to act the informer. There was nothing to be said, and he crept out as silently as he had come in.
When half an hour later he re-entered my room, Tang Tai Ling was as self-possessed as ever, and with the utmost brazenness busied himself with my socks, which he declared needed overhauling. He took away a goodly bundle of them for the house-amah to see and with them, I felt, went the American’s bank roll.
If Tang Tai Ling had been obsequious before, he was henceforth a father to me, and I read that in his eyes which reproved me for still continuing to change the safe combination at regular intervals. Dared he have spoken he would have said, “No need for that now, master. Give me a chance to prove that I am grateful to you for saving my face.”
As for the American quack doctor, he fled the colony within a month or so of these events. The cause of his flight was an illegal operation which claimed the life of a young woman, so my sympathy stayed with the get-rich-quick Chinaman.
Tang Tai Ling had made good use of his years of service in Hong Kong, for in Macao, the Portuguese colony on the China coast near by, he owned a great deal of house property and some shops which members of his family ran for him. He was a good husband, I was told, to three wives, a devoted father to a numerous progeny and a doting grandsire to two sturdy Portuguese half castes.
In a manner it was to him that I was indebted for some pleasant day dreams, for he was the first cause of what I might well call “The Great Casino Bubble”. He brought me advance information of the intended sale by the Macao Government of the ancient block of buildings known as “Boa Vista” with a magnificent site, overlooking the sea, belonging to it. The property had in the course of years been let to many tenants and had latterly been used as an hotel. But the last tenants, at any rate, had found it difficult to make a living and pay the rent which the government demanded. Twentieth century hotel guests cannot be comforted with fourteenth century cheer.
And now “Boa Vista” and its grounds were for sale once more. Already invaded by the germ of a great idea, I made careful inquiries about the place. I became convinced that if one were to make extensive alternations, the buildings could be turned into a modern attractive hotel, of which the Portuguese Colony stood in great need. I pondered over the idea for a long time, and the longer I thought the greater became my ambition. It occurred to me that a casino and hotel combined might prove a still more profitable proposition—if one could work it.
Once the idea of an up-to-date casino had taken hold of me, I began to elaborate on the original scheme, till within a few days of its conception I could already see in my mind’s eye the Monte Carlo of the Far East, with myself in the role of M. Blanc. All the conditions likely to make for success appeared to be present: the position of the place was analogous, topographically, to that of Monte Carlo, the climate salubrious, the vegetation luxuriant, the scenery beautiful. There was a romantic bit of history attached to the place, sufficient of Old Portugal left to attract tourists. But in the addition to all these advantages, the nearness to two of the wealthiest Chinese provinces—Kwangsi and Kwantung—and Macao’s equidistance from Hong Kong and Canton promised to make it the Mecca of all gamblers in that part of the world, as well as a haven for those merely desiring rest and a change of scene.
I was privately informed that the Macao government was only too anxious to stop the opium traffic altogether, if some other equally productive means of revenue could be found. Everything seemed propitious. I studied the matter from all angles, and could find no snag in it. Here was a grand opportunity for organizing something really big. I amused myself by working out the whole thing in all its aspects, down to the minutest detail. And almost unawares I soon found myself in Macao.
I knew by this time a sufficiently large number of wealthy Chinese in Hong Kong, Canton and North China who, I was sure, would give the proposition their financial backing, and had sufficient faith and confidence in me to leave the organizing in my hands. I spoke to an engineer and architect friend of mine, and described to him what I had in mind, and then sent him to survey the estate and existing buildings. He reported favorably upon the site, and produced some remarkably fine drawings of elevations—were now something to impress my Chinese backers, I thought, as well as the municipal councilors of Macao who would have the last word.
There were to be an amusement pier, pleasure boats and a ferry service to the neighboring coast, a hydro with gymnasium, thermal baths and swimming pools, a casino containing rooms for chemin de fer, roulette, fan-tan, and petits chevaux, billiard tables and dance halls. The hotel was to have 250 bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, American fashion, and was to be constructed so that one could build on twice that number of rooms without interfering with the symmetry of the structure. Yes—I had my dreams!
A special feature was to be the outer gallery encircling the spoke-like wings of the main building, where as many small shops were to be installed as there were trades in the city, and where no two traders in the same commodity were to be allowed space. Ample provision for garages and repair shops were also included in the plans.
The scheme, financially, provided that in return for the concession the Government of Macao was to receive from the casino company a percentage of its net profits for thirty years, part of which was to go to the municipality of Macao to be utilized for the improvement of roads and lighting, and the clearing of slum areas; while the policing of the casino area was to be undertaken by the company, and all minor officials and labor were to be recruited from the local population. At the end of thirty years the whole of the estate and buildings were to become the exclusive property of the government.
Three million dollars was my estimate for the cost of this undertaking, and the authorized capital of the company I intended to be five million, of which my Chinese financiers were willing to find between them one a half million and give an assurance that they could raise as much again from their own circle of friends.
There was thus no need for me to worry about the money side of the scheme. Therefore, as soon as possible, I arranged for an interview with His Excellency, the Governor of Macao, to whom I submitted my proposals. Although he was pleased with it, so he gave me to understand, he remained diplomatically non-committal. But a week later our negotiations with the municipality started, to whom His Excellency had referred the matter with his recommendations that they were to consider it favorably.
Now the fun started. In those early hectic days, when I was still under the hot spell of my vision, many Portuguese officials began to discover that a visit to Hong Kong on business connected with the ‘great scheme’ assured free entertainment over long weekends for themselves and their ladies. Details had to be discussed, of course, and they argued, no doubt, that they might as well be discussed in comfort at Hong Kong Hotel as in stuffy Government offices at Macao.
One is prepared for that sort of thing in the Far East. I had more or less expected something of the kind. Moreover, you can’t entertain too lavishly folk who appreciate your genius and tell you to your face how they admire you, and how ready they are to promote your interests. I was not surprised when some of my Portuguese well-wishers informed me that they found it difficult to cooperate with me officially while little private worries were pressing so heavily upon them. Courteously they hinted that since they had honored me with their confidence I could surely do no less than relieve them of their most pressing burdens of debt, so that they might the better be able to devote their undivided attention to the furthering of my business. After all, is the want of a few hundred dollars to be allowed to interfere with your co-worker’s peace of mind?
It soon leaked out in the Portuguese Colony that I was not only a man of extraordinary enterprise, but also as different as chalk from cheese from those stuck-up inaccessible Britishers in Hong Kong—in fact, that I was muy simpatico and so generous. How I wished they hadn’t spread such lies! More and more officials came to see me, and their wives and daughters who came with them, of course, were so very charming! They had heard, these ladies, that I dabbled in diamonds too, ‘just for fun’—they said—and would I mind very much if they asked me to value for them their own diamond jewelry? Of course, they knew they weren’t really first class stones, but then father was only a Government official, and Portugal but a poor country. Still they adored diamonds, and some day—who knows?—if it wasn’t too much to hope when the Senor’s dream of Monte Carlo in Macao had become a reality and he was rolling in millions, he might perchance remember his humble friends, the wives and daughters of the Portuguese officials, who had made it possible for his dream to come true. In the meantime, if he had some teeny-weeny little stones that no one wanted—?
Would it delight you to have me confess that I ever believed that pretty speeches, pretty cars and pretty stones are perfectly suited to each other? Would you have me say more, so that you might with justice bestow upon me the honorable letters M.U.G?
So, everything went swimmingly, and as fast as official business can be transacted anywhere. Of course there were vexatious delays, vexatious only, I was told because I, a mere impulsive merchant, did not realize that Government business—at least Portuguese Government business—was not transacted on common mercantile lines. The explanation satisfied me for a while. I was still green.
I cannot recall a single instance of downright graft in connection with that grandly-conceived scheme. No one ever came up to me and said, “Unless you pay me so many thousand dollars I am going to oppose you in Council!” No one every threatened to frustrate my plans unless I handed over so much of my prospective profits—in advance. My gifts were freely bestowed to cement friendships of which I stood in need, and they were bestowed to cement friendships of which I stood in need, and they were bestowed without compulsion. It was only when my well-wishers increased out of all proportions even to the grandeur of my scheme that I first began to fear for its ultimate success.
My company had not been formed. It still existed partly in my imagination and partly on paper, backed by promises contingent upon being able to secure the approval of the Macao municipality and, of course, the subsequent sanction of the authorities in Lisbon. Hence there were no funds available for ‘preliminaries’ save those which came from my own pocket. Was it to be wondered at, therefore, that after six months of entertaining and free-will offerings I felt put out when one of the brightest dignitary—reminded me of a Portuguese proverb to the effect that he who rides on a well-grassed axle rides in comfort?
I judged that the axle had been, if anything, smothered in grease, and yet I was not riding in comfort. And I told him as much, quite bluntly. Upon mature reflection he therefore decided that the best interests of the colony would not be served by his sponsoring of my scheme: rank treason to my great cause and to me, his dear ‘amigo’. Such faithlessness should not go unpunished, and he would have deserved that I record his name here and now; if I retain it is only because of sweet Carmencita, his daughter.
Other councilors followed the traitor’s lead—some on the principle that all new things should be banned, and others just because the Governor of the Colony himself was greatly in favor of my proposals. Opposition grew like a snowball, almost overnight. My friends, their wives and daughters, came to see me no more.
Meanwhile in Hong Kong my scheme was also meeting with great opposition from those in the British Colony who thought that if roulette in luxurious surroundings were substituted for fan-tan in squalid, stuffy, unwholeseome rooms, the British youth of Hong Kong would surely got to the dogs. The British authorities, therefore, were also dead against me and did their best to break the scheme.
But above all, I had one most powerful and hitherto unsuspected opponent who had been against me from the start. This was the man behind the opium monopoly in Macao. I had said in my prospectus that there would be no further need for the ugly opium traffic in Portuguese possession as a source of revenue if my scheme were accepted. Naturally he was not going to lie down under this and see his source of income taken away from beneath his very nose. I like a fool had completely left him out of my calculations, and now, using his enormous influence and dipping freely into his long purse, he countered me at every step. He was the decisive factor behind my failure—for failure I could now see it was. While the documents were still preparing in Macao and a first report was already on its way to the Portuguese capital, I had already decided to abandon my plans. The dice were too heavily loaded against what would have been at any time a hazardous project.
And so after coming thus far my scheme was dropped, and with it all my glittering dreams of another and even more exotic Monte Carlo. It was only then that I actually met Li, the opium monopolist who had so contributed to wreck my plans. The jeweler in Hong Kong with whom he dealt had not been able to supply eight matched diamonds of hazel-nut size, and he had been told that he might find them with me. I did not disappoint him, and from then on Li became a regular visitor at my office once a week or so.
He was a strange volcanic type. The manner of his buying was like this: he would come through the door like a whirlwind, refuse to be seated since he really should not have come as he was so terribly busy. He would then say, ‘Anything good in diamonds—not too dear?’
When I had spread before him what I thought might tempt him, he would turn the stones over with a toothpick and say, “How much?’ To whatever price I mentioned he would say, ‘Too dear!’ walk to the door, there make a half-turn and add, ‘No less?’ come back to the table, pick up the stones, wrap them in any piece of paper that was handy and, with a ‘Send me the account’, disappear. Next time he would bring the check to cover the amount of his last purchase, and buy again ‘on tick’. These purchases ran into twenty, thirty and forty thousand dollars a time, and I could not imagine what he did with all the diamonds be bought. Well—I found out at last. He gave them all away. Many of the Hong Kong, Canton and Macao official’s wives sported gorgeous diamond earrings and diamonds rings. No wonder my friend Li could pull off deals that few other men could handle!
He tumbled one day to the fact that his purveyor of diamonds was the same man who had spoken so disparagingly of the opium traffic on which he himself was battening. He came and gave me a lecture, saying at the same time that if I had enlisted his cooperation he would have come in on the scheme. With his aid, I am sure all difficulties would have vanished. But it was too late. The opportune moment had gone; and it rests still with some future speculator to make my dream reality.
Body Clock Constant Throughout Life
I hope the gemologists, lab gemologists, gem dealers and jewelers take note of this natural phenomenon. It may affect gem identification and grading of stones.
BBC News writes:
Scientists have calculated that the body's internal clock works on a cycle of 24 hours and 11 minutes. Previous studies had concluded that the body, or circadian, clock worked on a 25-hour period that shortened with age.
But a study, funded by the US National Institutes for Health, has found both older and younger healthy people share the same circadian period of a little more than 24 hours. This is despite the fact that older people tend to wake up earlier.
Lead study author Dr Charles Czeisler, of Harvard Medical School, said: "The circadian period averages 24 hours and 11 minutes in both young and older individuals.
"However, older people tend to arise earlier in the morning, because the hours at which they can get a good night's sleep, relative to their circadian clock, are much more restricted." The study focused on a group of 24 men and women. The 11 younger subjects had an average age of 23.7 and the 13 older subjects had an average of 67.4.
In order to measure the length of the circadian period, investigators used a number of carefully designed techniques to minimise the factors which can inadvertently reset the circadian clock.
These include activity, exposure to indoor room light, travel and illness. Genetics may also be a factor. Dr Andrew Monjan, of the National Institute of Aging, said that older people might wake up earlier in the day than their younger counterparts because something - perhaps light exposure - is interrupting sleep and throwing off the sleep-wake cycle.
Body's pacemaker
In humans the circadian pacemaker is located deep within the brain's hypothalamus, in the suprachiasmatic nucleus, where it helps the body keep time. It controls a number of body functions and interacts with the mechanisms controlling sleep.
For most people, studies show that the pressure to sleep builds up throughout the day and peaks around 9pm-10pm. At this time, the body's temperature starts to drop and lowers about one degree during sleep.
As it starts to rise, around 4am, the likelihood of waking increases. In addition, the pineal gland, located deep within the brain, produces and secretes the chemical melatonin at high levels during the night.
A number of factors can affect melatonin secretion, especially many common medications and light. For example, a lamp turned off at bedtime can affect the stimulation of the pineal gland, and sunrise triggers the chemical process that enables a person to begin waking up.
More info @ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/377146.stm
BBC News writes:
Scientists have calculated that the body's internal clock works on a cycle of 24 hours and 11 minutes. Previous studies had concluded that the body, or circadian, clock worked on a 25-hour period that shortened with age.
But a study, funded by the US National Institutes for Health, has found both older and younger healthy people share the same circadian period of a little more than 24 hours. This is despite the fact that older people tend to wake up earlier.
Lead study author Dr Charles Czeisler, of Harvard Medical School, said: "The circadian period averages 24 hours and 11 minutes in both young and older individuals.
"However, older people tend to arise earlier in the morning, because the hours at which they can get a good night's sleep, relative to their circadian clock, are much more restricted." The study focused on a group of 24 men and women. The 11 younger subjects had an average age of 23.7 and the 13 older subjects had an average of 67.4.
In order to measure the length of the circadian period, investigators used a number of carefully designed techniques to minimise the factors which can inadvertently reset the circadian clock.
These include activity, exposure to indoor room light, travel and illness. Genetics may also be a factor. Dr Andrew Monjan, of the National Institute of Aging, said that older people might wake up earlier in the day than their younger counterparts because something - perhaps light exposure - is interrupting sleep and throwing off the sleep-wake cycle.
Body's pacemaker
In humans the circadian pacemaker is located deep within the brain's hypothalamus, in the suprachiasmatic nucleus, where it helps the body keep time. It controls a number of body functions and interacts with the mechanisms controlling sleep.
For most people, studies show that the pressure to sleep builds up throughout the day and peaks around 9pm-10pm. At this time, the body's temperature starts to drop and lowers about one degree during sleep.
As it starts to rise, around 4am, the likelihood of waking increases. In addition, the pineal gland, located deep within the brain, produces and secretes the chemical melatonin at high levels during the night.
A number of factors can affect melatonin secretion, especially many common medications and light. For example, a lamp turned off at bedtime can affect the stimulation of the pineal gland, and sunrise triggers the chemical process that enables a person to begin waking up.
More info @ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/377146.stm
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Variscite From Western Australia
Meekatharra District in central Western Australia is becoming known as the news source for variscite. Due to the remoteness of the area and the oppressively hot climate, mining takes place for only a 10-day period once a year during the cool season (May through September). The variscite colors range from light to dark yellowish green with attractive patterns created by orangy brown veining. The varisite reportedly is not treated or stabilized in any way. Through microscopic examination and EDXRF analysis the experts have identified particles of gold along with Fe and As.
Opal's Density
(via Australian Gemmologist, Volume 23, No.2, April – June 2007) Alan Hodgkinson writes:
The author describes how liquids such as sodium polytungstate and glycerine can be used practically to discriminate natural opals from synthetic and all-plastic imitation opals.
A typical gem quality opal has a water content of 6-10 percent and this is subject to both evaporation and drying out. In contrast, however, some opals are extremely hygroscopic, and upon immersion in water there can be considerable intake. This not only alters the weight and therefore the density of opal, but also can alter its appearance. As a consequence of this water intake, the whole stone looks more valuable. Also note how the opal has temporarily darkened where the water intake has concentrated.
Natural opal weight (before): 16.19ct
Natural opal weight (after): 18.10 ct
Obviously, any attempt at determining the specific gravity of such an opal, by hydrostatic or beam balance method would upset by its water intake. However, a useful response for estimating this opals specific gravity can be gained by the immediate reaction of the opal to immersion in sodium polytungstate. Webster gives the S.G for white and black and opal as near 2.1. Bear in mind, this density range is only significant when there is no matrix present. Please remember that the latter feature itself a pointer to a natural opal identity, unless the opal is part of a composite imitation. Those man-made opals with a 20 to 30 percent polymer infilling have a decidedly lower S.G in the region of 1.8 – 1.9, while those white synthetic opals that use zirconia as a sphere binder have a slightly raised S.G in the region of 2.2.
Suspension in sodium polytungstate
It is fairly simple matter to suspend an opal in the harmless medium, sodium polytungstate. This compound was demonstrated to the author in 1979 by Dr W W Hanneman. When pure, sodium polytungstate’s S.G is 2.8. Adding distilled water lowers its density. In contrast, heating the liquid evaporates and therefore raises its density. Once the opal is suspended, the R.I of the liquid can be confirmed by refractometer. This can then be read off against a straight line graph compiled by Hanneman which will indicate the approximate density of the opal. The alternative is to use known control stones (natural and synthetic) and compare the buoyancy or heaviness of the test opal against the behavior of the controls.
Glycerin as a heavy liquid
Glycerin is not harmful, washes off immediately with cold water, is not expensive, and might be found useful to separate opals from the all-plastic opal simulants, as pointed out by Emmanuel Fritsch. This viscous liquid has a density of 1.26 in which all imitation plastic opals will float. In contrast, all opal, whether natural or synthetic, will sink. Even those man-made opals which contain silica spheres but which have a substantial plastic binder, will sink. Apart from the plastic opal imitations, all of the above sink at variable speeds—dependent on size, and not density.
The author describes how liquids such as sodium polytungstate and glycerine can be used practically to discriminate natural opals from synthetic and all-plastic imitation opals.
A typical gem quality opal has a water content of 6-10 percent and this is subject to both evaporation and drying out. In contrast, however, some opals are extremely hygroscopic, and upon immersion in water there can be considerable intake. This not only alters the weight and therefore the density of opal, but also can alter its appearance. As a consequence of this water intake, the whole stone looks more valuable. Also note how the opal has temporarily darkened where the water intake has concentrated.
Natural opal weight (before): 16.19ct
Natural opal weight (after): 18.10 ct
Obviously, any attempt at determining the specific gravity of such an opal, by hydrostatic or beam balance method would upset by its water intake. However, a useful response for estimating this opals specific gravity can be gained by the immediate reaction of the opal to immersion in sodium polytungstate. Webster gives the S.G for white and black and opal as near 2.1. Bear in mind, this density range is only significant when there is no matrix present. Please remember that the latter feature itself a pointer to a natural opal identity, unless the opal is part of a composite imitation. Those man-made opals with a 20 to 30 percent polymer infilling have a decidedly lower S.G in the region of 1.8 – 1.9, while those white synthetic opals that use zirconia as a sphere binder have a slightly raised S.G in the region of 2.2.
Suspension in sodium polytungstate
It is fairly simple matter to suspend an opal in the harmless medium, sodium polytungstate. This compound was demonstrated to the author in 1979 by Dr W W Hanneman. When pure, sodium polytungstate’s S.G is 2.8. Adding distilled water lowers its density. In contrast, heating the liquid evaporates and therefore raises its density. Once the opal is suspended, the R.I of the liquid can be confirmed by refractometer. This can then be read off against a straight line graph compiled by Hanneman which will indicate the approximate density of the opal. The alternative is to use known control stones (natural and synthetic) and compare the buoyancy or heaviness of the test opal against the behavior of the controls.
Glycerin as a heavy liquid
Glycerin is not harmful, washes off immediately with cold water, is not expensive, and might be found useful to separate opals from the all-plastic opal simulants, as pointed out by Emmanuel Fritsch. This viscous liquid has a density of 1.26 in which all imitation plastic opals will float. In contrast, all opal, whether natural or synthetic, will sink. Even those man-made opals which contain silica spheres but which have a substantial plastic binder, will sink. Apart from the plastic opal imitations, all of the above sink at variable speeds—dependent on size, and not density.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Mexican Turquoise
It has been reported that new production of turquoise from a large open-pit copper mine, about 110 km south of the U.S border from Douglas, Arizona is the new source. The Nacozari turquoise is found in nodules; though chalky much of the material is hard enough with good color. The rough pieces show inclusions of pyrite, quartz, and mica. Most materials are fashioned as cabochon or free form. The materials may be stabilized to improve color.
Burmese Pezzottaite
It has been reported that after Madagascar and Afghanistan, Khatchel, near Molo, in the Momeik area of Burma's Mogok district is the new source for pezzottaite. The crystals are tabular with colors ranging from pinkish orange to purplish pink.
Andes Jade
Andes Jade is the marketing name for serpentinite from central-western Argentina. The material is translucent to opaque with colors ranging from light to dark green, to bluish green to black. Analytical tests indicate a mixture of antigorite and lizardite with magnesite and magnetite. Some specimens are magnetic. The material is used for carvings; good ones may be cut as cabochons.
How Color Names Developed
Here is an interesting concept on color communication for colored stone dealers, gemologists, jewelers and consumers alike.
Methuen writes:
The purpose of a color name is to communicate the appearance of a given color or to enable us to think in color. Thus the color name must be so characteristic of the color’s appearance that it is readily understood by others. Since our environment is the source of colors, it is here that we must look for objects of typical colors, objects for which we already have names and which can be used to designate a characteristic appearance. Such was the case with the words blood and red, the oldest color name found in most languages. White and black are also of ancient origin and often derived from the concepts of light and dark symbolized by day and night. From the Sanskrit candra (light) came the Latin candidus (white). The Russian belyi (white) is derived from the root bhe (to lighten). The English white is derived from the Germanic xwitaz, which is related to the Russian svet (light). Similarly, black and dark share common origins. The German Schwarz (black) is related to the Nordic sortna (to darken), the Latin suasum (a dark place), and the archaic English swart, which means darkness and black (hence swarthy).
The word for yellow is also of early origin in many languages, usually derived from the names for fruits, straw, gold, fire or bile (the German galle, the Italian giallo). The words for green and blue developed at a later date, perhaps because the materials necessary to form these pigments were not as readily available. Green is naturally related to the phenomenon of growth and greenery. Blue, strangely enough, is often derived from the word for pale or yellow, perhaps because the sky often is a pale blue or even yellowish.
Among the oldest color names, those for red, yellow, green, blue, white, black, correspond with the basic concepts discussed previously. Here we shall describe these as basic names of the first order. Names of the second order are words such as beige, blonde, grey, brown, golden, lilac, magenta, olive, orange, pale, purple, rose, ruby, turquoise and violet, that is, color names which are independent words and characterize more or less specific colors or color areas.
When basic color names are combined with one another, they designate intermediate colors such as yellow green, blue black, golden blonde. The basic color names and their combinations will be grouped together under the term general color names. As the need for more refined color descriptions arose, the general color names were varied by the addition of modifiers resulting in terms such as light blue, pastel green, deep black. The addition of suffixes, such as the ish in yellowish, can be useful in describing the changes which take place in a gradual color shift, for example: green, bluish green, blue green, green blue, greenish blue, blue.
Another, larger group of color names are directly derived from specific elements in our environment. In addition to the words for the specific elements or objects which identify colors, the terms in this group usually include a basic color name. Below are some examples of color names which belong to this group:
1. Color names derived from plants: apricot (yellow), lemon yellow, grass green, hazel, rose red.
2. Color names derived from minerals and metals: alabaster, amethyst (violet), copper (red), malachite green, platinum blonde, turquoise blue.
3. Color names derived from man-made products: chocolate (brown), faience blue, bottle green, wine red.
4. Color names derived from fauna: beaver, canary yellow, mouse grey, fox, butterfly blue.
5. Color names derived from geographic names: Berlin blue, Copenhagen blue, Naples yellow, Pompeian red, Spanish green.
6. Color names derived from natural phenomena: aurora, spring green, sky blue, fire red, fog.
7. Color names derived from miscellaneous subjects: calypso (red), infra-red.
The importance of the basic color names and particularly those of the first order is evident from the frequency with which they occur in color descriptions. About one half of color descriptions contain a basic name of the first order and about one quarter a secondary basic name; in addition, combinations of both occupy about one sixth of such descriptions.
Thus far we have considered color names of one or two words, for example, blue, yellow grey, light red, deep black (yellow plus grey, light plus red, deep plus black). Color names with three or more parts are impractical. Four-part names such as light blue green grey are exceedingly difficult to visualize; even a three-part name such as grey brown red can prove awkward in usage.
In everyday speech, however, we often use auxiliary words before the proper color name; for example, a radiant orange red, a strong blue violet, a dark blue green, a warm red brown. These auxiliary words specify a slight variation of the color name proper. With time, part of the color name proper may itself become an auxiliary word; the name grey violet, for example, became more commonly known as grayish violet, and blue green also became known as bluish green. There are too many auxiliary words, such a strong and deep, to include in the dictionary. If well chosen, however, their meaning can be easily understood.
The method of forming color names outlined here obviously permits the formation of an almost unlimited number of color names, many of which would prove superfluous. Although such a flood of names is impractical, constantly changing fashions demand an ever increasing variety of color names—often in such fantastic combinations that a name becomes vague or meaningless; when it does have a meaning, this may change from year to year.
Methuen writes:
The purpose of a color name is to communicate the appearance of a given color or to enable us to think in color. Thus the color name must be so characteristic of the color’s appearance that it is readily understood by others. Since our environment is the source of colors, it is here that we must look for objects of typical colors, objects for which we already have names and which can be used to designate a characteristic appearance. Such was the case with the words blood and red, the oldest color name found in most languages. White and black are also of ancient origin and often derived from the concepts of light and dark symbolized by day and night. From the Sanskrit candra (light) came the Latin candidus (white). The Russian belyi (white) is derived from the root bhe (to lighten). The English white is derived from the Germanic xwitaz, which is related to the Russian svet (light). Similarly, black and dark share common origins. The German Schwarz (black) is related to the Nordic sortna (to darken), the Latin suasum (a dark place), and the archaic English swart, which means darkness and black (hence swarthy).
The word for yellow is also of early origin in many languages, usually derived from the names for fruits, straw, gold, fire or bile (the German galle, the Italian giallo). The words for green and blue developed at a later date, perhaps because the materials necessary to form these pigments were not as readily available. Green is naturally related to the phenomenon of growth and greenery. Blue, strangely enough, is often derived from the word for pale or yellow, perhaps because the sky often is a pale blue or even yellowish.
Among the oldest color names, those for red, yellow, green, blue, white, black, correspond with the basic concepts discussed previously. Here we shall describe these as basic names of the first order. Names of the second order are words such as beige, blonde, grey, brown, golden, lilac, magenta, olive, orange, pale, purple, rose, ruby, turquoise and violet, that is, color names which are independent words and characterize more or less specific colors or color areas.
When basic color names are combined with one another, they designate intermediate colors such as yellow green, blue black, golden blonde. The basic color names and their combinations will be grouped together under the term general color names. As the need for more refined color descriptions arose, the general color names were varied by the addition of modifiers resulting in terms such as light blue, pastel green, deep black. The addition of suffixes, such as the ish in yellowish, can be useful in describing the changes which take place in a gradual color shift, for example: green, bluish green, blue green, green blue, greenish blue, blue.
Another, larger group of color names are directly derived from specific elements in our environment. In addition to the words for the specific elements or objects which identify colors, the terms in this group usually include a basic color name. Below are some examples of color names which belong to this group:
1. Color names derived from plants: apricot (yellow), lemon yellow, grass green, hazel, rose red.
2. Color names derived from minerals and metals: alabaster, amethyst (violet), copper (red), malachite green, platinum blonde, turquoise blue.
3. Color names derived from man-made products: chocolate (brown), faience blue, bottle green, wine red.
4. Color names derived from fauna: beaver, canary yellow, mouse grey, fox, butterfly blue.
5. Color names derived from geographic names: Berlin blue, Copenhagen blue, Naples yellow, Pompeian red, Spanish green.
6. Color names derived from natural phenomena: aurora, spring green, sky blue, fire red, fog.
7. Color names derived from miscellaneous subjects: calypso (red), infra-red.
The importance of the basic color names and particularly those of the first order is evident from the frequency with which they occur in color descriptions. About one half of color descriptions contain a basic name of the first order and about one quarter a secondary basic name; in addition, combinations of both occupy about one sixth of such descriptions.
Thus far we have considered color names of one or two words, for example, blue, yellow grey, light red, deep black (yellow plus grey, light plus red, deep plus black). Color names with three or more parts are impractical. Four-part names such as light blue green grey are exceedingly difficult to visualize; even a three-part name such as grey brown red can prove awkward in usage.
In everyday speech, however, we often use auxiliary words before the proper color name; for example, a radiant orange red, a strong blue violet, a dark blue green, a warm red brown. These auxiliary words specify a slight variation of the color name proper. With time, part of the color name proper may itself become an auxiliary word; the name grey violet, for example, became more commonly known as grayish violet, and blue green also became known as bluish green. There are too many auxiliary words, such a strong and deep, to include in the dictionary. If well chosen, however, their meaning can be easily understood.
The method of forming color names outlined here obviously permits the formation of an almost unlimited number of color names, many of which would prove superfluous. Although such a flood of names is impractical, constantly changing fashions demand an ever increasing variety of color names—often in such fantastic combinations that a name becomes vague or meaningless; when it does have a meaning, this may change from year to year.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
World's Best Presentation Contest Winners
Slideshare.net announced the winners of the World's Best Presentation Contest:
Winners (chose by judges)
1. ShiftHappens by Jbrenman
2. Meet Henry by Chereemoore
3. Sustainable Food Lab by Chrislandry
People’s Choice Winners
1. PaniPuri--An Introduction by Thakkar
2. ShiftHappens by Jbrenman
3. Meet Henry by Chereeemoore
Tips for good presentation:
1. Big Fonts
2. Big Graphics
3. Good Story
Winners (chose by judges)
1. ShiftHappens by Jbrenman
2. Meet Henry by Chereemoore
3. Sustainable Food Lab by Chrislandry
People’s Choice Winners
1. PaniPuri--An Introduction by Thakkar
2. ShiftHappens by Jbrenman
3. Meet Henry by Chereeemoore
Tips for good presentation:
1. Big Fonts
2. Big Graphics
3. Good Story
The Trapiche Growth Phenomenon
There are various interpretations on the trapiche growth phenomena in colored stones. In the past experts got confused with the unusual growth pattern to twinning. The unusual growth pattern is usually visible in beryl, variety emerald, (Muzo, La Pena, Coscuez) and corundum, variety ruby and sapphire (Burma(Mong Hsu) and Vietnam). One theory is that the phenomenon in beryl and corundum are due to skeletal or dendritic growth, where edges and corners tend to grow much faster than the faces of a crystal. Another interpretation on the phenomenon in trapiche rubies and sapphires from Burma and Vietnam are due to skeletal growth followed by layer-by-layer growth. To make a long story short, rapid growth and changes in the growth conditions are believed to be the origin of the unusual patterns in beryl and corundum. The trapiche phenomenon is also seen in andalusite, tourmaline, and quartz. For now there are no nomenclatures for fixed star patterns that are being offered as trapiche in the gem market.
A Question Of Origin: A Different View
(via Gemological Digest, Vol.3, No.1, 1990) Charles A Schiffman writes:
Relating a source to the presence of certain inclusions or other physical properties is not a recent idea, but goes back to the last century. A good example in the literature is found in Max Bauer’s Edelsteinkunde, 3rd edition, Tauchnitz Verlag, 1896/1932; the author points out the great importance of inclusions in determining origins (page 499) and goes on about their description.
In more recent times, in the Handbook Of Gem Identification by R.T.Liddicoat, 11th edition, GIA, 1981, typical inclusions related to sources are quoted (pages 88-89, 95-96).
Inclusions As A Means Of Gemstone Identification by E.Gubelin, GIA, 1953, has been the standard course book at the GIA on the matter of inclusions related to source.
That gemstones of certain sources were highly favored long ago is a historical fact, independent from gemology.
This writer recalls one merchant who was proud because he dealt only in Burma rubies that he bought directly from Burma, following requests from customers in the jewelry trade, and he was not an isolated case.
The trade has a strong demand for origins that is documented by the Definitions of the CIBJO (published about 1968) in Europe, a body grouping a majority of dealers and retailers. The following is extracted from CIBJO:
Art.2: Designation of color and place of origin (a) names of gem localities used heretofore to describe the color of gemstones, cannot be used any longer (b) indications of place of origin can be only added if the origin is known and can actually be corroborated. This proof may be given either by physical properties, or by the stone’s inclusions, in so far as they are characteristic of a definite area.
Obviously there are limitations to finding out origins, i.e the absence of characteristic features. For this reason, the origin of many specimens of such gemstones as garnet, tourmaline and quart cannot be found.
An interesting point is that considering these limitations, where no origin may be objectively ascertained, a lab sometimes faces little understanding in trade circles.
Answering the demand from the market for general testing and for determination of origin, Gubelin Laboratory extended its activities (previously only for the company’s own needs) to outside inquiries in the late 1960’s.
Time has not stood still since then. Investigation has become a challenge to go beyond routine methods, using more complex instrumentation. Even so, some limitations will remain in the feasibility of this complex and difficult task, in an effort to base it on objective methods.
On the other side, the gemologist familiar with this field is conscious of the big commercial assets involved by people chasing the rare and exceptional items. This attitude is a very human one, so that it is hard to believe that interested parties will just forget about demanding origin information.
Showing different aspect of the question in this magazine will hopefully lead to a better understanding of the parties concerned, to improve their cooperation and contribute to solving pending questions.
Relating a source to the presence of certain inclusions or other physical properties is not a recent idea, but goes back to the last century. A good example in the literature is found in Max Bauer’s Edelsteinkunde, 3rd edition, Tauchnitz Verlag, 1896/1932; the author points out the great importance of inclusions in determining origins (page 499) and goes on about their description.
In more recent times, in the Handbook Of Gem Identification by R.T.Liddicoat, 11th edition, GIA, 1981, typical inclusions related to sources are quoted (pages 88-89, 95-96).
Inclusions As A Means Of Gemstone Identification by E.Gubelin, GIA, 1953, has been the standard course book at the GIA on the matter of inclusions related to source.
That gemstones of certain sources were highly favored long ago is a historical fact, independent from gemology.
This writer recalls one merchant who was proud because he dealt only in Burma rubies that he bought directly from Burma, following requests from customers in the jewelry trade, and he was not an isolated case.
The trade has a strong demand for origins that is documented by the Definitions of the CIBJO (published about 1968) in Europe, a body grouping a majority of dealers and retailers. The following is extracted from CIBJO:
Art.2: Designation of color and place of origin (a) names of gem localities used heretofore to describe the color of gemstones, cannot be used any longer (b) indications of place of origin can be only added if the origin is known and can actually be corroborated. This proof may be given either by physical properties, or by the stone’s inclusions, in so far as they are characteristic of a definite area.
Obviously there are limitations to finding out origins, i.e the absence of characteristic features. For this reason, the origin of many specimens of such gemstones as garnet, tourmaline and quart cannot be found.
An interesting point is that considering these limitations, where no origin may be objectively ascertained, a lab sometimes faces little understanding in trade circles.
Answering the demand from the market for general testing and for determination of origin, Gubelin Laboratory extended its activities (previously only for the company’s own needs) to outside inquiries in the late 1960’s.
Time has not stood still since then. Investigation has become a challenge to go beyond routine methods, using more complex instrumentation. Even so, some limitations will remain in the feasibility of this complex and difficult task, in an effort to base it on objective methods.
On the other side, the gemologist familiar with this field is conscious of the big commercial assets involved by people chasing the rare and exceptional items. This attitude is a very human one, so that it is hard to believe that interested parties will just forget about demanding origin information.
Showing different aspect of the question in this magazine will hopefully lead to a better understanding of the parties concerned, to improve their cooperation and contribute to solving pending questions.
When And Where Color Names Developed
Here is an interesting overview on the origin of color for the colored stone dealers, jewelers, gemologists and consumers.
Methuen writes:
Near the medieval village of Santillana del Mar in Northern Spain are the caves of Altamira, which contain some of the world’s most famous pre-historic paintings. In the flickering yellow light of a torch, cavemen saw bison, wild pigs, deer and horses painted on the cave walls in strong red earth, black and yellow ochre. The Cromagnon artist who painted these animals some 20000 years ago captured their movement with astonishing realism. In Lascaux and many other pre-historic caves, paintings of animals, rendered in similar colors and with equal artistry, have also been discovered.
The use of colors, however, extends even farther back in time, perhaps as much as 150,000 to 200,000 years. Ice age man buried his dead in red ochre or painted their bones a red color, he had observed that the flow of red blood meant the difference between life and death and probably believed that the color red itself was therefore life-giving.
The ability of Ice Age man to distinguish colors as existing independently of objects meant that the art of color abstraction had already been born. With its development arose the need for color names to identify these new concepts. To begin with, colors were probably given the same names as the paints, obtained from blood or ochre, which were used to produce them. In the oldest Indo-European language, Sanskrit, rudhira means blood; the first part of this word appears again in the Greek and Latin words for red (erythros and rutilus), as well as in the word red in many modern languages, such as the German rot, the Danish rod. Even the Eskimo word for red, aupaluktak, is derived from the word for blood, auk.
Man was probably long aware of the beauty inherent in the colors of his natural surroundings—the blue of the sky, the radiant orange and red hues of a sunset, the variety of colors found in flowers. But he probably was not aware of color as an independent concept until the idea of color assumed tangible form in its use for decorative or religious purposes. Since the concept of color as an independent entity is assumed to precede color names, the availability of materials which could be used as pigments was a prerequisite for the development of such names. A study of many cultures through the ages reveals that the use of an increasing variety of colors is accompanied by the development of words to characterize them.
The cave paintings described were rendered in only five colors: yellow, orange, red, brown and black. It is not until about 4500 B.C that we first find evidence of the use of blue (in the so-called Halaf culture in Mesopotamia). In Egypt, malachite green was used as a pigment in cosmetics before the era of the dynasties. In the Egypt and Babylonia of 4000 B.C we find an increasing number of colors used in ceramics, architecture, paintings and sculpture. Around 3000-2500 B.C, the Sumarians established a culture in Babylonia that evidenced a wealth of colors. There, the splendid blue stone, lapis lazuli, as well as other minerals and precious stones, were used for ornamental purpose. The Phoenicians discovered the color purple, which they made from a kind of whelk, and used to dye their clothes. The Egyptians introduced the use of blue purple and violet.
The knowledge and use of color traveled across Crete to Greece around 1600-1400 B.C. The use of contrasting combinations, such as yellow and light blue or red and blue, appears in the Golden Age of Greek culture between 600-400 B.C. The art of mixing colors to form new variations had long since been learned and the literature of the time offers a considerable selection of color names. When adopted by the Romans, these names formed the basis of the development of color names in most European languages.
Methuen writes:
Near the medieval village of Santillana del Mar in Northern Spain are the caves of Altamira, which contain some of the world’s most famous pre-historic paintings. In the flickering yellow light of a torch, cavemen saw bison, wild pigs, deer and horses painted on the cave walls in strong red earth, black and yellow ochre. The Cromagnon artist who painted these animals some 20000 years ago captured their movement with astonishing realism. In Lascaux and many other pre-historic caves, paintings of animals, rendered in similar colors and with equal artistry, have also been discovered.
The use of colors, however, extends even farther back in time, perhaps as much as 150,000 to 200,000 years. Ice age man buried his dead in red ochre or painted their bones a red color, he had observed that the flow of red blood meant the difference between life and death and probably believed that the color red itself was therefore life-giving.
The ability of Ice Age man to distinguish colors as existing independently of objects meant that the art of color abstraction had already been born. With its development arose the need for color names to identify these new concepts. To begin with, colors were probably given the same names as the paints, obtained from blood or ochre, which were used to produce them. In the oldest Indo-European language, Sanskrit, rudhira means blood; the first part of this word appears again in the Greek and Latin words for red (erythros and rutilus), as well as in the word red in many modern languages, such as the German rot, the Danish rod. Even the Eskimo word for red, aupaluktak, is derived from the word for blood, auk.
Man was probably long aware of the beauty inherent in the colors of his natural surroundings—the blue of the sky, the radiant orange and red hues of a sunset, the variety of colors found in flowers. But he probably was not aware of color as an independent concept until the idea of color assumed tangible form in its use for decorative or religious purposes. Since the concept of color as an independent entity is assumed to precede color names, the availability of materials which could be used as pigments was a prerequisite for the development of such names. A study of many cultures through the ages reveals that the use of an increasing variety of colors is accompanied by the development of words to characterize them.
The cave paintings described were rendered in only five colors: yellow, orange, red, brown and black. It is not until about 4500 B.C that we first find evidence of the use of blue (in the so-called Halaf culture in Mesopotamia). In Egypt, malachite green was used as a pigment in cosmetics before the era of the dynasties. In the Egypt and Babylonia of 4000 B.C we find an increasing number of colors used in ceramics, architecture, paintings and sculpture. Around 3000-2500 B.C, the Sumarians established a culture in Babylonia that evidenced a wealth of colors. There, the splendid blue stone, lapis lazuli, as well as other minerals and precious stones, were used for ornamental purpose. The Phoenicians discovered the color purple, which they made from a kind of whelk, and used to dye their clothes. The Egyptians introduced the use of blue purple and violet.
The knowledge and use of color traveled across Crete to Greece around 1600-1400 B.C. The use of contrasting combinations, such as yellow and light blue or red and blue, appears in the Golden Age of Greek culture between 600-400 B.C. The art of mixing colors to form new variations had long since been learned and the literature of the time offers a considerable selection of color names. When adopted by the Romans, these names formed the basis of the development of color names in most European languages.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Gem Mining And Sustainable Environmental Management in Sri Lanka
2007: How many dealers, jewelers and consumers actually know where the stones come from? Very few. Only a lucky few have had the opportunity to actually see the working of a mine. The island of Sri Lanka is blessed with virtually all known colored stones in the world, but most dealers, jewelers and consumers focus on high value stones and that's all they know. But the truth is otherwise; Sri Lanka is also a treasure trove for rare stones and the author explains in detail the mining methodology that is good for Sri Lanka with minimum environmental damage.
(via Journal of Gemmology, Vol.28, No.3, July 2002) P.G.R Dharmaratne writes:
Abstract
Various methods of accessing alluvial gem gravels (known as illama) in Sri Lanka for the extraction of gemstones, such as open pits, shafts and tunnels, and dredging, are briefly summarized. The methods adopted to minimize environmental damage caused by mining include: introduction of legislation, restriction on types of mining methods permitted, awareness programmes and restoration of mined-out lands. The lessons learned by the Sri Lankan gem industry, with centuries of experience, can be applied to other gem producing countries.
Introduction
Mining of minerals for the consumption by human beings started many centuries ago and if it were not for minerals and their products, the world would be without many of the material comforts for its population today. For example, life can not be imagined without having metal for machinery and motor vehicles, cement for construction, fuel and minerals for energy production, all of which are products of mining. Gems, though not an essential commodity, on the other hand make life more beautiful and attractive. So it can be said that minerals bring comforts for the body while gems give comfort for the senses and the eye in particular. Since minerals play such an important role in the lives of people, it is the duty of all of us to extract them with least possible damage to the environment in which we live.
Gem mining
Introduction
Sri Lanka has been identified as one of the earliest sources of gems in the world, and is still a leading producer. Mining activities were not properly organized until early 1970s; before 1970, gem mining was done haphazardly and different regulations were in force in different districts. With the establishment of the State Gem Corporation, predecessor to the National Gem and Jewellery Authority, in 1972 all the activities were brought under one institution and many regional offices were established to issue licenses for mining and thereby supervise and minimize the impact on the environment. One of the main objectives of the State Gem Corporation was the development, regulation and control of the gem industry. Mining increased rapidly with provision of many facilities to gem exporters. While legalized mining reduced the damage to the environment, illicit mining also continued and unlike licensed mining, this caused more extensive damage to the environment.
Mining by means of open pits
A gem bearing gravel bed occurring on or near the surface is exploited using mammoties and crowbars to excavate open pits most of which are without any support on their side walls. The miner fills bamboo baskets with grave, and throws them upward to the waiting hands of another man at the pit head. The method used for bailing out water from the pit depends on the rate of water seepage. It can be done by hand with buckets or by using mechanized water pumps. When the gem bearing gravel is reached, it is collected separately at the pit head, and washed in running water in closely woven conical bamboo baskets. If there is a shortage of water, material from surface digging can be dry sieved after removing the larger rocks by hand. Only the remaining material needs to be washed to remove dust and clay. With the correct techniques of washing, gemstones can be concentrated at the bottom of the sieve.
The use of bulldozers and scrapers has been allowed in special circumstances such as where very thin gem gravel beds occur, or in areas which have been mined out by open pits or shafts and tunnels. This machinery is used to remove the overburden, since open pit mining is no longer economical in such situations.
Mining by shafts and tunnels
The placer deposits of gems (illama) and in situ deposits occurring below a certain depth are mined by sinking shafts and excavating tunnels. In Sri Lanka, only placer deposits are mined by sinking pits, but for deeper deposits, recovery of the illama by successively deeper pits becomes uneconomical. In such situations, it is common practice to excavate horizontal tunnels at the level of the gem bearing gravel layer in order to recover gemstones. In small operations through hard ground, the shafts are either round (2m diameter) or square (2m sides), but in soft ground (e.g beneath paddy fields), they are rectangular in section, measuring about 2 x 4m.
The shaft is reinforced with timber crossbeams (from rubber trees0 while fern foliage is pushed between the sides of the shaft and vertical struts (arecanut trunks) are driven behind the crossbeams, to prevent the damp sidewalls from caving in. While shafts are 3-4m deep, clay and sand shoveled into small bamboo baskets are manually lifted up to the shaft head. Deeper shafts utilize manually operated winches to lift excavated material and water. As the rate of water flow increases, traditional methods of removing water are replaced by water pumps.
The illama is collected separately near the shaft at a place where the ground is specially leveled. The illama can be up to a few meters thick, and generally rests directly on decomposed rock (malawa) or unweathered rock (parugala). Washing the illama is done in a nearby stream or in a pond specially constructed for the purpose. The miners stand waist deep in the pond and move the baskets in a circular motion to remove all the lighter materials. Washing is continued for about half an hour with more illama being intermittently fed into the baskets. During the washing, lighter material collects at the top of the basket and is hand sorted and thrown out of the pond, while the heavy gem bearing material settles at the bottom of the basket. After washing, the baskets are stacked. Later, an experienced miner collects the gems while sweeping the gravel back and forth by hand.
When illama is at a fairly deep level (>8m) horizontal tunnels, 1-2m high, are excavated from the bottom of the shaft so that the floor of the tunnel follows or lies on the rock layer underlying the illama. As the tunnels are excavated deeper into the surrounding area, an adequate supply of fresh air and oxygen for breathing as well as for lighting candles, becomes more difficult. In such situations, air pumps are installed to provide fresh air into the mine. The tunnels are supported with timber and crossbeams similar to those of the main shaft. In Sri Lanka, over 60 percent of the mining is done by shafts and tunnels.
River dredging
When the gem bearing placer deposits occur at the bottom of a shallow river, long-handled mammoties (a type of manual scraper with the blade perpendicular to the handle so that material can be scooped up towards the user) are used to scoop up the gravel. To prepare for this process, a brushwood dam is erected at a place where the river slows down naturally, and the water is allowed to escape from one side of the dam. Using long-handled mammoties, the overlying sand and gravel are scooped over the place where water passes through. This procedure is continued until the illama is reached. The illama is then loosened by using long pointed steel rods and is also scooped into the moving water which removes the lighter and finer minerals, leaving heavy gem minerals behind. Good gemstones can be easily seen and hand picked and the rest of the gravel is washed in the same manner as discussed earlier.
In the past, gravel pumps and dredgers could be used to extract the overburden and gem gravel, but they are banned at present because of the damage they cause to river banks.
Environmental management
Causes of environmental damage
Damage to the environment due to gem mining has been discussed by de Silva (1989), Rupasinghe and Cooray (1993) and Dharmaratne (1994).
1. Damage to land and vegetation cover
Most damage to land caused by mining activities is due to open-pit methods. In particular, mining for topaz involves large volumes of earth to recover gemstones. Illicit miners leave behind larger craters and pits, particularly in the forests, which fill with water and become breeding grounds for mosquitoes; this in turn endangers the lives of people and animals.
Tree trunks are used to support the walls and roofs of shafts and tunnels and the flow of earth into the workings is prevented by lagging with variety of fern (kekilla). This fern has strong roots which bind the soil and prevent soil erosion. Large areas of fern cover are harvested annually to support many thousands of gem pits, and consequently, during the monsoon rains heavy erosion occurs in these areas.
2. Damage to plantations
When near-surface gem deposits are discovered in plantations of tea, rubber, coconut or pepper, mining is carried out without any consideration or respect for the trees. Valuable trees are either removed deliberately or fall down due to excavation. The loss of good plantations, damages the national economy.
3. Damage to rivers and river banks
Gem mining in rivers and streams is allowed by the NGJA only because of the uncontrollable nature of illicit mining. Illicit miners not only dredge the river bottom but also damage river banks by undercutting. Their operations may take place by day and by night. During dredging, fine clay particles can be released into suspension in the water and cause the death of river species; they can also prevent use of water for bathing and drinking. Furthermore, the sedimentation of waterways and dams reduces the efficiency of hydroelectric power plants.
4. Damage to buildings and properties
Tunneling under roads, buildings, canals, culverts and other structures can cause untold damage. There are many instances of land owners literally undermining their own properties, because it is sometimes worth the risk of forgoing a property in the hope of recovering high value gemstones.
Legislature
The State Gem Corporation Act No.13 of 1971 was repealed in 1993 and the National Gem and Jewellery Authority Act No.50 of 1993 came into effect with regard to the gem and jewellery industry. The Act states that:
‘No person shall carry on the gem industry except under the authority of a license issued by the Authority and every person who commits an offence under this Act shall on conviction after a trial before a magistrate, be liable to a fine not exceeding one million rupees or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years or to both such fine and imprisonment.’
The NGJA can, with the consent of the relevant parties, having regard to the circumstances in which any offence under this act was committed, compound such offence for a sum of not exceeding one third the maximum fine imposable.
The regulations in respect of the gem and jewelry industry were gazetted in 1972. Accordingly a license for mining for gems is issued under the following conditions:
1. The land owner/co-owners should give consent in writing to the prospective license.
2. If the land in question is cultivated; the consent of the cultivator too should be obtained if he is not the owner of the land.
3. In the case of cultivated land the consent of the regional office of the Agrarian Services Department should be obtained and the ASD takes a security deposit for each pit to ensure that the license restores the land after mining. The NGJA also takes a security deposit for each pit to ensure that the pits are closed, as is the responsibility of the NGJA to restore lands after mining. In the case of river dredging, substantial security deposits are required by the NGJA for the possible work involved in much larger than that for restoration of mining damage on high ground.
4. In mining cultivated land and rivers, water pumps are the only machinery allowed. Backhoes are permitted only in special circumstances and only with a very large security deposit since the excavations created are much larger than in normal pit mining.
Control of illicit gem mining
Raids are conducted with the assistance of the police to enforce the regulations and to apprehend offenders, because sometimes illicit gem miners attack unarmed field officers. There have been occasions in the past when even armed police have been the victims of illicit gem miners who sometimes flock in their thousands to new gem deposits discovered near the surface. The police have the authority to conduct their own raids and on such occasions, offenders are brought before a court of justice and due punishments is given.
Illicit mining in State lands, rivers and roads, or their reservations, is treated very seriously and the punishments are high compared with those for illicit mining on private land. Roads, rivers and their reservations, which comprise about 10 meters one each side of the road or river, belong to the government, and construction or excavation is not allowed in the reservations in order to safeguard these routes. If, for example, a water pump is seized on private land, it may be released with a fine of Rs.2500, whereas if the same pump were seized in one of the above mentioned locations, the fine may be a third of the value of the pump if it is a first offence, two thirds of the value if the offence is repeated and on a third offence the pump is forfeited to the State. Water pumps are the most common machines used in gem mining, and although gravel pumps, bulldozers and scrapers are rarely used, they too can be seized if used illicitly. This practice has been in operation for many years. However it has now been found that it is not a sufficient deterrent and therefore action has been taken to increase the severity of the punishment and to seize the machinery on the first offence. This is done particularly to discourage the use of gravel pumps in rivers and bulldozers and scrapers in large scale excavations in illicit mines.
Restoration of mined out lands
The security deposits kept at the NGJA are released only if the pits are closed and the lands are restored in a fit state for cultivation. Most often, when the value of gemstones found is very high, miners ignore the need to close pits and reclaim the land. The NGJA has established a rehabilitation fund with the money from those unclaimed deposits. During the recent past this fund has financed the following activities:
1. Conducting seminars for the gem mining community to educate them in environmentally friendly mining methods and restoration of lands.
2. Restoration of river banks by erecting brushwood dams along the original river boundary and filling the excavated area behind it; also planting suitable trees along the river banks.
3. Restoration of mined-out land by using bulldozers and scrapers and planting trees.
Conclusions
Mining by any method and for any mineral cause environmental damage and the only action that can be taken is to ensure that the damage is minimized. In the case of gem mining in Sri Lanka, many hundreds of thousands of people are engaged in gem mining, with or without a license from the NGJA. While the damage to the environment by legalized mining is minimal, the greatest harm comes from illicit mining and results in unfilled pits, soil heaps and pollution of waterways.
Illicit gem mining is not a problem specific to Sri Lanka, but faced by all gem producing countries. The discoveries of near surface deposits have caused gem rushes involving thousands of people in Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Tanzania, Brazil and in many other countries. Licensed mining can be supervised and strict rules can be enforced to reduce the environmental degradation. The field officers of the NGJA with the assistance of police make every effort to stop illicit mining, but the nature of such operations and the number of people involved prevents its complete eradication. The damage that illicit mining causes is offset to some extent by a rehabilitation fund established by the NGJA which is used to restore mined out lands.
(via Journal of Gemmology, Vol.28, No.3, July 2002) P.G.R Dharmaratne writes:
Abstract
Various methods of accessing alluvial gem gravels (known as illama) in Sri Lanka for the extraction of gemstones, such as open pits, shafts and tunnels, and dredging, are briefly summarized. The methods adopted to minimize environmental damage caused by mining include: introduction of legislation, restriction on types of mining methods permitted, awareness programmes and restoration of mined-out lands. The lessons learned by the Sri Lankan gem industry, with centuries of experience, can be applied to other gem producing countries.
Introduction
Mining of minerals for the consumption by human beings started many centuries ago and if it were not for minerals and their products, the world would be without many of the material comforts for its population today. For example, life can not be imagined without having metal for machinery and motor vehicles, cement for construction, fuel and minerals for energy production, all of which are products of mining. Gems, though not an essential commodity, on the other hand make life more beautiful and attractive. So it can be said that minerals bring comforts for the body while gems give comfort for the senses and the eye in particular. Since minerals play such an important role in the lives of people, it is the duty of all of us to extract them with least possible damage to the environment in which we live.
Gem mining
Introduction
Sri Lanka has been identified as one of the earliest sources of gems in the world, and is still a leading producer. Mining activities were not properly organized until early 1970s; before 1970, gem mining was done haphazardly and different regulations were in force in different districts. With the establishment of the State Gem Corporation, predecessor to the National Gem and Jewellery Authority, in 1972 all the activities were brought under one institution and many regional offices were established to issue licenses for mining and thereby supervise and minimize the impact on the environment. One of the main objectives of the State Gem Corporation was the development, regulation and control of the gem industry. Mining increased rapidly with provision of many facilities to gem exporters. While legalized mining reduced the damage to the environment, illicit mining also continued and unlike licensed mining, this caused more extensive damage to the environment.
Mining by means of open pits
A gem bearing gravel bed occurring on or near the surface is exploited using mammoties and crowbars to excavate open pits most of which are without any support on their side walls. The miner fills bamboo baskets with grave, and throws them upward to the waiting hands of another man at the pit head. The method used for bailing out water from the pit depends on the rate of water seepage. It can be done by hand with buckets or by using mechanized water pumps. When the gem bearing gravel is reached, it is collected separately at the pit head, and washed in running water in closely woven conical bamboo baskets. If there is a shortage of water, material from surface digging can be dry sieved after removing the larger rocks by hand. Only the remaining material needs to be washed to remove dust and clay. With the correct techniques of washing, gemstones can be concentrated at the bottom of the sieve.
The use of bulldozers and scrapers has been allowed in special circumstances such as where very thin gem gravel beds occur, or in areas which have been mined out by open pits or shafts and tunnels. This machinery is used to remove the overburden, since open pit mining is no longer economical in such situations.
Mining by shafts and tunnels
The placer deposits of gems (illama) and in situ deposits occurring below a certain depth are mined by sinking shafts and excavating tunnels. In Sri Lanka, only placer deposits are mined by sinking pits, but for deeper deposits, recovery of the illama by successively deeper pits becomes uneconomical. In such situations, it is common practice to excavate horizontal tunnels at the level of the gem bearing gravel layer in order to recover gemstones. In small operations through hard ground, the shafts are either round (2m diameter) or square (2m sides), but in soft ground (e.g beneath paddy fields), they are rectangular in section, measuring about 2 x 4m.
The shaft is reinforced with timber crossbeams (from rubber trees0 while fern foliage is pushed between the sides of the shaft and vertical struts (arecanut trunks) are driven behind the crossbeams, to prevent the damp sidewalls from caving in. While shafts are 3-4m deep, clay and sand shoveled into small bamboo baskets are manually lifted up to the shaft head. Deeper shafts utilize manually operated winches to lift excavated material and water. As the rate of water flow increases, traditional methods of removing water are replaced by water pumps.
The illama is collected separately near the shaft at a place where the ground is specially leveled. The illama can be up to a few meters thick, and generally rests directly on decomposed rock (malawa) or unweathered rock (parugala). Washing the illama is done in a nearby stream or in a pond specially constructed for the purpose. The miners stand waist deep in the pond and move the baskets in a circular motion to remove all the lighter materials. Washing is continued for about half an hour with more illama being intermittently fed into the baskets. During the washing, lighter material collects at the top of the basket and is hand sorted and thrown out of the pond, while the heavy gem bearing material settles at the bottom of the basket. After washing, the baskets are stacked. Later, an experienced miner collects the gems while sweeping the gravel back and forth by hand.
When illama is at a fairly deep level (>8m) horizontal tunnels, 1-2m high, are excavated from the bottom of the shaft so that the floor of the tunnel follows or lies on the rock layer underlying the illama. As the tunnels are excavated deeper into the surrounding area, an adequate supply of fresh air and oxygen for breathing as well as for lighting candles, becomes more difficult. In such situations, air pumps are installed to provide fresh air into the mine. The tunnels are supported with timber and crossbeams similar to those of the main shaft. In Sri Lanka, over 60 percent of the mining is done by shafts and tunnels.
River dredging
When the gem bearing placer deposits occur at the bottom of a shallow river, long-handled mammoties (a type of manual scraper with the blade perpendicular to the handle so that material can be scooped up towards the user) are used to scoop up the gravel. To prepare for this process, a brushwood dam is erected at a place where the river slows down naturally, and the water is allowed to escape from one side of the dam. Using long-handled mammoties, the overlying sand and gravel are scooped over the place where water passes through. This procedure is continued until the illama is reached. The illama is then loosened by using long pointed steel rods and is also scooped into the moving water which removes the lighter and finer minerals, leaving heavy gem minerals behind. Good gemstones can be easily seen and hand picked and the rest of the gravel is washed in the same manner as discussed earlier.
In the past, gravel pumps and dredgers could be used to extract the overburden and gem gravel, but they are banned at present because of the damage they cause to river banks.
Environmental management
Causes of environmental damage
Damage to the environment due to gem mining has been discussed by de Silva (1989), Rupasinghe and Cooray (1993) and Dharmaratne (1994).
1. Damage to land and vegetation cover
Most damage to land caused by mining activities is due to open-pit methods. In particular, mining for topaz involves large volumes of earth to recover gemstones. Illicit miners leave behind larger craters and pits, particularly in the forests, which fill with water and become breeding grounds for mosquitoes; this in turn endangers the lives of people and animals.
Tree trunks are used to support the walls and roofs of shafts and tunnels and the flow of earth into the workings is prevented by lagging with variety of fern (kekilla). This fern has strong roots which bind the soil and prevent soil erosion. Large areas of fern cover are harvested annually to support many thousands of gem pits, and consequently, during the monsoon rains heavy erosion occurs in these areas.
2. Damage to plantations
When near-surface gem deposits are discovered in plantations of tea, rubber, coconut or pepper, mining is carried out without any consideration or respect for the trees. Valuable trees are either removed deliberately or fall down due to excavation. The loss of good plantations, damages the national economy.
3. Damage to rivers and river banks
Gem mining in rivers and streams is allowed by the NGJA only because of the uncontrollable nature of illicit mining. Illicit miners not only dredge the river bottom but also damage river banks by undercutting. Their operations may take place by day and by night. During dredging, fine clay particles can be released into suspension in the water and cause the death of river species; they can also prevent use of water for bathing and drinking. Furthermore, the sedimentation of waterways and dams reduces the efficiency of hydroelectric power plants.
4. Damage to buildings and properties
Tunneling under roads, buildings, canals, culverts and other structures can cause untold damage. There are many instances of land owners literally undermining their own properties, because it is sometimes worth the risk of forgoing a property in the hope of recovering high value gemstones.
Legislature
The State Gem Corporation Act No.13 of 1971 was repealed in 1993 and the National Gem and Jewellery Authority Act No.50 of 1993 came into effect with regard to the gem and jewellery industry. The Act states that:
‘No person shall carry on the gem industry except under the authority of a license issued by the Authority and every person who commits an offence under this Act shall on conviction after a trial before a magistrate, be liable to a fine not exceeding one million rupees or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years or to both such fine and imprisonment.’
The NGJA can, with the consent of the relevant parties, having regard to the circumstances in which any offence under this act was committed, compound such offence for a sum of not exceeding one third the maximum fine imposable.
The regulations in respect of the gem and jewelry industry were gazetted in 1972. Accordingly a license for mining for gems is issued under the following conditions:
1. The land owner/co-owners should give consent in writing to the prospective license.
2. If the land in question is cultivated; the consent of the cultivator too should be obtained if he is not the owner of the land.
3. In the case of cultivated land the consent of the regional office of the Agrarian Services Department should be obtained and the ASD takes a security deposit for each pit to ensure that the license restores the land after mining. The NGJA also takes a security deposit for each pit to ensure that the pits are closed, as is the responsibility of the NGJA to restore lands after mining. In the case of river dredging, substantial security deposits are required by the NGJA for the possible work involved in much larger than that for restoration of mining damage on high ground.
4. In mining cultivated land and rivers, water pumps are the only machinery allowed. Backhoes are permitted only in special circumstances and only with a very large security deposit since the excavations created are much larger than in normal pit mining.
Control of illicit gem mining
Raids are conducted with the assistance of the police to enforce the regulations and to apprehend offenders, because sometimes illicit gem miners attack unarmed field officers. There have been occasions in the past when even armed police have been the victims of illicit gem miners who sometimes flock in their thousands to new gem deposits discovered near the surface. The police have the authority to conduct their own raids and on such occasions, offenders are brought before a court of justice and due punishments is given.
Illicit mining in State lands, rivers and roads, or their reservations, is treated very seriously and the punishments are high compared with those for illicit mining on private land. Roads, rivers and their reservations, which comprise about 10 meters one each side of the road or river, belong to the government, and construction or excavation is not allowed in the reservations in order to safeguard these routes. If, for example, a water pump is seized on private land, it may be released with a fine of Rs.2500, whereas if the same pump were seized in one of the above mentioned locations, the fine may be a third of the value of the pump if it is a first offence, two thirds of the value if the offence is repeated and on a third offence the pump is forfeited to the State. Water pumps are the most common machines used in gem mining, and although gravel pumps, bulldozers and scrapers are rarely used, they too can be seized if used illicitly. This practice has been in operation for many years. However it has now been found that it is not a sufficient deterrent and therefore action has been taken to increase the severity of the punishment and to seize the machinery on the first offence. This is done particularly to discourage the use of gravel pumps in rivers and bulldozers and scrapers in large scale excavations in illicit mines.
Restoration of mined out lands
The security deposits kept at the NGJA are released only if the pits are closed and the lands are restored in a fit state for cultivation. Most often, when the value of gemstones found is very high, miners ignore the need to close pits and reclaim the land. The NGJA has established a rehabilitation fund with the money from those unclaimed deposits. During the recent past this fund has financed the following activities:
1. Conducting seminars for the gem mining community to educate them in environmentally friendly mining methods and restoration of lands.
2. Restoration of river banks by erecting brushwood dams along the original river boundary and filling the excavated area behind it; also planting suitable trees along the river banks.
3. Restoration of mined-out land by using bulldozers and scrapers and planting trees.
Conclusions
Mining by any method and for any mineral cause environmental damage and the only action that can be taken is to ensure that the damage is minimized. In the case of gem mining in Sri Lanka, many hundreds of thousands of people are engaged in gem mining, with or without a license from the NGJA. While the damage to the environment by legalized mining is minimal, the greatest harm comes from illicit mining and results in unfilled pits, soil heaps and pollution of waterways.
Illicit gem mining is not a problem specific to Sri Lanka, but faced by all gem producing countries. The discoveries of near surface deposits have caused gem rushes involving thousands of people in Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Tanzania, Brazil and in many other countries. Licensed mining can be supervised and strict rules can be enforced to reduce the environmental degradation. The field officers of the NGJA with the assistance of police make every effort to stop illicit mining, but the nature of such operations and the number of people involved prevents its complete eradication. The damage that illicit mining causes is offset to some extent by a rehabilitation fund established by the NGJA which is used to restore mined out lands.
A Question Of Origin: A Different View
2007: Here is an interesting perspective on the question of origin from the father of inclusion studies.
(via Gemological Digest, Vol.3, No.1, 1990) Dr Eduard Gubelin writes:
The pros and cons of origin reports have been discussed on so many occasions during numerous conferences that I do not wish to repeat the arguments. Yet my strongest arguments in favor of origin reports are:
a) The fact that gemstones are very valuable and rare objects, and as such are entitled to be compared with objects of art and antiquity. It is customary that art and antique collectors request and receive a certificate of origin and authenticity. I see no reason why buyers of gemstones should not have the same right to ask for and obtain a certificate of origin and genuineness. The request for a certificate of origin need not necessarily be limited to the few precious gemstones (alexandrite, emerald, diamond, black opal, ruby and sapphire) but could be extended to the less expensive gemstones (beryls, chrysoberyls, peridot, quartz, topaz, tourmaline, spinel, etc). I have the feeling that my quite representative and comprehensive gem collection has been admired by all those prominent gemologists who have seen it because each individual specimen is marked with its origin. Why shouldn’t other buyers and collectors of gemstones be entitled to know the origin of their collector’s items? You know just as well I do that gemstones are among the items least commonly collected. Definitely much less than paintings, antiques, weapons, stamps or even such odd objects as hats, scarves and uniform buttons. Personally I am convinced that origin reports honestly and correctly stated would help a great deal to stimulate many more people to collect gemstones.
(b) My next argument in favor of origin reports is scientific: Of what value are the more recent and very profound investigations of, and publications on, original gem deposits such as those by Dr Hanni (about the emerald mines at Santa Terezinha da Goias, the emerald mine of Belmont near Itabira or the emerald deposit of Ankadilalana on Madagascar), or Dr Peter Keller’s research (on rubies from Mogok and those from Thailand), or my studies (of gem deposits of Sri Lanka, at Mogok, the jade occurrences in Northern Burma, and the gem deposits in Pakistan, and so son and so forth), if afterwards neither the authors of these studies nor other learned gemologists are allowed to profit from their intrinsic knowledge and experience? After all, the details in these very valuable articles about old and new gem deposits serve the purpose that gemstones occurring in the described deposits may be recognized as such by their particularities of origin. Thanks to Dr Hanni’ publications about emeralds from Santa Terezinha and those from Belmont, numerous interested gemologists are definitely capable of recognizing and distinguishing the emeralds from these two sources at first sight without any difficulty, and even discerning them from those originating, for instance, from Chivor or the Muzo area. Without bragging, I may emphasize that the staff of the Gubelin Laboratory under the directorship of Mr C A Schiffmann, as well myself, could very easily undertake such a distinction under the condition that the gemological properties agree with one or other of these well-known emerald deposits.
Your argument concerning the uranium pyrochlore inclusions in Pailin sapphires which have also been observed in Australian sapphires may seem to be correct, but it is not quite so, because in any scientific work, progress and new observations are made. Yet whenever a publication is made, the author can only state his knowledge at the time of writing. It is not his mistake if later on new discoveries are made, but he must be ready to correct his previously made incomplete or incorrect statement. Mr John Koivula did so in the Photoatlas of Inclusions In Gemstones. As a matter of fact, the text had already been typed when I learned that pyrochlore is also present in Australian sapphires. Consequently I not only corrected this statement, but presented further detailed knowledge by stating that urnanium pyrochlore is a frequent guest mineral in sapphires originating from a basaltic environment. Perhaps these arguments may enrich the discussion about this problem of origin reports.
(via Gemological Digest, Vol.3, No.1, 1990) Dr Eduard Gubelin writes:
The pros and cons of origin reports have been discussed on so many occasions during numerous conferences that I do not wish to repeat the arguments. Yet my strongest arguments in favor of origin reports are:
a) The fact that gemstones are very valuable and rare objects, and as such are entitled to be compared with objects of art and antiquity. It is customary that art and antique collectors request and receive a certificate of origin and authenticity. I see no reason why buyers of gemstones should not have the same right to ask for and obtain a certificate of origin and genuineness. The request for a certificate of origin need not necessarily be limited to the few precious gemstones (alexandrite, emerald, diamond, black opal, ruby and sapphire) but could be extended to the less expensive gemstones (beryls, chrysoberyls, peridot, quartz, topaz, tourmaline, spinel, etc). I have the feeling that my quite representative and comprehensive gem collection has been admired by all those prominent gemologists who have seen it because each individual specimen is marked with its origin. Why shouldn’t other buyers and collectors of gemstones be entitled to know the origin of their collector’s items? You know just as well I do that gemstones are among the items least commonly collected. Definitely much less than paintings, antiques, weapons, stamps or even such odd objects as hats, scarves and uniform buttons. Personally I am convinced that origin reports honestly and correctly stated would help a great deal to stimulate many more people to collect gemstones.
(b) My next argument in favor of origin reports is scientific: Of what value are the more recent and very profound investigations of, and publications on, original gem deposits such as those by Dr Hanni (about the emerald mines at Santa Terezinha da Goias, the emerald mine of Belmont near Itabira or the emerald deposit of Ankadilalana on Madagascar), or Dr Peter Keller’s research (on rubies from Mogok and those from Thailand), or my studies (of gem deposits of Sri Lanka, at Mogok, the jade occurrences in Northern Burma, and the gem deposits in Pakistan, and so son and so forth), if afterwards neither the authors of these studies nor other learned gemologists are allowed to profit from their intrinsic knowledge and experience? After all, the details in these very valuable articles about old and new gem deposits serve the purpose that gemstones occurring in the described deposits may be recognized as such by their particularities of origin. Thanks to Dr Hanni’ publications about emeralds from Santa Terezinha and those from Belmont, numerous interested gemologists are definitely capable of recognizing and distinguishing the emeralds from these two sources at first sight without any difficulty, and even discerning them from those originating, for instance, from Chivor or the Muzo area. Without bragging, I may emphasize that the staff of the Gubelin Laboratory under the directorship of Mr C A Schiffmann, as well myself, could very easily undertake such a distinction under the condition that the gemological properties agree with one or other of these well-known emerald deposits.
Your argument concerning the uranium pyrochlore inclusions in Pailin sapphires which have also been observed in Australian sapphires may seem to be correct, but it is not quite so, because in any scientific work, progress and new observations are made. Yet whenever a publication is made, the author can only state his knowledge at the time of writing. It is not his mistake if later on new discoveries are made, but he must be ready to correct his previously made incomplete or incorrect statement. Mr John Koivula did so in the Photoatlas of Inclusions In Gemstones. As a matter of fact, the text had already been typed when I learned that pyrochlore is also present in Australian sapphires. Consequently I not only corrected this statement, but presented further detailed knowledge by stating that urnanium pyrochlore is a frequent guest mineral in sapphires originating from a basaltic environment. Perhaps these arguments may enrich the discussion about this problem of origin reports.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
3 Lessons B-schools Miss Teaching
I wish the gemological schools taught the concepts as part of the program. Most gemologists who graduate lack soft skills and are unemployable for variety of reasons. Here is a thought-provoking article for self-examination.
Nalin Garg writes:
Business schools are great! They add value to students' education by actively providing insights into the learnings and practices of some of the world's best theorists, academicians and business leaders. B-schools certainly do teach you a lot, but then there is more that needs to be learnt.
Initiative and risk-taking: Learning from others' experiences is wise. The successes and failures of individuals and companies have shaped current-day management courses.
Each of those instances was pioneering in its time. There were a small percentage of risk-takers who lived to tell the tale, instantly defining newer paradigms. Each perspective comes with its assumptions and constraints, and it is up to the individual to challenge and break new ground.
Adaptability: To roll with the punches and come on top each time, an individual has to assimilate the operating environment and conditions and, using that as a base, act!
That is easier said than done since the environment itself changes so rapidly - be it politics, the economy, and competition or consumer preference. A motley combination of various, seemingly unrelated, factors interact to create this environment.
Each instance of variation has a counterbalancing impact on some other factor, with a resulting change in the operating environment. The skill to succeed in this ever-changing, always evolving environment resides in the person, not in the B-school he or she went to.
Application: B-school courses use models, metrics and terminology to get potential entrants into corporate roles off to a flying start. They speak of and relate to events in the same way, using the same jargon.
However, the correct application of a model or tool is usually an individual's discretion; it is his or her interpretation of the situation that forces a judgment, accurate or otherwise. The application of learning is the proof of the pudding - a realization of the latent knowledge in an actual business context, which rests squarely on the individual's shoulders.
B-schools, too, work continuously trying to bring in the best inputs possible, in terms of trends, preferences and principles, though the introduction of such knowledge in course curriculum happens only after it has been published or, at least, documented.
This involves significant lag time, and given the breadth and speed of change, this is an uphill and never-ending task.
In sum, a B-school is the basic foundation that equips individuals to get a firm footing in the corporate arena, but there are several other skills that one needs to assimilate to survive and succeed there.
But most important of all - don't forget to live and have fun. It is too easy to get caught up in the rat race; stay out of it. Spend the first few years of your corporate life with your nose down, bury your ego, enjoy every moment of your work and make sure that you do the best you can. Success will follow.
Nalin Garg graduated from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, in 1992
More info @ http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/may/16bschool.htm
Nalin Garg writes:
Business schools are great! They add value to students' education by actively providing insights into the learnings and practices of some of the world's best theorists, academicians and business leaders. B-schools certainly do teach you a lot, but then there is more that needs to be learnt.
Initiative and risk-taking: Learning from others' experiences is wise. The successes and failures of individuals and companies have shaped current-day management courses.
Each of those instances was pioneering in its time. There were a small percentage of risk-takers who lived to tell the tale, instantly defining newer paradigms. Each perspective comes with its assumptions and constraints, and it is up to the individual to challenge and break new ground.
Adaptability: To roll with the punches and come on top each time, an individual has to assimilate the operating environment and conditions and, using that as a base, act!
That is easier said than done since the environment itself changes so rapidly - be it politics, the economy, and competition or consumer preference. A motley combination of various, seemingly unrelated, factors interact to create this environment.
Each instance of variation has a counterbalancing impact on some other factor, with a resulting change in the operating environment. The skill to succeed in this ever-changing, always evolving environment resides in the person, not in the B-school he or she went to.
Application: B-school courses use models, metrics and terminology to get potential entrants into corporate roles off to a flying start. They speak of and relate to events in the same way, using the same jargon.
However, the correct application of a model or tool is usually an individual's discretion; it is his or her interpretation of the situation that forces a judgment, accurate or otherwise. The application of learning is the proof of the pudding - a realization of the latent knowledge in an actual business context, which rests squarely on the individual's shoulders.
B-schools, too, work continuously trying to bring in the best inputs possible, in terms of trends, preferences and principles, though the introduction of such knowledge in course curriculum happens only after it has been published or, at least, documented.
This involves significant lag time, and given the breadth and speed of change, this is an uphill and never-ending task.
In sum, a B-school is the basic foundation that equips individuals to get a firm footing in the corporate arena, but there are several other skills that one needs to assimilate to survive and succeed there.
But most important of all - don't forget to live and have fun. It is too easy to get caught up in the rat race; stay out of it. Spend the first few years of your corporate life with your nose down, bury your ego, enjoy every moment of your work and make sure that you do the best you can. Success will follow.
Nalin Garg graduated from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, in 1992
More info @ http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/may/16bschool.htm
Tsarafara, Madagascar
Tsarafara, near Mount Ibity in the Sahatany Valley of central Madagascar is a well known site that produces crystals of spodumene, morganite and tourmaline of various qualities. The miners use hand methods to find the crystals. Tsarafara is also known as Ankadilava or Ambalaroy in the literature. The colors of spodumene crystals from these mines may range from colorless to pale green, blue and pink. Top quality specimens are sold to collectors from around the world, and the rest are cut and polished at cutting centers in Southeast Asia and South Asia. The colors of tourmaline crystals may range from violet pink, green, dark green, bluish green to yellow, brownish yellow and near colorless. Top quality specimens end up with the collectors, while the low quality tourmalines are sold to African/Asian dealers for beads and carvings. The colors of Morganite crystals may range from pale to yellow orange color. Top quality specimens may show a pleasing orange pink to pink body color. Clean stones may yield beautiful faceted stones. As is the case with most low tech mines in Madagascar flooding during the rainy season can destroy the working mines.
An Interesting Large Mauve Stone
I wonder how many gemologists would go the extra mile to identify an unknown colored stone. They would simply try using the basic tools and if they can't, they just give up. Also, how many even know what a taaffeite is. Sri Lanka, Burma, and Madagascar are treasure troves for the novice and experienced gemologists.
(via The Australian Gemmologist, Vo.23, No.2, April – June 2007)
Some time ago, a large mauve faceted stone was submitted for testing at GSL. This gemstone was among a suite of stones thought to be natural spinels.
When testing the stones, it was noted that the mauve faceted stone had a spot R.I reading of 1.71 and a specific gravity of 3.61, which are within the range of natural spinel. No visible inclusions were noted, and the stone showed no reaction when exposed to ultraviolet light.
However, further investigation showed that the stone showed a doubly refractive behavior on the polariscope and a uniaxial interference figure was noted. When precise refractive index reading were taken they were found to be 1.713 – 1.720 and the optic sign was uniaxial negative. Indeed, these data proved the large faceted mauve gemstone to be a rare taaffeite. This gemstone measured 12.8 x 9.5mm and weighing 5.20 carats.
Of the remainder of the group of spinels (?) submitted for gem testing, another pinkish oval gemstone, weighing 0.90 carat, also was identified as a taaffeite.
(via The Australian Gemmologist, Vo.23, No.2, April – June 2007)
Some time ago, a large mauve faceted stone was submitted for testing at GSL. This gemstone was among a suite of stones thought to be natural spinels.
When testing the stones, it was noted that the mauve faceted stone had a spot R.I reading of 1.71 and a specific gravity of 3.61, which are within the range of natural spinel. No visible inclusions were noted, and the stone showed no reaction when exposed to ultraviolet light.
However, further investigation showed that the stone showed a doubly refractive behavior on the polariscope and a uniaxial interference figure was noted. When precise refractive index reading were taken they were found to be 1.713 – 1.720 and the optic sign was uniaxial negative. Indeed, these data proved the large faceted mauve gemstone to be a rare taaffeite. This gemstone measured 12.8 x 9.5mm and weighing 5.20 carats.
Of the remainder of the group of spinels (?) submitted for gem testing, another pinkish oval gemstone, weighing 0.90 carat, also was identified as a taaffeite.
Trust
2007: Here is a thought-provoking article on disclosure practices for gemologists, lab gemologists, gem dealers, jewelers and consumers. I totally agree with the author.
(via Jewellery News Asia, May 2007) Dr John Emmett writes:
Since early times, gemstones have been objects of desire. Indeed the historical record is littered with examples of wars fought, cities sacked and duels dueled, all to possess these precious objects.
Naturally enough, the scarcity and high value of gems has also led to fraud, as the following selection from Pliny’s History of the World illustrates:
…..Moreover, I have in my library certain books by authors now living, whom I would under no circumstances name….containing, for example, information on how to make a sardonychus (sardonyx) from a sarda (carnelian, in part sard): in other words, how to transform one stone into another. To tell the truth, there is no fraud or deceit in the world that yields greater gain and profit than that of counterfeiting gems.
It is clear from the above ‘improvement’ of lesser stones was not considered a path to heaven, nor did it earn merit for the next lifetime. And yet, what Pliny considered fraud is often referred by some today as: finishing the job that nature started. (Pliny: 23-79 AD)
I do not support such broad-brush rationalization. With definition like this, death simply finishes the job that birth started. I believe what happens in between matters, too.
Value
Everyone is taught that gemstones are valuable for three primary reasons—beauty, rarity and durability. Let’s consider treatments in light of these factors.
The purpose of a treatment is to increase value, usually via improvement in appearance. So what is the relative value of a treated counterpart? If we compare two stones of equal beauty and durability, the only remaining factor is rarity.
Heat
How does heat treatment affect rarity? The answer is dramatically—a radical increase in the number of beautiful stones in the marketplace.
The production of gem quality stones from any mine is only a small fraction of total production. Most specimens are too impure to be cut into gems. Consider Sri Lankan sapphire. Far more geuda (impure corundum) than gem quality sapphire is produced, perhaps 100 times as much. Beginning in the mid-1097s, the widespread adoption of effective treatments for Sri Lankan geuda dramatically increased the availability of fine blue sapphire. This resulted in a stagnation of sapphire prices that has continued for decades. As more and more gems undergo more drastic treatments, we have to ask if this is the future of the gemstone business?
And flux
In the late 1980s, large quantities of heavily fractured purplish rubies were discovered at Mong Hsu, Burma. Enter the oven, exit fine reds, the likes of which had never been previously seen in over two millennia of ruby production. What’s up?
Heating plus flux. The heat banished the blue in the stones, turning purple to red. But what about those cracks? They were also taken care of. Addition of fluxes during the heating process literally dissolved the walls of fractures and redeposited synthetic corundum, healing the problem away. Crack no more. How many customers that purchased these stones were told that they contain microscopic amount of synthetic corundum as fracture filler?
None. No one has been told. Instead the treatment has been obscured by words about glass ‘residues from the heating process’ on laboratory reports. So obtuse is this language that even most dealers are unaware of exactly what has occurred with these stones.
And beryllium
In 2001, again without disclosure, stones treated by a new process entered the market. The color of these stones resulted from diffusing beryllium into them from the outside, just like dyeing cloth. This process allowed one to manufacture yellow, padpardscha, and orange sapphire from low-value starting material. Later, it was shown that beryllium diffusion could also lighten overly dark blue sapphire. Suddenly the search for the Holy Grail was over. This ‘manufacturing’ process had the potential to dramatically rewrite the book on corundum rarity, allowing treaters to almost dye a stone at will.
What is the impact on rarity? Beryllium diffusion can increase the availability of yellow sapphire by a factor of over 1000, and of padparadscha, because of its natural rarity, by even larger factors. The sky is the limit for blue sapphire. What does this say about value?
Disclosure?
Virtually all gem trade associations have treatment disclosure policies. In reading them it is unclear if they are intended to truly inform the buyer or provide legal protections for the seller. It is certainly the rare sales person that can explain what has been done to a stone and put that information in a value-oriented context. In today’s market, value is determined far more by traders than an informed purchasing public.
Consumers are rarely told that this sapphire has been heated above the melting point of steel and thus is a hundred times less rare that a natural sapphire of similar appearance. Nor do many explain to the retail customer that a yellow sapphire was manufactured from nearly colorless low-value corundum via beryllium diffusion.
What might be the value of a heat treated sapphire if a consumer had a full understanding of three realities? Would he or she be willing to pay a hundredth the price of the natural sapphire, a tenth, a third, or more? We simply don’t know. What about stones manufactured by beryllium diffusion?
How about synthetic sapphire? Might retail buyers prefer a large beautiful synthetic sapphire, once they truly understood how close to synthetic so many stones are today? What would happen to values if the arcane knowledge of treatments became public? To date, few customers have been offered an honest description of treatments at the time of purchase. Who knows what might happen if they were?
Rebottling the genie
As we move into the future, gem enhancements will not become any less effective, nor will detection become easier. Increasingly sophisticated treatments have driven the cost of a thorough lab report on a corundum gem to levels that are prohibitive for most gems under few carats. From heated geuda sapphires, through titanium diffusion, glass-cavity filling, flux-fracture healing and beryllium diffusion, the past 30 years have seen one treatment after another foisted upon an unwary world without regard for proper disclosure. We used to believe in magic. We believed everyone could get rich by making silk purses out of sow’s ears. But we failed to see the future.
The future has arrived. Senior industry analyst Russell Shor, in the March 9, 2007 GIA Insider wrote:
“Thailand’s gemstone manufacturing industry is in crisis, according to its leaders, who report that many gem cutters in Chantaburi have closed or suspended operations. The two major trade associations have petitioned the government for funds to promote their gems in world markets and to establish a reasonable, government-sanctioned standard for disclosure of treatments? Exhibitors at the recent Thailand Gems and Jewellery Fair in Bangkok were offering sapphires in a variety of colors for as little as US$5 per carat (less if you wanted to bargain and/or buy in quantity) without a lot of takers. Some exhibitors labeled diffusion treated materials clearly, others did not. Buyers were unsure of what they were getting and, with only sporadic disclosure, sapphire prices for all colors have fallen to the level of greatest doubt.”
We rubbed the magic lamp, the genie granted our wishes. And suddenly we’ve decided we don’t believe in magic after all.
Trust is…
And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make (The Beatles, The End).
In recent years, a portion of the gem community has embraced the Fair Trade Movement, which seeks to ensure that mining and cutting of gemstones is carried out under safe, environmentally acceptable conditions, with fair compensation for all involved.
The concept is simple: fair play. It seeks to ensure that no single member of the supply chain can prey upon another. One of the basic tenets of this idea is full disclosure of treatments. Again, the concept is simple: buyers should understand exactly what has been done to a gem before making a purchase decision.
Today, the gulf between disclosure and understanding is not unlike that between birth and death. It is a vast chasm.
What lies between? It is not trivial. Disclosure is not enough. We must explain, we must teach, we must educate. In the end, it’s all about trust. We must trust customers enough to realize that their education and understanding are crucial to everyone’s success. Trust. In the end, it’s no different than love.
(via Jewellery News Asia, May 2007) Dr John Emmett writes:
Since early times, gemstones have been objects of desire. Indeed the historical record is littered with examples of wars fought, cities sacked and duels dueled, all to possess these precious objects.
Naturally enough, the scarcity and high value of gems has also led to fraud, as the following selection from Pliny’s History of the World illustrates:
…..Moreover, I have in my library certain books by authors now living, whom I would under no circumstances name….containing, for example, information on how to make a sardonychus (sardonyx) from a sarda (carnelian, in part sard): in other words, how to transform one stone into another. To tell the truth, there is no fraud or deceit in the world that yields greater gain and profit than that of counterfeiting gems.
It is clear from the above ‘improvement’ of lesser stones was not considered a path to heaven, nor did it earn merit for the next lifetime. And yet, what Pliny considered fraud is often referred by some today as: finishing the job that nature started. (Pliny: 23-79 AD)
I do not support such broad-brush rationalization. With definition like this, death simply finishes the job that birth started. I believe what happens in between matters, too.
Value
Everyone is taught that gemstones are valuable for three primary reasons—beauty, rarity and durability. Let’s consider treatments in light of these factors.
The purpose of a treatment is to increase value, usually via improvement in appearance. So what is the relative value of a treated counterpart? If we compare two stones of equal beauty and durability, the only remaining factor is rarity.
Heat
How does heat treatment affect rarity? The answer is dramatically—a radical increase in the number of beautiful stones in the marketplace.
The production of gem quality stones from any mine is only a small fraction of total production. Most specimens are too impure to be cut into gems. Consider Sri Lankan sapphire. Far more geuda (impure corundum) than gem quality sapphire is produced, perhaps 100 times as much. Beginning in the mid-1097s, the widespread adoption of effective treatments for Sri Lankan geuda dramatically increased the availability of fine blue sapphire. This resulted in a stagnation of sapphire prices that has continued for decades. As more and more gems undergo more drastic treatments, we have to ask if this is the future of the gemstone business?
And flux
In the late 1980s, large quantities of heavily fractured purplish rubies were discovered at Mong Hsu, Burma. Enter the oven, exit fine reds, the likes of which had never been previously seen in over two millennia of ruby production. What’s up?
Heating plus flux. The heat banished the blue in the stones, turning purple to red. But what about those cracks? They were also taken care of. Addition of fluxes during the heating process literally dissolved the walls of fractures and redeposited synthetic corundum, healing the problem away. Crack no more. How many customers that purchased these stones were told that they contain microscopic amount of synthetic corundum as fracture filler?
None. No one has been told. Instead the treatment has been obscured by words about glass ‘residues from the heating process’ on laboratory reports. So obtuse is this language that even most dealers are unaware of exactly what has occurred with these stones.
And beryllium
In 2001, again without disclosure, stones treated by a new process entered the market. The color of these stones resulted from diffusing beryllium into them from the outside, just like dyeing cloth. This process allowed one to manufacture yellow, padpardscha, and orange sapphire from low-value starting material. Later, it was shown that beryllium diffusion could also lighten overly dark blue sapphire. Suddenly the search for the Holy Grail was over. This ‘manufacturing’ process had the potential to dramatically rewrite the book on corundum rarity, allowing treaters to almost dye a stone at will.
What is the impact on rarity? Beryllium diffusion can increase the availability of yellow sapphire by a factor of over 1000, and of padparadscha, because of its natural rarity, by even larger factors. The sky is the limit for blue sapphire. What does this say about value?
Disclosure?
Virtually all gem trade associations have treatment disclosure policies. In reading them it is unclear if they are intended to truly inform the buyer or provide legal protections for the seller. It is certainly the rare sales person that can explain what has been done to a stone and put that information in a value-oriented context. In today’s market, value is determined far more by traders than an informed purchasing public.
Consumers are rarely told that this sapphire has been heated above the melting point of steel and thus is a hundred times less rare that a natural sapphire of similar appearance. Nor do many explain to the retail customer that a yellow sapphire was manufactured from nearly colorless low-value corundum via beryllium diffusion.
What might be the value of a heat treated sapphire if a consumer had a full understanding of three realities? Would he or she be willing to pay a hundredth the price of the natural sapphire, a tenth, a third, or more? We simply don’t know. What about stones manufactured by beryllium diffusion?
How about synthetic sapphire? Might retail buyers prefer a large beautiful synthetic sapphire, once they truly understood how close to synthetic so many stones are today? What would happen to values if the arcane knowledge of treatments became public? To date, few customers have been offered an honest description of treatments at the time of purchase. Who knows what might happen if they were?
Rebottling the genie
As we move into the future, gem enhancements will not become any less effective, nor will detection become easier. Increasingly sophisticated treatments have driven the cost of a thorough lab report on a corundum gem to levels that are prohibitive for most gems under few carats. From heated geuda sapphires, through titanium diffusion, glass-cavity filling, flux-fracture healing and beryllium diffusion, the past 30 years have seen one treatment after another foisted upon an unwary world without regard for proper disclosure. We used to believe in magic. We believed everyone could get rich by making silk purses out of sow’s ears. But we failed to see the future.
The future has arrived. Senior industry analyst Russell Shor, in the March 9, 2007 GIA Insider wrote:
“Thailand’s gemstone manufacturing industry is in crisis, according to its leaders, who report that many gem cutters in Chantaburi have closed or suspended operations. The two major trade associations have petitioned the government for funds to promote their gems in world markets and to establish a reasonable, government-sanctioned standard for disclosure of treatments? Exhibitors at the recent Thailand Gems and Jewellery Fair in Bangkok were offering sapphires in a variety of colors for as little as US$5 per carat (less if you wanted to bargain and/or buy in quantity) without a lot of takers. Some exhibitors labeled diffusion treated materials clearly, others did not. Buyers were unsure of what they were getting and, with only sporadic disclosure, sapphire prices for all colors have fallen to the level of greatest doubt.”
We rubbed the magic lamp, the genie granted our wishes. And suddenly we’ve decided we don’t believe in magic after all.
Trust is…
And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make (The Beatles, The End).
In recent years, a portion of the gem community has embraced the Fair Trade Movement, which seeks to ensure that mining and cutting of gemstones is carried out under safe, environmentally acceptable conditions, with fair compensation for all involved.
The concept is simple: fair play. It seeks to ensure that no single member of the supply chain can prey upon another. One of the basic tenets of this idea is full disclosure of treatments. Again, the concept is simple: buyers should understand exactly what has been done to a gem before making a purchase decision.
Today, the gulf between disclosure and understanding is not unlike that between birth and death. It is a vast chasm.
What lies between? It is not trivial. Disclosure is not enough. We must explain, we must teach, we must educate. In the end, it’s all about trust. We must trust customers enough to realize that their education and understanding are crucial to everyone’s success. Trust. In the end, it’s no different than love.
South Australian Diamond Exploration Database
(via Australian Gemmologist, Vol 23, No.1, Jan – Mar, 2007)
SADIEX, the South Australian Diamond Exploration Database, is a free DVD that has been compiled by the Mineral Resources Group, PIRSA (Primary Industries and Resources South Australia). Data readily accessed from this DVD includes exploration results from open file reports from 1990 to present, and additional data from a further 36 open file reports dating between 1969 and 1990. These data have been produced by exploration companies such as Stockdale, CRA Exploration, Diamond Ventures, Tracker Resources and Reedy Lagoon. The DVD also includes Excel spreadsheets containing location data, indicator mineral results and laboratory comments, mineral chemistry of indicator minerals, and trace element and whole rock geochemistry.
Copies of this DVD can be obtained by personal request to the Mineral Resources Group, PIRSA at http://www.pir.sa.gov.au
SADIEX, the South Australian Diamond Exploration Database, is a free DVD that has been compiled by the Mineral Resources Group, PIRSA (Primary Industries and Resources South Australia). Data readily accessed from this DVD includes exploration results from open file reports from 1990 to present, and additional data from a further 36 open file reports dating between 1969 and 1990. These data have been produced by exploration companies such as Stockdale, CRA Exploration, Diamond Ventures, Tracker Resources and Reedy Lagoon. The DVD also includes Excel spreadsheets containing location data, indicator mineral results and laboratory comments, mineral chemistry of indicator minerals, and trace element and whole rock geochemistry.
Copies of this DVD can be obtained by personal request to the Mineral Resources Group, PIRSA at http://www.pir.sa.gov.au
The Versatilist Manager
Nandan Nilekani, CEO and MD of Infosys Technologies writes:
A versatilist has the ability to apply skills more intensively to situations. Hence, they gain new competencies, build new relationships, and assume new roles. One should be equally at ease with technical issues as with business and strategic. You have to synthesize knowledge, experience and the context to create value.
The higher up an individual moves in an organisation, the more he needs to look at the big picture, understand more than one role and develop skills relevant to it— and the more he can be likened to an octopus with each tentacle dealing with a different aspect of the business. The need is to apply a plethora of roles and skills to create a new way of solving problems or taking decisions.
Useful link:
www.infosys.com
A versatilist has the ability to apply skills more intensively to situations. Hence, they gain new competencies, build new relationships, and assume new roles. One should be equally at ease with technical issues as with business and strategic. You have to synthesize knowledge, experience and the context to create value.
The higher up an individual moves in an organisation, the more he needs to look at the big picture, understand more than one role and develop skills relevant to it— and the more he can be likened to an octopus with each tentacle dealing with a different aspect of the business. The need is to apply a plethora of roles and skills to create a new way of solving problems or taking decisions.
Useful link:
www.infosys.com
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