Sabrina

Memorable quote (s) from the movie:

The Professor (Marcel Hillaire): Bonjour, mesdames et monsiuers. Yesterday we have learned the correct way how to boil water. Today we will learn the correct way how to crack an egg. Voila! An egg. Now, an egg is not a stone; it is not made of wood, it is a living thing. It has a heart. So when we crack it, we must not torment it. We must be merciful and execute it quickly, like with the guillotine.

How To Buy Colored Stones In Sri Lanka

The article written by Donald Couglin on gemstone buying experiences in Sri Lanka is true. It’s the same experience (s) at all gem producing countries in Asia, Africa, and South America. There are endless variations but the content (s) is pretty much the same. If you are not aware or properly trained it’s like two blind walking the street. In order to enjoy the experience (s) you need to have good knowledge on gemstone treatment, synthetics, imitations, assembled gemstones, local traditions, trading practices and good social skills + accumulated luck. You must find a way to become a likable person. It's hard to explain why people like or dislike you, but the concept can make a big difference in Asia, Africa and South America. Even with all the knowledge in the world you may not be able to buy gemstones effectively if the sellers dislike you for unknown reasons. Train yourself to learn the skill. It's an art.

Read on to learn more……..

Sri Lanka: A Gemstone Buyer’s Dream
(via The Canadian Gemmologist, volume XV, Spring, 1994, number 1) Donald Coughlin writes:

It is hard to imagine a more fascinating and interesting country for a gemstone enthusiast to visit. Whether the visitor is a lapidarist, gemologist, jeweler, or hobbyist, Sri Lanka has all one can ask for. This is a photographer’s paradise.

Sri Lanka, still fondly called Ceylon by many inhabitants, is an island lying off the southern tip of India. Filled with color, excitement, friendliness, folk lore and superstition, Sri Lanka is the Pearl of Southeast Asia. Languages are primarily Tamil and Sinhala; English is often spoken and understood in all major tourist areas. In gemstone mining areas, the man on the street knows little English, but tries hard. You should be patient when they misunderstand you.

Various reports claim much of the country’s surface has gemstone minerals beneath it. These are easy to believe, because there is no apparent sign of gem shortages despite centuries of mining.

Very little in Sri Lanka compares with the Western world, and that includes customs and traditions that are often directly related to Astrology. Every lunar month there is “Poya” day, a national Buddhist holiday when most businesses are closed.

Before a visit, I would strongly recommend that you read a guidebook to learn about climate, customs, tourism, etc.

Where, And When To Shop
There are hundreds of gemstone shops sprinkled throughout Sri Lanka. Some are elegant (luxury hotels and museums), while others may be small and unassuming. Normally one’s purse dictates which sort of shop to deal with.

Generally, gem dealers are courteous, friendly, and helpful. They rarely get offended when a customer walks out without buying. Apart from the shops, and a great deal more fun, are the street gemstone hawkers of Ratnapura and other mining towns.

Once you arrive at Ratnapura (Ratna means gems; pura means area), there are many things the visitor should be aware of before stepping into the unknown. The following information will help you:

What Instruments Do I Need?
When visiting a “Pola” (a street auction where all the action is), you will want to carry only a few gem testing instruments such as:

- 10x lens or loupe

- small diffraction grating spectroscope

- dichroscope

- tweezers

- sewing machine oil in a small dispenser; ideal for checking rough stones for asterism or chatoyancy

- Chelsea filter

- pen light; as strong as possible, with spare batteries

- a portable polariscope or 49-mm polarizing lens

- pocket sized calculator

Basic Rules For Shopping

Keep your sense of humor
This is most important and therefore heads the list. Sri Lankans enjoy a good laugh, and often local men laugh at you for no apparent reason. You should not take offence, and understand that they have a completely different mentality to yours and they do not mean to offend you. Whether laughing with you, or at you, try to take it in a good natured way.

The same thing works in reverse, you can laugh at them for whatever the reason, and they enjoy the joke. Depending on how you view it, this sort of laughter can be quite refreshing when compared with our often exaggerated western sensitivities.

Guard your money
Do not flash your money around. Carry only small bills and plenty of small change, and only the amount you intend to spend.

Keep calm
Do not let yourself lose your cool. These peddlers hound you to death, about 50 of them pressing in on all sides, and you must remain calm. Agitation only makes things worse, and there is a strong likelihood that poor judgment will result on your part. Just make it clear to them that they must back off or you will no longer discuss gemstones with them. Eventually they get the hint.

Know what you want
Decide in advance whether you will purchase cut stones, or rough. It is illegal to export rough stones from Sri Lanka. However, this should not prevent you buying some (particularly if you are a lapidarist and know a good stone when you see one). You can then take it to any established shop dealer who will be pleased to cut it for you at a low cost.

Bargain
Always bargain, even if a shopkeeper insists he has fixed, or unbeatable prices. I have yet to see a dealer let me walk out of his shop reconsidering his fixed rules. Many dealers in Sri Lanka, whether in first-class hotels or gemstone shops, have as much as 30% mark up on their gemstones. Up to 20% of that is for the touring guide or agent, while 10% may be tacked on for discount purposes. Foreigners often receive advice to refuse any purchase not accompanied by a discount. If you are unaccompanied, then you should deduct 30% and even more to set a bargaining plateau.

Buyer beware
When you have agreed upon a price, you cannot, ever, change your mind. To change your mind after you have made a fixed offer is unethical, and not playing the game. If this happens (and it did to me), you will find many stern and angry faces closing in—quite frightening to uninitiated. Don’t worry, they will never hurt you and are teaching you a lesson, but your popularity has dropped considerably.

Agreeing on a price
The hawker is offering his blue sapphire (cut or rough) for the bargain price of 12000 rupees. You like the stone, so you may feel you should start bargaining at 4000. Watch it. You will feel ill should the dealer immediately accept that figure. The streetwise shoppers offer under 4000. This leaves the door open, and if the seller agrees, then you start working on a lower figure.

The Sinhalese way of indicating yes
Many foreigners are confused when the seller shakes his head in a curious wobbling manner much as we indicate no in Western countries. This delightful and unusual mannerism means yes in Sri Lanka. When I first experienced this peculiarity, I raised the price under the assumption I had made too low an offer. The laughter among the hawkers was sure sign that I was not the first to make this mistake.

Synthetics and imitations
If the price seems too low for such a high quality stone, it is likely the stone is synthetic. Test it if you the necessary instruments, or refuse it. Because of greed and excitement one can become incredibly stupid. For example, you think you have spotted a rare stone and in haste to get away and admire the steal you throw commonsense to the wind. Sad to say, you forget to check the stone; and sadder still, you may even forget to bargain. I know from experience.

I sometimes buy synthetics and imitations for study purposes, but only for the price of cutting. When you spot a desirable specimen, you can offer possibly rupees 50-100 per carat. Pit glasses are attractive and worth collecting.

Bear in mind
More often than not, local gemstone dealers (as in most other countries) know little about gemology. This is a great advantage to the intrepid buyer trained in identification techniques. It is shocking to see how many honest dealers unknowingly peddle synthetic stones.

One dealer situated in a five star hotel, claimed he had to certified rare stones (ekanite and taaffeite) for sale. I checked and found the certificates did not match the stones in question—even the colors were wrong. I brought my portable refractometer and showed him that he had a diopside and a normal blue spinel. He was the victim of a switch deal.

Rare stones
When you spot a rare stone, and obviously the seller is not aware of it, but it. Do not let your conscience bother you too much in this grey area. Dealers are businessmen, and it is obvious that their consciences are at rest when they grossly inflate their prices on the unaware tourist. You can make an excellent purchase, e.g. a beautiful spessartite garnet as a hessonite for only a couple of dollars, or a very rare taaffeite represented as a blue spinel for a similar amount.

Things are not always what they appear to be: For example, local descriptions of gemstones differ from textbooks. A tourmaline parcel is a stone paper filled with a mixed variety of stones with few (if any) tourmalines in it. Many peddlers call colored stones tourmaline, and the inexperienced buyer often believes these are all different shades of that variety. Normally these parcels consist of green metamict zircon, almandine and hessonite garnets, spinel, diopside, quartz varieties, and glasses. However on occasion a sharp eye will spot the odd chrysoberyl and rare stones such as sinhalite, kornerupine, taaffeite, ekanite, etc.

Quartz varieties (smoky, citrine, and rock crystal) are called topaz (in English). The dealers are not intentionally misleading you (though such a possibility exists), but to them topaz is English for quartz.

Have your stone certified
If a gemstone is expensive and you doubt its authenticity, insist that you want the stone certified by the State Gem Corporation of Sri Lanka (free of charge without certificate, minimal charge with one), or other qualified agency, before you make full payment. The street hawkers usually work for a mine or shop owner, so are probably paid on a commission basis. Some may be pit workers who manage to find sapphires and rubies while out jogging, or perhaps the stones fell off a truck.

Insist that your man take you to his master, or bring him to you, and request the necessary certification. This applies to shop dealers and street hawkers alike, but only for expensive stones. The dealer will deliver both stone and certificate to your hotel room if he is sincere. Should the stone turn out to be synthetic, you may not see the dealer again unless he has an alternative stone of equal value on hand. (I understand the Gem Corporation will destroy the synthetic—much to the dealer’s dismay).

Cutting
Pay close attention to the cut of a stone. Sri Lanka has excellent lapidarists, but unfortunately many intentionally turn out poorly cut stones to gain maximum weight and/ or color. Star stones and cat’s eyes are usually cut with crown showing excellent asterism/chatoyancy, but with the base left rough and uneven.

Do not disregard badly cut stones, but bargain hard and have them recut. Take into account the number of carats you may lose and of course the cost per carat. You can double or triple the value of most stones by recutting.

Sri Lanka must be one of the most exciting countries in the world for gemstone enthusiasts, and the above is only an enticing morsel of the great gemstone experience. Sri Lankan tourism is priceless and must be taken advantage of. The sights, natural beauty, are unparalleled (and I have 38 years of travel behind me for comparison).

Harshad R Mehta + Rosy Blue

Here is an inspiring profile of Harshad R Mehta and Rosy Blue, from modest business to one of the biggest diamond companies in the world. In the trade circle he is also known as the Diamond King.

Read on to learn more about Harshad Mehta @ http://archive.gulfnews.com/friday/People/10107947.html

It was educational + the rise to top is a good learning curve for beginners in the industry—Understanding Diamond Business 101 to Advanced.

The Lizzadro Collection

By Miriam Anderson Lytle
John Racila Associates, Inc
1982 Library of Congress Catalog number: 82-099930

John Racila Associates writes:

Climb to the mountain retreat of an ancient Buddhist monk. Peer into this Chinese hermit’s cave; observe him in his solitude and contemplation.

View a Chinese goddess—elegant and regal—yet beneficent, warm, welcoming; bestowing blessings on all who revere her.

Closely examine the sinuous rhythmically flowing form of a pair of graceful cranes captured forever in gray-green jadeite.

Marvel at the sight of a ceremonial dish hand carved from stone as thin and translucent as the finest porcelain.

The Lizzadro collection is wonderfully complete representation of the complex art form that is hard stone carving. This book is a presentation that reveals the beauty and symbolism of many fine Chinese carvings, as well as the magnificent utilization of the natural coloring and pattern in the materials used. The pieces selected well represent the amazing skill and creativity of many generations of Chinese artisans.

Through close up photography and enlarged views, this book brings into sharp focus subtle details that may take many hours of careful observation to reveal. The text instills the reader with a sense of the romance, poetic soul and heritage of Chinese culture, and gives knowledge of its great contribution to history. The breathtaking photographs and informative text are full of inspiration for the art connoisseur, the lapidary, the geologist, the engraver, the student of China, or any person interested in gaining an understanding of this intricate art form.

This book further serves as a celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the museum that houses the phenomenal Lizzadro collection. Located in Elmhurst, Illinois, the Lizzadro Museum came into being out of the late Joseph Lizzadro’s philanthropic desire to share his appreciation of this special art form. This legacy continues to this day under the guidance of John S Lizzadro, director, and the help of the family whose hope is ‘to share with others our enjoyment of the eternal beauty in gemstones and our appreciation of the art with which man has complemented the work of nature’.

Diamond Cutting

Here is a comparison of some cutting times for round and fancy diamond shapes:

Round brilliant: 2-4 hours

Oval shape: 8-10 hours

Marquise shape: 12 hours

Emerald shape: 14-16 hours

Fatal Rapid Sight Gemstone Buying Syndrome

When you spend more than you can afford to lose….That’s Fatal Rapid Sight Gemstone Buying Syndrome. Most people go overseas with the fantasy of buying a beautiful gem / jewel at a bargain price. But the fact of the matter is you are buying gemstones / jewelry about which you know next to nothing for lot of money from a stranger thousands of miles from home who comes from a culture with a long tradition of trading. Who has the advantage? Do you know about treatments, synthetics, imitations, assembled gems? Do you really know how to identify them? Not really. I would like to use a catchphrase from Malcolm Gladwell to highlight the experience: Momentary Autism. It's really amazing. It happens.

Double Indemnity

Memorable quote (s) from the movie:

Barton Keyes (Edward G Robinson): You know, you, uh, oughta take a look at the statistics on suicide some time. You might learn a little something about the insurance business.

Edward S. Norton (Richard Gaines): Mister Keyes, I was raised in the insurance business.

Barton Keyes (Edward G Robinson): Yeah, in the front office. Come now, you've never read an actuarial table in your life, have you? Why they've got ten volumes on suicide alone. Suicide by race, by color, by occupation, by sex, by seasons of the year, by time of day. Suicide, how committed: by poison, by firearms, by drowning, by leaps. Suicide by poison, subdivided by types of poison, such as corrosive, irritant, systemic, gaseous, narcotic, alkaloid, protein, and so forth. Suicide by leaps, subdivided by leaps from high places, under the wheels of trains, under the wheels of trucks, under the feet of horses, from steamboats. But, Mr. Norton: Of all the cases on record, there's not one single case of suicide by leap from the rear end of a moving train. And you know how fast that train was going at the point where the body was found? Fifteen miles an hour. Now how can anybody jump off a slow-moving train like that with any kind of expectation that he would kill himself? No, no soap, Mr. Norton. We're sunk, and we'll have to pay through the nose, and you know it.

Chinese Jades From Han To Ch’ing

By James C Y Watt
The Asia Society, Inc
1980 ISBN 0-87848-057-9

The Asia Society writes:

According to Chinese reckoning there are five colors of jade: red, yellow, white, black and green. A traditional description specifies the best colors as red as a coxwomb, yellow as steamed chestnuts, white as congealed fat, black as lacquer.

In China, jade has always had powerful ritual and symbolic significance. From the earliest times jade carvings were placed in tombs to serve as protective talismans, and Confucian scholars later attributed to the stone all the virtues of the ideal man in an ideal state. But the Chinese have been equally attracted by the physical properties of this tough, lustrous stone, giving to many small pieces the name as ‘pa wan’, hold and enjoy.

The jades assembled here, dating from the second century B.C to the nineteenth century A.D, exemplify some of the highest achievements of the jade carver’s art, and also highlight the problems that beset scholars and collectors who study these objects. Although much has been written on the archaic jades of the Shang and Chou dynasties (1523-256 B.C), the jades of later periods have received comparatively little attention. For the most part these pieces are heirlooms, passed from generation to generation and collector to collector. Archaeological finds and historical records have provided a few clues, but questions of dating, evolution of style, and the use and significance of particular pieces are often exceedingly difficult to answer.

In this volume James Watt explores specific areas in the later history of Chinese jades. He has selected certain ‘themes’, such as the evolution of the animal style or the taste of a small group of scholar gentry, and draws on recent archaeological discoveries, comparisons with other decorative arts, and traditional methods of connoisseurship to place these objects in their proper context. Over 200 examples from distinguished collections in Hong Kong and the United States are illustrated (11 in full color) and discussed in detail.

A specialist in Chinese Art, James Watt is the foremost authority on jades of the Han and succeeding dynasties.