Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Cedar Wood Oil
Nearly all emeralds are treated with a liquid or resin after cutting. The traditional way to enhance emeralds gemstonality has been to treat them with near colorless natural cedar wood oil. The refractive index of cedar wood oil is in the range of 1.495-1.510. The purpose of the treatment is to reduce the visibility of inclusions in emeralds in order to improve the appearance. If in doubt consult a reputed gem testing laboratory.
Casino Movie
Memorable quote (s) from the movie:
Ace Rothstein (Robert De Niro): The town will never be the same. After the Tangiers, the big corporations took it all over. Today it looks like Disneyland. And while the kids play cardboard pirates, Mommy and Daddy drop the house payments and Junior's college money on the poker slots. In the old days, dealers knew your name, what you drank, what you played. Today, it's like checkin' into an airport. And if you order room service, you're lucky if you get it by Thursday. Today, it's all gone. You get a whale show up with four million in a suitcase, and some twenty-five-year-old hotel school kid is gonna want his Social Security Number. After the Teamsters got knocked out of the box, the corporations tore down practically every one of the old casinos. And where did the money come from to rebuild the pyramids? Junk bonds. But in the end, I wound up right back where I started. I could still pick winners, and I could still make money for all kinds of people back home. And why mess up a good thing?
Ace Rothstein (Robert De Niro): The town will never be the same. After the Tangiers, the big corporations took it all over. Today it looks like Disneyland. And while the kids play cardboard pirates, Mommy and Daddy drop the house payments and Junior's college money on the poker slots. In the old days, dealers knew your name, what you drank, what you played. Today, it's like checkin' into an airport. And if you order room service, you're lucky if you get it by Thursday. Today, it's all gone. You get a whale show up with four million in a suitcase, and some twenty-five-year-old hotel school kid is gonna want his Social Security Number. After the Teamsters got knocked out of the box, the corporations tore down practically every one of the old casinos. And where did the money come from to rebuild the pyramids? Junk bonds. But in the end, I wound up right back where I started. I could still pick winners, and I could still make money for all kinds of people back home. And why mess up a good thing?
Bangkok Gems and Jewelry Fair
TGJTA writes:
The 39th Bangkok Gems and Jewelry Fair takes place at IMPACT Challenger (the world’s largest column-free exhibition center) February 28, 2007 to March 4, 2007. Over 3,000 exhibitors will be at the event that will feature gems and jewelry from Thailand and around the world. The jewelry show comes in a range of styles, from traditional to contemporary and offers designs based on both precious and semi-precious gems.
The event has become a favorite amongst the world’s gem’s and jewelry professionals and emphasizes the precision skills of local craftsmen and women. As a world-class manufacturing center and a regional hub for diamond and colored gemstones cutting and trading, Thailand is a natural choice for this trade fair, which opens to the public March 3 and 4, 2007.
More info @ Thai Gem & Jewelry Traders Association
Jewelry Trade Center
52nd Fl, 919/616
Silom Road
Bangrak
Bangkok10500
Thailand
Tel: (66) 0-2630 - 1390
Fax: (66) 0-2630 - 1398 or 99
Website : www.bangkokgemsfair.com
Email : info@bangkokgemsfair.com
Venue Details:
Impact Arena
Exhibition And Convention Center
Muang Thong Thani
99 Popular Road
Banmai Subdistrict
Pakkred District
Nonthaburi 11120
Thailand
Tel: (66) 0-2504-5050
Fax: (66) 0-2504-4445
Website: www.impact.co.th
Email: info@impact.co.th
The 39th Bangkok Gems and Jewelry Fair takes place at IMPACT Challenger (the world’s largest column-free exhibition center) February 28, 2007 to March 4, 2007. Over 3,000 exhibitors will be at the event that will feature gems and jewelry from Thailand and around the world. The jewelry show comes in a range of styles, from traditional to contemporary and offers designs based on both precious and semi-precious gems.
The event has become a favorite amongst the world’s gem’s and jewelry professionals and emphasizes the precision skills of local craftsmen and women. As a world-class manufacturing center and a regional hub for diamond and colored gemstones cutting and trading, Thailand is a natural choice for this trade fair, which opens to the public March 3 and 4, 2007.
More info @ Thai Gem & Jewelry Traders Association
Jewelry Trade Center
52nd Fl, 919/616
Silom Road
Bangrak
Bangkok10500
Thailand
Tel: (66) 0-2630 - 1390
Fax: (66) 0-2630 - 1398 or 99
Website : www.bangkokgemsfair.com
Email : info@bangkokgemsfair.com
Venue Details:
Impact Arena
Exhibition And Convention Center
Muang Thong Thani
99 Popular Road
Banmai Subdistrict
Pakkred District
Nonthaburi 11120
Thailand
Tel: (66) 0-2504-5050
Fax: (66) 0-2504-4445
Website: www.impact.co.th
Email: info@impact.co.th
Gems & Precious Stones Of North America
By George Frederick Kunz
Dover Publications, Inc
1968 ISBN 0-486-21855-4
Edward Oslon (Curator of Mineralogy, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago) writes:
When the early Spanish explorers first entered the North American continent it was the overwhelming desire for precious stones and metals that lured them on. DeSoto, for example, trekked over the entire southeastern quarter of what is now the United States, led on by rumors and tales of fabulous gems and golden cities. He perished having found only a small quantity of freshwater pearls for his trouble. He was not the only one to die unrewarded; the bones of Spanish gold and jewel seekers littered the continent from California to North Carolina, from Central America to northern Kansas. A goodly amount of gold and silver was acquired in Mexico and Central America, and a few gemstones turned up now and then, but it rapidly became apparent that North America was not going to be a fabulous source for precious stones. Today, with the advantage of 400 years of hindsight, the dogged crisscrossing of the continent by these treasure hunters seems foolish to say the least. North America has been no Golconda.
Despite the fact that North America has produced only a handful of gemstones, in contrast to Africa, India, Ceylon, South America and parts of Europe and Asia Minor, which have all been rich sources, the old fever to find diamonds, rubies, emeralds and other stones has never fully abated. Every year Arkansas draws hundreds of diamond seekers; Wyoming attracts ruby and jade hunters; Minnesota and Iowa have their agate hunters; Maine and North Carolina their aquamarine prospectors, and so on.
Until 1890 occurrences of gemstones in North America were matters principally of local knowledge shared only a few avid collectors and specialists in the gem business. Then, in that year, George Frederick Kunz published the first edition of this book, Gems and Precious Stones of North America. It represented years of intimate experience with the gem industry in America as the mineralogical consultant to the largest and most important gem and jewelry house in the United States, Tiffany and Company of New York City. The book is something of a milestone, for it was the first to describe the locations of any and all gem occurrences on the North American continent. As such it is not a textbook or treatise on gemology but primarily a guide to the collector of precious and semi-precious stones; it tells where they occur and something of their history, archaeology and lore. It was, at that time, a unique treatment, but less than six years later a learned German mineralogist, Professor Max Bauer of the University of Marburg, published a major book, Edelsteinkunde (Precious Stones), which treated worldwide occurrences of gems in the manner Kunz had used for North America.
Since gemstones are fundamentally rock-forming minerals, they fall under the wing of the professional mineralogist, who unfortunately is primarily concerned with them as minerals, and too often in an abstruse and academic way that does not interest the gem fancier. This book, on the other hand, was written by a mineralogist whose professional concern was gem minerals only. Such specialists are not common. In fact, as a professional mineralogist on the staff of a company such as Tiffany, Dr Kunz was something of a rare bird. His predilection for minerals as gems is evident in this book.
Primarily the book serves as a source book for information on gem occurrences, and contains a wealth of specific facts about the quality, size and quantity of the rough gem material found in any particular place. For example, within three pages (140-142), twelve localities for ornamental petrified wood are discussed in detail.
Most gem localities in North America are, unfortunately, a one-time thing; one or a few stones of good quality are found, and that’s it. This continent has never had a major gem mining operation even remotely comparable to the Kimberly diamond district in Africa or the emerald mines at Muzo, Colombia. As Kunz himself pointed out (p.7) “The daily yield from the coal and iron mines would exceed in value all the precious stones found in the United States during a year.” Nevertheless, some districts have been fairly consistent producers of gem material, albeit not in large quantities. For these areas the book indicates production figures and the annual value of particular gem materials.
As one reads this book one becomes aware that its author was captivated by the legend, lore and superstition associated with precious stones. The story of Aztec turquoise (pp.62-64) and the history of New World pearls from Colombus’ first contact with them onward (pp.240 ff) are examples of the historical and archaeological vignettes interspersed in the text. The whole subject so fascinated Kunz that in later years he published three full length books that dealt primarily with folklore and superstition connected with gems: The Curious Lore of Precious Stones (1913), The Magic of Jewels and Charms (1915), and Rings for the Finger (1917).
Perhaps the most unique feature of the book is the intriguing description of pearls in the New World (Chapter XII). This section is a kind of book within the book, and certainly represents the most detailed compilation of information and history of the American pearl fishing industry up to that time. This particular topic deeply interested Kunz and in 1904 he and Charles H Stevenson published The Book of the Pearl. This was a definitive work on the subject, based on Kunz’s intimate knowledge both of pearls as mineralogical objects and the pearl fishing industry; from 1892 to 1899 he served as special commissioner on American pearls for the United States Fish Commissioner.
Besides the books already mentioned, Kunz published widely on a great variety of mineralogical and gemological matters, and even made occasional contributions to the subject of meteorites. He was a prodigious writer. In an active career of almost sixty years he wrote a total of 531 articles, papers, reports, books, etc. This averages out to between nine and ten publications per year. This tremendous output of written material was very probably the result of the same strong self-motivation that made Kunz the self-made man that he was.
George Kunz was born in New York City in 1856. After a public school education he attended the famous Cooper Union, but he never received a formal degree. It was at Cooper Union that he began to plan for a professional career. He once wrote about “the Cooper Union, in whose laboratories, lecture rooms and library (I spent) useful, profitable evening hours for several hours, at a time when there were no opportunities of a similar nature in the City of New York.”
Before Kunz went to high school he had begun collecting minerals in the New York-New Jersey area around the city. The (then) recent excavations in the Bergen Hill, New Jersey, are—the site of a large number of rare and attractive minerals—provided him with a fairly sophisticated collection, and by the time he was fourteen years old he had already begun an active series of exchanges with collectors both in the United States and abroad. These exchanges allowed him to put together a number of well-rounded mineral collections and before he was twenty years old he had sold a major collection to the University of Minnesota. In the following years he established his reputation a knowledgeable mineralogist by building and selling mineral collections to a number of institutions, colleges and individuals, including Amherst College, the New York State Museum in Albany, the Field Museum in Chicago, and Thomas A Edison. His reputation grew accordingly and he was only twenty four years old when he joined Tiffany and Company as their gem expert. By the time he had been with the company for twenty years he had visited most of the gem producing localities in the United States, Mexico, Russia, Asia and Australia. One result of these travels was the formation of two major gem collections which were purchased by the famous J P Morgan in New York City. Kunz became, in a sense, a modern-day Tavernier, searching the world of gems. It was largely through his efforts that Tiffany acquired the now famous 128.51 carat Tiffany diamond, which the company still owns today.
Over the years his fame as a gem expert spread and in 1898 he received a honorary M A degree from Colombia University. This was followed by an honorary Ph.D from the University of Marburg, Germany, in 1906, and honorary D.SC from Knox University in 1907. He also received decorations from several foreign governments: the Legion of Honor (France), the Order of St.Olaf (Norway), and the Order of the Rising Sun (Japan). In addition, he held various offices in numerous professional societies and was, for fourteen years, an honorary curator of gems at the American Museum of Natural History. Although Dr Kunz was offered the directorship of the U S National Museum in 1904, he declined the honor and remained with Tiffany and Company throughout his career. He died in 1932.
Gems and Precious Stones of North American went through two editions. The present volume is a reprint of the second edition (1892), which differed from the first in that it included an appendix which Kunz wrote to cover occurrences of North American gems not covered in the text of 1890. By the very nature of this book age cannot detract from its utility. The locations of precious stones which are described cannot have changed over the seventy five years since the book was originally published. In fact, the only major annotation one might make today is to note that Kunz defines the unit of weight used in the gem industry, the carat, as equal to 205 milligrams (pp.13-14), and that over the intervening years this has been redefined to be 200 milligrams exactly. Thus, when carat weights are mentioned in the text they should be adjusted slightly upward, by a factor of 1.025.
Most of the readers of this book will undoubtedly be gem and mineral collectors, lapidary hobbyists, and rock hounds seeking to ferret out old gem occurrences for future collecting trips. On the other hand, there will be those readers relatively uninitiated in the field of gems and minerals who will pick up this book with the thought of finding out something about gems and their history on this continent. The book will serve both groups of readers equally well, for although it was written primarily to document the numerous scattered and unrecorded gemstone occurrences on the North American continent, it stands also as the first and foremost history of the gem mining industry in America.
Dover Publications, Inc
1968 ISBN 0-486-21855-4
Edward Oslon (Curator of Mineralogy, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago) writes:
When the early Spanish explorers first entered the North American continent it was the overwhelming desire for precious stones and metals that lured them on. DeSoto, for example, trekked over the entire southeastern quarter of what is now the United States, led on by rumors and tales of fabulous gems and golden cities. He perished having found only a small quantity of freshwater pearls for his trouble. He was not the only one to die unrewarded; the bones of Spanish gold and jewel seekers littered the continent from California to North Carolina, from Central America to northern Kansas. A goodly amount of gold and silver was acquired in Mexico and Central America, and a few gemstones turned up now and then, but it rapidly became apparent that North America was not going to be a fabulous source for precious stones. Today, with the advantage of 400 years of hindsight, the dogged crisscrossing of the continent by these treasure hunters seems foolish to say the least. North America has been no Golconda.
Despite the fact that North America has produced only a handful of gemstones, in contrast to Africa, India, Ceylon, South America and parts of Europe and Asia Minor, which have all been rich sources, the old fever to find diamonds, rubies, emeralds and other stones has never fully abated. Every year Arkansas draws hundreds of diamond seekers; Wyoming attracts ruby and jade hunters; Minnesota and Iowa have their agate hunters; Maine and North Carolina their aquamarine prospectors, and so on.
Until 1890 occurrences of gemstones in North America were matters principally of local knowledge shared only a few avid collectors and specialists in the gem business. Then, in that year, George Frederick Kunz published the first edition of this book, Gems and Precious Stones of North America. It represented years of intimate experience with the gem industry in America as the mineralogical consultant to the largest and most important gem and jewelry house in the United States, Tiffany and Company of New York City. The book is something of a milestone, for it was the first to describe the locations of any and all gem occurrences on the North American continent. As such it is not a textbook or treatise on gemology but primarily a guide to the collector of precious and semi-precious stones; it tells where they occur and something of their history, archaeology and lore. It was, at that time, a unique treatment, but less than six years later a learned German mineralogist, Professor Max Bauer of the University of Marburg, published a major book, Edelsteinkunde (Precious Stones), which treated worldwide occurrences of gems in the manner Kunz had used for North America.
Since gemstones are fundamentally rock-forming minerals, they fall under the wing of the professional mineralogist, who unfortunately is primarily concerned with them as minerals, and too often in an abstruse and academic way that does not interest the gem fancier. This book, on the other hand, was written by a mineralogist whose professional concern was gem minerals only. Such specialists are not common. In fact, as a professional mineralogist on the staff of a company such as Tiffany, Dr Kunz was something of a rare bird. His predilection for minerals as gems is evident in this book.
Primarily the book serves as a source book for information on gem occurrences, and contains a wealth of specific facts about the quality, size and quantity of the rough gem material found in any particular place. For example, within three pages (140-142), twelve localities for ornamental petrified wood are discussed in detail.
Most gem localities in North America are, unfortunately, a one-time thing; one or a few stones of good quality are found, and that’s it. This continent has never had a major gem mining operation even remotely comparable to the Kimberly diamond district in Africa or the emerald mines at Muzo, Colombia. As Kunz himself pointed out (p.7) “The daily yield from the coal and iron mines would exceed in value all the precious stones found in the United States during a year.” Nevertheless, some districts have been fairly consistent producers of gem material, albeit not in large quantities. For these areas the book indicates production figures and the annual value of particular gem materials.
As one reads this book one becomes aware that its author was captivated by the legend, lore and superstition associated with precious stones. The story of Aztec turquoise (pp.62-64) and the history of New World pearls from Colombus’ first contact with them onward (pp.240 ff) are examples of the historical and archaeological vignettes interspersed in the text. The whole subject so fascinated Kunz that in later years he published three full length books that dealt primarily with folklore and superstition connected with gems: The Curious Lore of Precious Stones (1913), The Magic of Jewels and Charms (1915), and Rings for the Finger (1917).
Perhaps the most unique feature of the book is the intriguing description of pearls in the New World (Chapter XII). This section is a kind of book within the book, and certainly represents the most detailed compilation of information and history of the American pearl fishing industry up to that time. This particular topic deeply interested Kunz and in 1904 he and Charles H Stevenson published The Book of the Pearl. This was a definitive work on the subject, based on Kunz’s intimate knowledge both of pearls as mineralogical objects and the pearl fishing industry; from 1892 to 1899 he served as special commissioner on American pearls for the United States Fish Commissioner.
Besides the books already mentioned, Kunz published widely on a great variety of mineralogical and gemological matters, and even made occasional contributions to the subject of meteorites. He was a prodigious writer. In an active career of almost sixty years he wrote a total of 531 articles, papers, reports, books, etc. This averages out to between nine and ten publications per year. This tremendous output of written material was very probably the result of the same strong self-motivation that made Kunz the self-made man that he was.
George Kunz was born in New York City in 1856. After a public school education he attended the famous Cooper Union, but he never received a formal degree. It was at Cooper Union that he began to plan for a professional career. He once wrote about “the Cooper Union, in whose laboratories, lecture rooms and library (I spent) useful, profitable evening hours for several hours, at a time when there were no opportunities of a similar nature in the City of New York.”
Before Kunz went to high school he had begun collecting minerals in the New York-New Jersey area around the city. The (then) recent excavations in the Bergen Hill, New Jersey, are—the site of a large number of rare and attractive minerals—provided him with a fairly sophisticated collection, and by the time he was fourteen years old he had already begun an active series of exchanges with collectors both in the United States and abroad. These exchanges allowed him to put together a number of well-rounded mineral collections and before he was twenty years old he had sold a major collection to the University of Minnesota. In the following years he established his reputation a knowledgeable mineralogist by building and selling mineral collections to a number of institutions, colleges and individuals, including Amherst College, the New York State Museum in Albany, the Field Museum in Chicago, and Thomas A Edison. His reputation grew accordingly and he was only twenty four years old when he joined Tiffany and Company as their gem expert. By the time he had been with the company for twenty years he had visited most of the gem producing localities in the United States, Mexico, Russia, Asia and Australia. One result of these travels was the formation of two major gem collections which were purchased by the famous J P Morgan in New York City. Kunz became, in a sense, a modern-day Tavernier, searching the world of gems. It was largely through his efforts that Tiffany acquired the now famous 128.51 carat Tiffany diamond, which the company still owns today.
Over the years his fame as a gem expert spread and in 1898 he received a honorary M A degree from Colombia University. This was followed by an honorary Ph.D from the University of Marburg, Germany, in 1906, and honorary D.SC from Knox University in 1907. He also received decorations from several foreign governments: the Legion of Honor (France), the Order of St.Olaf (Norway), and the Order of the Rising Sun (Japan). In addition, he held various offices in numerous professional societies and was, for fourteen years, an honorary curator of gems at the American Museum of Natural History. Although Dr Kunz was offered the directorship of the U S National Museum in 1904, he declined the honor and remained with Tiffany and Company throughout his career. He died in 1932.
Gems and Precious Stones of North American went through two editions. The present volume is a reprint of the second edition (1892), which differed from the first in that it included an appendix which Kunz wrote to cover occurrences of North American gems not covered in the text of 1890. By the very nature of this book age cannot detract from its utility. The locations of precious stones which are described cannot have changed over the seventy five years since the book was originally published. In fact, the only major annotation one might make today is to note that Kunz defines the unit of weight used in the gem industry, the carat, as equal to 205 milligrams (pp.13-14), and that over the intervening years this has been redefined to be 200 milligrams exactly. Thus, when carat weights are mentioned in the text they should be adjusted slightly upward, by a factor of 1.025.
Most of the readers of this book will undoubtedly be gem and mineral collectors, lapidary hobbyists, and rock hounds seeking to ferret out old gem occurrences for future collecting trips. On the other hand, there will be those readers relatively uninitiated in the field of gems and minerals who will pick up this book with the thought of finding out something about gems and their history on this continent. The book will serve both groups of readers equally well, for although it was written primarily to document the numerous scattered and unrecorded gemstone occurrences on the North American continent, it stands also as the first and foremost history of the gem mining industry in America.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Laughlin
Lapidary Journal writes:
If you are looking for a gem, mineral, and jewelry show with all the amenities of a big city venue but with the low costs and laid back atmosphere of a smaller show, it’s hard to beat Laughlin, Nevada, a fast growing casino town 90 miles southeast of Las Vegas. Laughlin is a relative newcomer to the gem show circuit, but has already gained a reputation as one of the better spots to be.
All shows at Laughlin are wholesale/retail with free admission to the public. And with the exception of a show put on by the Gem & Lapidary Wholesalers, all the Clouds Jamboree events, sponsored by former Quartzsite show promoter Dick Cloud.
The main event is month-long show held outside the Avi Resort & Casino from January 7 through February 8. The other five shows are held indoors at the various hotels along Casino Drive, from January 14 through 30.
“When you go to Laughlin, you are not competing with a swap meet mentality. You are going to buy gems, minerals, and related supplies—things that have to do with the business,’ says Warron Big Eagle of Eagles Dream Co. Together with his wife Deb, Big Eagle displays gem rough and beads, as well as finished gems and silver jewelry at the Avi Resort at a booth set up outside their trailer.
“The Avi has one of the nicest, cleanest RV setups in the country,” says Big Eagle, a self-described ‘rocker’ who spends most of his time on the road. But he notes that those coming to visit the shows also have the opportunity to stay at one of the many hotels and resorts in town, with discounted rates for those attending the shows as members of the trade.
Many of the dealers who display at Laughlin—particularly at shows which end before February—go on to Tucson. “Laughlin is not a hurried show like Tucson. It’s more of a low-key, relaxed, spread-out affair,’ says dealer Ron Stanford of Precious Pebbles in Bullhead City, Arizona, just across the Colorado River from Laughlin.
“It’s also a lot cheaper for dealers to do, so you get a lot of the smaller dealers who have a wide variety of goods. You may not find a lot of the high-end merchandise that you would in Tucson, but you will find a lot of bargains on just about anything you can think of, from used lapidary equipment to beads, gemstones, finished jewelry, and gem rough. You will find a lot of rough rock there.”
Because so much of Laughlin’s economy centers on tourism, it seems that everything is done to accommodate show goers, including a shuttle service which takes visitors from one show to the next. With Vegas-like weather, a nearby airport, as well as gold courses, restaurants, and lively entertainment, it’s safe bet that Laughlin will continue to expand as a show venue.
“It just a real nice place,” says Big Eagle. “Because the Avi show goes on for so long, the vendors all get to know each other, and we will steer people in the right direction to find what they are looking for. They seem to work together rather than be overly competitive with one another, and they are trying to build the show.”
For more information, visit www.cloudsjamboree.com or call (866) 558-7719
Laughlin show schedule:
- Clouds Jamboree—Edgewater Hotel & Casino (January 14 – 23)
- Clouds Jamboree—Ramada Express Hotel & Casino (January 14 – 23)
- Clouds Jamboree—Don Laughlin’s Riverside Resort Hotel & Casino (January 14 – 30)
- G & LW—Flamingo Laughlin (January 21 – 23)
- Clouds Jamboree—AVI Casino (January 27 – February 6)
If you are looking for a gem, mineral, and jewelry show with all the amenities of a big city venue but with the low costs and laid back atmosphere of a smaller show, it’s hard to beat Laughlin, Nevada, a fast growing casino town 90 miles southeast of Las Vegas. Laughlin is a relative newcomer to the gem show circuit, but has already gained a reputation as one of the better spots to be.
All shows at Laughlin are wholesale/retail with free admission to the public. And with the exception of a show put on by the Gem & Lapidary Wholesalers, all the Clouds Jamboree events, sponsored by former Quartzsite show promoter Dick Cloud.
The main event is month-long show held outside the Avi Resort & Casino from January 7 through February 8. The other five shows are held indoors at the various hotels along Casino Drive, from January 14 through 30.
“When you go to Laughlin, you are not competing with a swap meet mentality. You are going to buy gems, minerals, and related supplies—things that have to do with the business,’ says Warron Big Eagle of Eagles Dream Co. Together with his wife Deb, Big Eagle displays gem rough and beads, as well as finished gems and silver jewelry at the Avi Resort at a booth set up outside their trailer.
“The Avi has one of the nicest, cleanest RV setups in the country,” says Big Eagle, a self-described ‘rocker’ who spends most of his time on the road. But he notes that those coming to visit the shows also have the opportunity to stay at one of the many hotels and resorts in town, with discounted rates for those attending the shows as members of the trade.
Many of the dealers who display at Laughlin—particularly at shows which end before February—go on to Tucson. “Laughlin is not a hurried show like Tucson. It’s more of a low-key, relaxed, spread-out affair,’ says dealer Ron Stanford of Precious Pebbles in Bullhead City, Arizona, just across the Colorado River from Laughlin.
“It’s also a lot cheaper for dealers to do, so you get a lot of the smaller dealers who have a wide variety of goods. You may not find a lot of the high-end merchandise that you would in Tucson, but you will find a lot of bargains on just about anything you can think of, from used lapidary equipment to beads, gemstones, finished jewelry, and gem rough. You will find a lot of rough rock there.”
Because so much of Laughlin’s economy centers on tourism, it seems that everything is done to accommodate show goers, including a shuttle service which takes visitors from one show to the next. With Vegas-like weather, a nearby airport, as well as gold courses, restaurants, and lively entertainment, it’s safe bet that Laughlin will continue to expand as a show venue.
“It just a real nice place,” says Big Eagle. “Because the Avi show goes on for so long, the vendors all get to know each other, and we will steer people in the right direction to find what they are looking for. They seem to work together rather than be overly competitive with one another, and they are trying to build the show.”
For more information, visit www.cloudsjamboree.com or call (866) 558-7719
Laughlin show schedule:
- Clouds Jamboree—Edgewater Hotel & Casino (January 14 – 23)
- Clouds Jamboree—Ramada Express Hotel & Casino (January 14 – 23)
- Clouds Jamboree—Don Laughlin’s Riverside Resort Hotel & Casino (January 14 – 30)
- G & LW—Flamingo Laughlin (January 21 – 23)
- Clouds Jamboree—AVI Casino (January 27 – February 6)
Special Effects
I love movies, because the concept enable the characters to simulate their natural talent with good acting and special effects. The reality is that in the movies a sound mixer combines all three elements of the film’s soundtrack: the dialogue, music and sound effects to create the voice of the film. In a way movies and colored gemstones are on the same wavelength. They are sensitive, attractive, and provides constant emotional stimulation--a lightswitch. A gem cutter combines size, shape, color, clarity and cut to create the voice of a colored gemstone. I would say 34% color, 33% clarity, and 33% cut—it’s life.
Citizen Kane
Memorable quote (s) from the movie:
Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles): You know, Mr. Bernstein, if I hadn't been very rich, I might have been a really great man.
Thatcher (George Coulouris): Don't you think you are?
Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles): I think I did pretty well under the circumstances.
Thatcher (George Coulouris): What would you like to have been?
Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles): Everything you hate.
Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles): You know, Mr. Bernstein, if I hadn't been very rich, I might have been a really great man.
Thatcher (George Coulouris): Don't you think you are?
Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles): I think I did pretty well under the circumstances.
Thatcher (George Coulouris): What would you like to have been?
Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles): Everything you hate.
The Jade Kingdom
By Paul E Desautels
Van Nostrand Reinhold Company Inc
1986 ISBN 0-442-21797-8
Van Nostrand Reinhold writes:
For more than 4000 years, jade has been a stone of legend and mystery, prized for its beauty and superiority as a hardstone carving material. The development of mineralogical and gemological knowledge of jade has been as fascinating as jade lore and history. Yet, until now, no book on jade has explored jade’s physical and chemical properties as well as the stone’s rich history. Instead, past literature has tended toward quick surveys of some of the more exotic carvings that have flowed, generation after generation, from the lapidary shops of China.
The Jade Kingdom is the first book to cover almost every aspect of jade—its occurrences worldwide, its mineralogy and geology, jade’s history, legend, and lore, the major cultures that have made use of it, and the techniques they have developed to master it. Specific areas covered include comparisons of true and false jades, the various methods of testing jade, from simple field tests to sophisticated laboratory analyses, and the known sources of jade, both ancient and modern.
The book also explores China’s centuries—old love of jade, discussing the origins and meanings of symbolic jade carvings as well as the clues to past Chinese culture, philosophy, and technology that are revealed by existing jade objects. The history of jade in the New World is surveyed as well, from the earliest Olmec times to the conquest of the Aztecs by Spanish adventurers. Other jade-using cultures covered in The Jade Kingdom include Europe, New Zealand, South-central Asia, India, Russia, and Japan. Dozens of photographs of nephrite and jadeite—the two main types of jade—as well as ancient and modern artifacts complete this handsome reference work.
Gemologists, collectors, anthropologists, archeologists, and jade dealers will welcome this first-time synthesis of new and old information about jade.
About the author
Paul E Desautels is the author of four other books—The Mineral Kingdom, The Gem Kingdom, Rocks and Minerals, and Gems in the Smithsonian—and has contributed many articles to such magazines as the Smithsonian, Mineralogical Record, Natural History, and American Mineralogist.
Van Nostrand Reinhold Company Inc
1986 ISBN 0-442-21797-8
Van Nostrand Reinhold writes:
For more than 4000 years, jade has been a stone of legend and mystery, prized for its beauty and superiority as a hardstone carving material. The development of mineralogical and gemological knowledge of jade has been as fascinating as jade lore and history. Yet, until now, no book on jade has explored jade’s physical and chemical properties as well as the stone’s rich history. Instead, past literature has tended toward quick surveys of some of the more exotic carvings that have flowed, generation after generation, from the lapidary shops of China.
The Jade Kingdom is the first book to cover almost every aspect of jade—its occurrences worldwide, its mineralogy and geology, jade’s history, legend, and lore, the major cultures that have made use of it, and the techniques they have developed to master it. Specific areas covered include comparisons of true and false jades, the various methods of testing jade, from simple field tests to sophisticated laboratory analyses, and the known sources of jade, both ancient and modern.
The book also explores China’s centuries—old love of jade, discussing the origins and meanings of symbolic jade carvings as well as the clues to past Chinese culture, philosophy, and technology that are revealed by existing jade objects. The history of jade in the New World is surveyed as well, from the earliest Olmec times to the conquest of the Aztecs by Spanish adventurers. Other jade-using cultures covered in The Jade Kingdom include Europe, New Zealand, South-central Asia, India, Russia, and Japan. Dozens of photographs of nephrite and jadeite—the two main types of jade—as well as ancient and modern artifacts complete this handsome reference work.
Gemologists, collectors, anthropologists, archeologists, and jade dealers will welcome this first-time synthesis of new and old information about jade.
About the author
Paul E Desautels is the author of four other books—The Mineral Kingdom, The Gem Kingdom, Rocks and Minerals, and Gems in the Smithsonian—and has contributed many articles to such magazines as the Smithsonian, Mineralogical Record, Natural History, and American Mineralogist.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)