Jill Bolte Taylor

I found Jill Bolte Taylor's story about her stroke @ http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/229 inspiring + it's amazing how our brain connect us to the world and to one another.

Random Thoughts

'The one thing you do know when you hold an all-you-can-eat buffet, the heavy eaters show up first.'

- Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com

Google Earth 4.3

The lighting effects + panorama streets of Google Earth 4.3 version @ gearthblog.com are superb + as I was watching the YouTube demo by Google of 4.3 I thought this would be a great tool for jewelers and colored stone dealers to communicate colors with their clients and customers no matter where you are.

I liked it.

McMafia

McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld by Misha Glenny is a fascinating book on powerful criminal networks that have linked across continents and become sophisticated money making machines + the impact.

A must-read.

The Great Florentine Diamond—A Fancy Sancy Cut

(via Diamond Cuts in Historic Jewelry:1381-1910) Herbert Tillander writes:

The Great Florentine diamond (fashioned in 1615) has several names. It has been called the Tuscan, the Tuscany Diamond, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and even the Austrian Yellow Diamond—an unfortunate name, since it creates confusion with another lost diamond, the Austrian Yellow Brilliant.

The stone was drop-shaped with both the front and the reverse more or less similarly faceted. The center of the front had trihedral faceting, but the mactching area on the reverse simply had nine basic facets. Both front and reverse were stepped twice, producing nine rows, each containing nine facets in the front, and seven rows of nine facets on the reverse—144 facets in all. The overall impression is of a nine-rayed star.

Through the works of Speranza Cavenago Bignami, Guido Gregorietti and others, I have been able to trace the history of this stone. P.Aloisi stated in 1932 that the rough stone was ‘acquired’ in the late sixteenth century from the King of Vijayanagar (modern Narsingha) in southern India by the Portuguese Governor of Goa, Ludovico Castro, Count of Montesanto, after the king’s defeat by Portuguese troops. The crystal was deposited with the Jesuits in Rome until, after lengthy negotiations, Grand Duke Ferdinand I of Tuscany succeeded in buying it from the Castro-Noranha family for 35000 Portuguese scudi crocati.

Duke Ferdinand’s son, Grand Duke Cosimo II (who ruled from 1609 to 1621), finally entrusted his father’s purchase to a cutter, Pompeo Studentoli, a Venetian working in Florence. The finished gem was delivered on 10 October 1615. An inventory drawn up on Cosimo’s death confirms the acquisition of the rough diamond by Ferdinand and describes the gem as ‘faceted on both sides and encircled by a diamond-encrusted gold band.’

Dr Heinz Biehn reproduced a sketch of a pendant containing the Great Florentine with a caption reading, ‘Il Gran Diamante del Serimo Gran Duca di Toschana , Pesa 138 Carati.’ Despite extensive investigation, the origin of this drawing remains obscure. The correct weight and the exact faceting indicate that it was probably drawn just after its fashioning in 1615. The outline differs slightly, most likely because the artist wished to show a perfect and therefore pleasing symmetry.

Thomas Cletscher, who must have seen the gem in Florence, produced a clearly recognizable sketch of it in about 1625: neither the faceting nor the outline is aboslutely correct, which indicates that it may have been done from memory. The faceting of the central trihedrally faceted section is fairly accurate, but the surrounding steps, which he depicts as being similarly fashioned, cannot be correct. Cletscher also gives the weights of the rough and the finished gem as being 170 ct and 120 ct, neither of which would appear to be accurate.

The next specialist to describe and sketch the diamond was Tavernier, who claims to have seen it in 1657 and on some other occasion. The outline he gives differs from the actual shape of the stone, although he reproduces the faceting correctly; but he gives faceting of the reverse of the gem with its six basic facets in the centre, instead of the trihedral faceting of the front. Max Bauer gives more plausible proportions. Other authors have either reproduced these same illustrations or drawn from their imaginations.

My own line drawing are based on the only available photograph, but this is so poor that the faceting cannot be clearly seen. The correct girdle outline is, however, found. As to the design, I have studied the sketches carefully and am convinced that this is how the faceting must have been. At first glance it looks as though the gem was almost symmetrical, but in fact this was not so. The drawings show the actual shape of the stone and a symmetrized version.

Little is known of the jewel once it was set. No doubt it remained in the Medici family ans was worn occasionally, even though there are no portraits in which it appears. It was mentioned in an inventory of 1740, after the death in 1737 of Giovanni Gasto, husband of Duchess Anna Maria. The jewel remained in her possession until her death without heirs three years later, when it became part of the Tuscan duchy treasury.

Meanwhile, in 1736, Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine, had been obliged to renounce his duchy because of his marriage to Maria Theresa of Austria, but had been given Tuscany instead. In 1747 he became Holy Roman Emperor and he took the Florentine diamond to Austria as one of his own personal possessions. It was set, first in a crown and then in a hat jewel. When the Austrian empire came to an end in 1918 the jewel was removed from the treasury by the ex-Emperor Karl, and disappeared.

Surprisingly little has been written about the Florentine, perhaps because it was in a private treasury and not easily available for inspection. The only known analysis was by Schrauf, who gave its weight as 27.454 grams (i.e. 137.27 ct). J Cohn, basing his statements on undisclosed sources, said that the Florentine was of a light greyish-yellow color and displayed quite exceptional dispersion (fire), which strengthened this color. He added that it was flawless and of a good make and, taking all factors into consideration, classified it as being of ‘second water.’

Realism And Impressionism In France

(via The Outline of Art) William Orpen writes:

Various names have been given to this technique. It has been called ‘Divisionism,’ because by it the tones of secondary and tertiary colors were divided into their constituent elements. It has been called ‘Pointillism,’ because the color was applied to the canvas in points instead of in sweeping brush strokes. It has been called ‘Luminism,’ because the aim of the process is primarily to express the color of light with all its sparkle and vibration. This last is the best name of all, because it serves to emphasize the new outlook of the new painters. The tendency before the Impressionists was to regard color from the standpoint of black and white. Thus, in considering a grey, it would have been asked is it a dark grey or a light grey, does it approach black or white? The Impressionists took quite a different attitude and asked whether it was a bluish grey, or a greenish grey, or a purplish grey, or a reddish grey: in a word, not whether it was light or dark, but to which color in the solar spectrum it most closely approached.

To the Impressionists shadow was not an absence of light, but light of a different quality and of different value. In their exhaustive research into the true colors of shadows in Nature, they conquered the last unknown territory in the domain of Realist Painting.

To sum up, then, it may be said the Impressionist Painting is based on two great principles:

1. The substitution of a simulataneous vision that sees a scene as a whole in place of a consecutive vision that sees Nature piece by piece.

2. The substitution of a Chiaroscuro based on the colors of the solar spectrum for a Chiaroscuro based on Black and White.

This new technique, with all the research and experiment which is implies, was not the invention of one man, but the outcome of the life studies of a whole group of men. Most prominent among those who brought Impressionist painting to perfection in theory and practice were Camille Pissaro, Claude Monet, and Auguste Renoir.

Realism And Impressionism In France (continued)

Heard On The Street

Customers want three things: the best selection + the lowest prices + the cheapest and most-convenient delivery.

Ian Fleming

I am a Ian Fleming fan (a famous British author, journalist and Second World War Navy Commander), who is best remembered for creating the character of James Bond, who loves cars, diamonds, girls and guns.

Quantum of Solace: November, 2008

Useful links:
www.ianflemingcentre.com
www.ianflemingcentenary.com
www.ianflemingfoundation.org
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7346971.stm
www.007.com
www.mi6.co.uk
www.cubbybroccoli.com

Innovative Carver

The Carver = Motorcyle + Automobile, is just a brilliant concept. I don't drive a car, but take a look at this video

I really fell in love with the Carver.

Useful links:
www.flytheroad.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg8KDHfr14w

Dyson Product Design Award

Dyson Product Design Awards are awarded annually for inventions that demonstrate exceptional ingenuity and function + it was amazing/inspiring to see talented designers with their concepts from all corners of the world in New York on April 9, 2008 for the special event.

Useful links:
www.dyson.co.nz
www.jamesdysonfoundation.com

Good design is about how something works, not just how it looks.
- James Dyson

Hermann Scheer

(via Wiki) Hermann Scheer, a physicist, a member of the German Bundestag, President of the European Association for Renewable Energy, and General Chairman of the World Council for Renewable Energy believes it is technically and environmentally feasible to harness enough solar radiation to achieve a total replacement of the fossil/nuclear energy system by a global renewable energy economy.

I think he was spot on + the benefits are huge.

Useful links:
www.wcre.de
www.eurec.be
www.hermannscheer.de
www.rightlivelihood.org
www.internationaldialogues.nl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nq2iLnAETA

The Art Fund Prize

I liked the purpose of The Art Fund prize because it does increase public appreciation of art via museums and galleries, and now a shortlist for the 2008 Art Fund prize for museums and galleries in the UK will be announced on April 18, 2008.

I also think other countries should follow the UK model to stimulate interest in museums and galleries for wider appreciation and participation, which I think benefits all.

Useful link:
www.theartfundprize.org.uk

Pu'er Tea

Pu'er Tea from Yunnan, has become a fashionable, must-have variety in the tea shops of Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing + I think in a way to appreciate Pu'er tea is similar to enjoying wine because you need to understand the different areas where tea grows to differentiate flavors + among the wealthy, health-conscious Chinese there is also a belief that Pu'er tea lowers cholesterol, cures hangovers, helps fortify teeth and trims away fat + like with many other products in China it is difficult to tell the real from imitations.

I think buying Pu'er tea is like buying rubies and sapphires--you must have product knowledge.

Useful links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pu-erh
www.pu-erh.net
http://community.livejournal.com/puerh_tea

The Levity Effect

The Levity Effect: Why it Pays to Lighten Up by Adrian Gostick + Scott Christopher is an interesting book about humor in the workplace because in the changing workforce/workplace environment fun is a serious business.

I liked the book + I think a fun workplace improves communication and morale + you can achieve anything you want while enjoying what you do by changing you.

Useful links:
www.levityeffect.com
www.greatplacetowork.com
www.ipsos.com

The Mazarin Diamond Number 4

(via Diamond Cuts in Historic Jewelry:1381-1910) Herbert Tillander writes:

One more diamond belonging to the French crown was the Mazarin number 4. It originally weighed 24¼ ct. It was Sancy Cut above, but as it was said to have been ‘very thick’ it will have had a pavilion of some sort, possibly very primitively faceted. The Mazarin was refashioned, some time between 1786 and 1788, into a roundish oval Brilliant weighing 13 5/8 ct.

Realism And Impressionism In France

(via The Outline of Art) William Orpen writes:

The nineteenth was a scientific century during which great additions were made to our knowledge of optics. The French scientist Chevreuil wrote a learned book on color, which was studied with avidity by the younger painters. It became clear to them that color was not a simple but a very complex matter. For example, we say that grass is green, and the green is the local color of grass, that is to say, the color of grass at close range, when we look down on it at our feet. But grass-covered hills seen at a great distance do not appear green, but blue. The green of their local color is affected by the veil of atmosphere through which we view it in the distance, and the blue we see is an example of atmospheric color. Again, the local color of snow is white, but everybody who has been to Switzerland is familiar with the ‘Alpine glow’ when the snow-clad peaks of the mountains appear a bright copper color owing to the rays of the setting sun. This ‘Alpine glow’ is an example of illumination color, and since the color of sunlight is changing throughout the day, everything in Nature is affected by the color of the light which falls upon it.

The landscape painter, then, who, wishes to reproduce the actual hues of Nature, has to consider not only ‘local color’ but also ‘atmospheric color’ and ‘illumination color’, and further take into consideration ‘complementary colors.’ One of the most important discoveries made by the later Impressionist painters was that in the shadows there always appears the complementary color of the light. We should ponder on all these things if we wish to realize the full significance of Manet’s saying, ‘The principal person in a picture is the light.’

This new intensive study of color brought about a new palette and a new technique. For centuries all painting had been based on three primary colors, red, blue, and yellow; but science now taught the painters that though these might be primary colors in pigment, they were not primary colors in light. The spectroscope and the new science of spectrum-analysis made them familiar with the fact that white light is composed of all colors of the rainbow, which is the spectrum of sunlight. They learnt that the primary colors of light were green, orange-red, and blue-violet, and that yellow—though a primary in paint—was a secondary in light, because a yellow light can be produced by blending a green light with an orange-red light. On the other hand green, a secondary in paint because it can be produced by mixing yellow with blue pigment, is a primary in light. These discoveries revolutionized their ideas about color, and the Impressionist painters concluded they could only hope to paint the true color of sunlight by employing pigments which matched the colors of which sunlight was composed, that is to say, the tints of the rainbow. They discarded black altogether, for, modified by atmosphere and light, they held that a true black did not exist in Nature: the darkest color was indigo, dark green, or a deep violet. They would not use a brown, but set their palettes with indigo, blue green, yellow, orange, red, and violet, the nearest colors they could obtain to the seven of the solar spectrum.

Further, they used these colors with as little mixing as possible. Every amateur in watercolor knows that the more he mixes his paints, the more they lose in brilliancy. The same is true of oil paints. The Impressionists refrained, therefore, as much as possible from mixing colors on their palettes, and applied them pure in minute touches to the canvas. If they wanted to render secondary or tertiary colors, instead of mixing two or three pigments on the palette, they would secure the desired effect by juxtaposed touches of pure colors which, at a certain distance, fused in the eye of the beholder and produced the effect of the tint desired. This device is known as optical mixture, because the mixing is done in the spectator’s eye. Thus, whereas red and green pigment mixed on a palette will give a dull grey, the Impressionists produced a brilliant luminous grey by speckling a sky, say, with little points of yellow and mauve which at a distance gave the effect of a pearly grey. Similarly the effect of a brilliant brown was given by the juxtaposition of a series of minute touches of green, red and yellow; and this association of minute touches of three pure colors set up a quivering vibration which had greater luminosity than any streak of brown pigment. It was an endeavor to use paints as if they were colored lights.

Realism And Impressionism In France (continued)

Gem + Jewelry Update

According to the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council, India's total gem and jewelry exports provisionally stood at $20.9 billion in the year to March 2008.

Useful link:
www.gjepc.org

Heard On The Street

Buys and sells are decided on emotion not logic.

Bernard Magrez

The story of Bernard Magrez, the business-oriented winemaker, with an estimated 30 plus vineyards in seven countries @ http://nz.entertainment.yahoo.com/080413/8/4vl3.html is unique because as an outsider, in terms of the Bordeaux establishment, he is different/self-made + more importantly he knows how to cut down a tree!

I think he is one-of-a-kind person in the wine business + there is something to learn.

Useful link:
www.bernard-magrez.com

Jewelry Collection Of Christina Onassis

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