Memorable quote (s) from the movie:
Ray Charles (Jamie Foxx): Who is it?
Ahmet Ertegun (Curtis Armstrong): Mr. Charles, my name is Ahmet Ertegun. May I have a moment of your time?
Ray Charles (Jamie Foxx): What do you want? I'm at church.
Ahmet Ertegun (Curtis Armstrong): I'm sorry. I'll come back later.
Ray Charles (Jamie Foxx): You're here now, what do you want?
Ahmet Ertegun (Curtis Armstrong): Mr. Charles, my company, Atlantic Records, has just acquired your contract from Swingtime. I'd like to discuss your future.
Ray Charles (Jamie Foxx): Hold on, man. Don't jive me now. I ain't for sale.
Ahmet Ertegun (Curtis Armstrong): May I sit down? You see, Mr. Charles, it seems that Jack Lauderdale has found himself, shall we say, a little over extended and has had to unload some of his talent. When your name came up I jumped at the chance to work with you. I'm a big fan.
Ray Charles (Jamie Foxx): What if I want to go to another company? There's a guy out there right now that'll pay me seven cents a record. Can you do that?
Ahmet Ertegun (Curtis Armstrong): Man, I could promise you fifteen cents a record but you won't get it. Anymore than he'll pay you seven. What I will do is promise you five cents a record and pay you five cents a record. You think pennies, Mr. Charles, you get pennies. You think dollars, you get dollars.
Ray Charles (Jamie Foxx): I like the way you put things together. Omlet, you're alright with me.
Ahmet Ertegun (Curtis Armstrong): Ahmet.
Ray Charles (Jamie Foxx): Ahmet. What kind of a name is that anyway.
Ahmet Ertegun (Curtis Armstrong): I'm Turkish.
Ray Charles (Jamie Foxx): Well, Ahmet, it looks like Jack Lauderdale's bad luck is my good fortune. I always knew Atlantic was bigger than Swingtime. You do great work there. I dig Atlantic.
Ahmet Ertegun (Curtis Armstrong): You could have fooled me.
Ray Charles (Jamie Foxx): Well, I gotta keep my eye on you city boys. Back home they call it country dumb.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Pearl Diver’s Luck
By Clarence Benham
W W Norton & Company Inc
1950
Clarence Benham writes:
This is a story of pearl diving, as experienced by me, during a brief period of my life, in the waters of Torres Straits, the Great Barrier Reef, and the Solomon Islands. It depicts the nature of the work, the rough conditions, rude men, and some of the dangers that may be met.
The principal pearl fisheries of the world are those of the Persian Gulf and Ceylon (Sri Lanka); the Gulf of California, once fished by the Aztecs; the Paumotus; and Australia. The greatest pearl production is that of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), but the shell is the most valuable, and the largest of all pearlshell, one kind (Pinctada maxima) growing to a diameter of twelve inches and a weight of seven pounds.
Captain Banner, in the brig Julia Percy, is reputed to be the first to bring the news of the Torres Strait pearl beds to Sydney some time in the sixties of the nineteenth century. For a long time all the vessels out and sailed from that town, simply because there was no other suitable place nearer at hand.
All of the divers were swimmers in those days, the dress not being introduced until 1874. The divers and crews were brought from various South Sea Islands, and from the northern parts of the continent. Very often the natives were shanghaied. In any case they were paid only a few shillings worth of trashy trade goods a month, and were forced to work willy-nilly. In 1872 an Imperial Act was passed for the protection of the natives and in order to show that the government meant business, several vessels were seized and forfeited. Thursday Island was selected as the seat of authority and settled in 1878, but the conditions generally continued to be very tough for a long time afterwards.
When the dress was introduced many white divers, and sometimes white crews, were employed. Shell brought up to 400 pounds a ton in Sydney, and white divers commonly earned 500 pounds a year. Gradually, as more shell came on the market, and the price dropped accordingly, the earnings of the white divers decreased so that they were no longer attracted to the life. At the time when I was there, some forty years ago, no more than half a dozen remained.
Thursday Island s about thirty miles nor’-west of Cape York, the most northerly point of the great continent of Australia, and is the one of the many other islands in Torres Straits. With the exception of the soldiers in the Fort, and a few gold miners on neighboring islands, the resident population depend upon those engaged in fishing, of one kind or another, in the same way as people in a goldfields town live on the earnings of the miners and the production of the mines.
It will be incomprehensible to many people that any normal young man should voluntarily submit himself to the privation and discomfort, apart from the dangers, experienced by the writer and described in this book. On the other hand, it is difficult for others to comprehend how any healthy young fellow can put up with a pampered, petted life in town, meeting the same people, and doing the same things day after day for the whole of his life.
Today, as throughout the history of mankind, and as I hope it ever will be, young fellows seek the untrodden wilds, or the unusual. It is not easy not to do something that no other has done, but the spirit of adventure beckons and heedlessly we plunge into something that has excited our imagination. When whalers call at Hobart they have no difficulty in signing on additional hands for a voyage to the bitter Antarctic. There will always be volunteers to go anywhere and do anything, no matter how perilous and rough the task may be. If they were called, thousands would offer themselves for a journey to the moon, or into the space; in fact, they would proffer big sums of money for the privilege of being one of the lunatic crew.
Acknowledgment is hereby made to the Melbourne Herald, which has printed some parts of this story, and to Mr Simmonds, the Editor, for his kindly encouragement. All the characters in this book are now dead, or fictitious, or both, except me.
W W Norton & Company Inc
1950
Clarence Benham writes:
This is a story of pearl diving, as experienced by me, during a brief period of my life, in the waters of Torres Straits, the Great Barrier Reef, and the Solomon Islands. It depicts the nature of the work, the rough conditions, rude men, and some of the dangers that may be met.
The principal pearl fisheries of the world are those of the Persian Gulf and Ceylon (Sri Lanka); the Gulf of California, once fished by the Aztecs; the Paumotus; and Australia. The greatest pearl production is that of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), but the shell is the most valuable, and the largest of all pearlshell, one kind (Pinctada maxima) growing to a diameter of twelve inches and a weight of seven pounds.
Captain Banner, in the brig Julia Percy, is reputed to be the first to bring the news of the Torres Strait pearl beds to Sydney some time in the sixties of the nineteenth century. For a long time all the vessels out and sailed from that town, simply because there was no other suitable place nearer at hand.
All of the divers were swimmers in those days, the dress not being introduced until 1874. The divers and crews were brought from various South Sea Islands, and from the northern parts of the continent. Very often the natives were shanghaied. In any case they were paid only a few shillings worth of trashy trade goods a month, and were forced to work willy-nilly. In 1872 an Imperial Act was passed for the protection of the natives and in order to show that the government meant business, several vessels were seized and forfeited. Thursday Island was selected as the seat of authority and settled in 1878, but the conditions generally continued to be very tough for a long time afterwards.
When the dress was introduced many white divers, and sometimes white crews, were employed. Shell brought up to 400 pounds a ton in Sydney, and white divers commonly earned 500 pounds a year. Gradually, as more shell came on the market, and the price dropped accordingly, the earnings of the white divers decreased so that they were no longer attracted to the life. At the time when I was there, some forty years ago, no more than half a dozen remained.
Thursday Island s about thirty miles nor’-west of Cape York, the most northerly point of the great continent of Australia, and is the one of the many other islands in Torres Straits. With the exception of the soldiers in the Fort, and a few gold miners on neighboring islands, the resident population depend upon those engaged in fishing, of one kind or another, in the same way as people in a goldfields town live on the earnings of the miners and the production of the mines.
It will be incomprehensible to many people that any normal young man should voluntarily submit himself to the privation and discomfort, apart from the dangers, experienced by the writer and described in this book. On the other hand, it is difficult for others to comprehend how any healthy young fellow can put up with a pampered, petted life in town, meeting the same people, and doing the same things day after day for the whole of his life.
Today, as throughout the history of mankind, and as I hope it ever will be, young fellows seek the untrodden wilds, or the unusual. It is not easy not to do something that no other has done, but the spirit of adventure beckons and heedlessly we plunge into something that has excited our imagination. When whalers call at Hobart they have no difficulty in signing on additional hands for a voyage to the bitter Antarctic. There will always be volunteers to go anywhere and do anything, no matter how perilous and rough the task may be. If they were called, thousands would offer themselves for a journey to the moon, or into the space; in fact, they would proffer big sums of money for the privilege of being one of the lunatic crew.
Acknowledgment is hereby made to the Melbourne Herald, which has printed some parts of this story, and to Mr Simmonds, the Editor, for his kindly encouragement. All the characters in this book are now dead, or fictitious, or both, except me.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Bling'd: Blood, Diamonds and Hip Hop
"Bling'd: Blood, Diamonds and Hip Hop", is a new diamond documentary produced by Article 19 Films in co-production with Raquel Cepeda, director, for Djali Rancher Productions and in association with VH1 and UNDP.
The movie highlights the diamond trade in Sierra Leone, West Africa, and the poverty in the mining communities; the evolution of diamond-obsessed hip-hop community and their unintentional link in the country’s civil war.
More info @ http://www.vh1.com
The movie highlights the diamond trade in Sierra Leone, West Africa, and the poverty in the mining communities; the evolution of diamond-obsessed hip-hop community and their unintentional link in the country’s civil war.
More info @ http://www.vh1.com
Inexperienced Gem Dealers In Gem Markets
New findings suggest that gem dealers if they are young and inexperienced can be fooled and laminated. Younger generations are always lured in because the perception is gemstones always bring in money. They are overconfident with little or no product knowledge, tech savvy with low attention span, laidback with less patience and perseverance; ignorant, fearful, absentminded, greedy and more likely tend to be deficient in CS (commonsense). The younger gem dealers deviate from established concepts by luring in the inexperienced consumers and general public creating more bubbles. Trust and values are replaced with bluff and deceit. With time underperformance gets worse. The gem market is never compassionate. Gem dealers come and go, but gemstones live on. Somewhat surprisingly the older gem dealers know how to avoid the gas bubble trap. They have had more experience and lived through bad years. They keep a low profile and chose customers and friends selectively. They live a simple life. This tends to make them more cautious. Unfortunately the general public and consumers do not take time to look at history. They have short memory. Learning comes by doing. At the peak, the inexperienced consumers in gemstones end up stocking a significant portion of gemstones and may have the leverage to sway prices. The concept of gemstone business is a combined behavior of millions of people responding to information, disinformation and misinformation.
American Splendor Movie
Memorable quotes from the movie:
Harvey Pekar: My name is Harvey Pekar - that's an unusual name - Harvey Pekar. 1960 was the year I got my first apartment and my first phone book. Now imagine my surprise when I looked up my name and saw that in addition to me, another Harvey Pekar was listed. Now I was listed as "Harvey L. Pekar", my middle name is Lawrence, and he was listed as "Harvey Pekar" therefore his was a - was a pure listing. Then in the '70s, I noticed that a third Harvey Pekar was listed in the phone book, now this filled me with curiousity. How can there be three people with such an unusual name in the world, let alone in one city? Then one day, a person I work with, expressed her sympathy with me, concerning what she thought, was the death of my father, and she pointed out an obituary notice in the newspaper for a man named Harvey Pekar. And one of his sons was named Harvey. And these were the other Harvey Pekar's. And six months later, Harvey Pekar Jr. died. And although I've met neither man, I was filled with sadness, 'what were they like?', I thought, it seemed that our lives had been linked in some indefineable way. But the story does not end there, for two years later, another 'Harvey Pekar' appeared in the phone book. Who are these people? Where do they come from? What do they do? What's in a name? Who is "Harvey Pekar"?
Harvey Pekar: My name is Harvey Pekar - that's an unusual name - Harvey Pekar. 1960 was the year I got my first apartment and my first phone book. Now imagine my surprise when I looked up my name and saw that in addition to me, another Harvey Pekar was listed. Now I was listed as "Harvey L. Pekar", my middle name is Lawrence, and he was listed as "Harvey Pekar" therefore his was a - was a pure listing. Then in the '70s, I noticed that a third Harvey Pekar was listed in the phone book, now this filled me with curiousity. How can there be three people with such an unusual name in the world, let alone in one city? Then one day, a person I work with, expressed her sympathy with me, concerning what she thought, was the death of my father, and she pointed out an obituary notice in the newspaper for a man named Harvey Pekar. And one of his sons was named Harvey. And these were the other Harvey Pekar's. And six months later, Harvey Pekar Jr. died. And although I've met neither man, I was filled with sadness, 'what were they like?', I thought, it seemed that our lives had been linked in some indefineable way. But the story does not end there, for two years later, another 'Harvey Pekar' appeared in the phone book. Who are these people? Where do they come from? What do they do? What's in a name? Who is "Harvey Pekar"?
Hug Your Customer Philosophy
Europa Star writes:
Jack Mitchell, CEO of Mitchells of Westport & Richards in Greenwich, California, USA, and author of best selling book “Hug Your Customer, The Proven Way to Personalize Sales and Achieve Astounding Results,” explains why customers are very important in any business.
The US$65 million third generational business is now run by his 7 sons and nephews. He explains, “We get to know each and every one of our customers individually, we know their birth dates, their anniversaries, and we let them know every chance we can, how much we appreciate them.”
He also explains how his sales associates, his tailors and his office staff go above and beyond what other retailers are doing. “They give out “hugs” both physical and emotional ones. It’s the little things from remembering a birthday to sending a personalized note of thanks from the CEO to sending an unexpected give like an orchid plant. By building personalized relationships, we have been able to expand our business,” added Mitchell.
“We know that we could not grow our business without the people who truly believe in our philosophy. We hire people who are honest and open, have positive attitudes, are competent and self confident, have passion and are genuinely nice people,” said Mitchell. “I know this sounds basic – but so many retailers don’t follow these rules.”
More info @ http://europastar.com/europastar/headlines/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003542135
Jack Mitchell, CEO of Mitchells of Westport & Richards in Greenwich, California, USA, and author of best selling book “Hug Your Customer, The Proven Way to Personalize Sales and Achieve Astounding Results,” explains why customers are very important in any business.
The US$65 million third generational business is now run by his 7 sons and nephews. He explains, “We get to know each and every one of our customers individually, we know their birth dates, their anniversaries, and we let them know every chance we can, how much we appreciate them.”
He also explains how his sales associates, his tailors and his office staff go above and beyond what other retailers are doing. “They give out “hugs” both physical and emotional ones. It’s the little things from remembering a birthday to sending a personalized note of thanks from the CEO to sending an unexpected give like an orchid plant. By building personalized relationships, we have been able to expand our business,” added Mitchell.
“We know that we could not grow our business without the people who truly believe in our philosophy. We hire people who are honest and open, have positive attitudes, are competent and self confident, have passion and are genuinely nice people,” said Mitchell. “I know this sounds basic – but so many retailers don’t follow these rules.”
More info @ http://europastar.com/europastar/headlines/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003542135
Semi Precious Stones
(via Mineral Digest) Louis Zara writes:
Semi precious stones don’t exist. This is contrary to one of the jewelry industry’s most cherished myths. Nevertheless, it’s true: there are no semi-precious stones. Every gemstone, if it deserves the name at all, is either precious or it is not precious—as simple as that. Semi-precious is as meaningless as semi-attractive or semi-honest.
Consider the criteria applied to gemstones: value; hardness; scarcity; beauty. This order is such that what can he had easily is not valued highly. If diamonds were only fifty cents a carat, how many girls would want one for the engagement ring? If rubies were as plenty as raisins, would anyone care to wear them? I believe, no matter how hard or rare or valuable a gemstone may be, its beauty come first.
Today the diamond is accepted as the king because it is the hardest, and therefore the most durable, of gemstones. The jeweler likes diamonds because he can, or at least in sizes under five carats, always get more for his customers. Yet, except in larger sizes, diamonds are common. Beautiful rubies, even in smaller sizes, are harder to obtain, and emeralds without flaw are almost impossible to find. Diamond outranks them for hardness and brilliance, but, to many, rubies and emeralds are more beautiful.
If hardness is the only criterion, where should we rank opal, which has such flashing red, blue, and green fire that no lover of beauty can look at it without admiration? Each individual opal displays an exquisiteness of its own: Far easier to match diamonds than to match opals. Yet compared to diamond, ruby or sapphire, the opal is soft and must be worn with care. Are opals then to be dismissed as semi-precious?
What shall we say about jade, which in the imperial green quality is as fine as the elegant emerald and even scarcer, so that a great jade necklace must rank among the world’s splendid jewels? Jade cannot be compared to diamond, ruby or sapphire, but should it therefore be called semi-precious?
The average jeweler may resent these statements; his primary aim is to sell, and he can sell diamonds more readily than rubies, sapphires, opals or jade. Yet to those of us who are interested in educating the public, opals and jade, and the many other gems now blandly classed as semi-precious, deserve more intelligent appreciation, especially since their remarkable beauty delights the millions of new gem lovers.
Another example: red garnets have been plentiful since antiquity. Yet clear red garnets of appealing size are not common, the orange garnet hessonite is scarce in large sizes, and the rare green demantoid garnet, hardly known to the public, has an appeal that rivals the emerald. Fine demantoids or rhodolites, make truly impressive gemstones. Shall these, too, be labeled semi-precious?
No gem mineral displays a broader range of colors than the tourmaline. The greens have been relatively abundant. But large reds are scarce, and sapphire blues even scarcer, while the splendid watermelon tourmalines (greens and red together) are most unusual. Are such gems, too, semi-precious?
What about the alexandrite, that astonishing variety of chrysoberyl which is green in daylight and raspberry red by artificial light? It is harder than emerald. No gem is scarcer in sizes over four or five carats. Should the alexandrite, too, be put down as semi-precious?
What of aquamarine, which is a beryl and so is kin to the emerald? What of the amethyst, plentiful to be sure, but in truly lovely violet-purples and dark reds amazingly handsome?
What we seem to come down to is an economic criterion. If a gemstone is scarce, or an artificial demand has been created, that gemstone goes up in value, and is hailed as precious. If a gemstone is abundant, it is branded semi-precious.
Maybe that was acceptable when gems were chiefly status symbols. The rich dominated the market, and the rich must have only the precious. But in the last generation or so, with wider knowledge of Nature’s large family of gemstones becoming available, the emphasis has been less on status and more on beauty—and beauty is not restricted to the traditional Big Four: diamond, ruby, sapphire and emerald.
Today young people, whose horizons on gemstones have broadened, turn more and more to garnets, tourmalines, and topazes of all colors, to amethysts, and to many other gems little appreciated by their fathers. Try to sell this new generation of gem lovers that a rich blue lapis lazuli or a remarkable green jade or a delicate peach morganite is merely semi-precious!
The time has come for the diamond, ruby, sapphire and emerald to share the world precious with other stones. For in the world of gems, a stone is either precious or it is not precious. Semi-precious stones do not exist.
Semi precious stones don’t exist. This is contrary to one of the jewelry industry’s most cherished myths. Nevertheless, it’s true: there are no semi-precious stones. Every gemstone, if it deserves the name at all, is either precious or it is not precious—as simple as that. Semi-precious is as meaningless as semi-attractive or semi-honest.
Consider the criteria applied to gemstones: value; hardness; scarcity; beauty. This order is such that what can he had easily is not valued highly. If diamonds were only fifty cents a carat, how many girls would want one for the engagement ring? If rubies were as plenty as raisins, would anyone care to wear them? I believe, no matter how hard or rare or valuable a gemstone may be, its beauty come first.
Today the diamond is accepted as the king because it is the hardest, and therefore the most durable, of gemstones. The jeweler likes diamonds because he can, or at least in sizes under five carats, always get more for his customers. Yet, except in larger sizes, diamonds are common. Beautiful rubies, even in smaller sizes, are harder to obtain, and emeralds without flaw are almost impossible to find. Diamond outranks them for hardness and brilliance, but, to many, rubies and emeralds are more beautiful.
If hardness is the only criterion, where should we rank opal, which has such flashing red, blue, and green fire that no lover of beauty can look at it without admiration? Each individual opal displays an exquisiteness of its own: Far easier to match diamonds than to match opals. Yet compared to diamond, ruby or sapphire, the opal is soft and must be worn with care. Are opals then to be dismissed as semi-precious?
What shall we say about jade, which in the imperial green quality is as fine as the elegant emerald and even scarcer, so that a great jade necklace must rank among the world’s splendid jewels? Jade cannot be compared to diamond, ruby or sapphire, but should it therefore be called semi-precious?
The average jeweler may resent these statements; his primary aim is to sell, and he can sell diamonds more readily than rubies, sapphires, opals or jade. Yet to those of us who are interested in educating the public, opals and jade, and the many other gems now blandly classed as semi-precious, deserve more intelligent appreciation, especially since their remarkable beauty delights the millions of new gem lovers.
Another example: red garnets have been plentiful since antiquity. Yet clear red garnets of appealing size are not common, the orange garnet hessonite is scarce in large sizes, and the rare green demantoid garnet, hardly known to the public, has an appeal that rivals the emerald. Fine demantoids or rhodolites, make truly impressive gemstones. Shall these, too, be labeled semi-precious?
No gem mineral displays a broader range of colors than the tourmaline. The greens have been relatively abundant. But large reds are scarce, and sapphire blues even scarcer, while the splendid watermelon tourmalines (greens and red together) are most unusual. Are such gems, too, semi-precious?
What about the alexandrite, that astonishing variety of chrysoberyl which is green in daylight and raspberry red by artificial light? It is harder than emerald. No gem is scarcer in sizes over four or five carats. Should the alexandrite, too, be put down as semi-precious?
What of aquamarine, which is a beryl and so is kin to the emerald? What of the amethyst, plentiful to be sure, but in truly lovely violet-purples and dark reds amazingly handsome?
What we seem to come down to is an economic criterion. If a gemstone is scarce, or an artificial demand has been created, that gemstone goes up in value, and is hailed as precious. If a gemstone is abundant, it is branded semi-precious.
Maybe that was acceptable when gems were chiefly status symbols. The rich dominated the market, and the rich must have only the precious. But in the last generation or so, with wider knowledge of Nature’s large family of gemstones becoming available, the emphasis has been less on status and more on beauty—and beauty is not restricted to the traditional Big Four: diamond, ruby, sapphire and emerald.
Today young people, whose horizons on gemstones have broadened, turn more and more to garnets, tourmalines, and topazes of all colors, to amethysts, and to many other gems little appreciated by their fathers. Try to sell this new generation of gem lovers that a rich blue lapis lazuli or a remarkable green jade or a delicate peach morganite is merely semi-precious!
The time has come for the diamond, ruby, sapphire and emerald to share the world precious with other stones. For in the world of gems, a stone is either precious or it is not precious. Semi-precious stones do not exist.
Gem Identification Made Easy
By Antoinette L Matlins & A C Bonanno
Gemstone Press
1994/1989 ISBN 0-943763-03-7
Gemstone Press writes:
Today, knowing your gems, being absolutely sure about what you are buying and selling, is essential. Major changes in the gem world—new synthetic stones, new treatments to enhance and conceal, new gems, and more stones available in every hue and tone of color—make accurate gem identification more important than ever to both buyers and sellers.
Whether you are the owner of a large retail jewelry chain or small family-run business, someone who enjoys collecting or acquiring gems for personal pleasure, or a serious investor, insufficient knowledge can be costly. It can result in a bad purchase, damage to a reputation, and, equally significant, failure to recognize an opportunity.
With minimal effort and a nominal investment in several instruments, almost anyone can venture into the world of gemology and begin to experience the thrill and fun of discovery—learning just what a particular stone really is. You can learn to separate real from imitation, one look-alike from another, dyed from natural, and so on. Sometimes just a basic knowledge of how to use a simple instrument is all that is needed to avoid an expensive mistake or recognize a profitable opportunity.
Contrary to what many people believe, it isn’t necessary to spend $100000 (or more) for elaborate gem testing equipment. For less than $200, one can begin with just three pocket instruments: the loupe, Chelsea filter, and dichroscope. Use together, these three simple, portable instruments can enable one to identify almost 85% of the colored gemstone materials encountered today as well as diamonds and most diamond look-alikes. Once you have mastered these three, you can add other instruments to help you identify the remaining gemstone material and confirm identification made with pocket instruments.
While any one of these instruments alone is unusually insufficient to make a conclusive identification, a combination of two or more will usually be enough to tell you what you really have. The key, of course, is knowing how to use them and what to look for. That’s how Gem Identification Made Easy will help you. While years of training and experience are necessary to become qualified as a professional gemologist, with practice and a little hands-on work, you will find it takes surprisingly little time before you will feel more confident about what you are buying and selling.
Gemstone Press
1994/1989 ISBN 0-943763-03-7
Gemstone Press writes:
Today, knowing your gems, being absolutely sure about what you are buying and selling, is essential. Major changes in the gem world—new synthetic stones, new treatments to enhance and conceal, new gems, and more stones available in every hue and tone of color—make accurate gem identification more important than ever to both buyers and sellers.
Whether you are the owner of a large retail jewelry chain or small family-run business, someone who enjoys collecting or acquiring gems for personal pleasure, or a serious investor, insufficient knowledge can be costly. It can result in a bad purchase, damage to a reputation, and, equally significant, failure to recognize an opportunity.
With minimal effort and a nominal investment in several instruments, almost anyone can venture into the world of gemology and begin to experience the thrill and fun of discovery—learning just what a particular stone really is. You can learn to separate real from imitation, one look-alike from another, dyed from natural, and so on. Sometimes just a basic knowledge of how to use a simple instrument is all that is needed to avoid an expensive mistake or recognize a profitable opportunity.
Contrary to what many people believe, it isn’t necessary to spend $100000 (or more) for elaborate gem testing equipment. For less than $200, one can begin with just three pocket instruments: the loupe, Chelsea filter, and dichroscope. Use together, these three simple, portable instruments can enable one to identify almost 85% of the colored gemstone materials encountered today as well as diamonds and most diamond look-alikes. Once you have mastered these three, you can add other instruments to help you identify the remaining gemstone material and confirm identification made with pocket instruments.
While any one of these instruments alone is unusually insufficient to make a conclusive identification, a combination of two or more will usually be enough to tell you what you really have. The key, of course, is knowing how to use them and what to look for. That’s how Gem Identification Made Easy will help you. While years of training and experience are necessary to become qualified as a professional gemologist, with practice and a little hands-on work, you will find it takes surprisingly little time before you will feel more confident about what you are buying and selling.
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