(via ANI) Manufacturers Prestat, chocolatiers to the Queen, claim that just two squares of dark or milk chocolate Choxi will provide all the antioxidants the human body needs for a whole day + the new sweet naturally contains more flavonol antioxidants than any other food + other viewpoints @ http://in.news.yahoo.com/071105/139/6mui9.html
That's what I need. What about you?
Friday, November 09, 2007
Not A Picture But An Event
Barbara A. MacAdam writes about Harold Rosenberg + the concept of 'Action Painting' + other viewpoints @ http://www.artnews.com/anniversary/top3.asp
Taking The Local
Blake Eskin writes about photographs by Thomas Roma + other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1132
Blood Diamonds On Amazon? Without Certification, It's Hard To Tell
Dylan Tweney writes about Amazon's dilema tagging conflict-free status for diamonds + the pros and cons of certifiying every single diamond online + other viewpoints @ http://blog.wired.com/business/2007/11/blood-diamonds-.html
Two Unique, Trihedrally Faceted Point Cuts
(via Diamond Cuts in Historic Jewelry:1381-1910) Herbert Tillander writes:
There is also a historical diamond ring in the Hermitage, St Petersburg, similar to the Dresden ring. The diamond is almost as high, but the pavilion is deeper and the crown is trihedrally faceted. It is also much larger than the Dresden diamond, weighing well over 9 ct and measuring 11.5 x 11.5 mm.
On top of the crown of the pendant known as the Palatine Lion (in the Schatzkammer der Residenz, Munich) is the only surviving pyramidal diamond with trihedral faceting applied on eight, initially bruted, basic faces. Time and again we find such examples of early cutters’ incredible skill and imagination. In this case we can count twenty-four regularly formed and arranged facets on a space of 5 x 5 mm. The diamond is on the top of the lion’s crown.
There is also a historical diamond ring in the Hermitage, St Petersburg, similar to the Dresden ring. The diamond is almost as high, but the pavilion is deeper and the crown is trihedrally faceted. It is also much larger than the Dresden diamond, weighing well over 9 ct and measuring 11.5 x 11.5 mm.
On top of the crown of the pendant known as the Palatine Lion (in the Schatzkammer der Residenz, Munich) is the only surviving pyramidal diamond with trihedral faceting applied on eight, initially bruted, basic faces. Time and again we find such examples of early cutters’ incredible skill and imagination. In this case we can count twenty-four regularly formed and arranged facets on a space of 5 x 5 mm. The diamond is on the top of the lion’s crown.
Treated And False Stones
(via Roman Book On Precious Stones: 1950) Sydney H Ball writes:
In Pliny’s time, stones were treated to improve their appearance and the art of making paste imitations of gems advanced.
To paraphrase him: All precious stones are improved in brilliancy by being boiled in honey, Corsican honey in particular; acrid substances, however, are injurious to them. (If by ‘boiled’ Pliny means heated, he had the secret of artificially coloring agate; if not, his informants were holding out an essential step in the process). Such treated stones, to which man has imparted new colors, are called physis (‘nature’ or ‘works of nature’), a bit of deception, since dealers recognize that products of nature are more sought after than those of man.
The above free rendering may be a rather obscure reference to an art, which the Hindus even then doubtless practiced, of improving the color of varieties of the cryptocrystalline quartz species by exposure to the sun or to fire, after permitting the more porous layers to absorb honey or other liquids. It is, therefore, believed that the Romans knew something of agate staining. Barbosa (1517 A.D) describes the art and it doubtless long antedated his time. Could the line in Propertius (flourished 30 to 15 B.C) regarding murrha (agate in part) ‘And murrhine vessels baked in Partian hearths’ refer to this process?
The ceraunia, on the other hand, is temporarily improved by being treated for some time in a mixture of vinegar and nitre, and the brilliancy of poor garnets is heightened by steeping for fourteen days in vinegar, the improvement lasting an equal number of months.
Pliny states that books exist which tell how to counterfeit precious stones, but he ‘refuses to name’ the authors, evidently to protect the owners of real gems. This reminds one of David Jeffries’ lament (1750 A.D) when the brilliant cut was supplanting the rose cut diamond, that, provided the ‘fad’ continued, the nobility of England, being large possessors of rose cut diamonds, could be ruined. An earlier analogue is that of the Chinese ambassador, Kan Ying, who reached Antioch, the capital of Rome Syria, in 97 A.D. ‘The articles made of rare precious stones produced in this country are sham curiosities and mostly not genuine, whence they are not (here) mentioned’. Regarding gem counterfeiting, Pliny adds that there is no deceit practiced, which is more profitable. He recognizes that the best method of testing a false stone is to break off a fragment and test its hardness, but the Roman jeweler would not permit this nor the use of the file. In other words, Pliny recognized that hardness is one of the best gemological tests.
As happens today, less valuable stones were palmed off for the more valuable species, and Pliny states, as is the case today, this is a particularly difficult deception for the layman to detect. Sardonyx was imitated by a triplet of a black, a white, and a red stone, each of excellent quality, cemented together. Martian (40-104 A.D), in describing a fine jewelry shop of his day, mentions ‘real sardonyx, indicating that false exists. In Pliny’s time, crystal was stained to imitate emerald and other transparent stones, and other frauds were perpetrated. The people of India, by coloring crystal, imitated various precious stones, particularly beryls. Perhaps the process by which Democritus imitated emerald resembled that of Indian crystal imposition. He discovered, Seneca says, how a pebble can be transformed into an emerald by boiling it. By a similar process artificial gems are stained today. From the Hindu poem Hitopedesa (dating from about the time of Christ), we quote the following lines, more or less detached, to be sure:
‘Silly glass in splendid settings, something of the gold may gain;
And in company of wise ones, fools to wisdom may attain.’
‘Glass will glitter like the ruby, drilled with dust—are they the same?’
An ancient Hindu play Mrichchhakatika or Little Clay Cart (6th century A.D?), as to Hindu makers of false stones, says ‘they readily fabricate imitations of ornaments they have once seen, in such a manner that the difference shall scarcely be discernible’.
Returning to Pliny, he says that any color can be imparted to amber that may be desired, it being sometimes stained with kid suet and root of orchanet; indeed, in his day, amber was even dyed purple. Much amber was used, he says, to counterfeit gems, especially amethyst. We may add that today pressed amber is successfully colored.
The artisans of Pliny’s time imitated many stones in glass and some of these false gems which have come down to us would test the skill of an expert of today. Certain Italian jewelers still, after recutting, sell as real gems the pastes dug up in Rome. Obsidian, murrha, crystal, and other stones were imitated. Pliny states that glass imitations of jasper are easily detected and as to opal, it is the most perfectly imitated, although the opalescence is partly or largely lacking. The callaina (turquoise) is also successfully counterfeited. Genuine capnias is much colder than the glass imitations. Carbunculus (garnet and other red gems) is well counterfeited, but the glass imitation is softer, comparatively brittle and lighter in weight. Further, the inclusions differ. The Egyptian cyanos is undoubtedly a blue frit, an imitation of turquoise.
The Egyptians and the citizens of Ur made glass imitations of gems some 5000 years ago. Later (1600-1400 B.C) the Myceneans were adept at the trade. On the other hand, while there are a few Greek paste intaglios of the 4th century B.C, such were rare before the 3rd century B.C. Pastes were much used in Rome until some years after Pliny’s time, when they became less common, probably because genuine precious stones were in large supply. Glass in Pliny’s time furnished the poor, who could afford gems, not only with the ‘costume’ jewelry of that day, but with a necessary signet. Paste in those days was, from its decorative value, ranked nearer to precious stones than it is today, for the faceting of stones, which brings out the full beauty of the transparent gems, was then in its infancy. Further, in those days, glass was a much more scarce and precious substance than it is today, so that its use in jewelry was less culpable than today. Alexander Severus, in attempting to stamp out the luxury of Heliogabalus’ reign, placed heavy taxes on the glassmakers. Diocletian (Emperor, 284-305 A.D) decreed that all books describing the synthesis of gold and silver and the fabrication of artificial precious stones should be burned.
There is a thought-provoking statement in Horace, namely, crystal vases ‘had been spoiled by an admixture of glass’. The Romans, in the writer’s opinion, could scarcely have melted rock crystal and glass together.
I think we can all smile with Emperor Gallienus, who reigned from 260 to 268 A.D. A jeweler had sold Gallienus’s wife, the Empress Salonina, false gems for true. She called the matter to the attention of the emperor and he immediately ordered the jeweler to be thrown to the wild beasts in the circus. Naked, the poor wretch stood in the arena awaiting his doom. The door of the wild beasts’ den was thrown open; out strutted a rooster! The emperor’s comment, ‘he who had cheated others should be cheated himself.’ More militant punishment is recommended in the Hindu Agastimata (16th century), as follows: ‘The vile man who fabricates false diamonds will sink into an awful hell, charged with a crime equal to murder.’
One of the last parts of Book XXXVII is an excellent and, to all intents and purposes, a modern summary of the methods of testing gems. This has already been quoted in the section on Pliny as a mineralogist. In short, glass imitations are lighter, better conductors of heat, contain more gas inclusions, and are softer than gemstones.
In Pliny’s time, stones were treated to improve their appearance and the art of making paste imitations of gems advanced.
To paraphrase him: All precious stones are improved in brilliancy by being boiled in honey, Corsican honey in particular; acrid substances, however, are injurious to them. (If by ‘boiled’ Pliny means heated, he had the secret of artificially coloring agate; if not, his informants were holding out an essential step in the process). Such treated stones, to which man has imparted new colors, are called physis (‘nature’ or ‘works of nature’), a bit of deception, since dealers recognize that products of nature are more sought after than those of man.
The above free rendering may be a rather obscure reference to an art, which the Hindus even then doubtless practiced, of improving the color of varieties of the cryptocrystalline quartz species by exposure to the sun or to fire, after permitting the more porous layers to absorb honey or other liquids. It is, therefore, believed that the Romans knew something of agate staining. Barbosa (1517 A.D) describes the art and it doubtless long antedated his time. Could the line in Propertius (flourished 30 to 15 B.C) regarding murrha (agate in part) ‘And murrhine vessels baked in Partian hearths’ refer to this process?
The ceraunia, on the other hand, is temporarily improved by being treated for some time in a mixture of vinegar and nitre, and the brilliancy of poor garnets is heightened by steeping for fourteen days in vinegar, the improvement lasting an equal number of months.
Pliny states that books exist which tell how to counterfeit precious stones, but he ‘refuses to name’ the authors, evidently to protect the owners of real gems. This reminds one of David Jeffries’ lament (1750 A.D) when the brilliant cut was supplanting the rose cut diamond, that, provided the ‘fad’ continued, the nobility of England, being large possessors of rose cut diamonds, could be ruined. An earlier analogue is that of the Chinese ambassador, Kan Ying, who reached Antioch, the capital of Rome Syria, in 97 A.D. ‘The articles made of rare precious stones produced in this country are sham curiosities and mostly not genuine, whence they are not (here) mentioned’. Regarding gem counterfeiting, Pliny adds that there is no deceit practiced, which is more profitable. He recognizes that the best method of testing a false stone is to break off a fragment and test its hardness, but the Roman jeweler would not permit this nor the use of the file. In other words, Pliny recognized that hardness is one of the best gemological tests.
As happens today, less valuable stones were palmed off for the more valuable species, and Pliny states, as is the case today, this is a particularly difficult deception for the layman to detect. Sardonyx was imitated by a triplet of a black, a white, and a red stone, each of excellent quality, cemented together. Martian (40-104 A.D), in describing a fine jewelry shop of his day, mentions ‘real sardonyx, indicating that false exists. In Pliny’s time, crystal was stained to imitate emerald and other transparent stones, and other frauds were perpetrated. The people of India, by coloring crystal, imitated various precious stones, particularly beryls. Perhaps the process by which Democritus imitated emerald resembled that of Indian crystal imposition. He discovered, Seneca says, how a pebble can be transformed into an emerald by boiling it. By a similar process artificial gems are stained today. From the Hindu poem Hitopedesa (dating from about the time of Christ), we quote the following lines, more or less detached, to be sure:
‘Silly glass in splendid settings, something of the gold may gain;
And in company of wise ones, fools to wisdom may attain.’
‘Glass will glitter like the ruby, drilled with dust—are they the same?’
An ancient Hindu play Mrichchhakatika or Little Clay Cart (6th century A.D?), as to Hindu makers of false stones, says ‘they readily fabricate imitations of ornaments they have once seen, in such a manner that the difference shall scarcely be discernible’.
Returning to Pliny, he says that any color can be imparted to amber that may be desired, it being sometimes stained with kid suet and root of orchanet; indeed, in his day, amber was even dyed purple. Much amber was used, he says, to counterfeit gems, especially amethyst. We may add that today pressed amber is successfully colored.
The artisans of Pliny’s time imitated many stones in glass and some of these false gems which have come down to us would test the skill of an expert of today. Certain Italian jewelers still, after recutting, sell as real gems the pastes dug up in Rome. Obsidian, murrha, crystal, and other stones were imitated. Pliny states that glass imitations of jasper are easily detected and as to opal, it is the most perfectly imitated, although the opalescence is partly or largely lacking. The callaina (turquoise) is also successfully counterfeited. Genuine capnias is much colder than the glass imitations. Carbunculus (garnet and other red gems) is well counterfeited, but the glass imitation is softer, comparatively brittle and lighter in weight. Further, the inclusions differ. The Egyptian cyanos is undoubtedly a blue frit, an imitation of turquoise.
The Egyptians and the citizens of Ur made glass imitations of gems some 5000 years ago. Later (1600-1400 B.C) the Myceneans were adept at the trade. On the other hand, while there are a few Greek paste intaglios of the 4th century B.C, such were rare before the 3rd century B.C. Pastes were much used in Rome until some years after Pliny’s time, when they became less common, probably because genuine precious stones were in large supply. Glass in Pliny’s time furnished the poor, who could afford gems, not only with the ‘costume’ jewelry of that day, but with a necessary signet. Paste in those days was, from its decorative value, ranked nearer to precious stones than it is today, for the faceting of stones, which brings out the full beauty of the transparent gems, was then in its infancy. Further, in those days, glass was a much more scarce and precious substance than it is today, so that its use in jewelry was less culpable than today. Alexander Severus, in attempting to stamp out the luxury of Heliogabalus’ reign, placed heavy taxes on the glassmakers. Diocletian (Emperor, 284-305 A.D) decreed that all books describing the synthesis of gold and silver and the fabrication of artificial precious stones should be burned.
There is a thought-provoking statement in Horace, namely, crystal vases ‘had been spoiled by an admixture of glass’. The Romans, in the writer’s opinion, could scarcely have melted rock crystal and glass together.
I think we can all smile with Emperor Gallienus, who reigned from 260 to 268 A.D. A jeweler had sold Gallienus’s wife, the Empress Salonina, false gems for true. She called the matter to the attention of the emperor and he immediately ordered the jeweler to be thrown to the wild beasts in the circus. Naked, the poor wretch stood in the arena awaiting his doom. The door of the wild beasts’ den was thrown open; out strutted a rooster! The emperor’s comment, ‘he who had cheated others should be cheated himself.’ More militant punishment is recommended in the Hindu Agastimata (16th century), as follows: ‘The vile man who fabricates false diamonds will sink into an awful hell, charged with a crime equal to murder.’
One of the last parts of Book XXXVII is an excellent and, to all intents and purposes, a modern summary of the methods of testing gems. This has already been quoted in the section on Pliny as a mineralogist. In short, glass imitations are lighter, better conductors of heat, contain more gas inclusions, and are softer than gemstones.
Thursday, November 08, 2007
How To Become An Expert In Any Business
To quote Niels Bohr, 'An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made in a very narrow field.'
A different perspective: Akira Kurosawa, one of the giants in the movie business, who, when accepting an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement at the age of 80 said that he would not accept the award for lifetime achievement, but rather for future work, because he felt he was only just beginning to master his craft.
That's humility.
A different perspective: Akira Kurosawa, one of the giants in the movie business, who, when accepting an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement at the age of 80 said that he would not accept the award for lifetime achievement, but rather for future work, because he felt he was only just beginning to master his craft.
That's humility.
The Fresh-Roasted Smell Of Success
Matthew Rees writes about Starbucks + its hallowed place in the American landscape + other viewpoints @ http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119440173104784754.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Capturing The Artist In Action
Ann Landi writes about Jackson Pollock (America's first art star) + painter and critic Robert Goodnough + other viewpoints @ http://www.artnews.com/anniversary/top2.asp
Peter Gabriel
I am a huge fan of Peter Garbiel + he has been the driving force behind the WOMAD (World of Music, Arts and Dance) movement + Real World Studios + one of the founders of On Demand Distribution (OD2) + human right activist.
Useful link:
http://petergabriel.com
Useful link:
http://petergabriel.com
Our Land, Our Life
(via YouTube): Our Land, Our Life (Oxfam America)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffYNzUDR-6k
I liked it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffYNzUDR-6k
I liked it.
Better With Their Clothes On
(via The Guardian) Julian Barnes writes about Swiss artist Félix Vallotton + other viewpoints @ http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/visualart/story/0,,2204113,00.html
Gorgeous Gorges
Deidre Stein Greben writes about the fortunes in the marketplace of the Hudson River painters (such artists as Thomas Cole, Sanford Robinson Gifford, Fitz Hugh Lane, Thomas Moran, Albert Bierstadt, Martin Johnson Heade, Francis Augustus Silva, Worthington Whittredge, and Jasper Francis Cropsey) + new collectors (emerging on the West Coast from the computer industry) + other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1131
A Pyramidal Cut, Fashioned From Triangular Rough
(via Diamond Cuts in Historic Jewelry:1381-1910) Herbert Tillander writes:
No trace of the origin or history of the Dresden Renaissance ring has ever been found. Its main feature is the pointed diamond weighing about 2 ct. This has always been accepted as being fairly normal Point Cut, but if it were so its disproportionate height would have involved an unrealistic reduction in the width.
The exceptionally large internal reflections also suggested to me that the stone merited further investigation. Experiments with rock crystal finally revealed that the gem could only have been produced from a triangular macle or ‘was’. The proportions of the actual diamond are quite remarkable, with its high 60º crown and very shallow 11º pavilion.
No trace of the origin or history of the Dresden Renaissance ring has ever been found. Its main feature is the pointed diamond weighing about 2 ct. This has always been accepted as being fairly normal Point Cut, but if it were so its disproportionate height would have involved an unrealistic reduction in the width.
The exceptionally large internal reflections also suggested to me that the stone merited further investigation. Experiments with rock crystal finally revealed that the gem could only have been produced from a triangular macle or ‘was’. The proportions of the actual diamond are quite remarkable, with its high 60º crown and very shallow 11º pavilion.
A Historical Summary Of The Ancient Commerce In Precious Stones
(via Roman Book On Precious Stones: 1950) Sydney H Ball writes:
While all of the then known world was ransacked by Rome for precious stones, India was considered the source of par excellence of fine gems. The Indians, having neither copper nor lead mines, ‘ are content to part with their pearls and precious stones unto merchants by way of counterchange of metals.’ Indeed, metals have always moved east in exchange for gems, spices, and silk from the Orient. Rome paid for its luxuries, not only with base and precious metals (for even then India was the sink of gold and silver), but to a much lesser extent with textiles, amber, emeralds, peridot, coral, glassware, and wine. Roman gold coins of Tiberius and Nero (42 B.C – 68 A.D) are commonly found on the Malabar coast. Pliny states that yearly precious metals worth the equivalent of $4,250,000 were exported from Rome to India. The debasement of coinage under Nero was, in part at least, due to India’s favorable trade balance.
The Indian origin of sardonyx, of many classical engraved gems, and even of sapphire ornaments is attested by the fact that such gems are pierced for suspension as beads.
Ceylon and India were in commercial contact, at least by 543 B.C, and the name of the island was known to the officers of Alexander the Great. Megasthenes (about 300 B.C) mentions the pearls of Ceylon but not its precious stones. In the time of the Emperor Claudius (reign began 41 A.D), Annius Plocamus had farmed the revenues of the Red Sea. One of his freedmen sailing around Arabia was carried by adverse winds to landfall on Ceylon. He stayed there six months and, as a result, the king of Ceylon, seeking an alliance with Rome, sent Rachias and three others on embassy to Rome. These Singhalese informed the Emperor Claudius that in their country they valued greatly their pearls and precious stones. The precious stones of Ceylon in Pliny’s time, however, were still received indirectly through India, for direct commerce between Rome and Ceylon did not start until about 150 A.D. We may, however, add that the author of the Periplus, a contemporary of Pliny, mentions that Ceylon produces transparent stones. Ptolemy, an Alexandrian living about 150 A.D, mentions beryl and sapphire as products of Ceylon. In his time Graeco-Egyptian traders apparently knew the island well. Cosmas Indicopleustes probably gained his knowledge of Ceylon’s wealth in gems from Sopatrus, a Romanized Greek who visited Ceylon about 519 A.D although Cosmas himself may have visited India. At Sigiriya and other ancient Ceylonese cities, Roman coins of the 2nd and 5th centuries are frequently found.
Roman coins of the 2nd century A.D have recently been found among the ruins of Indo-Chinese towns. India and China seem to have had commercial relations as early as the 4th century B.C. Alexander the Great’s admiral, Nearchus, knew of ‘Seriancloths which reached India from the north.’ In 140 B.C. Chinese ships with cargo of gold and silks sailed for Conjevaram, a port near Madras. This cargo they expected to exchange for pearls, crystal, and precious stones. An embassy from China was received by Mithridates II of Parthia (124-88 B.C). Of course, Rome and Parthia were in commercial contact in the 1st century B.C. Horace (65-8 B.C) mentions the Seres. Virgil in the Georgics, published in 31 B.C, knew of Chinese silk and how the ‘Seres comb the slender fleeces from the leaves’. In the time of the Emperor Augustus, overland trade continued between China and Parthia, the Chinese traders going westward as far as the Stone Tower, approximately were Balkh now stands. Silk was the great trade incentive between China and the West, and this trade expanded markedly toward the second half of the 2nd century B.C. The historian Florus mentions Chinese among the foreigners who came to the court of Augustus. He says: ‘Nay the Seres came likewise and the Indians who dwelt beneath the vertical sun, bringing the presents of precious stones and pearls and elephants.’ But even in Pliny’s time, Rome and China were not yet in direct commercial contact, although the products of the two countries were known to one another. Amber from Rome reached China probably through Syria, while jade was used to a small extent by the Romans. It may be added that Roman coins have been found in the Chinese province of Shansi dating from the time of Tiberius (14-37 A.D) to that of Aurelian (212-275 A.D). Pliny mentions the iron and furs of Seres. So, for a considerable time, India served as the link between the two great empires of the time, China and Rome. Marinus of Tyre, in the 2nd century A.D, says that in his time Rome exported amber to China and a Chinese work of 350 A.D. mentions amber as an export of Rome to China. In 97 A.D. Pan Ch’ao, the famous Chinese general, dispatched his aide westward as an ambassador, and he at least reached Babylonia. He speaks of the tenfold profits enjoyed by the Roman merchants trading in India, and of the riches in precious stones of what must have been modern Antoich. Marcus Aurelius is said to have sent ambassadors to China in 166 A.D, but instead of an official embassy, it may have been but a party of Syrian merchants.
The Egyptians apparently first instituted tariffs on precious stones and a century before Pliny’s time we know what duties were paid on gems upon entering Egypt and again at Alexandria when re-exported. Tiberius Gracchus, about 133 B.C, established duties on various luxuries entering Rome. Cicero (106-43 B.C) in Pro lege Manilia mentions three Roman import duties, the first being the Portoria, or that paid at a Roman port of entry. Later, precious stones, like other luxuries, paid a high duty on entering the Roman empire; for example, under the Emperor Augustus (31 B.C – 14 A.D), articles of luxury paid from two and one half of twelve and one half percent ad valorem, precious stones being in the higher brackets. Customs duties also existed between various Roman provinces. Other tariff laws were enacted under the Emperors Marcus Aurelius, Commodus, and Alexander Severus. Under the law of Severus (222-235 A.D), the diamond and the emerald paid a duty of twelve and one half per cent.
While all of the then known world was ransacked by Rome for precious stones, India was considered the source of par excellence of fine gems. The Indians, having neither copper nor lead mines, ‘ are content to part with their pearls and precious stones unto merchants by way of counterchange of metals.’ Indeed, metals have always moved east in exchange for gems, spices, and silk from the Orient. Rome paid for its luxuries, not only with base and precious metals (for even then India was the sink of gold and silver), but to a much lesser extent with textiles, amber, emeralds, peridot, coral, glassware, and wine. Roman gold coins of Tiberius and Nero (42 B.C – 68 A.D) are commonly found on the Malabar coast. Pliny states that yearly precious metals worth the equivalent of $4,250,000 were exported from Rome to India. The debasement of coinage under Nero was, in part at least, due to India’s favorable trade balance.
The Indian origin of sardonyx, of many classical engraved gems, and even of sapphire ornaments is attested by the fact that such gems are pierced for suspension as beads.
Ceylon and India were in commercial contact, at least by 543 B.C, and the name of the island was known to the officers of Alexander the Great. Megasthenes (about 300 B.C) mentions the pearls of Ceylon but not its precious stones. In the time of the Emperor Claudius (reign began 41 A.D), Annius Plocamus had farmed the revenues of the Red Sea. One of his freedmen sailing around Arabia was carried by adverse winds to landfall on Ceylon. He stayed there six months and, as a result, the king of Ceylon, seeking an alliance with Rome, sent Rachias and three others on embassy to Rome. These Singhalese informed the Emperor Claudius that in their country they valued greatly their pearls and precious stones. The precious stones of Ceylon in Pliny’s time, however, were still received indirectly through India, for direct commerce between Rome and Ceylon did not start until about 150 A.D. We may, however, add that the author of the Periplus, a contemporary of Pliny, mentions that Ceylon produces transparent stones. Ptolemy, an Alexandrian living about 150 A.D, mentions beryl and sapphire as products of Ceylon. In his time Graeco-Egyptian traders apparently knew the island well. Cosmas Indicopleustes probably gained his knowledge of Ceylon’s wealth in gems from Sopatrus, a Romanized Greek who visited Ceylon about 519 A.D although Cosmas himself may have visited India. At Sigiriya and other ancient Ceylonese cities, Roman coins of the 2nd and 5th centuries are frequently found.
Roman coins of the 2nd century A.D have recently been found among the ruins of Indo-Chinese towns. India and China seem to have had commercial relations as early as the 4th century B.C. Alexander the Great’s admiral, Nearchus, knew of ‘Seriancloths which reached India from the north.’ In 140 B.C. Chinese ships with cargo of gold and silks sailed for Conjevaram, a port near Madras. This cargo they expected to exchange for pearls, crystal, and precious stones. An embassy from China was received by Mithridates II of Parthia (124-88 B.C). Of course, Rome and Parthia were in commercial contact in the 1st century B.C. Horace (65-8 B.C) mentions the Seres. Virgil in the Georgics, published in 31 B.C, knew of Chinese silk and how the ‘Seres comb the slender fleeces from the leaves’. In the time of the Emperor Augustus, overland trade continued between China and Parthia, the Chinese traders going westward as far as the Stone Tower, approximately were Balkh now stands. Silk was the great trade incentive between China and the West, and this trade expanded markedly toward the second half of the 2nd century B.C. The historian Florus mentions Chinese among the foreigners who came to the court of Augustus. He says: ‘Nay the Seres came likewise and the Indians who dwelt beneath the vertical sun, bringing the presents of precious stones and pearls and elephants.’ But even in Pliny’s time, Rome and China were not yet in direct commercial contact, although the products of the two countries were known to one another. Amber from Rome reached China probably through Syria, while jade was used to a small extent by the Romans. It may be added that Roman coins have been found in the Chinese province of Shansi dating from the time of Tiberius (14-37 A.D) to that of Aurelian (212-275 A.D). Pliny mentions the iron and furs of Seres. So, for a considerable time, India served as the link between the two great empires of the time, China and Rome. Marinus of Tyre, in the 2nd century A.D, says that in his time Rome exported amber to China and a Chinese work of 350 A.D. mentions amber as an export of Rome to China. In 97 A.D. Pan Ch’ao, the famous Chinese general, dispatched his aide westward as an ambassador, and he at least reached Babylonia. He speaks of the tenfold profits enjoyed by the Roman merchants trading in India, and of the riches in precious stones of what must have been modern Antoich. Marcus Aurelius is said to have sent ambassadors to China in 166 A.D, but instead of an official embassy, it may have been but a party of Syrian merchants.
The Egyptians apparently first instituted tariffs on precious stones and a century before Pliny’s time we know what duties were paid on gems upon entering Egypt and again at Alexandria when re-exported. Tiberius Gracchus, about 133 B.C, established duties on various luxuries entering Rome. Cicero (106-43 B.C) in Pro lege Manilia mentions three Roman import duties, the first being the Portoria, or that paid at a Roman port of entry. Later, precious stones, like other luxuries, paid a high duty on entering the Roman empire; for example, under the Emperor Augustus (31 B.C – 14 A.D), articles of luxury paid from two and one half of twelve and one half percent ad valorem, precious stones being in the higher brackets. Customs duties also existed between various Roman provinces. Other tariff laws were enacted under the Emperors Marcus Aurelius, Commodus, and Alexander Severus. Under the law of Severus (222-235 A.D), the diamond and the emerald paid a duty of twelve and one half per cent.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
How To Sell Natural Color Diamonds
Log onto The Natural Color Diamond Association's website @ www.ncdia.com + you learn a lot more about color, grading and origin + good source of info for retailers and consumers.
The Wisdom Of Napoleon Hill
(via YouTube): The Wisdom of Napoleon Hill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz4Wl3jsHMc
Napoleon Hill talks about his meeting with Andrew Carnegie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GCaEZscfvA
A great inspiration.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz4Wl3jsHMc
Napoleon Hill talks about his meeting with Andrew Carnegie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GCaEZscfvA
A great inspiration.
Billie Holiday
(via YouTube): Billie Holiday - Strange Fruit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4ZyuULy9zs
Billie Holiday - Good Morning Heartache
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ3PVm6YbmU
Billie holiday - Lady sings the blues
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUtPODn7cCc
[Fine And Mellow] 1944 Billie Holiday
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-I2a5AJUk7M
Beautiful voice. I love her songs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4ZyuULy9zs
Billie Holiday - Good Morning Heartache
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ3PVm6YbmU
Billie holiday - Lady sings the blues
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUtPODn7cCc
[Fine And Mellow] 1944 Billie Holiday
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-I2a5AJUk7M
Beautiful voice. I love her songs.
Don Giovanni Unmasked
Russia's Dmitri Hvorostovsky, retells the Mozart masterpiece from the point of view of Don Giovanni's servant, Leporello + set in two separate eras - 1930s Hollywood and 17th-century Spain + Click here for more info.
The Modern Art Of Finance
The Economist writes about the state of the auctions houses (Sothebys / Christies) + the concept of guaranteed prices in a rising market + the methodology + other viewpoints @ http://www.economist.com/daily/columns/artview/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10087308
American Graffiti
(via The Guardian) Alex Rayner writes about Shepard Fairey, the cult artist + other viewpoints @ http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/visualart/story/0,,2203195,00.html
Cut It Out!
Hilarie M. Sheets writes about Kara Walker + the way she connects with the world + other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1097
Man Nearly Tosses 4.38-carat Diamond
(via AP) Here is an interesting story of Chad Johnson, who nearly threw away his largest find yet, a cube-shaped, 4.38-carat, tea-colored diamond at the Crater of Diamonds State Park, Murfreesboro, Arkansas (USA) + other viewpoints @ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071105/ap_on_fe_st/odd_diamond_found
A Historical Summary Of The Ancient Commerce In Precious Stones
(via Roman Book On Precious Stones: 1950) Sydney H Ball writes:
Arabia’s trade with India was doomed when Hippalus in 47 A.D solved the riddle of the monsoons. Roman trade with India sprang up overnight and the luxuries of India found their way to Europe by the Red Sea, increasing tremendously the supply of precious stones available to Romans. Soon Indians were seen in Alexandria and Roman citizens of non-Latin blood, Greek, Jews, and Egyptians settled in the ports of India.
Egypt in predynastic days (prior to 3400 B.C) had commercial contacts with the Sinai Peninsula and with the Mesopotamian valley, and certainly by 2900 B.C with the Syrian coast, Crete, and the Sudan. Trade was pushed southward, and by 2750 B.C Egypt was trading with Punt (Somaliland ?). In the XIIth Dynasty (about 2000 B.C), her interest in overseas products increased and she probably had her command Arabian products and even, conceivably, some of those of India. In the XVIIIth Dynasty (1580-1350 B.C), her commerce further expanded. Phoenician merchants were permitted to establish factories at Memphis and the wealth of Asia Minor, the Near East, northeastern Africa, and the Greek isles were hers. A few carnelians and garnets from India probably filtered into Egypt via Arabia a thousand years before Christ. Sapphires, zircons, and the other more valuable Indian stones, however, reached Egypt only in the time of the Hellenistic Ptolemies. Ptolemy Philadelphus (300-246 B.C) sent one Dionysius to southern India to open up commercial relations with that country. Agatharchides (181-146 B.C) states that in his time Egypt’s trade with India was very profitable. Strabo states that about 170 B.C a shipwrecked Indian sailor, half starved and exhausted, was cast upon the shores of the Red Sea. Nursed back to health, he promised to show the way to the Orient and Ptolemy Euergetes II, then ruler of Egypt, sent several merchants with him to India. Among them was a Greek, Eudoxus of Cyzicus, (he made two trips to India, 120 B.C and 113-2 B.C) who after trading his Egyptian merchandise for spices and precious stones, gives us one of the earliest descriptions of Indian gem mining: “Some of the Indian collect from amongst the pebbles of the river, others they dig out of the earth where they have been formed by the moisture as crystals are formed with us.’ It is stated that his rich cargo of spices and precious stones was seized on his return by Ptolemy Euergetes II, who had a monopoly on eastern trade. Alexandria was an important emporium of Indian goods, largely obtained (probably up to about 100 B.C) from the Sabaeans and later direct via the Red Sea ports of Berenice and Myoshormos.
Hecataeus of Miletus, the father of geography (about 520 B.C) is the first European to mention India, although Homer knew tin by its Sanskrit name. According to Herodotus, India (about 570 B.C) paid tribute Persia in gold, and in the campaign of 512 B.C Persian troops annexed large areas of the Punjab and the Sind. In 510 B.C Scylax of Caryanda, a Greek in Darius employ, descended on the Indus, crossed the Indian Ocean, and finally reached Persia. Intercourse between India and the more westerly civilizations was becoming a reality. Herodotus, however, (about 443 B.C) who traveled widely among the Persians, then in commercial touch with India, does not mention the precious stones of India and these, doubtless hoarded by the Hindu rulers, must have rarely reached Persia in his day.
In 479 B.C, when the Greeks defeated the Persian General Mardonius, plunder rendered them luxury conscious. Later the Greeks probably obtained some gems from India through the Persians and the Sabaeans, and rumors of India’s wealth in spices and precious stones may have led Greek merchants thither before Alexander the Great’s time (356-323 B.C). Indeed, some Indian spices were common in Greece in the time of Hippocrates, the great physician (460-357 B.C). We know that Alexander promised his soldiers plunder, as a result of his Indian campaign, which would dwarf the spoils of Persia. Soldiers were to fill with pearls, ivory, gold and precious stones, not only their own homes, but those of all Greece. As a result of the Macedonian’s conquest, the dispersal of the wealth of Persia and India, the accumulation of centuries of hoarding, stimulated world trade enormously. It should be emphasized that Alexander the Great’s routes passed close to the turquoise locality of Nishapur, Persia (first mentioned, so far as I know, by Amur-ru-Lais—from 878 to 903 A.D ruler of Khorasan—but probably worked much earlier), the Badakshan lapis lazuli locality (probably known to the Sumerians); the Badakshan ruby mines (mentioned by Istakhri 951 A.D, but probably known considerably earlier), and the Khotan nephrite deposits (known certainly in the reign of Wu Ti, 140-87 B.C, and perhaps 2500 years earlier).
The road to the East was open, not to be closed in classical times. Fine eastern garnets, sards, amethysts, beryl, topaz, and sapphire became known to the Greeks, and the more precious stones first appeared commonly in Greek jewelry. Ctesias (415-397 B.C) knew of the Indian agate mines and states that Assyria in his time obtained from India sard and onyx for her finer seals.
In support of his assertions, sard and sardonyx first appeared in the Mesopotamian valley in Assyrian times. He also mentions the gem pantarba, which attracts to itself sealstones and has many other marvelous properties. Unfortunately, I cannot identify it.
Seleucus Nicator, ruler of Syria, in 305 led an army into India even further than had his predecessor, Alexander the Great. About 20 B.C, according to Florus, ambassadors from southern India came to the court of Augustus with gifts of precious stones and pearls. In the next six years two other embassies arrived. Again, under Constantine (306-337 A.D), ambassadors from India arrived with shining gifts.
Roman-Indian commerce in spices, gems, and fine textiles was highly developed by Pliny’s time, the first, in money value, being the most important of the three. It is described in detail in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (60 A.D +/-). Most Indian gems arrived in Rome either via Alexandria, by one of the Arabian towns, or by one of the Parthian cities. Yearly, in July, 120 ships sailed from Myoshormos on the Red Sea, later from nearby Berenice. Taking advantage of the monsoons, in about seventy days the boats reached ports on the Malabar coast. Here they undoubtedly met with other ships which went east from that coast and from Ceylon, presumably as far as China. After loading, the Roman vessels returned to Egypt at the year’s end. The cargo was then transported by camel from the Red Sea to the Nile and down it to Alexandria. A fleet carrying gems sailed yearly, under the Empire, from Alexandria to Puteoli (modern Pozzuuoli) near Rome.
Contact with oriental luxury caused the Romans to overindulge in costly stuffs and in the use of jewels; for when they enjoyed the mastery of the Indian trade, the Romans had the wealth to indulge in their tastes, no matter how fantastic or extravagant they might be. The fact that false stones were less common in Rome in the second than they were in the first half of the 1st century A.D was due to the influx of fine gems into Rome from India after the secret of the monsoon was known. Practically every known Indian gem was in use in Pliny’s time but the prices demanded for them were exorbitant. The stones, besides the first cost and export and import duties, had to stand heavy transport charges, and the Roman gem merchant in setting a price had to consider not only his own overhead, but the great risk of shipwreck or piracy which he or his agents had been subjected to in bringing the stones from India. Profits, provided the fleet arrived safely, were enormous, for Pliny tells us that these eastern luxuries were sold at fully one hundred times their original cost. Not only the Indian merchants, but those of all intermediate commercial centers, hid the source of the gems sold to the Romans and exaggerated the dangers of mining them, in part to restrict competition and in part to enhance their value. In consequence, many trade centers became, in the eyes of the ancients, the source of precious stones. Thus, according to the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, through the Indian port of Barbaricum, on the delta of the Indus, both Persian turquoise and Afghanistan lapis lazuli were shipped, in the 1st century of our era, to Rome. A fairly complete list of gems imported can gotten by the Roman tariff law of the time.
A Historical Summary Of The Ancient Commerce In Precious Stones (continued)
Arabia’s trade with India was doomed when Hippalus in 47 A.D solved the riddle of the monsoons. Roman trade with India sprang up overnight and the luxuries of India found their way to Europe by the Red Sea, increasing tremendously the supply of precious stones available to Romans. Soon Indians were seen in Alexandria and Roman citizens of non-Latin blood, Greek, Jews, and Egyptians settled in the ports of India.
Egypt in predynastic days (prior to 3400 B.C) had commercial contacts with the Sinai Peninsula and with the Mesopotamian valley, and certainly by 2900 B.C with the Syrian coast, Crete, and the Sudan. Trade was pushed southward, and by 2750 B.C Egypt was trading with Punt (Somaliland ?). In the XIIth Dynasty (about 2000 B.C), her interest in overseas products increased and she probably had her command Arabian products and even, conceivably, some of those of India. In the XVIIIth Dynasty (1580-1350 B.C), her commerce further expanded. Phoenician merchants were permitted to establish factories at Memphis and the wealth of Asia Minor, the Near East, northeastern Africa, and the Greek isles were hers. A few carnelians and garnets from India probably filtered into Egypt via Arabia a thousand years before Christ. Sapphires, zircons, and the other more valuable Indian stones, however, reached Egypt only in the time of the Hellenistic Ptolemies. Ptolemy Philadelphus (300-246 B.C) sent one Dionysius to southern India to open up commercial relations with that country. Agatharchides (181-146 B.C) states that in his time Egypt’s trade with India was very profitable. Strabo states that about 170 B.C a shipwrecked Indian sailor, half starved and exhausted, was cast upon the shores of the Red Sea. Nursed back to health, he promised to show the way to the Orient and Ptolemy Euergetes II, then ruler of Egypt, sent several merchants with him to India. Among them was a Greek, Eudoxus of Cyzicus, (he made two trips to India, 120 B.C and 113-2 B.C) who after trading his Egyptian merchandise for spices and precious stones, gives us one of the earliest descriptions of Indian gem mining: “Some of the Indian collect from amongst the pebbles of the river, others they dig out of the earth where they have been formed by the moisture as crystals are formed with us.’ It is stated that his rich cargo of spices and precious stones was seized on his return by Ptolemy Euergetes II, who had a monopoly on eastern trade. Alexandria was an important emporium of Indian goods, largely obtained (probably up to about 100 B.C) from the Sabaeans and later direct via the Red Sea ports of Berenice and Myoshormos.
Hecataeus of Miletus, the father of geography (about 520 B.C) is the first European to mention India, although Homer knew tin by its Sanskrit name. According to Herodotus, India (about 570 B.C) paid tribute Persia in gold, and in the campaign of 512 B.C Persian troops annexed large areas of the Punjab and the Sind. In 510 B.C Scylax of Caryanda, a Greek in Darius employ, descended on the Indus, crossed the Indian Ocean, and finally reached Persia. Intercourse between India and the more westerly civilizations was becoming a reality. Herodotus, however, (about 443 B.C) who traveled widely among the Persians, then in commercial touch with India, does not mention the precious stones of India and these, doubtless hoarded by the Hindu rulers, must have rarely reached Persia in his day.
In 479 B.C, when the Greeks defeated the Persian General Mardonius, plunder rendered them luxury conscious. Later the Greeks probably obtained some gems from India through the Persians and the Sabaeans, and rumors of India’s wealth in spices and precious stones may have led Greek merchants thither before Alexander the Great’s time (356-323 B.C). Indeed, some Indian spices were common in Greece in the time of Hippocrates, the great physician (460-357 B.C). We know that Alexander promised his soldiers plunder, as a result of his Indian campaign, which would dwarf the spoils of Persia. Soldiers were to fill with pearls, ivory, gold and precious stones, not only their own homes, but those of all Greece. As a result of the Macedonian’s conquest, the dispersal of the wealth of Persia and India, the accumulation of centuries of hoarding, stimulated world trade enormously. It should be emphasized that Alexander the Great’s routes passed close to the turquoise locality of Nishapur, Persia (first mentioned, so far as I know, by Amur-ru-Lais—from 878 to 903 A.D ruler of Khorasan—but probably worked much earlier), the Badakshan lapis lazuli locality (probably known to the Sumerians); the Badakshan ruby mines (mentioned by Istakhri 951 A.D, but probably known considerably earlier), and the Khotan nephrite deposits (known certainly in the reign of Wu Ti, 140-87 B.C, and perhaps 2500 years earlier).
The road to the East was open, not to be closed in classical times. Fine eastern garnets, sards, amethysts, beryl, topaz, and sapphire became known to the Greeks, and the more precious stones first appeared commonly in Greek jewelry. Ctesias (415-397 B.C) knew of the Indian agate mines and states that Assyria in his time obtained from India sard and onyx for her finer seals.
In support of his assertions, sard and sardonyx first appeared in the Mesopotamian valley in Assyrian times. He also mentions the gem pantarba, which attracts to itself sealstones and has many other marvelous properties. Unfortunately, I cannot identify it.
Seleucus Nicator, ruler of Syria, in 305 led an army into India even further than had his predecessor, Alexander the Great. About 20 B.C, according to Florus, ambassadors from southern India came to the court of Augustus with gifts of precious stones and pearls. In the next six years two other embassies arrived. Again, under Constantine (306-337 A.D), ambassadors from India arrived with shining gifts.
Roman-Indian commerce in spices, gems, and fine textiles was highly developed by Pliny’s time, the first, in money value, being the most important of the three. It is described in detail in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (60 A.D +/-). Most Indian gems arrived in Rome either via Alexandria, by one of the Arabian towns, or by one of the Parthian cities. Yearly, in July, 120 ships sailed from Myoshormos on the Red Sea, later from nearby Berenice. Taking advantage of the monsoons, in about seventy days the boats reached ports on the Malabar coast. Here they undoubtedly met with other ships which went east from that coast and from Ceylon, presumably as far as China. After loading, the Roman vessels returned to Egypt at the year’s end. The cargo was then transported by camel from the Red Sea to the Nile and down it to Alexandria. A fleet carrying gems sailed yearly, under the Empire, from Alexandria to Puteoli (modern Pozzuuoli) near Rome.
Contact with oriental luxury caused the Romans to overindulge in costly stuffs and in the use of jewels; for when they enjoyed the mastery of the Indian trade, the Romans had the wealth to indulge in their tastes, no matter how fantastic or extravagant they might be. The fact that false stones were less common in Rome in the second than they were in the first half of the 1st century A.D was due to the influx of fine gems into Rome from India after the secret of the monsoon was known. Practically every known Indian gem was in use in Pliny’s time but the prices demanded for them were exorbitant. The stones, besides the first cost and export and import duties, had to stand heavy transport charges, and the Roman gem merchant in setting a price had to consider not only his own overhead, but the great risk of shipwreck or piracy which he or his agents had been subjected to in bringing the stones from India. Profits, provided the fleet arrived safely, were enormous, for Pliny tells us that these eastern luxuries were sold at fully one hundred times their original cost. Not only the Indian merchants, but those of all intermediate commercial centers, hid the source of the gems sold to the Romans and exaggerated the dangers of mining them, in part to restrict competition and in part to enhance their value. In consequence, many trade centers became, in the eyes of the ancients, the source of precious stones. Thus, according to the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, through the Indian port of Barbaricum, on the delta of the Indus, both Persian turquoise and Afghanistan lapis lazuli were shipped, in the 1st century of our era, to Rome. A fairly complete list of gems imported can gotten by the Roman tariff law of the time.
A Historical Summary Of The Ancient Commerce In Precious Stones (continued)
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Sustainable Jewelry
CIBJO, The World Jewellery Confederation, has launched a new web site @ www.sustainablejewellery.org to promote sustainable economic and social development in the countries in which it is active.
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
(via YouTube): It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World + A 1963 masterpiece with Spencer Tracy
Useful links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlCb41nelD8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2SpROYbYig
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee3CPfH2O_I
A real gem. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Useful links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlCb41nelD8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2SpROYbYig
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee3CPfH2O_I
A real gem. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Tales From The Crypt
Devon Pendleton writes about Simcha Jacobovici's Toronto production company, Associated Producers + The Naked Archaeologist series + the business angle + other viewpoints @ http://members.forbes.com/global/2007/1112/084.html
The Art Of Collecting
Judith Greer, Frieze veteran and co-author of 'Owning Art' suggests how to get the most out of the fair @ Video: The art of collecting
The Hogarth Of Hedge Funds Offers A Glimpse Into A Hidden World
(via The Guardian) Charlotte Higgins writes about Adam Dant, the way he documented the lives of high-net-worth hedge fund pros, their lives in an art format + other viewpoints @ http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2204642,00.html
The New New York
Linda Yablonsky writes about Harlem + other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1096
The Three Brethren
(via Diamond Cuts in Historic Jewelry:1381-1910) Herbert Tillander writes:
The most striking example of a fashioned trisoctahedral design is the 30ct diamond point in the center of the jewel known as The Three Brethren which was dismantled and dispersed c.1642. In the rough this diamond probably had distinctly rounded faces, a shape often found in India. Its fame rests on three factors: the giant, well-matched and extremely rare red spinels which gave it its name; the four huge Oriental pearls, and the magnificent diamond, whose beauty, strangely enough, only gradually came to be fully appreciated. It was only in 1623 that James I’s jeweler, Heriot, commended it as the most ‘compleat’ stone that he ever saw.
From a thorough study of all available material I was able to construct a replica and to determine the following facts: the diamond was bipyramidal and weighed about 30 ct or slightly more, and its outline was almost that of a regular square, with an average width of about 16 mm. Based on these figures, the overall height could be calculated to about 128 percent, and angles of inclination to an average figure of about 52º (the corresponding figures for a regular octahedron are 141.42 percent and about 54¾º). These proportions can be confirmed by the relative size of the reflection.
As to the faceting, the descriptions clearly indicate a cut that was an imitation of a regular trisoctahedron. The illustrations neither confirm not contradict this but indicate only that the main facet edges were ground down to very narrow facets. Charles the Bold’s inventory of 1467 states that the gem was ‘un gros dyamant pointy a fass’ (i.e. faceted). Fugger’s sales document of 1504-5 says ‘ein demandtpundt indermitt gefieri.’ The word gefiert here means ‘divided into four sections’. This was interpreted by Kind in 1867 and by Streeter in 1882 as ‘having the apex cut into a four-rayed star in relief, each ray corresponding with the center of each face of the pyramid.’ Certainly no possible alternative has been suggested for this early gem.
The reason why the details of the cut cannot be detected from any of the illustrations is partly because the setting is very heavy and hides the lower part of the faceting, and partly because the diamond is always shown only from directly above, which distorts the design. In the drawing by Fugger, which is carefully executed, the ‘shadow’ of the reflections also disguises the top part of the faceting.
Most art historians agree that the jewel was created during the first decade of the fifteenth century. Early documents, however, do not mention The Three Brethren before the murder of Duke John the Fearless of Burgundy in 1419. The first mention dates from the time of the pawning of Duke John’s old plate and jewels in 1412. The Recette Generale in the Lille archives includes among the pawned objects ’22 large pearls, 2 square balaxes in a gold setting....and 1 large square pointed diamond in a gold setting, the which dyamond is the size of a filbert nut’. At that period the Dukes of Burgundy resided in Paris, so it may be assumed that the diamond was acquired in that city, if not necessarily fashioned there. However, diamond cutters were working in Paris around the turn of the century, and it is most likely that both bruting and accurate faceting on a scaife had been fully mastered at least by 1400. Well-shaped octahedrons and large diamonds in general were not normally available on the European market, so the rough stone probably had the shape of an irregular rounded crystal. This would first have to be bruted by hand, a tedious operation but one which would transform the crystal into a slightly rounded double pyramid on whose curved faces it was far easier for the cutter to apply ‘trisoctahedral’ facets than to achieve smooth and shiny large facets.
The most striking example of a fashioned trisoctahedral design is the 30ct diamond point in the center of the jewel known as The Three Brethren which was dismantled and dispersed c.1642. In the rough this diamond probably had distinctly rounded faces, a shape often found in India. Its fame rests on three factors: the giant, well-matched and extremely rare red spinels which gave it its name; the four huge Oriental pearls, and the magnificent diamond, whose beauty, strangely enough, only gradually came to be fully appreciated. It was only in 1623 that James I’s jeweler, Heriot, commended it as the most ‘compleat’ stone that he ever saw.
From a thorough study of all available material I was able to construct a replica and to determine the following facts: the diamond was bipyramidal and weighed about 30 ct or slightly more, and its outline was almost that of a regular square, with an average width of about 16 mm. Based on these figures, the overall height could be calculated to about 128 percent, and angles of inclination to an average figure of about 52º (the corresponding figures for a regular octahedron are 141.42 percent and about 54¾º). These proportions can be confirmed by the relative size of the reflection.
As to the faceting, the descriptions clearly indicate a cut that was an imitation of a regular trisoctahedron. The illustrations neither confirm not contradict this but indicate only that the main facet edges were ground down to very narrow facets. Charles the Bold’s inventory of 1467 states that the gem was ‘un gros dyamant pointy a fass’ (i.e. faceted). Fugger’s sales document of 1504-5 says ‘ein demandtpundt indermitt gefieri.’ The word gefiert here means ‘divided into four sections’. This was interpreted by Kind in 1867 and by Streeter in 1882 as ‘having the apex cut into a four-rayed star in relief, each ray corresponding with the center of each face of the pyramid.’ Certainly no possible alternative has been suggested for this early gem.
The reason why the details of the cut cannot be detected from any of the illustrations is partly because the setting is very heavy and hides the lower part of the faceting, and partly because the diamond is always shown only from directly above, which distorts the design. In the drawing by Fugger, which is carefully executed, the ‘shadow’ of the reflections also disguises the top part of the faceting.
Most art historians agree that the jewel was created during the first decade of the fifteenth century. Early documents, however, do not mention The Three Brethren before the murder of Duke John the Fearless of Burgundy in 1419. The first mention dates from the time of the pawning of Duke John’s old plate and jewels in 1412. The Recette Generale in the Lille archives includes among the pawned objects ’22 large pearls, 2 square balaxes in a gold setting....and 1 large square pointed diamond in a gold setting, the which dyamond is the size of a filbert nut’. At that period the Dukes of Burgundy resided in Paris, so it may be assumed that the diamond was acquired in that city, if not necessarily fashioned there. However, diamond cutters were working in Paris around the turn of the century, and it is most likely that both bruting and accurate faceting on a scaife had been fully mastered at least by 1400. Well-shaped octahedrons and large diamonds in general were not normally available on the European market, so the rough stone probably had the shape of an irregular rounded crystal. This would first have to be bruted by hand, a tedious operation but one which would transform the crystal into a slightly rounded double pyramid on whose curved faces it was far easier for the cutter to apply ‘trisoctahedral’ facets than to achieve smooth and shiny large facets.
A Historical Summary Of The Ancient Commerce In Precious Stones
(via Roman Book On Precious Stones: 1950) Sydney H Ball writes:
The successive civilizations which occupied the Mesopotamian valley were fortunate in thier position, midway between the eastern and western civilizations. The early Sumerians doubtless got their precious stones from the nearby nomadic peoples; the wandering life of the latter made them familiar with the minerals of the mountains and plains. Later, the people of the Mesopotamian cities became great merchants. From 3000 B.C on they not only had important trade relations with nearby Asia, but with Egypt and India as well. In the Code of Hammurabi (1800 B.C), there are laws for the protection of the wandering trafficker in gems, and soon after the state armies protected the creeping donkey caravans of the Babylonian merchants. The Mesopotamian region and northwestern India were in commercial and cultural contact in the 3rd millennium B.C, if not in the 4th, and Ur of the Chaldees had Indian products. Again, from about 900 B.C to 562 B.C the Assyrians imported from India teak wood and many other products. The trade was probably by caravan, but that going by sea was controlled by the Dravidians, who, availing themselves of the monsoons, voyaged from the southwestern ports of India to Babylon. It was, however, partly in the hands of Aryans. At Babylon these Indians became acquainted with the Semitic alphabet which became the basis of the alphabets of India, Burma, Siam, and Ceylon. Prior to this time, India’s less valuable precious stones (agates, for example; indeed, the fine quality of the carnelian used by the people of Indus Valley in the 3rd millennium B.C suggests that India’s finer agate mines may have been known at that early date) had doubtless been found and from 800 to 600 B.C, the diamond, ruby, and sapphire are believed to have first been known to man. India at that time had an established and rather highly developed industry in jewelry and precious stones. Then, as now, the Hindu wore costly jewelry. The mines were the monopoly of the local rulers and duties on precious stones very heavy.
The Phoenicians were not only early traffickers in amber, but in other luxuries as well. They were daring seamen, and the most aggressive and successful traders of their day. Tyrian industry furnished trade goods, for Tyre had many skilled craftsmen. Homer describes:
‘...a silver bown well wrought,
By Sidon’s artists cunningly adorned,
Bore by the Phoenicians o’er the dark blue sea.’
To satisfy less discriminating nations, she had mass production of salable trade gadgets; for instance, she flooded the Mediterranean market with crudely engraved gems. The prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel was sent into captivity in 598 B.C), referring to the commerce of Tyre, mentions her trade with southern Arabian gem merchants. Tyre got Indian stones by caravan from the coast of Oman; likewise, perhaps, by an all-caravan route. By 550 B.C Phoenician merchants had organized sea-borne trade between the head of the Red Sea and the southern coasts of Arabia and Persia.
Carthage, founded by Phoenician colonists, obtained gems (garnets, certainly; others, likely) by caravan trade from the Sahara, Sudan, and other parts of Africa. Some of these reached Rome.
The Etuscan looked to Phoenicia, ‘the mart of nations’, ‘whose merchants were princes, whose traffickers’ were the ‘honorable of the earth’, for his jewels in the 8th and 7th centuries B.C. For the next 250 years the Etruscan and Roman nobles imported their jewelry from Phoenicia, Egypt, and Greece, although even at that early date they must have had some Greek artists in their midst, and Etruscans themselves eventually became master goldsmiths. By the 6th century Roman women got their jewelry from the Etruscans.
The Sabaeans of southern Arabia traded with India at least as early as 1000 B.C, nor was India the only source of gems with which these enterprising merchants were acquainted. They guarded as carefully the source of their gems from their competitors as did the Phoenicians their source of British tin. Indian products were shipped to the coast of Oman, thence by caravan to the Sabaean Kingdom (some cargoes probably arrived to the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Phoenicians, and later to the Romans. Sargon of Assyria (715 B.C) received precious stones as tribute from Arabia. The prophet Ezekeil, referring to the commerce of Tyre, says: ‘The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants; they occupied in they fairs with chief of all spices, and with precious stones and gold.’ The Queen of Sheba, it will be remembered, gave Solomon ‘of spices very great store, and precious stones.’ Aristeas, who probably wrote in the 7th century B.C tells us that Arabian merchants brought precious stones to Italy and he clearly states that the Sabaeans acted as merchants rather than as producers of precious stones. The Kindgom of Axium also had at somewhat later date contact with India and, indeed, Rome kept friendly commerce with that kingdom to assure herself an adequate supply of Indian products. Emperor Augustus evidently became jealous of the wealth of the Nabataeans and Sabaeans, who ‘exchanged their aromatics and precious stones for silver and gold, but never expended with foreigners any part of what they received in exchange.’ In consequence, he sent a mighty punitive expedition under Aelius Gallus, a general who soon became the victim of the wiles of the Arabian chieftains and the difficulties of the desert country.
A Historical Summary Of The Ancient Commerce In Precious Stones (continued)
The successive civilizations which occupied the Mesopotamian valley were fortunate in thier position, midway between the eastern and western civilizations. The early Sumerians doubtless got their precious stones from the nearby nomadic peoples; the wandering life of the latter made them familiar with the minerals of the mountains and plains. Later, the people of the Mesopotamian cities became great merchants. From 3000 B.C on they not only had important trade relations with nearby Asia, but with Egypt and India as well. In the Code of Hammurabi (1800 B.C), there are laws for the protection of the wandering trafficker in gems, and soon after the state armies protected the creeping donkey caravans of the Babylonian merchants. The Mesopotamian region and northwestern India were in commercial and cultural contact in the 3rd millennium B.C, if not in the 4th, and Ur of the Chaldees had Indian products. Again, from about 900 B.C to 562 B.C the Assyrians imported from India teak wood and many other products. The trade was probably by caravan, but that going by sea was controlled by the Dravidians, who, availing themselves of the monsoons, voyaged from the southwestern ports of India to Babylon. It was, however, partly in the hands of Aryans. At Babylon these Indians became acquainted with the Semitic alphabet which became the basis of the alphabets of India, Burma, Siam, and Ceylon. Prior to this time, India’s less valuable precious stones (agates, for example; indeed, the fine quality of the carnelian used by the people of Indus Valley in the 3rd millennium B.C suggests that India’s finer agate mines may have been known at that early date) had doubtless been found and from 800 to 600 B.C, the diamond, ruby, and sapphire are believed to have first been known to man. India at that time had an established and rather highly developed industry in jewelry and precious stones. Then, as now, the Hindu wore costly jewelry. The mines were the monopoly of the local rulers and duties on precious stones very heavy.
The Phoenicians were not only early traffickers in amber, but in other luxuries as well. They were daring seamen, and the most aggressive and successful traders of their day. Tyrian industry furnished trade goods, for Tyre had many skilled craftsmen. Homer describes:
‘...a silver bown well wrought,
By Sidon’s artists cunningly adorned,
Bore by the Phoenicians o’er the dark blue sea.’
To satisfy less discriminating nations, she had mass production of salable trade gadgets; for instance, she flooded the Mediterranean market with crudely engraved gems. The prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel was sent into captivity in 598 B.C), referring to the commerce of Tyre, mentions her trade with southern Arabian gem merchants. Tyre got Indian stones by caravan from the coast of Oman; likewise, perhaps, by an all-caravan route. By 550 B.C Phoenician merchants had organized sea-borne trade between the head of the Red Sea and the southern coasts of Arabia and Persia.
Carthage, founded by Phoenician colonists, obtained gems (garnets, certainly; others, likely) by caravan trade from the Sahara, Sudan, and other parts of Africa. Some of these reached Rome.
The Etuscan looked to Phoenicia, ‘the mart of nations’, ‘whose merchants were princes, whose traffickers’ were the ‘honorable of the earth’, for his jewels in the 8th and 7th centuries B.C. For the next 250 years the Etruscan and Roman nobles imported their jewelry from Phoenicia, Egypt, and Greece, although even at that early date they must have had some Greek artists in their midst, and Etruscans themselves eventually became master goldsmiths. By the 6th century Roman women got their jewelry from the Etruscans.
The Sabaeans of southern Arabia traded with India at least as early as 1000 B.C, nor was India the only source of gems with which these enterprising merchants were acquainted. They guarded as carefully the source of their gems from their competitors as did the Phoenicians their source of British tin. Indian products were shipped to the coast of Oman, thence by caravan to the Sabaean Kingdom (some cargoes probably arrived to the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Phoenicians, and later to the Romans. Sargon of Assyria (715 B.C) received precious stones as tribute from Arabia. The prophet Ezekeil, referring to the commerce of Tyre, says: ‘The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants; they occupied in they fairs with chief of all spices, and with precious stones and gold.’ The Queen of Sheba, it will be remembered, gave Solomon ‘of spices very great store, and precious stones.’ Aristeas, who probably wrote in the 7th century B.C tells us that Arabian merchants brought precious stones to Italy and he clearly states that the Sabaeans acted as merchants rather than as producers of precious stones. The Kindgom of Axium also had at somewhat later date contact with India and, indeed, Rome kept friendly commerce with that kingdom to assure herself an adequate supply of Indian products. Emperor Augustus evidently became jealous of the wealth of the Nabataeans and Sabaeans, who ‘exchanged their aromatics and precious stones for silver and gold, but never expended with foreigners any part of what they received in exchange.’ In consequence, he sent a mighty punitive expedition under Aelius Gallus, a general who soon became the victim of the wiles of the Arabian chieftains and the difficulties of the desert country.
A Historical Summary Of The Ancient Commerce In Precious Stones (continued)
Monday, November 05, 2007
The Happiness Hypothesis
Good Books: In The Happiness Hypothesis, author John Haidt explains the concept + meaning of happiness, emotion and the creation of personal meaning. I think this is an insightful book that provides info on how to live a happy, fulfilled life + making a positive contribution to the world.
Useful link:
www.happinesshypothesis.com
Useful link:
www.happinesshypothesis.com
Emerald Story
Major deposits and mining centers around the world
Colombia: The best and the most important deposits are in Colombia. Colombian emeralds are well-known for their rich green color and good texture of the stone. The most important mines in this regard are:
- The Muzo mine: Situated north west of Bogota. Emerald from this mine is renowned for its deep green color. Most of the world’s most beautiful emeralds are said to come from this mine—warm, velvety, yellowish green hue.
- The Chivor mines: Situated north east of Bogota. Also yield emeralds, fine bluish green crystals.
- Cosques and Borur mines.
Brazil: There are various deposits in Bahia, also in Goias and Minas Gerais. Stones are mostly of a yellowish green hue. Most small size and calibrated stones for commercial use come from the mines in Brazil.
Zambia: Some good quality emeralds have been retrieved from the mines in Zambia, situated close to the border with DR Congo. The color is quite distinctive and might be regarded as more or abluish green.
Zimbabwe: Most important mines in the region are those at Sandwana. Crystals are small, but of good quality, and the color is avery distinctive bright grass green.
Tranvaal (South Africa): Stones are mainly of average quality.
Tanzania: Of limited importance. Low to medium quality stones.
Madagascar: The mines yield good quality emeralds.
Pakistan: Important mine in the region is the Panjsheer mine. Medium to high quality stones have been mined in the past. Dark green to bluish green emeralds are found.
Afghanistan: The mines yield good quality emeralds.
India: Limited deposits. Famous as a cutting center, especially in the city of Jaipur.
Other mines of limited significance are found in Russia, Norway, North Carolina (USA) and Australia. Colombia still ranks as the world’s largest supplier of emeralds.
Cutting center (s) for emeralds
India: The city of Jaipur in the state of Rajasthan has been a cutting center for gemstones for centuries. The timeless expertise of ancient craftsmen were passed down from one generation to the next, and the tradition continued today. Although the machines used here are not state-of-the-art when compared to other countries, the cutters here are more adept at cutting and polishing even the smallest size of emeralds. Since emeralds have limited resistance to abrasion and heat, they chip rather easily on the faceting board. Specialized skill is required which is readily available at low cost in Jaipur. Most of the stones of commercial quality are cut here.
- Emeralds are cut in other parts of the world too.
Emerald processing: cutting, faceting, polishing
The cutting of colored stones is the art of lapidary; the cutter is also known as a lapidary. Most lapidaries specialize in a certain gemstone group, so consideration can be best given to the characteristics of the stone. In the case of emeralds, the main consideration is depth of color.
Circular saws with edges impregnated diamond power are used firstly to cut the stone roughly to the required size. The faceting procedure involves mounting the stone on a hand-held dop-stick and rubbing or holding it, at appropriate angles, against a copper/carborundum wheel charged with diamond dust, which is spinning at a high speed. Polishing is done in a similar way but with the polishing medium becoming less abrasive. A great deal of technical expertise and skill is required for the job. This will only come from many years of practice at the wheel. The polishing stage gives the finished look to the emerald.
Emerald Story (continued)
Colombia: The best and the most important deposits are in Colombia. Colombian emeralds are well-known for their rich green color and good texture of the stone. The most important mines in this regard are:
- The Muzo mine: Situated north west of Bogota. Emerald from this mine is renowned for its deep green color. Most of the world’s most beautiful emeralds are said to come from this mine—warm, velvety, yellowish green hue.
- The Chivor mines: Situated north east of Bogota. Also yield emeralds, fine bluish green crystals.
- Cosques and Borur mines.
Brazil: There are various deposits in Bahia, also in Goias and Minas Gerais. Stones are mostly of a yellowish green hue. Most small size and calibrated stones for commercial use come from the mines in Brazil.
Zambia: Some good quality emeralds have been retrieved from the mines in Zambia, situated close to the border with DR Congo. The color is quite distinctive and might be regarded as more or abluish green.
Zimbabwe: Most important mines in the region are those at Sandwana. Crystals are small, but of good quality, and the color is avery distinctive bright grass green.
Tranvaal (South Africa): Stones are mainly of average quality.
Tanzania: Of limited importance. Low to medium quality stones.
Madagascar: The mines yield good quality emeralds.
Pakistan: Important mine in the region is the Panjsheer mine. Medium to high quality stones have been mined in the past. Dark green to bluish green emeralds are found.
Afghanistan: The mines yield good quality emeralds.
India: Limited deposits. Famous as a cutting center, especially in the city of Jaipur.
Other mines of limited significance are found in Russia, Norway, North Carolina (USA) and Australia. Colombia still ranks as the world’s largest supplier of emeralds.
Cutting center (s) for emeralds
India: The city of Jaipur in the state of Rajasthan has been a cutting center for gemstones for centuries. The timeless expertise of ancient craftsmen were passed down from one generation to the next, and the tradition continued today. Although the machines used here are not state-of-the-art when compared to other countries, the cutters here are more adept at cutting and polishing even the smallest size of emeralds. Since emeralds have limited resistance to abrasion and heat, they chip rather easily on the faceting board. Specialized skill is required which is readily available at low cost in Jaipur. Most of the stones of commercial quality are cut here.
- Emeralds are cut in other parts of the world too.
Emerald processing: cutting, faceting, polishing
The cutting of colored stones is the art of lapidary; the cutter is also known as a lapidary. Most lapidaries specialize in a certain gemstone group, so consideration can be best given to the characteristics of the stone. In the case of emeralds, the main consideration is depth of color.
Circular saws with edges impregnated diamond power are used firstly to cut the stone roughly to the required size. The faceting procedure involves mounting the stone on a hand-held dop-stick and rubbing or holding it, at appropriate angles, against a copper/carborundum wheel charged with diamond dust, which is spinning at a high speed. Polishing is done in a similar way but with the polishing medium becoming less abrasive. A great deal of technical expertise and skill is required for the job. This will only come from many years of practice at the wheel. The polishing stage gives the finished look to the emerald.
Emerald Story (continued)
Duke Ellington
(via YouTube): I am a huge fan of Duke Ellington + Jazz + and love the music.
Duke Ellington interview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6ApogZRsag
Perdido by Billy Taylor, Duke Ellington and Willie the Lion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCug5HG9jLg
Mae West-Duke Ellington
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEeIk-f60ac
Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington-Duke's Place
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ah-VwD7IEU
Duke Ellington interview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6ApogZRsag
Perdido by Billy Taylor, Duke Ellington and Willie the Lion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCug5HG9jLg
Mae West-Duke Ellington
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEeIk-f60ac
Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington-Duke's Place
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ah-VwD7IEU
In God's Name
(via The Economist): John Micklethwait writes about religion + its big role in this century's politics + business (I think) other viewpoints @ http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10015255
John Micklethwait (interviewed here) asks how we should deal with it.
John Micklethwait (interviewed here) asks how we should deal with it.
The 3 Tenors: Nessun Dorma
(via YouTube): The 3 tenors: Carreras -Domingo -Pavarotti
Nessun Dorma
Truly god-given voices + love the music. I enjoyed it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDtcidMR_6I
Nessun Dorma
Truly god-given voices + love the music. I enjoyed it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDtcidMR_6I
Golden Boy
Anuradha Raghunathan writes about Rajesh Mehta, Chairman of Rajesh Exports Ltd, the $2 billion (revenue) company, the largest exporter of gold jewelry in India + the way he conducts business + other viewpoints @ http://members.forbes.com/global/2007/1112/118.html
Naming The Dame
Lindsay Pollock writes about the 1913 Armory Show + other viewpoints @ http://www.artnews.com/anniversary/top1.asp
Quick-Change Master
David Galloway writes about Gerhard Richter + his art works + other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1080
A Historical Summary Of The Ancient Commerce In Precious Stones
(via Roman Book On Precious Stones: 1950) Sydney H Ball writes:
The center of world trade in Pliny’s time, Rome was the emporium to which the products of the whole world flowed. Aelius Aristides, who lived in the 2nd century A.D wrote: ‘The stuffs of Babylonia and the jewels from the barbarous region of interior Asia reach Rome in much larger quantities, and far more easily, than the products of Naxos and Cynthus reach Athens. In fact, whatever commerce can lay hold and ships can carry, whatever agriculture and the mines produce, whatever industry and the arts create, whatever exists in the earth, and whatever grows upon it, all this is gathered together in the market of Rome.’
In ancient times precious stones were a much more important article of commerce than today. In those days the capacity factor per carrier—were it man, ass, camel, or boat—was small and of necessity the commodities carried, particularly between distant points, must needs be of high value, spices, fine fabrics and, to a lesser degree in total volume and value, precious stones. Important international trade in gems was inaugurated by the amber traders of the Baltic Sea at least 9000 years ago, to be followed about 3000 years later by the Babylonian merchants in lapis lazuli and the Egyptian purveyors of turquoise.
War, to the Romans, was a business, often with plunder as a side line. We find Augustus sending a military expedition against the Nabataeans and the Sabaeans, rich Arabian merchants of spices and precious stones, and Caesar, before he invaded Britain, assembling from all parts of Gaul merchants who had traded in Britain and questioning them as to Britain’s natural resources.
The Roman gem lover was not as particular as to the quality of his gem as is his American counterpart of today and many Roman gems are of so poor a quality that we wonder that the lapidary waster his time upon them. Highly evolved commercial facilities and the expansion of gem mining furnish the modern purchaser a perfection in gems never available to the Roman. At that, the color contrast of Roman gems made effective jewelry, even though the quality of many of the gems was mediocre.
Amber, the desire for which in the early days was a great stimulus of international trade, was used by the Aurignacian and later Paleolithic men of northern Europe from between 50000 and 25000 B.C onward: the source, presumably the Baltic coast of the North Sea. Its beauty of color, its transparency and, above all, its electrical properties—black magic to primitive man—made its ownership imperative. Later Baltic amber reached the Mediterranean, following river valleys south to the mouth of the Po or to that of the Rhone or to the Black Sea, following the Vistula and Dneiper to the southeast. About 1200 B.C Phoenician merchants bartered for amber, particularly that arriving at the head of the Adriatic, and distributed it to the earliest of Greek cities and to many other Mediterranean people. The Greek name electrum evidently is of Phoenician origin (elek, resin). Indeed, the Greeks had more amber in the early days than they had until Rome became a great commercial power centuries later. So outstanding was this trade to the head of the Adriatic that Greek legend located the Electrides Insulae (Amber Islands) at the head of the Adriatic. Later, instead of getting amber at the head of the Adriatic, Phoenician ships sailed to Britain, obtaining tin there and perhaps amber of local origin, or amber obtained by the Britons from nearby parts of the mainland. The Phoenicians themselves may even have reached the Baltic amber fields. These same traders also probably obtained a little amber from pits along the Syrian Coast, but their main source of supply was doubtless the Baltic.
About 600 B.C Phocaea founded Massalia (Marseilles) to control the trade in British tin and Baltic amber which came down the Rhone. Eventually Greeks, through this and other Greek colonial cities (including those on the Black Sea), became an important factor in the amber trade. The increased use of amber beads among the Etruscans soon thereafter indicates how large was the trade. About 340 B.C. Phytheas, a Massalian Greek astronomer and explorer, apparently sailed to the Baltic amber region, and he mentions that amber is cast upon the shores of the Isle Abalus by the high spring tides and tells us that the Guttones of East Prussia traded it to the neighboring tribes. Herodotus, a century earlier, although he recognized that amber came ‘from the remotest parts,’ was not willing to admit that it came from the river Eridanus (our Po) in western Europe. Timaeus (about 260 B.C) gave the source as the island Basilia or Raunonia, and not Abalus; Diodorus Siculus merely mentions the first name. Xenophon of Lampsacus calls it Baltia.
The Etruscans and Romans had Baltic amber in the early days of their civilization, and by Pliny’s time it was a common but precious commodity, arriving largely by the land routes. The Germans brought it as far as Pannonia and from there it was transported to the mouth of the Po. Nero even had Julianus Carnunturm, his gladiatorial fight manager, send a knight to Prussia to obtain, by trade,a store of amber. Tacitus gives details as to the trade of his time (born 55 A.D), stating that the Suebi collect it either from shallow parts of the sea or on the seashore, and were inclined to pay no attention to it until ‘our luxury made it esteemed’. Indeed, the barbaric tribe was a bit baffled by the ‘price they receive for it.’ We are ignorant as to whether the Romans of Pliny’s time obtained amber from the Sicilian mines (artifacts of this amber are found in the ruins of the Swiss Lake Dwellers). W. Arnold Buffum knows of no reference to this source prior to 1639 A.D. Buffum, however, believes some of the amber from Italo-Greek and Etruscan tombs is of Sicilian origin. Nor do we know that the Romans were familiar with the mines of Scythia mentioned by Philemon (amber occurs in several places in Russia), the Syrian mines once worked by the Phoenicians, the Italian deposits of Liguria (operated in the time of Theophrastus), nor those near Bologna. Strabo, Pliny’s predecessor by a generation, mentions them. Amber is still found at Scanello, Castel S Pietro, and in the Cesenate, Italy. We may add that amber was in the past from time found on the shores of England and Scotland. Pliny, quoting Nicias and Ctesias (about 398 B.C), says that amber occurs in India. Archelaus reports that amber from India still has the bark sticking to it! Possibly some other less aged resin is referred to or this may be a reference to the Burmese mines, before World War II relatively important. That the latter inference is not impossible is indicated by the fact that the Burmese mines were known to the Chinese in the Han Dynasty (206 B.C – 220 A.D). Normally, however, Rome exported amber to India and part of this apparently reached even China.
A Historical Summary Of The Ancient Commerce In Precious Stones (continued)
The center of world trade in Pliny’s time, Rome was the emporium to which the products of the whole world flowed. Aelius Aristides, who lived in the 2nd century A.D wrote: ‘The stuffs of Babylonia and the jewels from the barbarous region of interior Asia reach Rome in much larger quantities, and far more easily, than the products of Naxos and Cynthus reach Athens. In fact, whatever commerce can lay hold and ships can carry, whatever agriculture and the mines produce, whatever industry and the arts create, whatever exists in the earth, and whatever grows upon it, all this is gathered together in the market of Rome.’
In ancient times precious stones were a much more important article of commerce than today. In those days the capacity factor per carrier—were it man, ass, camel, or boat—was small and of necessity the commodities carried, particularly between distant points, must needs be of high value, spices, fine fabrics and, to a lesser degree in total volume and value, precious stones. Important international trade in gems was inaugurated by the amber traders of the Baltic Sea at least 9000 years ago, to be followed about 3000 years later by the Babylonian merchants in lapis lazuli and the Egyptian purveyors of turquoise.
War, to the Romans, was a business, often with plunder as a side line. We find Augustus sending a military expedition against the Nabataeans and the Sabaeans, rich Arabian merchants of spices and precious stones, and Caesar, before he invaded Britain, assembling from all parts of Gaul merchants who had traded in Britain and questioning them as to Britain’s natural resources.
The Roman gem lover was not as particular as to the quality of his gem as is his American counterpart of today and many Roman gems are of so poor a quality that we wonder that the lapidary waster his time upon them. Highly evolved commercial facilities and the expansion of gem mining furnish the modern purchaser a perfection in gems never available to the Roman. At that, the color contrast of Roman gems made effective jewelry, even though the quality of many of the gems was mediocre.
Amber, the desire for which in the early days was a great stimulus of international trade, was used by the Aurignacian and later Paleolithic men of northern Europe from between 50000 and 25000 B.C onward: the source, presumably the Baltic coast of the North Sea. Its beauty of color, its transparency and, above all, its electrical properties—black magic to primitive man—made its ownership imperative. Later Baltic amber reached the Mediterranean, following river valleys south to the mouth of the Po or to that of the Rhone or to the Black Sea, following the Vistula and Dneiper to the southeast. About 1200 B.C Phoenician merchants bartered for amber, particularly that arriving at the head of the Adriatic, and distributed it to the earliest of Greek cities and to many other Mediterranean people. The Greek name electrum evidently is of Phoenician origin (elek, resin). Indeed, the Greeks had more amber in the early days than they had until Rome became a great commercial power centuries later. So outstanding was this trade to the head of the Adriatic that Greek legend located the Electrides Insulae (Amber Islands) at the head of the Adriatic. Later, instead of getting amber at the head of the Adriatic, Phoenician ships sailed to Britain, obtaining tin there and perhaps amber of local origin, or amber obtained by the Britons from nearby parts of the mainland. The Phoenicians themselves may even have reached the Baltic amber fields. These same traders also probably obtained a little amber from pits along the Syrian Coast, but their main source of supply was doubtless the Baltic.
About 600 B.C Phocaea founded Massalia (Marseilles) to control the trade in British tin and Baltic amber which came down the Rhone. Eventually Greeks, through this and other Greek colonial cities (including those on the Black Sea), became an important factor in the amber trade. The increased use of amber beads among the Etruscans soon thereafter indicates how large was the trade. About 340 B.C. Phytheas, a Massalian Greek astronomer and explorer, apparently sailed to the Baltic amber region, and he mentions that amber is cast upon the shores of the Isle Abalus by the high spring tides and tells us that the Guttones of East Prussia traded it to the neighboring tribes. Herodotus, a century earlier, although he recognized that amber came ‘from the remotest parts,’ was not willing to admit that it came from the river Eridanus (our Po) in western Europe. Timaeus (about 260 B.C) gave the source as the island Basilia or Raunonia, and not Abalus; Diodorus Siculus merely mentions the first name. Xenophon of Lampsacus calls it Baltia.
The Etruscans and Romans had Baltic amber in the early days of their civilization, and by Pliny’s time it was a common but precious commodity, arriving largely by the land routes. The Germans brought it as far as Pannonia and from there it was transported to the mouth of the Po. Nero even had Julianus Carnunturm, his gladiatorial fight manager, send a knight to Prussia to obtain, by trade,a store of amber. Tacitus gives details as to the trade of his time (born 55 A.D), stating that the Suebi collect it either from shallow parts of the sea or on the seashore, and were inclined to pay no attention to it until ‘our luxury made it esteemed’. Indeed, the barbaric tribe was a bit baffled by the ‘price they receive for it.’ We are ignorant as to whether the Romans of Pliny’s time obtained amber from the Sicilian mines (artifacts of this amber are found in the ruins of the Swiss Lake Dwellers). W. Arnold Buffum knows of no reference to this source prior to 1639 A.D. Buffum, however, believes some of the amber from Italo-Greek and Etruscan tombs is of Sicilian origin. Nor do we know that the Romans were familiar with the mines of Scythia mentioned by Philemon (amber occurs in several places in Russia), the Syrian mines once worked by the Phoenicians, the Italian deposits of Liguria (operated in the time of Theophrastus), nor those near Bologna. Strabo, Pliny’s predecessor by a generation, mentions them. Amber is still found at Scanello, Castel S Pietro, and in the Cesenate, Italy. We may add that amber was in the past from time found on the shores of England and Scotland. Pliny, quoting Nicias and Ctesias (about 398 B.C), says that amber occurs in India. Archelaus reports that amber from India still has the bark sticking to it! Possibly some other less aged resin is referred to or this may be a reference to the Burmese mines, before World War II relatively important. That the latter inference is not impossible is indicated by the fact that the Burmese mines were known to the Chinese in the Han Dynasty (206 B.C – 220 A.D). Normally, however, Rome exported amber to India and part of this apparently reached even China.
A Historical Summary Of The Ancient Commerce In Precious Stones (continued)
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Jewelry Retailers May Miss Analysts Expectations
Nicholas White writes about the state of the jewelry retail sector + other viewpoints @ http://www.glgroup.com/News/Jewelry-Retailers-May-Miss-Analysts-Expectations-18461.html
Can Cigar Smokers Tell Different Brands Apart?
(via Dailyspeculations) Ryan Carlson writes:
Recreational smokers (a few cigars/month) probably couldn't distinguish between most brands but they can definitely tell the difference between a good or bad cigar. There is a large difference in the strength of brands so perhaps that'd be a better reference point.
I have a few favorites and could probably pick them out of a large selection but try not to go beyond a few brands, so I'd be clueless on the rest.
I don't know of anyone who can tell brands apart blind, even experts. Cigars are rated in blind tests; the properties are evaluated, just like wine, but that's merely subjective. They're also like wine in that they're made of tobacco of different vintages, from different origins, often blended, and though manufacturers attempt to maintain some consistency, there can be substantial variation, even from cigar to cigar within a box. The proliferation of seed worldwide, such as Honduran tobacco grown from Cuban seed, and variations in aging make the task more difficult as well.
For instance, one of my favorites, Perdomo's La Tradicion Cabinet Series, is constructed of Cuban-seed fillers grown in the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Nicaragua, with an Ecuadorian binder and wrappers from Connecticut. Their milder line, Tobaccos San Jose, uses a blend of fillers from the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Brazil, binders from the Dominican Republic and Connecticut wrappers. The bolder Dos Rios line is primarily Nicaraguan filler with some Dominican Republic tobacco as well, the binder is Nicaraguan, the wrappers Ecuadorian. There are sub-series within the Cabinet Series, as well as the limited Champagne sub-sub-editions, so there's great variation within brands, too.
Moreover, cigars can/will acquire aromas and tastes of those they're next to in the humidor, so it's important to separate them from one another. Also, as with wine, good cigars improve over time, becoming smoother, more flavorful and complex with age if stored properly. I believe it might possible to tell a frequently smoked cigar with a reasonable consistency apart from others in the blind. I'm nowhere near good enough and don't smoke enough to with regularity, but I might have a better chance than the average Swisher Sweets smoker of batting, let's say, 2%. On the other hand, expert Grade seven rollers and master blenders are certainly capable of carefully examining a cigar and determining the type of tobacco used and its origin — is it a Cuban Cohiba or a Nicaraguan El Fako?
A novice wanting a good, reasonably priced smoke might sample a Monte Cristo #3, the Perdomo La Tradicion Cabinet Series R Champagne Robusto, or the La Flor Dominicana #100 (Tubo), all about $8.00 per. There are many others, these are simply a few that suit me.
All this talk of puros has gotten me fired up, but one last thing in this regard before I head out to the deck to chomp on one of the said Tubo #100s: It would be wise to refrain from entering into a high-stakes blind cigar tasting with a certain former world leader (whom I revere for his ingenuity in tobbaconistic matters). He may very well have found a sure-fire way to gain an advantage in distinguishing his 'brand' from all others in a blind taste test.
A lot of parallels can be drawn to origin determination of diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and now tourmalines, by gem dealers and lab gemologists. I think a few gem / diamond dealers specializing in top quality stones may be able to tell the difference between a good or commercial quality stone, beyond that, I doubt it.
Recreational smokers (a few cigars/month) probably couldn't distinguish between most brands but they can definitely tell the difference between a good or bad cigar. There is a large difference in the strength of brands so perhaps that'd be a better reference point.
I have a few favorites and could probably pick them out of a large selection but try not to go beyond a few brands, so I'd be clueless on the rest.
I don't know of anyone who can tell brands apart blind, even experts. Cigars are rated in blind tests; the properties are evaluated, just like wine, but that's merely subjective. They're also like wine in that they're made of tobacco of different vintages, from different origins, often blended, and though manufacturers attempt to maintain some consistency, there can be substantial variation, even from cigar to cigar within a box. The proliferation of seed worldwide, such as Honduran tobacco grown from Cuban seed, and variations in aging make the task more difficult as well.
For instance, one of my favorites, Perdomo's La Tradicion Cabinet Series, is constructed of Cuban-seed fillers grown in the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Nicaragua, with an Ecuadorian binder and wrappers from Connecticut. Their milder line, Tobaccos San Jose, uses a blend of fillers from the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Brazil, binders from the Dominican Republic and Connecticut wrappers. The bolder Dos Rios line is primarily Nicaraguan filler with some Dominican Republic tobacco as well, the binder is Nicaraguan, the wrappers Ecuadorian. There are sub-series within the Cabinet Series, as well as the limited Champagne sub-sub-editions, so there's great variation within brands, too.
Moreover, cigars can/will acquire aromas and tastes of those they're next to in the humidor, so it's important to separate them from one another. Also, as with wine, good cigars improve over time, becoming smoother, more flavorful and complex with age if stored properly. I believe it might possible to tell a frequently smoked cigar with a reasonable consistency apart from others in the blind. I'm nowhere near good enough and don't smoke enough to with regularity, but I might have a better chance than the average Swisher Sweets smoker of batting, let's say, 2%. On the other hand, expert Grade seven rollers and master blenders are certainly capable of carefully examining a cigar and determining the type of tobacco used and its origin — is it a Cuban Cohiba or a Nicaraguan El Fako?
A novice wanting a good, reasonably priced smoke might sample a Monte Cristo #3, the Perdomo La Tradicion Cabinet Series R Champagne Robusto, or the La Flor Dominicana #100 (Tubo), all about $8.00 per. There are many others, these are simply a few that suit me.
All this talk of puros has gotten me fired up, but one last thing in this regard before I head out to the deck to chomp on one of the said Tubo #100s: It would be wise to refrain from entering into a high-stakes blind cigar tasting with a certain former world leader (whom I revere for his ingenuity in tobbaconistic matters). He may very well have found a sure-fire way to gain an advantage in distinguishing his 'brand' from all others in a blind taste test.
A lot of parallels can be drawn to origin determination of diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and now tourmalines, by gem dealers and lab gemologists. I think a few gem / diamond dealers specializing in top quality stones may be able to tell the difference between a good or commercial quality stone, beyond that, I doubt it.
Digital Magnetic Map Goes Global
Liz Seward writes about the international team of researcher's findings on magnetic anomalies caused by differences in the magnetisation of the rocks in the Earth's crust + new information on the geological composition of our planet + other viewpoints @ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6982485.stm
Zubin Mehta
(via YouTube) Zubin Mehta is one of the world's greatest conductors + I love his music.
Zubin Mehta Talks to Charlie Rose
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B0DWvyECig
On the beautiful Blue Danube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4rUaITuXSg
Zubin Mehta Talks to Charlie Rose
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B0DWvyECig
On the beautiful Blue Danube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4rUaITuXSg
Sapphire Mining In Sri Lanka
(via YouTube) White Sapphire Mining and Cutting @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCz1bQ1_CDs
I enjoyed it.
I enjoyed it.
Jonathan Glancey
Good Designs: (via The Guardian) Jonathan Glancey's Classics of everyday design.
Classics of everyday design No 32
Classics of everyday design No 33
Classics of everyday design No 34
I enjoyed it.
Classics of everyday design No 32
Classics of everyday design No 33
Classics of everyday design No 34
I enjoyed it.
Rare Van Gogh On Display In Amsterdam
Toby Sterling writes about a never-before-exhibited painting by the troubled Dutch genius + other viewpoints @ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071102/ap_en_ot/art_van_gogh
Who Was the Real Artemisia?
Ann Landi writes about 'Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi: Father and Daughter Painters in Baroque Italy' +Artemisia's unique position as a supremely talented female artist of the 17th century+ other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1063
The Trihedrally Faceted Diamond Point
(via Diamond Cuts in Historic Jewelry:1381-1910) Herbert Tillander writes:
Additional faceting was not necessarily a sign of increasing skill or experience on the part of the cutters, but was forced on them by the irregularities of the rough. One of these, the trisoctahedron, is rarely, if ever, fully developed in the natural rough, but many octahdedrons have one or two faces shaped according to the trisoctahedral distribution of faces; others again have a ‘hexoctahedral design’. Both these types were imitated by very early cutters.
There are in the literature very few examples of trihedral faceting of Point Cuts, and I have found only two: ‘a cutt with diverse triangles’ in the 1587 inventory of the jewels belonging to Queen Elizabeth I of England, and ‘ein facet Steinen pointe mit dray Facetten ab jeder Seit’ in a Prussian document dated 1677, to do with the Orange inheritance. Several Point Cuts of this type have been illustrated, but with no comment on the additional faceting. Two perfectly square trisoctahedrally faceted Point Cut diamonds in pendants from the collection of Duchess Anna of Bavaria were painted by Hans Mielich.
Additional faceting was not necessarily a sign of increasing skill or experience on the part of the cutters, but was forced on them by the irregularities of the rough. One of these, the trisoctahedron, is rarely, if ever, fully developed in the natural rough, but many octahdedrons have one or two faces shaped according to the trisoctahedral distribution of faces; others again have a ‘hexoctahedral design’. Both these types were imitated by very early cutters.
There are in the literature very few examples of trihedral faceting of Point Cuts, and I have found only two: ‘a cutt with diverse triangles’ in the 1587 inventory of the jewels belonging to Queen Elizabeth I of England, and ‘ein facet Steinen pointe mit dray Facetten ab jeder Seit’ in a Prussian document dated 1677, to do with the Orange inheritance. Several Point Cuts of this type have been illustrated, but with no comment on the additional faceting. Two perfectly square trisoctahedrally faceted Point Cut diamonds in pendants from the collection of Duchess Anna of Bavaria were painted by Hans Mielich.
Roman Jewelers And Lapidaries
(via Roman Book On Precious Stones: 1950) Sydney H Ball writes:
We must add a link with today, our friend the pawnbroker. Menander, an early writer of comedies (born 342 B.C) in his Arbitration, referring to the ring of one of his characters, states: ‘Or he may have been at dice and put the ring up as a stake: or perhaps he owed some debt and had no cash, and so paid with the ring. Hundreds of things like that happen at drinking bouts.’ Martial (86 A.D) describes a young Roman blade, faultlessly attired, seated in his sedan chair and accompanied by clerks and pages, who had just pledged a ring at Claudius, the usurer’s for eight sestertii to pay for his supper.’ Juvenal describes the spendthrift who, having used up his patrimony, has only his ring left:
‘At length when nought remains a meal to bring,
The last poor shift, off comes the knightly ring.’
Other’s pawned their plate. In Ptolemic time in Egypt an unfortunate importunes his friend, ‘Now please redeem my property from Sarapion. It is pledged for two minae.’ After stating that the interest is partly paid, he lists the property pawned. Two bracelets were also pawned with another pawnbroker, one Onetor.
Trogus Pompeius states that his father in the time of Julius Ceasar had as keeper of his cabinet of jewels (libertus a dactyliotheca Caesaris) one Julius Philargyrus. Hadrian also placed his large and valuable collection of jewels in charge of a dactyliotheca Caesaris; this collection was later sold by Marcus Aurelius (121-180 A.D) at public auction to more than successfully defray the cost of the war with the Marcomanni. Nor were gem collections confined to royalty as those of Maecenas and others show. Indeed as a patron of gem engravers and lovers, Maecenas was the Lorenzo de Medici of his time. The rich had a slave to see that the banquet guests did not pry the gems from the gold drinking cups which were used only on ceremonial occasions. All the emperors from Augustus to the later emperors and, we may add, their wives, had goldsmiths attached to their household staffs.
We must add a link with today, our friend the pawnbroker. Menander, an early writer of comedies (born 342 B.C) in his Arbitration, referring to the ring of one of his characters, states: ‘Or he may have been at dice and put the ring up as a stake: or perhaps he owed some debt and had no cash, and so paid with the ring. Hundreds of things like that happen at drinking bouts.’ Martial (86 A.D) describes a young Roman blade, faultlessly attired, seated in his sedan chair and accompanied by clerks and pages, who had just pledged a ring at Claudius, the usurer’s for eight sestertii to pay for his supper.’ Juvenal describes the spendthrift who, having used up his patrimony, has only his ring left:
‘At length when nought remains a meal to bring,
The last poor shift, off comes the knightly ring.’
Other’s pawned their plate. In Ptolemic time in Egypt an unfortunate importunes his friend, ‘Now please redeem my property from Sarapion. It is pledged for two minae.’ After stating that the interest is partly paid, he lists the property pawned. Two bracelets were also pawned with another pawnbroker, one Onetor.
Trogus Pompeius states that his father in the time of Julius Ceasar had as keeper of his cabinet of jewels (libertus a dactyliotheca Caesaris) one Julius Philargyrus. Hadrian also placed his large and valuable collection of jewels in charge of a dactyliotheca Caesaris; this collection was later sold by Marcus Aurelius (121-180 A.D) at public auction to more than successfully defray the cost of the war with the Marcomanni. Nor were gem collections confined to royalty as those of Maecenas and others show. Indeed as a patron of gem engravers and lovers, Maecenas was the Lorenzo de Medici of his time. The rich had a slave to see that the banquet guests did not pry the gems from the gold drinking cups which were used only on ceremonial occasions. All the emperors from Augustus to the later emperors and, we may add, their wives, had goldsmiths attached to their household staffs.
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Prejudice
Andrea Ravano writes:
Einstein said 'it is easier to break the atom than prejudice' and the same goes for the markets. Prejudice is your worst enemy. The lack of clarity when analyzing data, or your inability to understand the nature of the ever changing cycles, will lead you directly on to the wrong side of the trade.
Andrea Ravano was writing about the cyclical patterns in the stock markets. In my view, it's true in the gem and jewelry markets. There are many desires that make up the complexities of human nature regardless of our culture. People who are looking for shortcuts to make money without hardwork may be in for the mother-of-all surprises.
Einstein said 'it is easier to break the atom than prejudice' and the same goes for the markets. Prejudice is your worst enemy. The lack of clarity when analyzing data, or your inability to understand the nature of the ever changing cycles, will lead you directly on to the wrong side of the trade.
Andrea Ravano was writing about the cyclical patterns in the stock markets. In my view, it's true in the gem and jewelry markets. There are many desires that make up the complexities of human nature regardless of our culture. People who are looking for shortcuts to make money without hardwork may be in for the mother-of-all surprises.
Test Created For Wine Headache Chemicals
Marcus Wohlsen writes about the dreaded 'red wine headache' + the chemical ingredients that induces the effect (s) + the detector + other viwepoints @ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071101/ap_on_he_me/wine_test
Father's Little Dividend
(via YouTube) The scenes bewtween Spencer Tracy + Elizabeth Taylor (age 18) is so real, it is art imitating life. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z43lW7LKKic
I enjoyed it.
I enjoyed it.
Gem Mining People Of Cambodia
(via YouTube) Gem Mining people of Cambodia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsWHYf0gXhI
It was educational.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsWHYf0gXhI
It was educational.
Rashid Rana
(via Livemint) Manju Sara Rajan writes about India’s favourite Pakistani artist + his art works + other viewpoints @ http://www.livemint.com/2007/11/01235531/Rashid-Rana--Second-homecomin.html
Much More Than Fifteen Minutes
Tyler Maroney writes about Andy Warhol and his works + a commemorative postage stamp + the founding of Andy Warhol Art Authentication Board to identify fakes + other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1047
Roman Jewelers And Lapidaries
(via Roman Book On Precious Stones: 1950) Sydney H Ball writes:
Both the gem trade and the jewelry industry were made up of many small units producing, in most instances at least, individual orders. Mass production did not exist, the piece of jewelry being made and sold in the same shop. The customer might well furnish his gold and even his unset gems. Indeed, the client furnished the gold in Aristophanes time. Various lawsuits, however, show that some jewelers carried considerable stocks of gold and precious stones: some were men of wealth and from their tombstones we know they left large legacies and had many freedmen who served them. Of one such freedmen, Canuleius Zosimus, his patron, who erected the tablet, says: ‘He has never spoken evil of anyone and he did nothing contrary to the wishes of his patron. Though he always had much gold and silver in his possessions, he coveted none of it. He excelled in carving Clodian ware. A retail jeweler laments the death of this 13-year slave and in his epitaph he states:
‘Skilled was his hand in the art of finishing necklaces finely,
And to enclose in handwrought gold, bright glittering jewels.’
The tomb of Evodus, a pearl merchant (margaritarius) can be seen today on the Via Sacra. Most of the merchants were humble folk, but the epitaph of a woman dealing in pearls on the Via Sacra ‘had freedmen and freedwomen of her own,’ for whom she provided a last resting place beside herself.
Many of the gem engravers and lapidaries in Rome particularly after the reign of Augustus were of Greek origin, and frequently slaves. That the so-called Roman engraved gems were in many instances cut by Greek artists is indicated by the frequent use of Greek gods as subjects and the Grecian grouping presented. When the art passed largely into Roman hands, mere size was confused with beauty. Many wealthy Romans of the Late Empire had slave engravers in their homes. Further, it was not infrequent for a patron as a business venture to set up a skilled slave or freedman in the jewelry trade. However, slaves, in instances, saved enough to buy their freedom and as freedmen to finance their own shop. A Roman inscription at Malton, Yorkshire, England, mentions a goldsmith’s shop run by a slave, adding ‘good luck to you slave in running this shop.’
Gem engravers (gemmarii) cut either intaglios or cameos. The cutters of cameos were called caelotores or scalptores; while the artisans who fashioned the intaglios were known as cavatores or signarii. Lapidaries also cut cabochon stones and beads and polished smooth the natural faces of beryls and emeralds. Others fabricated false stones, some producing extraordinarily good imitations of certain gems. Each branch of the trade was handled by a specialist and Saint Augustine (354-430 A.D) compared the lesser gods with their circumscribed power with the craftsmen in the Streets of the Silversmiths, where each article passed through many hands, the mastery of the whole difficult to learn—that of the part, easy.
Guilds of artisans in the same trade must have originated in very early times (Babylonia long previous to 1900 B.C had had guilds) and they had some of the characteristics of our own labor unions; for example, Demetrius was perhaps the union leader of the guild of silversmiths in Ephesus. One of the oldest Collegia in Rome was that of the goldsmiths which is said to have existed in the time of Numa (715-673 B.C). Plutarch tells us that each guild had its own hall, its court, and its religious rituals peculiar to itself. By 150 A.D the guilds of the gold and silversmiths and of the salt miners were among the strongest in Rome. Caesar Augustus’ father was a silversmith. The silversmiths of Rome, as a body, erected (204 A.D) a small triumphal arch in honor of Septimus Severus and his family in the velabrum or cattle market where their shops were. Monsignor X Barbier du Montault gives an epitaph of a goldsmith who belonged to the guild in the time of Marcus Aurelius. In addition to the gold and silversmiths’ guilds there were ringmakers, goldbeaters, and gilders’ guilds.
These Latin guilds, like some of their successors of today, were politically minded. Scrawled on the walls of Pompeii we find, among other political propaganda, the following: ‘All goldsmiths recommend Gauis Cuspuis Pausa for the aedileship’.
In India, guilds are an ancient hereditary institution. The Ramayana or Ayodhya-Kanda describes a procession of trade guilds, jewelers, potters, ivory workers, perfumers, goldsmiths, and cutters of crystal. Among the Jews, unions did not exist before the Babylonian captivity. Some centuries later each guild had its appointed place and all members of the guild sat together in the huge synagogue at Alexandria, Egypt. The Egyptian goldsmiths in Christ’s time had their guilds.
Roman Jewelers And Lapidaries (continued)
Both the gem trade and the jewelry industry were made up of many small units producing, in most instances at least, individual orders. Mass production did not exist, the piece of jewelry being made and sold in the same shop. The customer might well furnish his gold and even his unset gems. Indeed, the client furnished the gold in Aristophanes time. Various lawsuits, however, show that some jewelers carried considerable stocks of gold and precious stones: some were men of wealth and from their tombstones we know they left large legacies and had many freedmen who served them. Of one such freedmen, Canuleius Zosimus, his patron, who erected the tablet, says: ‘He has never spoken evil of anyone and he did nothing contrary to the wishes of his patron. Though he always had much gold and silver in his possessions, he coveted none of it. He excelled in carving Clodian ware. A retail jeweler laments the death of this 13-year slave and in his epitaph he states:
‘Skilled was his hand in the art of finishing necklaces finely,
And to enclose in handwrought gold, bright glittering jewels.’
The tomb of Evodus, a pearl merchant (margaritarius) can be seen today on the Via Sacra. Most of the merchants were humble folk, but the epitaph of a woman dealing in pearls on the Via Sacra ‘had freedmen and freedwomen of her own,’ for whom she provided a last resting place beside herself.
Many of the gem engravers and lapidaries in Rome particularly after the reign of Augustus were of Greek origin, and frequently slaves. That the so-called Roman engraved gems were in many instances cut by Greek artists is indicated by the frequent use of Greek gods as subjects and the Grecian grouping presented. When the art passed largely into Roman hands, mere size was confused with beauty. Many wealthy Romans of the Late Empire had slave engravers in their homes. Further, it was not infrequent for a patron as a business venture to set up a skilled slave or freedman in the jewelry trade. However, slaves, in instances, saved enough to buy their freedom and as freedmen to finance their own shop. A Roman inscription at Malton, Yorkshire, England, mentions a goldsmith’s shop run by a slave, adding ‘good luck to you slave in running this shop.’
Gem engravers (gemmarii) cut either intaglios or cameos. The cutters of cameos were called caelotores or scalptores; while the artisans who fashioned the intaglios were known as cavatores or signarii. Lapidaries also cut cabochon stones and beads and polished smooth the natural faces of beryls and emeralds. Others fabricated false stones, some producing extraordinarily good imitations of certain gems. Each branch of the trade was handled by a specialist and Saint Augustine (354-430 A.D) compared the lesser gods with their circumscribed power with the craftsmen in the Streets of the Silversmiths, where each article passed through many hands, the mastery of the whole difficult to learn—that of the part, easy.
Guilds of artisans in the same trade must have originated in very early times (Babylonia long previous to 1900 B.C had had guilds) and they had some of the characteristics of our own labor unions; for example, Demetrius was perhaps the union leader of the guild of silversmiths in Ephesus. One of the oldest Collegia in Rome was that of the goldsmiths which is said to have existed in the time of Numa (715-673 B.C). Plutarch tells us that each guild had its own hall, its court, and its religious rituals peculiar to itself. By 150 A.D the guilds of the gold and silversmiths and of the salt miners were among the strongest in Rome. Caesar Augustus’ father was a silversmith. The silversmiths of Rome, as a body, erected (204 A.D) a small triumphal arch in honor of Septimus Severus and his family in the velabrum or cattle market where their shops were. Monsignor X Barbier du Montault gives an epitaph of a goldsmith who belonged to the guild in the time of Marcus Aurelius. In addition to the gold and silversmiths’ guilds there were ringmakers, goldbeaters, and gilders’ guilds.
These Latin guilds, like some of their successors of today, were politically minded. Scrawled on the walls of Pompeii we find, among other political propaganda, the following: ‘All goldsmiths recommend Gauis Cuspuis Pausa for the aedileship’.
In India, guilds are an ancient hereditary institution. The Ramayana or Ayodhya-Kanda describes a procession of trade guilds, jewelers, potters, ivory workers, perfumers, goldsmiths, and cutters of crystal. Among the Jews, unions did not exist before the Babylonian captivity. Some centuries later each guild had its appointed place and all members of the guild sat together in the huge synagogue at Alexandria, Egypt. The Egyptian goldsmiths in Christ’s time had their guilds.
Roman Jewelers And Lapidaries (continued)
Million-dollar Outfits Worth Weight In Gold
Reuters Life writes about a Tokyo design school's (Bunka Fashion College) new concept: models decked out in more than 1,500 Austrian gold coins clinking down the catwalk + other viewpoints @ http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071101/lf_nm_life/japan_dress_gold_dc
For Unsuccessful DTC Applicants: Sightholders Anonymous...
Chaim Even-Zohar writes about DTC's new sightholder support programme + the status of de-selected sightholders + the Avalon Project + other viewpoints @ http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullEditorial.asp
Mogok, Burma
What is interesting is the way the Burmese King wanted to do business with the outside world . In my view, today's rulers aren't any different.
The government were provisionally continuing the old system which existed under the King of Burma. The rubies were dug by the natives who were licensed. They were bound to bring the rubies to a government officer, and record was made of all the stones. The person who dug the ruby estimated its value. If the government were satisfied with that valuation the digger had to pay one third of the estimated value to the government. If there was a dispute the government officer had a right to put a price upon it, and if that were not accepted the ruby was sent down to Mandalay and sold by auction.
The King theoretically had the right to purchase at market value all the stones above four carats in weight, but as a matter of fact very few of those stones ever got to him, as he could never give the fair value. A great many found their way to the dealers, and those that reached the concessionnaire, came to the markets of Europe. Ruby mines before the annexation of Upper Burma, had always been a sealed tract to European adventure and enterprise. No European was ever allowed to enter the forbidden region. There were no actual prohibitory orders, but there was a well-known disinclination on the part of the government, and that man’s perceptions would indeed have been dull who attempted to explore the country and expected to return. It was the policy of the Burmese government to conceal as far as possible from European eyes all appearances which would lead to a belief the Upper Burma was rich country which would well repay foreign conquest. Some years ago he said to the King who was then in want of money, that if he made concessions to trade with regard to overland route between Burma and China, money would flow into his country in equal volume with the waters of the great Irrawadi; but the King replied: ‘The money would come sure enough, but with it we should have a swarm of hungry European merchants and quarrelsome Indian natives, who would get into trouble with the people, and bring on complications which would eventually lead to the loss of the country. We would rather do without money, and keep our country.’ As soon as the disorganization set in, consequent on misrule, French intrigue took root at Mandalay, to the utter exclusion of British interests. A French consulate was established, and the government was asked to make certain concessions to French syndicates which if granted, would have imposed ruinous losses and conditions on the English commercial status in Lower Burma. One of those conditions involved a monopoly by France of the Ruby Mines district. The concession of the mines was actually contemplated at that time, but the contract was not approved and ratified by the King, and consequently was null and void.
As early as the 15th century, this country was known to produce rubies. Tavernier, a jeweler, who visited India in the middle of the 17th century, refers to Burma as yielding stones worth more than 100000 crowns a year, and that it is difficult to meet with one good quality weighing more than three or four carats, as the King kept all the larger. The largest stone of which any record seems to exist was 22 carats, and such stones are usually flawed.
Source: Anonymous
The government were provisionally continuing the old system which existed under the King of Burma. The rubies were dug by the natives who were licensed. They were bound to bring the rubies to a government officer, and record was made of all the stones. The person who dug the ruby estimated its value. If the government were satisfied with that valuation the digger had to pay one third of the estimated value to the government. If there was a dispute the government officer had a right to put a price upon it, and if that were not accepted the ruby was sent down to Mandalay and sold by auction.
The King theoretically had the right to purchase at market value all the stones above four carats in weight, but as a matter of fact very few of those stones ever got to him, as he could never give the fair value. A great many found their way to the dealers, and those that reached the concessionnaire, came to the markets of Europe. Ruby mines before the annexation of Upper Burma, had always been a sealed tract to European adventure and enterprise. No European was ever allowed to enter the forbidden region. There were no actual prohibitory orders, but there was a well-known disinclination on the part of the government, and that man’s perceptions would indeed have been dull who attempted to explore the country and expected to return. It was the policy of the Burmese government to conceal as far as possible from European eyes all appearances which would lead to a belief the Upper Burma was rich country which would well repay foreign conquest. Some years ago he said to the King who was then in want of money, that if he made concessions to trade with regard to overland route between Burma and China, money would flow into his country in equal volume with the waters of the great Irrawadi; but the King replied: ‘The money would come sure enough, but with it we should have a swarm of hungry European merchants and quarrelsome Indian natives, who would get into trouble with the people, and bring on complications which would eventually lead to the loss of the country. We would rather do without money, and keep our country.’ As soon as the disorganization set in, consequent on misrule, French intrigue took root at Mandalay, to the utter exclusion of British interests. A French consulate was established, and the government was asked to make certain concessions to French syndicates which if granted, would have imposed ruinous losses and conditions on the English commercial status in Lower Burma. One of those conditions involved a monopoly by France of the Ruby Mines district. The concession of the mines was actually contemplated at that time, but the contract was not approved and ratified by the King, and consequently was null and void.
As early as the 15th century, this country was known to produce rubies. Tavernier, a jeweler, who visited India in the middle of the 17th century, refers to Burma as yielding stones worth more than 100000 crowns a year, and that it is difficult to meet with one good quality weighing more than three or four carats, as the King kept all the larger. The largest stone of which any record seems to exist was 22 carats, and such stones are usually flawed.
Source: Anonymous
Friday, November 02, 2007
Inherit The Wind
(via YouTube): Inherit The Wind - Spencer Tracy Speech
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_DQUAuNUvw
A real gem. One of my favorite movies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_DQUAuNUvw
A real gem. One of my favorite movies.
Mali's Diamond-smuggling Centre
(via BBC Network Africa): Celeste Hicks writes about Mali's south-eastern town of Sikasso + the diamond smuggling network + other viewpoints @ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7071286.stm
(via FastCompany) Ellen McGirt writes about Facebook + the new business applications + building ecosystems that's business/user-friendly + other viewpoints @ Facebook is the "It" Company of 2007.
Useful link:
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/120/facebook-is-the-it-company-of-2007.html
Useful link:
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/120/facebook-is-the-it-company-of-2007.html
Museum Of Broken Relationships Opens
(via The Guardian) Kate Connolly writes about an interesting outlet for painful experiences - The Museum of Broken Relationships + other viewpoints @ http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/news/story/0,,2201097,00.html
HINT: Avoid The Word ‘Nice’
Paul Gardner writes about the do's and dont's at art opening (s) + other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1437
Zambia And Gemstones
(via YouTube): Loose Gemstone Mining in Zambia, Africa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqybLjT5huM
It was educational.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqybLjT5huM
It was educational.
Roman Jewelers And Lapidaries
(via Roman Book On Precious Stones: 1950) Sydney H Ball writes:
Among the engravers’ tools were diamond splinters, set in iron, capable of cutting the hardest substances known: for softer stones emery or merely an iron point were used by engravers. The gem engraver also used the lima (or file) and in the bronze statue which Theodorus of Samos, architect, sculptor, and gem engraver, cast of himself, he holds a file in his right hand. He was one of the earliest gem engravers known, being mentioned by Herodotus. The file consisted of a mixture of emery and melted resin. Appuleius says that Hippias, the philosopher, used one in engraving the gem set in a ring which he fabricated for himself. Maecenas in a letter to Horace also mentions the lima. This is the forerunner of the diamond impregnated wheels and tools of today. The lapidary’s wheel with its accompanying drills was used by the Mesopotamian lapidaries in the 4th millenieum before Christ and reached Europe between 1800 and 1600 B.C (Minoan III period). The gravestone of a gem cutter found at Philadelphia, Asia Minor, in a broad way a contemporary of Pliny, shows what appears to be a bow drill. Doubtless some of the diamond splinters set in iron were used as tools in such drills. A Greek gem of the 5th century B.C now in the British Museum, also shows drilling. The Greek name for this type of artist, dacyloiloglyphos, is most descriptive, ‘he whose fingers hollow out the stone.’ The Roman lapidary also used a saw (serra) consisting of a wire drawn back and forth, fed with a powdered abrasive. The ostracious (perhaps flint) was also used to engrave gems. Whether the gem engraver used a magnifying glass is a moot question.
At first the worker in gold was called aurarius, later aurifex, and the retailer of rings, anularii. As to the setting of gems, Pliny says little. The beauty of the turquoise is, however, heightened by setting in gold, the contrast of the stone and the gold being admirable: a statement true today. The chrysolithos (topaz) if fine was set a jour in an open bezel, if of inferior quality its color was heightened by a foil of aurichalcium (a copper compound). The beauty of sarda (our carnelian) was, in some instances, increased by the use of silver foil and in others of gold. The art of the use of foils is an old one. The Minoans (2000-1600 B.C) made a gaming table decorated with strips and discs of rich crystal. The latter was alternately backed by silver plaques and blue vitreous paste (cyanos).
The Roman private banker, like the bankers of the Middle Ages, traded in precious metals and stones and usually also performed the functions of a dealer in gold and silverware. The Roman merchant was a greater traveler than his American confrere, a personal interview being required in many instances in which today a letter, a telephone call, a telegram, or a radio message suffices.
Like the people of the East, each trade in Rome tended to have its quarters. In 211 B.C, Hannibal was much annoyed when he pitched his camp on the Anio and found that in Rome the very land on which his tent was standing had since then been sold in Rome, with no reduction in price, so Livy tells us. Being at the city walls, he was so confident of the city’s fall that ‘in pique he bade an auctioneer put up the silversmith’s shops in the Forum for sale.’ The finest jewelry shops in Pliny’s time were in the great market buildings by the Saepta Julia on the Campus Martius, on the Porticus Argonautorum and the Via Sacra. On these Fifth Avenues of ancient Rome, one could purchase crystal cups, agate vases, and jewelry of every sort. We obtain an idea of the shops themselves from Martial, who describes Mamurra, a fourflusher, on a shopping tour in Rome. He examined everything. Next, complaining that some crystal vases had been spoiled by admixture of glass, he selected and set aside ten murrhine cups. He counted emeralds set in chased gold, and examined the largest pearl ear pendants. He sought on every counter for real sardonyxes and cheapened some large jaspers. At last when forced by fatigue to retire at the eleventh hour, he bought two cups for one small coin and carried them home himself. Many inscriptions have been found on the Via Sacra relating to tradesmen in luxuries, particularly jewelers. While the jewelers, engravers of gems, and lapidaries had workshops on the Via Sacra, much jewelry was imported from Asia Minor and from Alexandria, Egypt, while at least some of the cups of precious stones were cut in the East. Certain provincial towns were noted for their precious wares, Aquileia, for example, for its amber object d’art, its silverware, and its gold jewelry. Some twenty years ago there was excavated in the Via dell’ Abbondanza, Pompeii, the house of one Cerialis, a jeweler of Pliny’s time. In his flight from the terrors of the eruption he doubtless took with him his finest gems but a number of precious stones and some tools were left behind in his shop. In the dining room of the house of the Vettii in Pompeii is a most amusing mural depicting all phases of the jewelry trade. The proprietor, the artisans, and the grande dame client are all cherubs, entrancingly chubby, their absurdly small wings apparently too short for long distance flight.
Roman Jewelers And Lapidaries (continued)
Among the engravers’ tools were diamond splinters, set in iron, capable of cutting the hardest substances known: for softer stones emery or merely an iron point were used by engravers. The gem engraver also used the lima (or file) and in the bronze statue which Theodorus of Samos, architect, sculptor, and gem engraver, cast of himself, he holds a file in his right hand. He was one of the earliest gem engravers known, being mentioned by Herodotus. The file consisted of a mixture of emery and melted resin. Appuleius says that Hippias, the philosopher, used one in engraving the gem set in a ring which he fabricated for himself. Maecenas in a letter to Horace also mentions the lima. This is the forerunner of the diamond impregnated wheels and tools of today. The lapidary’s wheel with its accompanying drills was used by the Mesopotamian lapidaries in the 4th millenieum before Christ and reached Europe between 1800 and 1600 B.C (Minoan III period). The gravestone of a gem cutter found at Philadelphia, Asia Minor, in a broad way a contemporary of Pliny, shows what appears to be a bow drill. Doubtless some of the diamond splinters set in iron were used as tools in such drills. A Greek gem of the 5th century B.C now in the British Museum, also shows drilling. The Greek name for this type of artist, dacyloiloglyphos, is most descriptive, ‘he whose fingers hollow out the stone.’ The Roman lapidary also used a saw (serra) consisting of a wire drawn back and forth, fed with a powdered abrasive. The ostracious (perhaps flint) was also used to engrave gems. Whether the gem engraver used a magnifying glass is a moot question.
At first the worker in gold was called aurarius, later aurifex, and the retailer of rings, anularii. As to the setting of gems, Pliny says little. The beauty of the turquoise is, however, heightened by setting in gold, the contrast of the stone and the gold being admirable: a statement true today. The chrysolithos (topaz) if fine was set a jour in an open bezel, if of inferior quality its color was heightened by a foil of aurichalcium (a copper compound). The beauty of sarda (our carnelian) was, in some instances, increased by the use of silver foil and in others of gold. The art of the use of foils is an old one. The Minoans (2000-1600 B.C) made a gaming table decorated with strips and discs of rich crystal. The latter was alternately backed by silver plaques and blue vitreous paste (cyanos).
The Roman private banker, like the bankers of the Middle Ages, traded in precious metals and stones and usually also performed the functions of a dealer in gold and silverware. The Roman merchant was a greater traveler than his American confrere, a personal interview being required in many instances in which today a letter, a telephone call, a telegram, or a radio message suffices.
Like the people of the East, each trade in Rome tended to have its quarters. In 211 B.C, Hannibal was much annoyed when he pitched his camp on the Anio and found that in Rome the very land on which his tent was standing had since then been sold in Rome, with no reduction in price, so Livy tells us. Being at the city walls, he was so confident of the city’s fall that ‘in pique he bade an auctioneer put up the silversmith’s shops in the Forum for sale.’ The finest jewelry shops in Pliny’s time were in the great market buildings by the Saepta Julia on the Campus Martius, on the Porticus Argonautorum and the Via Sacra. On these Fifth Avenues of ancient Rome, one could purchase crystal cups, agate vases, and jewelry of every sort. We obtain an idea of the shops themselves from Martial, who describes Mamurra, a fourflusher, on a shopping tour in Rome. He examined everything. Next, complaining that some crystal vases had been spoiled by admixture of glass, he selected and set aside ten murrhine cups. He counted emeralds set in chased gold, and examined the largest pearl ear pendants. He sought on every counter for real sardonyxes and cheapened some large jaspers. At last when forced by fatigue to retire at the eleventh hour, he bought two cups for one small coin and carried them home himself. Many inscriptions have been found on the Via Sacra relating to tradesmen in luxuries, particularly jewelers. While the jewelers, engravers of gems, and lapidaries had workshops on the Via Sacra, much jewelry was imported from Asia Minor and from Alexandria, Egypt, while at least some of the cups of precious stones were cut in the East. Certain provincial towns were noted for their precious wares, Aquileia, for example, for its amber object d’art, its silverware, and its gold jewelry. Some twenty years ago there was excavated in the Via dell’ Abbondanza, Pompeii, the house of one Cerialis, a jeweler of Pliny’s time. In his flight from the terrors of the eruption he doubtless took with him his finest gems but a number of precious stones and some tools were left behind in his shop. In the dining room of the house of the Vettii in Pompeii is a most amusing mural depicting all phases of the jewelry trade. The proprietor, the artisans, and the grande dame client are all cherubs, entrancingly chubby, their absurdly small wings apparently too short for long distance flight.
Roman Jewelers And Lapidaries (continued)
Emerald Story
Historical significance
Emeralds are green gemstones colored by a trace of chromium, which belong to the mineral species called beryl. The name emerald is derived from the Greek word Smaragdos which in turn was derived from a Persian word. However, Smaragdos referred to all green gemstones at that time.
An interesting historical fact about emerald is that it was considered the symbol of immortality and faith, and was dedicated by the ancients to the goddess of love—Venus. It is even said to be beneficial to the eyes (this may be related to the fact that green in general has a nice soothing effect on the eyes). The greenery around us also helps to refresh our eyes.
Physical and Chemical properties of Emerald
Color: Emerald green, light green, bluish green, yellowish green and dark green.
Moh’s hardness: 7.5 Moh’s hardness measure’s a gemstone’s resistance to surface scratches. Gemstones with a hardness of above 7 are reasonably resistant to surface scratches, making them more durable. Durability is one of the most important attributes of a gemstone.
Specific gravity: 2.7-2.8. The specific gravity (SG) compares the weight of a gemstone with the weight of an equal volume of water at 4ºC. This means that emerald is approximately 2.7 times heavier than an equal volume of water at 4ºC.
Transparency: Transparent to opaque.
Refractive index: 1.57-1.59 (DR=0.006-0.008). The R.I of a gemstone compares the speed of light in air to the speed of light in the gemstone. The R.I of a stone can be measured with the refractometer.
Chemical composition: Al2Be3(SiO3)6 Aluminum beryllium silicate. The green color is imparted due to the presence of chromium and traces of iron darker this color.
Typical inclusions: Emeralds are characterized by inclusions such as liquid filled cavities, liquid filled cavities with gas bubbles (2-phase), liquid-filled cavities with gas bubbles and solid crystals (3-phase), solid inclusions such pyrite and calcite, surface reaching fissures and fissures often containing oil or resin, cloudy patches with liquid fingerprint inclusions. To the gemologist inclusions are regarded as flaws, but are evidence to the authenticity, or otherwise, of the stone. They also lend a unique exotic appeal to the stone, and have often been referred to as a jardin (or the emerald’s garden) by the experts.
Emerald formation and mining methods
Emerald belongs to the mineral species called beryl. Beryl in its pure form is colorless. When it acquires a green color owing to the presence of traces of chromium it is called emerald. Blue colored beryl is called aquamarine, pink color (less common) is called morganite, yellow is heliodor. Emerald (and other beryl) crystals mostly form within a hydrothermal environment when the elements, aluminum, beryllium and silica are present in the ideal amounts and combine in a chemical reaction to form crystals of beryl. When chromium is present the crystals acquire the rich green color of emerald. Beryl crystals are found within veins and embedded in the host rocks.
Mining methods
The mining methods employed for emeralds is still rather primitive. The tools commonly used are hand chisels, sickles, sticks and hammers to procure the stone from the host rock. Explosives are only used when absolutely necessary due to the very real danger such a practice might have on any fine (and valuable) crystals.
Two main mining methods are employed:
- Shaft mining / tunnel mining: Shafts and / or tunnels are dug in the ground and the gems procured.
- Terrace mining: Emerald bearing veins are exposed by digging horizontal terraces in step-like formation along gullies. The surrounding debris is washed away with water released from a lake like reservoir above the cuttings. The emeralds thus procured are washed and sorted into parcels.
Emerald (continued)
Emeralds are green gemstones colored by a trace of chromium, which belong to the mineral species called beryl. The name emerald is derived from the Greek word Smaragdos which in turn was derived from a Persian word. However, Smaragdos referred to all green gemstones at that time.
An interesting historical fact about emerald is that it was considered the symbol of immortality and faith, and was dedicated by the ancients to the goddess of love—Venus. It is even said to be beneficial to the eyes (this may be related to the fact that green in general has a nice soothing effect on the eyes). The greenery around us also helps to refresh our eyes.
Physical and Chemical properties of Emerald
Color: Emerald green, light green, bluish green, yellowish green and dark green.
Moh’s hardness: 7.5 Moh’s hardness measure’s a gemstone’s resistance to surface scratches. Gemstones with a hardness of above 7 are reasonably resistant to surface scratches, making them more durable. Durability is one of the most important attributes of a gemstone.
Specific gravity: 2.7-2.8. The specific gravity (SG) compares the weight of a gemstone with the weight of an equal volume of water at 4ºC. This means that emerald is approximately 2.7 times heavier than an equal volume of water at 4ºC.
Transparency: Transparent to opaque.
Refractive index: 1.57-1.59 (DR=0.006-0.008). The R.I of a gemstone compares the speed of light in air to the speed of light in the gemstone. The R.I of a stone can be measured with the refractometer.
Chemical composition: Al2Be3(SiO3)6 Aluminum beryllium silicate. The green color is imparted due to the presence of chromium and traces of iron darker this color.
Typical inclusions: Emeralds are characterized by inclusions such as liquid filled cavities, liquid filled cavities with gas bubbles (2-phase), liquid-filled cavities with gas bubbles and solid crystals (3-phase), solid inclusions such pyrite and calcite, surface reaching fissures and fissures often containing oil or resin, cloudy patches with liquid fingerprint inclusions. To the gemologist inclusions are regarded as flaws, but are evidence to the authenticity, or otherwise, of the stone. They also lend a unique exotic appeal to the stone, and have often been referred to as a jardin (or the emerald’s garden) by the experts.
Emerald formation and mining methods
Emerald belongs to the mineral species called beryl. Beryl in its pure form is colorless. When it acquires a green color owing to the presence of traces of chromium it is called emerald. Blue colored beryl is called aquamarine, pink color (less common) is called morganite, yellow is heliodor. Emerald (and other beryl) crystals mostly form within a hydrothermal environment when the elements, aluminum, beryllium and silica are present in the ideal amounts and combine in a chemical reaction to form crystals of beryl. When chromium is present the crystals acquire the rich green color of emerald. Beryl crystals are found within veins and embedded in the host rocks.
Mining methods
The mining methods employed for emeralds is still rather primitive. The tools commonly used are hand chisels, sickles, sticks and hammers to procure the stone from the host rock. Explosives are only used when absolutely necessary due to the very real danger such a practice might have on any fine (and valuable) crystals.
Two main mining methods are employed:
- Shaft mining / tunnel mining: Shafts and / or tunnels are dug in the ground and the gems procured.
- Terrace mining: Emerald bearing veins are exposed by digging horizontal terraces in step-like formation along gullies. The surrounding debris is washed away with water released from a lake like reservoir above the cuttings. The emeralds thus procured are washed and sorted into parcels.
Emerald (continued)
Tanzania And Tanzanite
(via YouTube) I found the video about Tanzania/tanzanite + the miners educational and interesting.
Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geQrt1LDvu8
Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVb2WlKzfL0
Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geQrt1LDvu8
Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVb2WlKzfL0
The Economic Way Of Thinking
Good Books: The book The Economic Way Of Thinking, by Paul Heyne + Peter J. Boettke + David L. Prychitko provides a set of economic principles and concepts--then applies these tools of analysis to a wide variety of familiar situations. Example (s) + Application (s) = Good teaching. A must-read book.
Here is what the description of book says (via Amazon):
The Economic Way of Thinking develops the basic principles of micro-and macroeconomic analysis, and rigorously employs them as tools rather than ends unto themselves. This book introduces readers to a method of reasoning; to think like an economist—teaching through example and application. It even teaches by showing learners how not to think, by exposing them to the errors implicit in much popular reasoning about economic events. Chapter topics include opportunity cost and the supply of goods, supply and demand, profit and loss, competition and monopoly, price searching, competition and government policy, the distribution of income, markets and government, the overall performance of economic systems, the supply of money, monetary and fiscal policies, national policies and international exchange, employment and unemployment, promoting economic growth, and the limitations of economics. For individuals seeking a deeper understanding of the effects of world events on the economy and vice versa.
Here is what the description of book says (via Amazon):
The Economic Way of Thinking develops the basic principles of micro-and macroeconomic analysis, and rigorously employs them as tools rather than ends unto themselves. This book introduces readers to a method of reasoning; to think like an economist—teaching through example and application. It even teaches by showing learners how not to think, by exposing them to the errors implicit in much popular reasoning about economic events. Chapter topics include opportunity cost and the supply of goods, supply and demand, profit and loss, competition and monopoly, price searching, competition and government policy, the distribution of income, markets and government, the overall performance of economic systems, the supply of money, monetary and fiscal policies, national policies and international exchange, employment and unemployment, promoting economic growth, and the limitations of economics. For individuals seeking a deeper understanding of the effects of world events on the economy and vice versa.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
The Art No One Sees
(via The Guardian) Robert Tait writes about Tehran's museum of contemporary art + cultural isolationist beliefs of the present regime + general clampdown on social, intellectual and cultural freedoms + other viewpoints @ http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/news/story/0,,2201065,00.html
The New Visionaries
Barbara Pollack writes about contemporary artists vs. self-taught artists + the do-it-yourself style (s) + the outsider art concept (s) + other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1436
Reliance Jewelry India
It has been reported that Reliance Retail, part of Reliance Industries, the crown jewel of corporate India, will be launching Reliance Jewelry, with branding options + sourcing agreement with Rosy Blue, one of the largest jewelry manufacturers, for operations. It's part of the company's lifestyle retail concept, which includes books and music, cosmetics, lifestyle accessories and home solutions. According to consultants Technopak Advisors the Indian jewelry market + the branded jewelry is estimated to grow by 15 per cent + 30 percent annually.
Useful links:
www.ril.com
www.rosyblue.com
Useful links:
www.ril.com
www.rosyblue.com
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