Charles T Munger, Vice-Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Corporation writes:
'There are a lot of things we pass on. We have three baskets: in, out, and too tough...We have to have a special insight, or we'll put it in the 'too tough' basket. All of you have to look for a special area of competency and focus on that.'
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Art Jewelry
Collector Cafe writes:
Term for jewelry developed from the 1890s onwards which differed from traditional jewellery in that it was wholly or partly composed of base metals and non-precious stones as well as other materials which had not hitherto been regarded as suitable for personal adornment. Originally it was known as art jewelry (on the same analogy as art glass, art pottery and art silks), alluding to the fact that it was initiated and developed by artist-craftsmen working within the Arts and Crafts Movement in the style of Art Nouveau. Because they worked in much less valuable materials than the traditional jewelers, their products have tended to survive intact in larger quantities, since platinum, gold and diamond tiaras, corsages, bows, pendants and other larger pieces were often broken up when they ceased to be fashionable.
At first, the Arts and Crafts jewelers used semi-precious stones, often uncut, in settings of silver or even copper. Whereas the work of the commercial jewelers was becoming lighter and more delicate, that of the 'artistic' jewelers gradually became more and more massive and chunky. In the former, the setting was designed to be as unobtrusive as possible; in the latter the setting was just as important as the stones, if not more so, and great care was taken in the elaborate ornamentation of the settings.
Silver was cast, wrought, carved, engraved, chased, inlaid or beaten in repousse or martele techniques. In the repousse technique the metal was hammered out from behind to produce raised relief, whereas in the martele technique hollow ware was hammered by hand to produce a soft, fluid look which lent itself admirably to Art Nouveau motifs. The jewelry of such artist-craftsmen as Omar Ramsden, Henry Wilson, Phoebe Traquair and Harold Stabler is self-conscious, often technically poor though highly imaginative. Unfortunately this type of jewelry fell between two stools. It was not glamorous enough for the wealthy, who preferred impeccably cut diamonds in invisible settings, and too expensive for the mass market. As a result, very little of this up-market art jewelry has survived in any appreciable quantity and those pieces which pass through the saleroom tend to fetch correspondingly high prices.
More info @ www.collectorcafe.com
Term for jewelry developed from the 1890s onwards which differed from traditional jewellery in that it was wholly or partly composed of base metals and non-precious stones as well as other materials which had not hitherto been regarded as suitable for personal adornment. Originally it was known as art jewelry (on the same analogy as art glass, art pottery and art silks), alluding to the fact that it was initiated and developed by artist-craftsmen working within the Arts and Crafts Movement in the style of Art Nouveau. Because they worked in much less valuable materials than the traditional jewelers, their products have tended to survive intact in larger quantities, since platinum, gold and diamond tiaras, corsages, bows, pendants and other larger pieces were often broken up when they ceased to be fashionable.
At first, the Arts and Crafts jewelers used semi-precious stones, often uncut, in settings of silver or even copper. Whereas the work of the commercial jewelers was becoming lighter and more delicate, that of the 'artistic' jewelers gradually became more and more massive and chunky. In the former, the setting was designed to be as unobtrusive as possible; in the latter the setting was just as important as the stones, if not more so, and great care was taken in the elaborate ornamentation of the settings.
Silver was cast, wrought, carved, engraved, chased, inlaid or beaten in repousse or martele techniques. In the repousse technique the metal was hammered out from behind to produce raised relief, whereas in the martele technique hollow ware was hammered by hand to produce a soft, fluid look which lent itself admirably to Art Nouveau motifs. The jewelry of such artist-craftsmen as Omar Ramsden, Henry Wilson, Phoebe Traquair and Harold Stabler is self-conscious, often technically poor though highly imaginative. Unfortunately this type of jewelry fell between two stools. It was not glamorous enough for the wealthy, who preferred impeccably cut diamonds in invisible settings, and too expensive for the mass market. As a result, very little of this up-market art jewelry has survived in any appreciable quantity and those pieces which pass through the saleroom tend to fetch correspondingly high prices.
More info @ www.collectorcafe.com
Steller's Sea Cow Bone
(via) Gemmology Queensland writes:
A rare ivory look-alike
Steller's sea cow (hydrodamalis gigas) is an extinct ancestor of the dugong that did not survive the 18th century. The first Steller's sea cows were discovered by Danish Captain Vitus Bering who was commisioned by Tsar Peter I (Peter the Great) to determine whether or not Asia and the Americas were one or two separate continents. One a second expedition in 1741, to map the area between Asia and North America, Bering was accompanied by a German doctor-naturalist named Georg Wilhem Steller. During this expedition, the ship ran aground and before his colleagues escaped, by building a new boat out of the timbers of the wrecked vessel. Steller, who died on what is now known as Bering Island, catalogued numerous species of plants and animals, some of which are named after him.
One such marine animal was a large sea cow that is now known as Steller's sea cow. This herbiverous marine mammal was twice the size of the presently living dugong. It had a length of 8.5m, a girth of 6.7m, and weighed up to 3628kg (8000 pounds0. It had no teeth, but its bones were massive. At the time of their discovery it is likely that from 1500-2000 Steller's sea cow were in existence. Due to the delicacy of their meat, by 1768 the last sea cow had been killed, with Stellar dying only four years after the expedition, never knowing of the extinction of the animal that bore his name.
Since the 1800s, there have been reported sightings of small colonies of Steller's sea cows in remote areas away from Russian fishing grounds and boat traffic. The few intact skeletons of Steller's sea cow that still exist can be found in a few museums that are scattered around the world. Today, the skeletal remains of this now extinct sea cow are recovered by indegenous natives from both sides of the Bering Strait, and these bones are either being sold as rough or are carved into some attractive ivory-like objects, such as knife handles--usually after they have been impregnated with a colorless synthetic polymer. The raw material, which seems to be predominantly derived from the large ribs of this now extinct animal, has a grayish to brownish color, is relatively porous, and has a core of or porous cacellous bone and an outer layer of thick cortical bone. This is rare, but very interesting material that could be misidentified as ivory.
A rare ivory look-alike
Steller's sea cow (hydrodamalis gigas) is an extinct ancestor of the dugong that did not survive the 18th century. The first Steller's sea cows were discovered by Danish Captain Vitus Bering who was commisioned by Tsar Peter I (Peter the Great) to determine whether or not Asia and the Americas were one or two separate continents. One a second expedition in 1741, to map the area between Asia and North America, Bering was accompanied by a German doctor-naturalist named Georg Wilhem Steller. During this expedition, the ship ran aground and before his colleagues escaped, by building a new boat out of the timbers of the wrecked vessel. Steller, who died on what is now known as Bering Island, catalogued numerous species of plants and animals, some of which are named after him.
One such marine animal was a large sea cow that is now known as Steller's sea cow. This herbiverous marine mammal was twice the size of the presently living dugong. It had a length of 8.5m, a girth of 6.7m, and weighed up to 3628kg (8000 pounds0. It had no teeth, but its bones were massive. At the time of their discovery it is likely that from 1500-2000 Steller's sea cow were in existence. Due to the delicacy of their meat, by 1768 the last sea cow had been killed, with Stellar dying only four years after the expedition, never knowing of the extinction of the animal that bore his name.
Since the 1800s, there have been reported sightings of small colonies of Steller's sea cows in remote areas away from Russian fishing grounds and boat traffic. The few intact skeletons of Steller's sea cow that still exist can be found in a few museums that are scattered around the world. Today, the skeletal remains of this now extinct sea cow are recovered by indegenous natives from both sides of the Bering Strait, and these bones are either being sold as rough or are carved into some attractive ivory-like objects, such as knife handles--usually after they have been impregnated with a colorless synthetic polymer. The raw material, which seems to be predominantly derived from the large ribs of this now extinct animal, has a grayish to brownish color, is relatively porous, and has a core of or porous cacellous bone and an outer layer of thick cortical bone. This is rare, but very interesting material that could be misidentified as ivory.
How To Become Rich
Warren Buffett lecturing to a group of students at Columbia University:
'I will tell you how to become rich. Close the doors. Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful.'
'I will tell you how to become rich. Close the doors. Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful.'
Ancient Forests
By F.J.Daniels & R.D. Dayvault
Western Colorado Publishing Company
2024 Freedom Court, Grand Junction
Co 81503-9522
U.S.A
970.242.5255
Price: US$89.95 + US$16.75 for shipping
publisher@westerncoloradopublishing.com
Book Review by Arthur Main, Canberra, Australia
The book illustrates American specimens with some 80 pages devoted to choice pieces from American University museums. Nevertheless a range of countries are included with Argentina, Zimbabwe, Indonesia and Australia well represented.
In the introduction to this book the authors state that the emphasis is on beauty and as such many bland specimens were dismissed though they would be of great interest to palaeobotanists.
“Collectors quickly learn that petrified wood usually comes in two general forms. Either it looks like wood on the outside and shows detailed preservation of cellular structure on the inside, or it looks like wood on the outside but exhibits various textures on the inside, none of which resemble wood.”
From the last statement the authors deal with the complex chemical processes involved in the formation of opal and agate. Indeed, many photos were those of agate; but they had a wood-like skin. The many microphotographs show the cell structures of a wide range of trees, both hardwood and softwood, most of which are still living. So how did some trees become petrified?
Like all natural gems there are an awful lot of ‘ifs’. The range of minerals associated with petrification is also astonishing. Over 40 minerals have been identified. Apart from hydrous silica (opaline) and microcrystalline quartz (chalcedony), iron may be present as oxides, hydroxides and sulphides; likewise for copper. The range of actual elements also includes uranium.
This is a highly specialized book dealing in great depth with an often ignored gem material. It brings together components of botany, palaeobotany, geology and mineralogy. But above all: “Beauty is more wonderful when rare and especially so in the presence of perfection.”
Western Colorado Publishing Company
2024 Freedom Court, Grand Junction
Co 81503-9522
U.S.A
970.242.5255
Price: US$89.95 + US$16.75 for shipping
publisher@westerncoloradopublishing.com
Book Review by Arthur Main, Canberra, Australia
The book illustrates American specimens with some 80 pages devoted to choice pieces from American University museums. Nevertheless a range of countries are included with Argentina, Zimbabwe, Indonesia and Australia well represented.
In the introduction to this book the authors state that the emphasis is on beauty and as such many bland specimens were dismissed though they would be of great interest to palaeobotanists.
“Collectors quickly learn that petrified wood usually comes in two general forms. Either it looks like wood on the outside and shows detailed preservation of cellular structure on the inside, or it looks like wood on the outside but exhibits various textures on the inside, none of which resemble wood.”
From the last statement the authors deal with the complex chemical processes involved in the formation of opal and agate. Indeed, many photos were those of agate; but they had a wood-like skin. The many microphotographs show the cell structures of a wide range of trees, both hardwood and softwood, most of which are still living. So how did some trees become petrified?
Like all natural gems there are an awful lot of ‘ifs’. The range of minerals associated with petrification is also astonishing. Over 40 minerals have been identified. Apart from hydrous silica (opaline) and microcrystalline quartz (chalcedony), iron may be present as oxides, hydroxides and sulphides; likewise for copper. The range of actual elements also includes uranium.
This is a highly specialized book dealing in great depth with an often ignored gem material. It brings together components of botany, palaeobotany, geology and mineralogy. But above all: “Beauty is more wonderful when rare and especially so in the presence of perfection.”
Tut’s Gem Hints At Space Impact
BBC writes:
In 1996 in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Italian mineralogist Vincenzo de Michele spotted an unusual yellow green gem in the middle of one of Tutankhamen’s necklaces. The jewel was tested and found to be glass, but intriguingly it is older than the earliest Egyptian civilization. Working with Egyptian geologist Aly Barakat, they traced its origin to unexplained chunks of glass scattered in the sand in a remote region of the Sahara Desert. Gemologically, this glass is termed crater glass.
But the glass is itself a scientific enigma. How did it get to be there and who or what made it? An Austrian astochemist Christian Koeberl had established that the glass had been formed at a temperature so hot that there could be only one known cause: a meteorite impacting with earth. And yet there were no signs of an impact crater, even in satellite images. A natural airburst of that magnitude was unheard of until, in 1994, scientists watched as comet Shoemaker-Levy collided with Jupiter. It exploded in the Jovian atmosphere, and the Hubble telescope recorded the largest incandescent fireball ever witnessed rising over Jupiter’s horizon. Mark Boslough, who specializes in modeling large impacts n supercomputers, created a simulation of a similar impact on earth. The simulation revealed that an impactor could indeed generate a blistering atmospheric fireball, creating surface temperatures of 1800ºC, and leaving behind a field of glass. “What I want to emphasize is that it is hugely bigger in energy than the atomic tests,” says Boslough. “Ten thousand times more powerful.”
So that is what possibly created the yellow crater glass in King Tut’s pectoral.
More info @ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5196362.stm
In 1996 in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Italian mineralogist Vincenzo de Michele spotted an unusual yellow green gem in the middle of one of Tutankhamen’s necklaces. The jewel was tested and found to be glass, but intriguingly it is older than the earliest Egyptian civilization. Working with Egyptian geologist Aly Barakat, they traced its origin to unexplained chunks of glass scattered in the sand in a remote region of the Sahara Desert. Gemologically, this glass is termed crater glass.
But the glass is itself a scientific enigma. How did it get to be there and who or what made it? An Austrian astochemist Christian Koeberl had established that the glass had been formed at a temperature so hot that there could be only one known cause: a meteorite impacting with earth. And yet there were no signs of an impact crater, even in satellite images. A natural airburst of that magnitude was unheard of until, in 1994, scientists watched as comet Shoemaker-Levy collided with Jupiter. It exploded in the Jovian atmosphere, and the Hubble telescope recorded the largest incandescent fireball ever witnessed rising over Jupiter’s horizon. Mark Boslough, who specializes in modeling large impacts n supercomputers, created a simulation of a similar impact on earth. The simulation revealed that an impactor could indeed generate a blistering atmospheric fireball, creating surface temperatures of 1800ºC, and leaving behind a field of glass. “What I want to emphasize is that it is hugely bigger in energy than the atomic tests,” says Boslough. “Ten thousand times more powerful.”
So that is what possibly created the yellow crater glass in King Tut’s pectoral.
More info @ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5196362.stm
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Kimberley Process
What is Kimberley Process?
The Kimberley Process is a joint government, international diamond industry and civil society initiative to stem the flow of conflict diamonds - rough diamonds that are used by rebel movements to finance wars against legitimate governments. The trade in these illicit stones contributed to devastating conflicts in countries such as Angola, Cote d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone. The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme is an innovative, voluntary system that imposes extensive requirements on Participants to certify that shipments of rough diamonds are free from conflict diamonds. The Kimberley Process is composed of 45 Participants, including the European Community. Kimberley Process Participants account for approximately 99.8% of the global production of rough diamonds. The international community, including the UN General Assembly and Security Council, and the World Trade Organisation,have all recognized the importance and effectiveness of the KPCS.
States and regional economic integration organizations who have met the minimum requirements of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme are:
Angola
Armenia
Australia
Bangladesh
Belarus
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Canada
Central African Republic
China, People's Republic of
Congo, Democratic Republic of
Cote D' Ivoire
Croatia
European Community
Ghana
Guinea
Guyana
India
Indonesia
Israel
Japan
Korea, Republic of
Lao, Democratic Republic of
Lebanon
Lesotho
Malaysia
Mauritius
Namibia
New Zealand
Norway
Romania
Russian Federation
Sierra Leone
Singapore
South Africa
Sri Lanka
Switzerland
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States of America
Venezuela
Vietnam
Zimbabwe
More info @ www.kimberleyprocess.com
The Kimberley Process is a joint government, international diamond industry and civil society initiative to stem the flow of conflict diamonds - rough diamonds that are used by rebel movements to finance wars against legitimate governments. The trade in these illicit stones contributed to devastating conflicts in countries such as Angola, Cote d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone. The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme is an innovative, voluntary system that imposes extensive requirements on Participants to certify that shipments of rough diamonds are free from conflict diamonds. The Kimberley Process is composed of 45 Participants, including the European Community. Kimberley Process Participants account for approximately 99.8% of the global production of rough diamonds. The international community, including the UN General Assembly and Security Council, and the World Trade Organisation,have all recognized the importance and effectiveness of the KPCS.
States and regional economic integration organizations who have met the minimum requirements of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme are:
Angola
Armenia
Australia
Bangladesh
Belarus
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Canada
Central African Republic
China, People's Republic of
Congo, Democratic Republic of
Cote D' Ivoire
Croatia
European Community
Ghana
Guinea
Guyana
India
Indonesia
Israel
Japan
Korea, Republic of
Lao, Democratic Republic of
Lebanon
Lesotho
Malaysia
Mauritius
Namibia
New Zealand
Norway
Romania
Russian Federation
Sierra Leone
Singapore
South Africa
Sri Lanka
Switzerland
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States of America
Venezuela
Vietnam
Zimbabwe
More info @ www.kimberleyprocess.com
Thought Of The Day
"The idea of caring that someone is making money faster [than you are] is one of the deadly sins. Envy is a really stupid sin because it's the only one you could never possibly have any fun at. There's a lot of pain and no fun. Why would you want to get on that trolley?"
- Charles T Munger
Vice-Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Corporation
- Charles T Munger
Vice-Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Corporation
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