P.J.Joseph's Weblog On Colored Stones, Diamonds, Gem Identification, Synthetics, Treatments, Imitations, Pearls, Organic Gems, Gem And Jewelry Enterprises, Gem Markets, Watches, Gem History, Books, Comics, Cryptocurrency, Designs, Films, Flowers, Wine, Tea, Coffee, Chocolate, Graphic Novels, New Business Models, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Energy, Education, Environment, Music, Art, Commodities, Travel, Photography, Antiques, Random Thoughts, and Things He Like.
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Thursday, November 01, 2007
Roman Jewelers And Lapidaries
As to the cutting of gems, Pliny states that cut stones with a smooth level surface are preferred to those which exhibit depressions or other irregularities. An oblong shape is best; next to it, the lenticular; after this, circular stones are admired, those which are irregularly angular being held in the least esteem. In explanation, flat stones were preferred to those capable of being cut only cabochon, as the former were suitable for engraving. The oblong had evidently supplanted the ancient lenticular form while the angular was perhaps only used when to cut the rough gem in one of the more desired forms would drastically reduce the weight of a stone. The only stone Pliny mentions as faceted was the beryl (and its variety emerald) and this only by polishing the six faces of the natural prism; a method believed to be the best to increase the stone’s brilliancy. The Hindus, in Pliny’s stime, preferred long hexagonal beryl beads and these, pierced, were strung on elephant’s hair, it being the only stone they wore without gold setting. The piercing evidently improved the color adn transparency of some beryls although the finest were not pierced but were held in place by studs of gold attached to the ends. Beads of plasma and garnet also cut into prisms are from time to time found in Roman ruins, so abundantly indeed that graded necklaces can be made from them. These presumably postdate Pliny’s time. The sardonyx was also pierced and worn in neck ornaments by the poorer people of India. In Pliny’s time, the presence of a hole pierced in the stone proved it of Indian origin, an indication still in instances used by precious stone dealers. The lapidaries of the day hollowed out the lower side of garnets of deep color to give them a lighter and more pleasing hue. While shaped into cups, garnet ‘offers the most obstinate resistance to the graver’. Other stones were most easily cut, that of the callaina (turquoise) being ‘easily done’. Topazos (peridot) is the ‘only stone of high value that yields to the action of the file, the rest being polished by the aid of the stone of Naxos’ (emery). Peridot ‘wears with use’, its softness being the reason why we today rarely set it in rings. Unusually perfect rock crystals called acontetta (without flaw) were set uncut in jewelry.
Pliny states that the skilled artisan can hide the imperfections of rock crystal by cutting and engraving the stone. Tavernier, sixteen hundred years later, warned merchants to examine, with particular care, Indian diamonds with many facets, for the Hindu diamond cutter hid flaws with facets.
The garnets found on the hill of Orthosia in Asia Minor were cut ‘to perfection by the Alabandians’ in the nearby city of Alabanda. The early existence of this cutting center, exclusively for colored stones, is interesting.
Softer stones were shaped by a file but emery was used to cut and polish most gems. The emerald and the sapphire were rarely engraved and, as to the latter, the lapidary usually only polished the surface of the original pebble.
Pliny lists as famous engravers Pyrgoteles, Apollonides, Cronius, and Dioscurides, all Greeks. Alexander the Great permitted Pyrgoteles alone to engrave his likeness. Dioscurides cut a signet with an excellent likeness of Emperor Augustus, a seal thereafter used officially by the Roman Emperors. Gem engraving reached its height under Augustus adn continued on a high plane until the time of Hadrian when it began to deteriorate. Indeed, in general, the decline of classical art appears to have been more or less continuous from about 400 B.C to 200 A.D.
Seneca is the first Roman to speak of cameos (to be specific, a ring set with the head of Tiberius in relief), intaglios having preceded them by thousands of years. A few cameos, however, were cut in Greece and in Etruria early in the 5th century B.C but cameos only became relatively common a couple of centuries later when Indian layered stones were available to the Greek lapidaries. The Babylonians, centuries before, had rather crudely cut a few poor cameos. In Rome cameos which could only be used ornamentally, were never as popular as intaglios which were not only beautiful but also had their practical use as signets.
Gem Markets
Think And Grow Rich
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
The Myth Of The Robber Barons
I enjoyed it.
Autism
Here is an interesting website: www.autismspeaks.org sponsored by two nonprofit advocacy groups: Autism Speaks and First Signs. They hope the site will promote early diagnosis and treatment.
Everyscape
Useful link:
www.everyscape.com
Lonely Prophets Of Pre-war Germany
To Thine Own Selves Be True
Namibia And Diamonds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV8hLafmwpI
Namibia - Diamond industry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZeidtAYb9I
Demand for Namibian Diamonds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjemdIEa9dw
The videos were really educational. I enjoyed it.
Roman Jewelers And Lapidaries
In Pliny’s time, the jewelry trade was a thoroughly integrated industry, including traders, explorers like the equestrian sent northward in search of amber—the Jean Baptiste Tavernier of his time, brokers in precious stones, makers of false stones, lapidaries and gem engravers, setters, goldsmiths, silversmiths, and retail merchants.
In the Chou period (1000 B.C), the Chinese nobles despised trade and regarded merchants with contempt. The Greeks also disdained the tradesman, holding that haggling over profits made poor citizens. Cato (234-149 B.C), the Roman patriot, in the introduction to his treatise on agriculture, states that farming ‘makes the bravest men and the sturdiest soldiers.’ Trade may be more profitable than farming, but it is much more hazardous. However, ‘I think well of a merchant as a man of energy and studious of gain: but it is a career that leads to danger adn ruin.’ Cicero says of a tradesmen ‘they make no profit except by a certain amount of falsehood’ although business on a large scale, provided it was honorably conducted, ‘is not so very discreditable’ especially if after he has made his fortune the merchant retires and becomes a gentleman farmer. In the time of Augustus, similarly, the merchant, particularly the retailer, was held more or less in contempt by the Romans. In consequence, many of the merchants in Pliny’s time were not Romans but Greeks, and in his opinion also merchandising, the invention of the Phoenicians, was much less respectable than agriculture. Indeed, in his day, farming was the only respectable business.
Dionysius Periegetes, of about Pliny’s time, in his geographical poem, in which we find many references to gem occurrences, states that he is no merchant nor has he sailed the Indian Ocean ‘like the many who stake their lives for vast wealth.’
Saint John Chrysostom (347-407 A.D) expressed himself as follows: ‘Whoever buys a thing in order to make a profit selling it, whole and unchanged, is the trader who is cast out of God’s Temple.’ In the 14th century the merchant was scarcely to be distinguished from the pirate. Nietzche (1884-1900 A.D) says his morality was merely the refinement of that of a pirate.
Pliny, as we have said, did not highly regard those of the jewelry trade, and he evidently considered them a tricky crew. He emphasized their unwillingness to permit their clients to satisfy themselves of the genuineness of the wares offered. We, further, find the morals of the trade not high, for in the reign of that pervert Heliogabalus, Valerianus Vetus was executed for having designed and made small gold images, worn as ornaments by the ladies of pleasure. But there were exceptions for, dating from the days of Julius Caesar, there is an epitaph of a jeweler on the Via Sacra, perhaps written by relatives, which concludes: ‘He was compassionate and loved the poor,’ an eulogy many of us might covet.
Most authorities ascribe the motive of Lucius Piso, Governor of Further Spain, as recounted by Cicero, to his desire to be above all suspicion of dishonesty. I am rather inclined to ascribe it to his lack of faith in the uprightness of the artisan concerned. In going through his military exercises, he broke his ring—it probably being hollow and of fine, hence soft, gold. The governor summoned a goldsmith to his tribunal in the open forum of Corduba (Cordova), gave him the ring, weighed out the extra gold required for the job, and had the ring repaired in full view of the local populace. In Plutarch’s Essay, he speaks of the ‘impertinent labor of the goldsmith.’ In the Menaechmi, a comedy by Plautus (died 184 B.C), one of the women asks that her bracelet be taken to the goldsmith’s, that an ounce of gold be added to it, and that it be fashioned anew. Today, the wealthy Hindu, to protect himself, follows the procedure of Piso, for in India, likewise, the goldsmith is held in little esteem.
Theophrastus, writing about 315 B.C, mentions those stones which are cut as gems, some being so hard they cannot be cut with iron ‘but only by other stones’. Some sort of a lathe was even the used by lapidaries, as certain of the gems of that time have been shaped by the turner’s instruments. The carbuncle, emerald, and other stones, notably the stone from the ‘gold mines of Lampsacus used as a seal by the King’ (of Persia) were engraved as signets. Cutting the lapis lyncurius (tourmaline?) was difficult and workmanship was needed to bring out the luster of the emerald ‘for originally it is not so bright.’
Roman Jewelers And Lapidaries (continued)
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Descartes Error
A real gem. I enjoyed it.
Vinod Khosla
1) Cellulosic - Mascoma, Celunol, Range Fuels, 1 stealth startup
2) Future Fuels - LS9, Gevo, Amyris Biotechnologies, Coskata Energy
3) Efficiency - Transonic Combustion, GroupIV Semiconductor, 1 stealth startup
4) Homes - Living Homes, Global Homes
5) Natural Gas - Great Point Energy
6) Solar - Stion, Ausra
7) Tools - Nanostellar, Codon Devices, Praj
8) Water - 2 stealth startup
9) Plastic - Segetis, 1 stealth startup
10) Corn/Sugar Fuels - Altra, Cilion, Hawaii Bio
Useful links:
Vinod Khosla, Khosla Ventures
www.khoslaventures.com
Inside Burma
Raja Ravi Varma
I think there are many rich Indians who are investing in paintings, especially if it has an Indian link. Good news for the auctions houses and art dealers.
The Most Wanted Works Of Art
Green Your Business
Useful link:
http://www.fastcompany.com/multimedia/slideshows/content/50-ways-to-green_pagen_2.html
Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend
The Carat
In the Middle Ages and the period of the Renaissance the jewel which was really extensively worn, naturally enough by ladies, was not the diamond but the pearl. Pearls have been taken from the Persian Gulf since the days of the Macedonians, if not earlier, and from the time of the Ptolemies pearl fishing has been actively conducted in the Red Sea. It is well-known that certain freshwater mussels can produce excellent river pearls and this, too, has been a source of pearls since ancient times. The river pearls of Britain are even mentioned by Tacitus and by Pliny, and a breast-plate studded with British river pearls was dedicated by Julius Ceasar to Venus Genetrix. It is perhaps worthy of mention that in 1355 Scottish river pearls are referred to in a legal statute, and that in the time of Charles II the Scottish river pearl trade was on a scale big enough to justify a Parliamentary discussion.
However, it was essentially the pearls of the Orient which really flooded Europe and they were certainly used in great profusion by the great ladies at the courts. Pearl collars, pearl hair decorations and pearl girdles are seen very frequently in contemporary portraits. This use of pearls mounted to a climax at the time of Queen Elizabeth I. The well-known portraits of this Queen, now in the National Portrait Gallery, London, show her to be wearing thousands of pearls. In one painting an enormous pearl rope of several turns contained perhaps a thousand pearls, and the whole grand dress is simply covered with this gem. The weight must have been considerable.
Now it was from this extensive pearl trade of the Orient that the weight measure still used today for all gems, diamond included, arose originally. In early times, the smallest units of weight adopted in commerce were, generally, specified seeds. For example, the barley grain was the lowest weight unit in this country and there are still, by definition 7000 grains to the pound weight. Of course, such a weight is an average. The astute ancient pearl dealers of the Orient made the very striking discovery that the dry seeds of the fruit of the locust-pod tree are remarkably uniform in weight. This tree is very widespread over the Mediterranean and in the whole Near and Far East. The locust-pd tree produces a curved fruit, something resembling a flattened, hard banana in appearance, rather like a horn. The pearl traders noticed that no matter how old the tree, and no matter which part of the pod the seeds came from, the weights of the dry seeds were remarkably uniform. This seed being readily available, it was adopted by the pearl dealers as the unit of weight for measuring pearls. The old Greek name for the plant is Keration, from whence we derive the word carat. The carat was originally the weight of the seed of this locust-pod fruit.
That the seeds have an amazing uniformity in weight can be demonstrated today with precision balances. The small differences found, say less than 1/1000th part of an ounce, are too small to have been measurable by the simple balances available to the ancient traders. As far as they could measure, such seeds were absolutely identical, and this fact is a remarkable tribute to the astuteness of the ancient pearl traders.
For many centuries the adopted working carat was a little different in weight in different parts of Europe, but always more or less the same, i.e something near to a fifth part of a gram, or 1/140th part of an ounce. Strangely enough, although the carat has been in use in this country since Norman times at least, it was for long only an agreed measure of commerce and had no legal standing at all. Even up to the middle of the nineteenth century the persistent differences in different trading centers were still appreciable. The weight in milligrams of the carat was 197 in Florence, 205 in Berlin, 206 in Vienna, 207 in Madras. The values used actually ranged from 188 to 213 milligrams, a variation of some thirteen percent. This was too much to be tolerated for reliable international Committee on Weights and Measures in Paris proporsed the adoption of what is now called the metric carat, which was to be exactly 200 milligrams, i.e 1/5th of a gram, or 1/142nd of an ounce. The French Government sought international agreement, but this very sensible proposal was resisted by many jewelers. However, pressure was exerted, and in 1915 the Board of Trade in this country at last legalized the metric carat. This was carried out more or less simultaneously in Britain, Holland, Belgium and the U.S.A, the four countries in which the dealing in diamonds was mainly concentrated. Strangely enough, South Africa, a principal source of diamonds, only adopted the metric carat as late as 1923. It is now universally used for gemstones and this fact must be remembered when the weights of old historical diamonds are being discussed.
The carat is quite a small measure, yet so costly is the diamond that the carat is subdivided still further, especially in the United States, where it is divided into one hundred points. Thus a stone weighing one and a quarter carats is written 1.25 carats and this particular diamond would be described as being of weight one carat and twenty five points. The carat is still retained as of old for the pearl, though in this trade a coarser sub-division is usual, the pearl grain, which is a quarter of a carat.
It is not easy to visualize carat sizes, but the following will help. A natural octahedron of height about 1/10th of an inch could weigh 1/10th of a carat. An octahedron of height one quarter of an inch could weigh about 1 carat. For an octahedron of height half an inch, the weight might be 8 carats. The polished gem of the shape called the brilliant grades differently because of the material lost in shaping. A brilliant 1/10th of an inch across weights about 1/16th of a carat, while a 1 carat brilliant-cut gem has a diameter of about one quarter of an inch. A brilliant gem of diameter half an inch would weigh about 8 carats. It will be seen that a 1 carat gem is a sizeable stone, hence the need for the division into points when estimating prices, especially of the finished products. Since a good quality 1 carat, finished, brilliant shaped diamond can cost currently some $1600 (?) in the U.S.A that very small additional quantity of weight which is called the point, although no more than a mere 10 milligrams, i.e just about 1/14000th part of an ounce, is worth as much as $16 (?). It is not surprising that finished brilliants are very carefully weighed to 1/100th part of a carat nowadays by jewelers when valuation takes place.
As a reminder, attention is drawn to the unfortunate use of the word carat in this country to denote the fineness of gold. Pure gold is classed as 24 carat gold, and alloys are graded accordingly. For instance, 18 carat gold means that the alloy contains 18/24ths of pure gold, i.e. 75 percent American, and continental practice favors a different spelling for the gold carat, replacing the c by k to read karat. This is an admirable suggestion and we would be well advised to adopt this practice here to avoid confusion with the carat which internationally accpeted now as a gem weight and should have nothing to do with the alloy/gold content.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Last Supper Gets 16bn Pixel Boost
Useful link:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7065903.stm
Varnedoe’s Vision
Edward Norton
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxd_TlVn0e8
A real gem. I enjoyed it. Watch it.
Green Business
Brilliant!
Diamond Jewelry As Corporate Gifts
Rio’s Pink Diamond Tender
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech 2005
Useful link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA
Neutron Beams Search For Da Vinci's Lost Masterpiece
Useful links:
www.editech.com
http://cisa3.calit2.net
Shooting From The Hip
The Pyramidal Point Cut
In sixteenth-century portraits, the sitter frequently wears a pointed diamond, but too many of these Point Cuts are drawn with abnormally high proportions. They cannot possibly all have been fashioned from triangular types of rough. The reason for their unusual height must have been the artist’s belief that the sharper the stone was, the better it would serve its serious purpose—as a script diamond—of inscribing love devices on the beloved’s window!
It would be possible to give coutless examples of diamond jewelry of the Middle Ages, as well as some from later periods, and explain their symbolism. The exquisite ‘Palatine’ or ‘Bohemian’ gold crown, also called the ‘Crown of an English Princess’, was made around 1370-80. It was originally decorated with a large number of diamond crystals, all about 2mm in size. Most have been lost, but twenty-two have been preserved and are still in the crown. They appear to be naturally rounded octahedrons. Some of them may have been slightly fashioned in order to match the others, and certainly most of them were rubbed with some sort of polishing agent.
Irregular octahedrons were being fashioned at least towards the end of the fourteenth century, since inventories of the beginning of the fifteenth century already mention both fait and non faite, or naif and ‘cut’. The task of the earliest diamond cutters was to improve symmetry and achieve full transparency by smoothing the faces and giving them a high polish. This could be done by grinding, preceded when necessary by bruting; this always had to be done in a direction which diverged at least one or two degrees from the so-called ‘divine angle’ of crystallization (i.e. about 54¾º).
It also seems indisputable that some particularly ingenious cutters of the time had mastered the art of cleaving, which in those days was practised only in great secrecy. They had discovered, by trial and error, that diamonds have ‘grain’—that is, specific directions in which they can be worked—and from then on they were able to create gems of almost any shape, not only those of a natural crystal, though initially these were the shapes most imitated, since it was believed that a diamond must appear natural and untouched in order to retain its magical powers.
Distorted octahedrons, broken apexes, crooked edges and other irregularities occasioned by nature prompted cutters to apply additional faceting on crystals which, though basically octahedrons, showed traces of cube or dodecahedron or both. Given the slightly convex shape of diamond faces, it would not be difficult to apply small triangular facets by grinding. Sometimes extra ‘fancy facets’ could be added to disguise disturbing flaws or natural fractures.
No cutter would want to reduce the apparent ‘size’ (i.e. the width of the girdle plane) of a bipyramid, but the height of the crown or the depth of the pavilion could be reduced without too much affecting the ‘size’. Grinding (if this was to be the method used for fashioning) had to start from the center of a face and proceed towards both the girdle and the apex, gradually lowering the height of the gem. It could be left slightly rectangular or with one or more of the corners blunted.
It is possible to tell whether the height of a pyramidal crystal has been lowered by looking at the internal square reflection visible in every diamond of pyramidal shape. Other reflections can also be seen between this large reflection and the corners of the stone but these are of no interest at this point unless a tiny square appears round the apex, which indicates that the biyramid is too high for an octahedron and that the gem has therefore been fashioned from an entirely different crystal shape—a was, for instance, or a dodecahedron.
The extraordinary octahedral form of the crystal gave the cutter three squares from which to choose the one that would serve as the girdle. He usually chose the direction which would give the final stone the largest size, unless there were good reasons for choosing another direction (e.g. irregularities in the crystal, inclusions or faults in symmetry). For each possible solution there would be two apexes, one of which would eventually be symmetrized and fashioned into an attractive upper pyramid. If necessary, the depth of the pavilion could be successfully reduced to a fraction of the height of the crown—if, for instance, the pavilion were heavily flawed—but I have never found a pyramidal diamond with an entirely flat base. Such a diamond would show no reflection whatsoever.
One good example is the gem on the horse’s forehead in the statuette of St George in Munich. A detailed examination of the stone revealed that it had crown angles of 45º and pavilion angles of 10º. The ‘size’ of the Point Cut is 14 x 14mm. The overall height is about 10mm and it weighs about 10 ct. These figures indicate that it was fashioned from a rather inferior octahedron.
Sheik Fitaihi Speak
He sees the auction house and its offerings as a collection of families. 'When we are working with Christies, hundreds of families are working; when you working with a dealer, you are, working with one family only.'
Colored Stone Dealer Speak
Diamond Dealer Speak
Golf Pro
- Lee Kwan Yew
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Bruce Hornsby
Useful link:
www.brucehornsby.com
Jewelry Enterprise Software
Useful link:
www.octahedron.com.au
Auctioned 'Rembrandt' Fetches £2m
Philip Allwood - from Moore, Allen and Innocent - said he thought the portrait might be a Rembrandt but its owner said it had been checked and was not. But bidders who drove the price up to £2m were convinced otherwise, he added.
Mr Allwood said he had to make sure the painting was not misdescribed in the auction room's catalogue.
"When I first saw it I said it looked very much like a Rembrandt and was assured by the client it had been checked out years ago and it wasn't," said.
Deciding to do some more research on the painting, Mr Allwood spoke to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Experts there assured him that, while it was of the period of Rembrandt, it was "probably not" painted by him.
He said the auction house was not sure so was very careful not to misdescribe the painting in the catalogue.
"But on the day of the auction both the winner and under bidder seemed convinced it was genuine," Mr Allwood added. "The buyer who wishes to remain anonymous seemed very relaxed spending that sort of money."
When I read this story I said to myself, we are living in interesting times. At times I come across gemstones, top quality rubies (Burma, Vietnam, Tajikistan, Madagascar), sapphires (Kashmir, Burma, Sri Lanka, Madagascar), emeralds (Colombia, Brazil, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Zambia, Madagascar), and now Paraiba tourmalines (Brazil, Nigeria, Mozambique) bought and sold like paintings. Miners have one story, dealers have another story, gem testing laboratories have their own version + buyers think the stones come from a well-known source because they liked it, and pay high prices. Sometimes it is hard to teach gemstone pricing because (a) there is no business logic (b) once you like the stone, if you have the money, you pay, feel relaxed and want to remain anonymous.
Lost & Found
Clean Diamond Trade Act
[PDF] Public Law 108–19 108th Congress An Act
The Natural Diamond Point
The natural Diamond Point (naif or pointe non faite in early French inventories) is an octahedral crystal with natural faces. The term has been in use at least since the middle of the twelfth century: it can be applied to any natural diamond crystal which, when set, shows a sharp apex or point, but the term is restricted to the natural octahedron. Since this is one of the three fixed forms in the isometric (cubic) crystal system, in theory it always displays exactly similar triangular faces, with fixed angles between the faces and fixed height proportions.
However, perfect symmetry with smooth, shining faces is hardly ever found in diamond crystals. They often have a natural bipyramidal form (either regular or with curved faces and edges) but are more often distorted because of unequal face development. In fact the octahedron frequently occurs in combination with one or both of the other fixed forms—the dodecahedron and the cube. It is also found combined with one or more of the four non-fixed isometric forms. Though absolute perfection is rare in a natural crystal it can, of course, be achieved by cleaving off irregular sections.
The natural Diamond Point was highly valued in ancient India and therefore hardly ever officially exported to the western world—there are, for instance, no pointed diamonds in the illustrations of the stones brought back to France by Jean-Baptiste Tavernier in the seventeenth century. But when it did finally reach Europe, the ‘point’ became a popular symbol and was used for all sorts of purposes, such as interior decoration and the facing of building.
In a natural diamond octahedron, the angle of inclination of the crystal faces at the girdle plane is 54º 44’ 8.3’’, usually rounded up to 53¾º. The sides of each triangular face will meet at a point forming an angle of 70º 31’ 43.4’’ (70½ º). By checking these figures it is possible to verify that a pyramidal shape is a true crystal and not a fashioned bipyramid, in which the angles differ from those of the natural crystal.
Most early Diamond Points were later fashioned into Tables, and later still into Brilliants. Regrettably, very few have survived in their original shape, and those that do are either foiled or their settings filled with dirt so that their beauty is no longer apparent. They are known, however, from museum collections, portraits and descriptions in wills and inventories.
Consilience
Michael Douglas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxsn5Mm6fzA
I liked this one.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Deja Vu: Another EC Investigation Into De Beers
Inside Iraq’s National Museum
Small Diamonds In Gothic Jewels
During the first half of the 15th century, jewels of one particular style were very popular among collectors and for offering gifts. These were small, attractive pieces, often with mixed religious and secular ornamentation. Brooches in particular, but also clasps, pendants and rings, were cast and chased in gold with every conceivable motif, enamelled in bright colors and decorated with one, sometimes two, gems. It was in this type of jewelry that diamonds were introduced on a really large scale, though small rubies, sapphires, emeralds and pearls were also frequently used. The diamonds were small or medium-sized natural points fashioned into pyramidal cuts or fancy shapes, and in natural (but symmetrized) or imitated crystal forms.
There is one inventory, dating from 1439, which has so far been published only as part of a collection of inventories connected with Frederick IV, Duke of Austria and the Tyrol. Frederick, at one time nicknamed ‘the Hapsburg with empty pockets’, was so successful in exploiting rich silver mines in the Tyrol that he ended up being the wealthiest member of his dynasty. When he died he left over a thousand pieces of jewelry, including more than four hundred small, attractive pieces. There are over forty different motifs in the inventory, and often several examples of each motif, including twenty-two portrait medallions, ten falcons and four deer, as well as other animal jewels featuring horses, lions, camels, dogs, birds, etc. There are also a number of St Georges, Apostles, flowers, chessboards and so on. There are over five hundred diamonds mentioned in the inventory, mostly without any description other than the occasional michel or gross, which indicates that they were fairly large of pyramidal shape. Diamonds of any other shape were always described.
Two other well-known jewels are the brooch from the Treasury of the House of Burgundy (now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna) which shows a pair of fashionably dressed lovers standing in a ‘love garden’ of wreaths and branches; and the Founder’s Jewel which in 1404 William of Wykeham left to New College, Oxford, where it has remained to this day.
Gothic jewels were known for the high intrinsic value of their individual stones and were therefore often eventually broken up and their settings melted down. No illustrations of Frederick’s rich collection exist, but similar brooches were ‘dedicated in the Cathedral of Essen.’
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Meme
A short story written in 1876 by Mark Twain, A Literary Nightmare, describes his encounter with a jingle so 'catchy' that it plays over and over in his mind until he finally sings it out loud and infects others (also known as an earworm).
Daniel Dennett on YouTube
I liked this one.
We all tend to fall for a new meme in the gem + jewelry industry one way or the other. It's amazing, it works. It could be on new treatment (s), new synthetic (s), new gem deposit (s), new design (s), new trend (s) + the never-ending news + insider tips on prices, grades, qualities, artificial scarcity engineering, the list goes on. What makes it so depressing is the memetic infection that can have upon one's psyche, which substantially increases the likelihood of additional misjudgments.
Gold
The Joker
The Top Ten 2003
Painting Found In Trash
Crater Of Diamonds State Park
It has been reported that Eric Blake, 32, of Appleton, Wis., spotted a 3.92-carat white stone along a trail at the Crater of Diamonds State Park when he set down a 70-pound bucket of mud that he was carrying to a wash basin. Good luck!
Useful link:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071023/ap_on_fe_st/odd_diamond_found
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Utz Certified
I think it's time that the gem and jewelry sector learn from the Cocoa sector. I think discussions on The Role of Diamond and Colored Stones in Developed and Developing Countries wouldn't be a bad idea. The International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) supports the smallholder cocoa farmers who usually live below the United Nations (UN) poverty line.
According to the World Food Day website, a mind-boggling 854 million people live below this poverty line and go to sleep every night with an empty belly, while 25,000 people die of starvation every day.
What about the diamond and colored stones industry? What about the gemstone miners in South America, Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia? Who actually cares for them? In fact very few. I think sustainibility is important in the diamond and colored stone industry, and its in the best interests of the miners, dealers, jewelers and consumers. What do you think?
The Collector
Rediscovering Latin America
Henry Carstens
Brilliant!
Danny DeVitto
I liked it.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
About Jewelers
Working conditions: Many jewelers work alone, requires vocational training, local retailers rely heavily on word-of-mouth advertising.
Median salary: About $28,000 per year.
Not very impressive, in fact depressing. How can you recommend anyone to try the jewelry industry. The fact of the matter is many have no clue as to how jewelers make their living. The perception is jewelry industry is glamorous and there is a lot of money in it. Yes and No. At least the American government have a tradition of publicising periodic reports on the state of the jewelry industry. What about other governments? Look at the developing countries in Asia, like China, India and Southeast Asian countries. Why can't they go the extramile and disclose? You have got to be an insider to know what goes on behind the scene.
Rough Diamonds
I really don't know how effective the Kimberley Process Certification concept is in other parts of the world. There are rough diamonds arriving from god-knows-where, but most likely from the continent of Africa or Russian federation into Southeast Asia and South Asia. I think the couriers are aware of the risks but still they are taking chances to find a buyer, especially in Southeast Asia.
James Dean
(via www.imdb.com) Useful links:
Giant (1956) Jett Rink
"Crossroads" (1955)
Broadway Trust (1955)
Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Jim Stark
"Schlitz Playhouse of Stars" (1955)
The Unlighted Road (1955)
"Lux Video Theatre"
The Life of Emile Zola (1955)
The Foggy, Foggy Dew (1952)
East of Eden (1955). Cal Trask
"The United States Steel Hour" (1955)
The Thief (1955)
"General Electric Theater" (1954)
The Dark, Dark Hours (1954)
I'm a Fool (1954)
"Danger" (1953-1954)
Padlocks (1954)
The Little Woman (1954)
Death Is My Neighbor (1953)
No Room (1953)
"The Philco Television Playhouse" (1954)
Run Like a Thief (1954)
Harvest (1953)
"Robert Montgomery Presents" (1953)
Harvest (1953)
"Armstrong Circle Theatre" (1953)
The Bells of Cockaigne (1953)
"Kraft Television Theatre" (1952-1953)
A Long Time Till Dawn (1953)
Keep Our Honor Bright (1953)
Prologue to Glory (1952)
"Campbell Playhouse" (1953)
Life Sentence (1953)
Something for an Empty Briefcase (1953)
"Omnibus" (1953)
Glory in the Flower (1953)
"The Big Story" (1953)
Rex Newman, Reporter for the Globe and News (1953)
"Studio One" (1952-1953)
Sentence of Death (1953)
Abraham Lincoln (1952)
Ten Thousand Horses Singing (1952)
"Tales of Tomorrow" (1953)
The Evil Within (1953)
"Treasury Men in Action" (1953)
The Case of the Sawed-Off Shotgun (1953)
The Case of the Watchful Dog (1953)
Trouble Along the Way (1953)
"You Are There" (1953)
The Capture of Jesse James (1953) Jesse James
"The Kate Smith Hour" (1953)
Hounds of Heaven (1953)
Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952)
"Hallmark Hall of Fame" (1952)
Forgotten Children (1952)
"The Web" (1952)
Sleeping Dogs (1952)
Sailor Beware (1952)
"CBS Television Workshop" (1952)
Into the Valley (1952)
"The Stu Erwin Show" (1951)
Jackie Knows All (1951)
Fixed Bayonets! (1951)
"The Bigelow Theatre" (1951)
T.K.O. (1951)
"Family Theatre"
Hill Number One (1951)
Laughing In The Face Of Adversity
When Human Beings Are The Canvas
Diamond Rivers
In Diamond Rivers (1977), an educational film produced for television by Bill Benenson, one old-timer, one of the last one-man Brazilian diamond diggers, tells about himself and what impels him and small diggers everywhere:
'I think I was born looking for diamonds. My father was a prospector and he died without having anything. And I, as old as I am, I don’t have anything either. But I have never stopped looking. Not for long, anyway. Why do I do it? Because I like it, and it is what I know best. If I was lucky, when I went to town and got money I would buy good clothes, a good hat, good boots, a good revolver to put in my belt, and then I would go party. Beer, wine, cognac, and sing and dance and party some more, and then, when the money was gone, I would come back to the river and look for more. Where is the prospector who invests his money, buys land or a house? They do not exist, I tell you. He is a man without future, only living for the day...There were some good days...'
How true! It's sad, but that's the way it is.
Google Vanity Ring
Here's how it works. Rather than a precious gem, the ring displays something even more precious - the number of hits you get on Google when you check for reference to your name. Every night, you put it in its little cradle connected to your computer. Then, you type in your name in the application window; the application then googles you and displays the number of hits - also called 'attention carats' - on the face of the ring.
I really liked it.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Pearl
A unique highlight will be the world's second largest natural pearl + the 30-millimeter 'Rosebud' pearl + 13-millimeter 'Golden Dome Oriental' pearl + the two strand 'Oriental" necklace' + 18th century button pearl and gold jewelry.
I think the objective of this convention is to connect pearl collectors and investors worldwide + provide a platform to revive the once-famous pearl market of the Middle-East.
Gregory Peck
(via www.imdb.com) Useful links:
Moby Dick (1998) Father Mapple
The Portrait (1993)
Cape Fear (1991)
Other People's Money (1991)
Old Gringo (1989)
Amazing Grace and Chuck (1987)
The Scarlet and the Black (1983)
"The Blue and the Gray" (1982) Abraham Lincoln
The Sea Wolves (1980)
The Boys from Brazil (1978)
MacArthur (1977) Gen. Douglas MacArthur
The Omen (1976) Robert Thorn
Billy Two Hats (1974)
Shoot Out (1971)
I Walk the Line (1970)
Marooned (1969)
The Chairman (1969)
Mackenna's Gold (1969)
The Stalking Moon (1968)
Arabesque (1966)
Mirage (1965)
Behold a Pale Horse (1964)
Captain Newman, M.D. (1963)
"The Dick Powell Show" - Project X (1963)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) Atticus Finch
How the West Was Won (1962)
Cape Fear (1962) Sam Bowden
The Guns of Navarone (1961) Capt. Keith Mallory
On the Beach (1959)
Beloved Infidel (1959)
Pork Chop Hill (1959)
The Big Country (1958) James McKay
The Bravados (1958)
Designing Woman (1957)
Moby Dick (1956) Captain Ahab
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956)
The Purple Plain (1954)
Night People (1954)
Boum sur Paris (1954)
Roman Holiday (1953) Joe Bradley
The Million Pound Note (1953)
The World in His Arms (1952)
The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952)
David and Bathsheba (1951) King David
Only the Valiant (1951)
Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (1951) Capt. Horatio Hornblower, R.N
The Gunfighter (1950)
Twelve O'Clock High (1949)
The Great Sinner (1949)
Yellow Sky (1948)
The Paradine Case (1947)
Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
The Macomber Affair (1947)
Duel in the Sun (1946)
The Yearling (1946)
Spellbound (1945)
The Valley of Decision (1945)
The Keys of the Kingdom (1944)
Days of Glory (1944)
Eastern Promises
The Next Frontier
More On Burmese Gemstones
"Myanmar Gems; Trade keeps military junta amply funded in Myanmar" + Jeremy Woodrum's U.S. Campaign for Burma + Jewelers of America's initiative asking the US Congress to amend the Burmese Freedom & Democracy Act of 2003
I really don't know how it's going to work. If there aren't any co-operation from India, China, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, it's just talk-talk with no results. I think the Americans have made the first (good) move, followed by the Europeans. You have got to find a way to educate consumers, not only in America and Europe but in Asia to highlight the plight of the Burmese. I hear Tiffany and Cartier have decided not to purchase Burmese gemstones. Good deed, but for how long? What about the jewelry stores in other parts of the world, especially Asia? That's where the action is. Till you mobilize the big market, gemstones will still be arriving via Burma with dubious identification reports. May be gem testing laboratories like the Gubelin, GRS, SSEF, AGTA and Collectors Universe could go the extra mile to help the industry because bulk of the Burmese origin reports are issued by these labs for the trade, collectors and consumers.
Biomimicry
Book description (via Amazon):
This profound and accessible book details how science is studying nature's best ideas to solve our toughest 21st–century problems.
If chaos theory transformed our view of the universe, biomimicry is transforming our life on Earth. Biomimicry is innovation inspired by nature – taking advantage of evolution's 3.8 billion years of R\'9126D since the first bacteria. Biomimics study nature's best ideas: photosynthesis, brain power, and shells – and adapt them for human use. They are revolutionising how we invent, compute, heal ourselves, harness energy, repair the environment, and feed the world.
Science writer and lecturer Janine Benyus names and explains this phenomenon. She takes us into the lab and out in the field with cutting–edge researchers as they stir vats of proteins to unleash their computing power; analyse how electrons zipping around a leaf cell convert sunlight into fuel in trillionths of a second; discover miracle drugs by watching what chimps eat when they get sick; study the hardy prairie as a model for low–maintenance agriculture; and more.
Here is an excerpt from the book:
It's not ordinary for a bare-chested man wearing jaguar teeth and owl feathers to grace the pages of The New Yorker, but these are not ordinary times. While I was writing this book, Moi, an Huaorani Indian leader whose name means "dream," traveled to Washington, D.C., to defend his Amazonian homeland against oil drilling. He roared like a jaguar in the hearings, teaching a roomful of jaded staffers where real power comes from and what homeland actually means. Meanwhile, in America's heartland, two books about aboriginal peoples were becoming word-of-mouth best-sellers, much to their publishers' surprise. Both were about urban Westerners whose lives are changed forever by the wise teachings of preindustrial societies.
What's going on here? My guess is that Homo industrialis, having reached the limits of nature's tolerance, is seeing his shadow on the wall, along with the shadows of rhinos, condors, manatees, lady's slippers, and other species he is taking down with him. Shaken by the sight, he, we, are hungry for instructions about how to live sanely and sustainably on the Earth. The good news is that wisdom is widespread, not only in indigenous peoples but also in the species that have lived on Earth far longer than humans. If the age of the Earth were a calendar year and today were a breath before midnight on New Year's Eve, we showed up a scant fifteen minutes ago, and all of recorded history has blinked by the last sixty seconds. Luckily for us, our planet-mates- -the fantastic meshwork of plants, animals, and microbes--have been patiently perfecting their wares since March, an incredible 3.8 billion years since the first bacteria.
In that time, life has learned to fly, circumnavigate the globe, live in the depths of the ocean and atop the highest peaks, craft miracle materials, light up the night, lasso the sun's energy, and build a self-reflective brain. Collectively, organisms have managed to turn rock and sea into a life-friendly home, with steady temperatures and smoothly percolating cycles. In short, living things have done everything we want to do, without guzzling fossil fuel, polluting the planet, or mortgaging their future. What better models could there be?
Janine Benyus was honored by Time Magazine as a hero of the environment. Read the article here.