Science daily writes:
Researchers at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, D.C. have produced 10-carat, half-inch thick single-crystal diamonds at rapid growth rates (100 micrometers per hour) using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. The size is approximately five times that of commercially available diamonds produced by the standard high-pressure/high-temperature (HPHT) method and other CVD techniques.
In addition, the team has made colorless single-crystal diamonds, transparent from the ultraviolet to infrared wavelengths with their CVD process. Most HPHT synthetic diamond is yellow and most CVD diamond is brown, limiting their optical applications. Colorless diamonds are costly to produce and so far those reported are small. This limits general applications of these diamonds as gems, in optics, and in scientific research. Last year, the Carnegie researchers found that HPHT annealing enhances not only the optical properties of some CVD diamond, but also the hardness. Using new techniques, the Carnegie scientists have now produced transparent diamond using a CVD method without HPHT annealing.
"High-quality crystals more than three carats are very difficult to produce using the conventional approach," said scientist Russell Hemley, who leads the diamond effort at Carnegie. "Several groups have begun to grow diamond single crystals by CVD, but large, colorless, and flawless ones remain a challenge. Our fabrication of 10-carat, half-inch, CVD diamonds is a major breakthrough."
The results were reported at the 10th International Conference on New Diamond Science and Technology, Tsukuba, Japan, on May 12, 2005, and will be reported at the Applied Diamond Congress in Argonne, Ill., May 18, 2005.
"The rapid synthesis of large, single-crystal diamond is a remarkable scientific achievement, and has implications for a wide range of scientific and commercial applications," said David Lambert, program director in the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s earth sciences division, which funded the research.
To further increase the size of the crystals, the Carnegie researchers grew gem-quality diamonds sequentially on the six faces of a substrate diamond plate with the CVD process. By this method, three-dimensional growth of colorless single-crystal diamond in the inch-range is achievable.
Finally, new shapes have been fabricated with the blocks of the CVD single crystals. The standard growth rate is 100 micrometers per hour for the Carnegie process, but growth rates in excess of 300 micrometers per hour have been reached, and 1 millimeter per hour may be possible. With the colorless diamond produced at ever higher growth rate and low cost, large blocks of diamond should be available for a variety of applications.
"The diamond age is upon us," said Hemley.
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by National Science Foundation.
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/05/050527105139.htm
Thursday, May 03, 2007
A Bright Idea For Diamond Miners
(via Gemmology Queensland, Vol.8, Issue 3, March 2007)
A Queensland company is putting more sparkle into the world’s diamond industry with a new device which helps miners recover more the precious stones. Miners normally sift through many tones of ore in order to find small number of diamonds.
Brisbane’s Partition Enterprises is developing a new generation of density and fluorescent tracers which makes finding the stones in the ore much easier. Dr Chris Wood, founder and chief executive of Partition Enterprises, explains than an enormous amount of waste ore has to be processes in the search for diamonds. The processing plants are adjusted to do this by controlling the density and precision of the separation, and that’s what density tracers are used for.
Density tracers, usually small cubes, have carefully controlled densities to mimic the composition of the valuable material the miner wants to recover, as well as waste. Diamonds, for instance, are of much higher density than the waste in which they are found. Density tracers are added to the ore that’s fed into the separator and, after checking which densities reported to diamond concentrate and which to waste, the separation characteristics can be calculated.
If need be, the machinery can then be adjusted to achieve optimal performance. “The alternative is to assess performance by taking large samples from the plant and subjecting them to exhaustive laboratory analyses using toxic liquids,” Dr Wood says.
“Typically these procedures take weeks to generate data. And those data are less reliable than a density tracer test, which can be completed in an hour.” But even after subjecting diamond-bearing material to density separation, the concentration of diamonds is still very low. So fluorescent tracers, which make use of the fact that diamonds glow blue when irradiated with X-rays, are used.
Partition Enterprises’ new tracers glow in the same way and they help calibrate X-ray diamond sorters to minimize any loss of the precious stones. Dr Wood believe his company, which he and colleagues at the Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Center in Brisbane began to supply density tracers for the coal industry in 1980, is the world’s major supplier of these devices.
Source: http://www.smartstate.qld.gov.au/
A Queensland company is putting more sparkle into the world’s diamond industry with a new device which helps miners recover more the precious stones. Miners normally sift through many tones of ore in order to find small number of diamonds.
Brisbane’s Partition Enterprises is developing a new generation of density and fluorescent tracers which makes finding the stones in the ore much easier. Dr Chris Wood, founder and chief executive of Partition Enterprises, explains than an enormous amount of waste ore has to be processes in the search for diamonds. The processing plants are adjusted to do this by controlling the density and precision of the separation, and that’s what density tracers are used for.
Density tracers, usually small cubes, have carefully controlled densities to mimic the composition of the valuable material the miner wants to recover, as well as waste. Diamonds, for instance, are of much higher density than the waste in which they are found. Density tracers are added to the ore that’s fed into the separator and, after checking which densities reported to diamond concentrate and which to waste, the separation characteristics can be calculated.
If need be, the machinery can then be adjusted to achieve optimal performance. “The alternative is to assess performance by taking large samples from the plant and subjecting them to exhaustive laboratory analyses using toxic liquids,” Dr Wood says.
“Typically these procedures take weeks to generate data. And those data are less reliable than a density tracer test, which can be completed in an hour.” But even after subjecting diamond-bearing material to density separation, the concentration of diamonds is still very low. So fluorescent tracers, which make use of the fact that diamonds glow blue when irradiated with X-rays, are used.
Partition Enterprises’ new tracers glow in the same way and they help calibrate X-ray diamond sorters to minimize any loss of the precious stones. Dr Wood believe his company, which he and colleagues at the Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Center in Brisbane began to supply density tracers for the coal industry in 1980, is the world’s major supplier of these devices.
Source: http://www.smartstate.qld.gov.au/
Diamond Grading Harmonization—New Standards
(via Gem & Jewellery News, Vol. 11, No.4 September 2002) Harry Levy writes:
The International Standards Organization (ISO) papers on diamond grading harmonization have at last been published and been sent to the participating countries to be voted on.
If the vote is passed it means that the world will have an ISO standard for grading diamonds. If it is not passed, then the working group will have to reconvene and it is doubtful if another paper will be published in the near future. It has taken over fifteen years to have reached this stage. Some of those who were involved in the writing of these papers have indicated they will vote against it. How has this state of affairs arisen and how will it affect diamond grading and the diamond trade and all those involved in selling grading certificates with their stones?
Terms for color
Diamonds have been graded for many years for color and clarity. Initially descriptive terms for color, sometimes based on geographical locations, were used. For example, we had ‘white’, ‘tinted’, ‘cape’, ‘wesselton’, ‘river’, ‘light brown’ stones and so on. There was usually local understanding of these terms and how they would be used, but there were no universal agreements. So partners in a firm, local dealers belonging to a diamond bourse or those traveling to, say, South Africa, would understand what a ‘cape series’ was, but this was very much an esoteric language. ‘White’ meant different things to different dealers, and one could rarely buy on the seller’s description only, one had to see the stone. The prominent systems to be used were the ones used in South Africa as a producing country, and consisted of terms ‘wesselton, ‘crystal’, and ‘cape’, with words such as ‘top’ added as a prefix. End users adopted and modified such systems and the above terminology was incorporated into the Scan D N grading system.
A further system was introduced top make the language less esoteric and terms such as ‘white’, ‘tinted’, and ‘brown’ were used with prefixes such as ‘exceptional’, ‘rare’, ‘slightly’ and ‘top’ being used. As an aside, stones sold as ‘blue white’ and ‘premier’ are now referred to as those that have fluorescence.
GIA system
In all its confusion an attempt was made by the GIA to introduce a grading system which was more objective than the subjective methods used. They picked on a certain number of stones of different shades, graded these by comparing them to each other ranging from the purest white (or, more accurately, colorlessness) to shades of pale yellow, gave letters to these stones and referred to them as ‘Master Stones’. They called the highest grade a D color, and graded the rest down using E, F, G and so on. There was a perceivable shade of color between adjacent stones in this series. Thus, a stone which looked more colorless than a G but less colorless than an F, was referred to as an F color.
The letter D was taken to be the best color and this was done, according to the late Richard Liddicoat (for many years Chairman of the GIA), to void confusion with letters already in use such as A, B and C. The systems using these letters had been further modified by using A+, A++, AA, AAA, and so on. D was the failure grade in American schools and as an ‘in joke’ and, on the assumption that D had never been used to denote a color grade, they made this the top color. The trade and public found this to a far less confusing system—they knew the lower the letter the lower was the color.
Clarity terms
On the clarity grading terms such as ‘loupe clean’, ‘very very small inclusions’ (VVS), ‘very small inclusions’ (VS), ‘small inclusions’ (SI), were used and these too were easy to understand. With such a system in place investors discovered diamond as something worth putting their money into and so started the investment market and soon prices began to rise in leaps and bounds. Everyone wanted graded stones and certified diamonds and diamond reports appeared all over the place, with the result that the grading in some of the labs became less and less consistent.
Dangers for the trade
Bodies such as CIBJO saw the danger in this for the trade and tried to introduce some sort of control. They did this recognizing only a certain number of laboratories, the general rule being one per country and preferably recognized by national associations. They too introduced a system of grading diamonds using terms such as ‘white’ and ‘tinted’ as explained above. They had their own set of Master Stones for color grading. It was known that they had been co-operating with the GIA but it was unclear as to how the Master Stones had been obtained. The system they adopted was to give a chart linking their stones to the GIA system, thus ‘exceptional white +’ was D, ‘rare white’ a G and so on.
The main laboratory in Antwerp was the HRD and they too had evolved their own system again using descriptive terms such as ‘white’ with their own sets of master stones. They became the main laboratory in Antwerp serving the diamond industry there through the International Diamond Council (IDC).
Thus in the mid-eighties we had several acceptable systems in operation and the diamond trade, through the encouragement of groups such as the Diamond Trading Company, thought that all those systems should be harmonized. In this way the now international diamond trade would become truly international with all countries speaking the same language in grading diamonds.
ISO Standard drafted
The main groups got together and decided to draw up an ISO Standard. These groups were the GIA, IDC, CIBJO and Scan DN. The standard was to be drafted in two parts, Part 1 to deal with Terminology and Classification. This defined how terms such as those referring to the type of inclusions within a diamond should be used and the color grades, as well as defining different shapes of diamonds. This was ISO/FDIS 11211-1. Part 2 would deal with Test Methods, explaining under what conditions color should be determined, how various measurements would be made and how these would be shown on a report. The points here are of course more numerous than I am stating in this article, but the combined papers should enable a laboratory to grade and produce a report on a diamond and all those using the Standard would produce more or less identical reports.
It was around the time of completion of Part 1 that one of the main participants decided to drop out. This was the GIA. As one who was not involved with the actual working group it is difficult to know exactly why this occurred. Maybe the GIA, considering themselves leaders in the field of diamond grading could see no point in giving their system away to be used by everyone as it was possible that many laboratories using GIA terminology would not necessarily grade to their standards.
Importance of cut
This left Scan DN, CIBJO and IDC in the working group. As I have often said in these articles there is far more in determining the price of a diamond than merely color and clarity. In considering the 4 Cs—carat, clarity, color and cut—most people forget about the cut and it is this that gives the stone its beauty. All grading reports indicate the size of the table and the depth of a stone as a percentage of its width or diameter, but it takes an expert to interpret this.
The IDC indicates the depths of the crown and the pavilion separately and then gives a comment on the proportions of the stones using terms such as ‘good’, ‘very good’ and ‘unusual’. The GIA does not give these comments on proportion but makes general judgments on the symmetry of a stone. This difference led to a compromise being reached two years ago that a proportion comment would be optional.
When the papers were finally published and circulated the IDC claimed that they had understood that proportion comment would be mandatory on all grading reports.
If the IDC wishes are accepted then there are those who feel that the GIA system would fall short of the Standard in that they do not comment on proportion. There are also those countries who have used the GIA system over the years and would not like to see s Standard that somewhat denigrates the system they have used for years and could confuse their public. At the time of writing the vote has not been completed so the result is awaited with interest.
The International Standards Organization (ISO) papers on diamond grading harmonization have at last been published and been sent to the participating countries to be voted on.
If the vote is passed it means that the world will have an ISO standard for grading diamonds. If it is not passed, then the working group will have to reconvene and it is doubtful if another paper will be published in the near future. It has taken over fifteen years to have reached this stage. Some of those who were involved in the writing of these papers have indicated they will vote against it. How has this state of affairs arisen and how will it affect diamond grading and the diamond trade and all those involved in selling grading certificates with their stones?
Terms for color
Diamonds have been graded for many years for color and clarity. Initially descriptive terms for color, sometimes based on geographical locations, were used. For example, we had ‘white’, ‘tinted’, ‘cape’, ‘wesselton’, ‘river’, ‘light brown’ stones and so on. There was usually local understanding of these terms and how they would be used, but there were no universal agreements. So partners in a firm, local dealers belonging to a diamond bourse or those traveling to, say, South Africa, would understand what a ‘cape series’ was, but this was very much an esoteric language. ‘White’ meant different things to different dealers, and one could rarely buy on the seller’s description only, one had to see the stone. The prominent systems to be used were the ones used in South Africa as a producing country, and consisted of terms ‘wesselton, ‘crystal’, and ‘cape’, with words such as ‘top’ added as a prefix. End users adopted and modified such systems and the above terminology was incorporated into the Scan D N grading system.
A further system was introduced top make the language less esoteric and terms such as ‘white’, ‘tinted’, and ‘brown’ were used with prefixes such as ‘exceptional’, ‘rare’, ‘slightly’ and ‘top’ being used. As an aside, stones sold as ‘blue white’ and ‘premier’ are now referred to as those that have fluorescence.
GIA system
In all its confusion an attempt was made by the GIA to introduce a grading system which was more objective than the subjective methods used. They picked on a certain number of stones of different shades, graded these by comparing them to each other ranging from the purest white (or, more accurately, colorlessness) to shades of pale yellow, gave letters to these stones and referred to them as ‘Master Stones’. They called the highest grade a D color, and graded the rest down using E, F, G and so on. There was a perceivable shade of color between adjacent stones in this series. Thus, a stone which looked more colorless than a G but less colorless than an F, was referred to as an F color.
The letter D was taken to be the best color and this was done, according to the late Richard Liddicoat (for many years Chairman of the GIA), to void confusion with letters already in use such as A, B and C. The systems using these letters had been further modified by using A+, A++, AA, AAA, and so on. D was the failure grade in American schools and as an ‘in joke’ and, on the assumption that D had never been used to denote a color grade, they made this the top color. The trade and public found this to a far less confusing system—they knew the lower the letter the lower was the color.
Clarity terms
On the clarity grading terms such as ‘loupe clean’, ‘very very small inclusions’ (VVS), ‘very small inclusions’ (VS), ‘small inclusions’ (SI), were used and these too were easy to understand. With such a system in place investors discovered diamond as something worth putting their money into and so started the investment market and soon prices began to rise in leaps and bounds. Everyone wanted graded stones and certified diamonds and diamond reports appeared all over the place, with the result that the grading in some of the labs became less and less consistent.
Dangers for the trade
Bodies such as CIBJO saw the danger in this for the trade and tried to introduce some sort of control. They did this recognizing only a certain number of laboratories, the general rule being one per country and preferably recognized by national associations. They too introduced a system of grading diamonds using terms such as ‘white’ and ‘tinted’ as explained above. They had their own set of Master Stones for color grading. It was known that they had been co-operating with the GIA but it was unclear as to how the Master Stones had been obtained. The system they adopted was to give a chart linking their stones to the GIA system, thus ‘exceptional white +’ was D, ‘rare white’ a G and so on.
The main laboratory in Antwerp was the HRD and they too had evolved their own system again using descriptive terms such as ‘white’ with their own sets of master stones. They became the main laboratory in Antwerp serving the diamond industry there through the International Diamond Council (IDC).
Thus in the mid-eighties we had several acceptable systems in operation and the diamond trade, through the encouragement of groups such as the Diamond Trading Company, thought that all those systems should be harmonized. In this way the now international diamond trade would become truly international with all countries speaking the same language in grading diamonds.
ISO Standard drafted
The main groups got together and decided to draw up an ISO Standard. These groups were the GIA, IDC, CIBJO and Scan DN. The standard was to be drafted in two parts, Part 1 to deal with Terminology and Classification. This defined how terms such as those referring to the type of inclusions within a diamond should be used and the color grades, as well as defining different shapes of diamonds. This was ISO/FDIS 11211-1. Part 2 would deal with Test Methods, explaining under what conditions color should be determined, how various measurements would be made and how these would be shown on a report. The points here are of course more numerous than I am stating in this article, but the combined papers should enable a laboratory to grade and produce a report on a diamond and all those using the Standard would produce more or less identical reports.
It was around the time of completion of Part 1 that one of the main participants decided to drop out. This was the GIA. As one who was not involved with the actual working group it is difficult to know exactly why this occurred. Maybe the GIA, considering themselves leaders in the field of diamond grading could see no point in giving their system away to be used by everyone as it was possible that many laboratories using GIA terminology would not necessarily grade to their standards.
Importance of cut
This left Scan DN, CIBJO and IDC in the working group. As I have often said in these articles there is far more in determining the price of a diamond than merely color and clarity. In considering the 4 Cs—carat, clarity, color and cut—most people forget about the cut and it is this that gives the stone its beauty. All grading reports indicate the size of the table and the depth of a stone as a percentage of its width or diameter, but it takes an expert to interpret this.
The IDC indicates the depths of the crown and the pavilion separately and then gives a comment on the proportions of the stones using terms such as ‘good’, ‘very good’ and ‘unusual’. The GIA does not give these comments on proportion but makes general judgments on the symmetry of a stone. This difference led to a compromise being reached two years ago that a proportion comment would be optional.
When the papers were finally published and circulated the IDC claimed that they had understood that proportion comment would be mandatory on all grading reports.
If the IDC wishes are accepted then there are those who feel that the GIA system would fall short of the Standard in that they do not comment on proportion. There are also those countries who have used the GIA system over the years and would not like to see s Standard that somewhat denigrates the system they have used for years and could confuse their public. At the time of writing the vote has not been completed so the result is awaited with interest.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Red And Green Labradorite Feldspar From Congo
The red and green colors in labradorites from Congo are due to copper and the differences in color are due to the presence of tiny copper colloids of different size. On the market, the red and green stones from Congo have been offered as red andesine.
A Treatment Study Of Brazilian Garnets
(via The Journal of Gemmology, Vol 29, No.4, October 2004) Sigrid G Eeckhout, Antonio C S Sabioni and Ana Claudia M Ferreira writes:
Over the past decade, there has been noticeable growth in interest in colored stones worldwide, which has led to an increase in gem exploration, production and marketing. Since garnet displays a very large variety of colors, it deserves further attention. Although reports on enhanced gemstones are widespread in the gemological literature, very few studies have been performed on the enhancements of garnets. We report the first systematic, scientific treatment study on Brazilian garnets from known geological localities, including thermal and diffusion treatment. Iron-containing species become opaque and producer ‘silvery skin’. Light yellow grossular turns to orange similar to that of imperial topaz. Other garnet varieties have stable colors, confirming the absence of color centers. A preliminary diffusion treatment of some rough grossular has produced attractive green and orange stones. Since orange gemstones are becoming increasingly popular and since the diffusion treated green grossulars resemble some emeralds in color, they may be of economic importance in the future if quantities are confirmed to justify commercial mining.
Over the past decade, there has been noticeable growth in interest in colored stones worldwide, which has led to an increase in gem exploration, production and marketing. Since garnet displays a very large variety of colors, it deserves further attention. Although reports on enhanced gemstones are widespread in the gemological literature, very few studies have been performed on the enhancements of garnets. We report the first systematic, scientific treatment study on Brazilian garnets from known geological localities, including thermal and diffusion treatment. Iron-containing species become opaque and producer ‘silvery skin’. Light yellow grossular turns to orange similar to that of imperial topaz. Other garnet varieties have stable colors, confirming the absence of color centers. A preliminary diffusion treatment of some rough grossular has produced attractive green and orange stones. Since orange gemstones are becoming increasingly popular and since the diffusion treated green grossulars resemble some emeralds in color, they may be of economic importance in the future if quantities are confirmed to justify commercial mining.
Treated Stones—Retailers In The Front Line
(via Gem & Jewellery News, Vol.7, No.1, December 1997) Harry Levy writes:
The ulcer that has been plaguing our trade has flared yet again. You will recall the recent story about the jeweler in the United States who sold filled diamonds without declaring the process to his customers. That story ended tragedy with the jeweler in question taking his own life. One must emphasize that the filling of diamonds is one of the few treatments that is recognized by all sections of the trade to be declarable.
Another case has now occurred in the USA, this time over the fissure filling of an emerald and again the retail purchaser was reportedly not told of the treatment. It is difficult to work out exactly what has happened in this case as the reports one reads in the trade press do not tell the same story. Briefly, as I understand it, an emerald was sold for $14000 and has ended up costing the seller nearly $400000 in compensation and fines.
The case occurred in Washington DC. An emerald ring was sold, and after several months was taken to a jeweler for some alterations and the emerald was damaged in the process. The jeweler informed the owner that the emerald had been filled with Opticon resin and heating had caused the damage. The original sellers claimed that the emerald they sold had not been so treated and if Opticon was now present it had not been put there by them and must have been introduced into the stone after they had sold it.
The owner sued the seller and others including the appraiser (the valuer) and the insurance company. The case was heard in front of a jury and in spite of trade testimony as to the present ambiguity about disclosure of resin filling of emeralds in the trade, the jury found in favor of the owner. The jeweler was found guilty on a number of counts including Breach of Warranties, Unlawful Trade Practice and Outrageous Trade Practice. The consumer was awarded treble damages in the amount of $78000 and, with legal costs, the total amounted to $400000. At the time of writing an appeal against judgments has been lodged.
Total disclosure?
Those who have advocated ‘total disclosure’ over the years can now say ‘We told you so’. Disclose everything and sleep at nights.
Unfortunately it is not that simple, as I have tried to point out in previous articles, because it is often difficult to detect some treatments. Stones have been treated from the time that they were first used as ornaments and objects of value. Oiling, waxing, bleaching, heating and burning are all treatments, and even cutting and polishing can be considered a treatment. And when one cuts and polishes for example an emerald, oil is used and if the stone has open fissures some of this oil will penetrate the stone.
When the trade began to organize itself through bodies such as CIBJO and the Diamond Bourses, they tried to lay down guidelines as to what treatments should be disclosed. Some treatments had long been applied to certain stones and those early legislators introduced the concept of ‘accepted trade practice.’ As new processes come about the trade initially tries to slot them in to the existing rules and if it cannot do this then new rules were made.
They try to use commonsense and look at other trades. They too have their ‘accepted trade practices.’ When you buy an article made of real leather you are not told that it has been treated, oiled, stained, stretched and has had other things done to it. Or when you buy a woolen article again the various treatments it has undergone are not enumerated.
Perhaps we should regard our trade as being sui generic, i.e. it is unique of its kind and cannot be compared to other trades. In this modern age, when consumer rights have become paramount, the trade should no longer hide behind ‘accepted trade practices’ and should tell the consumer everything they know. But this is where the problems start. The only person who knows for certain if a treatment has been applied to a stone is the person who actually carries out that treatment. If he does not disclose, or someone in the chain does not disclose, then to detect the disclosure becomes detective work and not everyone is capable of carrying out such detection.
Repeated oiling
Let us look at the specific case of the fissure filling of emeralds—this after all is one of the problems still not solved within the trade. Emeralds, from the time they are taken out of the ground, are constantly oiled. They are oiled after the rough has been cleaned, they are oiled while the rough remains unsold, they are oiled after cutting, they are oiled after polishing. In the way everyone knows that leather is oiled, dealers and jewelers have assumed that everyone knows emeralds are oiled. Like leather the oil dries out, but in contrast to leather the consumer expects the emerald to retain its beauty. Emeralds are oiled because they have open fissures (only rarely are emeralds free from open fissures) and any oil that goes in will eventually come again, as is the case with leather.
Over the past few years attempts have been made to keep the oil thus introduced in the emerald for as long as possible. This has been tried using different oils, and also pressure is used in some cases to ensure that the oil penetrates further into the stone and will thus evaporate more slowly. Attempts have also been made to seal the oil in the emerald. In recent years resins are being used, especially ones with refractive indices similar to natural emerald to make them less visible. The most popular resin that was eventually used was a synthetic one marketed under the name Opticon. This was already being used in the building trade to cover the cracks and fissures in marble and other decorative stones. But since this was still a volatile substance, albeit with low volatility they tried to seal it into the stone. It was found that it reacted with a hardening substance and solidified. At first this was done with all Opticon when it was introduced into the emerald. When it dried it solidified, but in some stones it contracted and gaps appeared inside the stone which gave rise to a rainbow effect and made the appearance worse than the untreated stones. Some fillings also discolored in time, again spoiling the appearance of the stone. Some techniques involved introduction of the resin under pressure causing the stone to be in tension and liable to shatter if any pressure was applied.
Hardening substance
To overcome these problems the Opticon was introduced into the stone and the hardening substance was applied to the surface only. Thus the theory was that this would seal in the filler without incurring the problems encountered above. But again it was found that tension could remain in the stone rendering it more fragile than untreated stones. So in many cases now the Opticon is introduced into the stone in the way that oil was used in the old days without the use of any hardening material. The trade does not like to use the word Opticon, as this is a trade name and other similar resins may be used. So the term now used is resin filled and the resin may be natural or artificial, i.e. man-made.
The traditionalists wanted to differentiate between oils that they had used and the new resins now being used. It is difficult to find a rationale for such thoughts. Perhaps they wished to protect their old stocks, perhaps they were scared of change, but there was a clamor within the trade, but not by the public, to differentiate between oils and resins. Many more gem quality stones can have their appearance improved with resins than with traditional oils, which was perhaps the reason for a sudden increase in the number of such stones on the market.
Raman spectroscopy
The situation at present is that many people in the trade regard the fissure filling of an emerald with a resin to be inferior to that of an oil and refuse to buy resin-filled stones. The demand was made on the laboratories to make this differentiation, and most labs claimed they could do so. But then came the claim by some laboratories that with the use of Raman spectroscope they could now positively identify the filling materials. Such a claim implies that without the use of such a instrument, the detection of the filler to be a resin as opposed to an oil was, in many cases, more guesswork than knowledge.
How does the Raman spectroscope work? In Rapaport Diamond Report (20 (38)) it is made clear that even the use of this latest technology is not foolproof. Briefly a laser beam of light is pointed at the filler and the resulting spectra are compared with those of known substances. A stone may undergo several treatments with different substances and the Raman analysis will only give a result for the one spot on which the beam has been focused, which is minute. So, many spots would have to be examined to give a more complete answer. Such an instrument costs about $200000 so many laboratories cannot afford such an expense.
What is the answer?
Where does the answer lie to such a problem? The trade is beginning to realize the answer should come through education and not merely legislation. The education must be effective in the High Street shops, for it is the retailer who is in the front line. And it is the sales person who is obliged in law to sell correctly described goods—which means to a certain extent educating the customer.
Many dealers now feel that filling a stone with a resin is no different to filling a stone with an oil. If a hardener is used the situation is of course different. Information is transmitted down the line by the use of general disclosure that stones have fissures filled to improve their clarity and others, such as corundum, are heated to improve their color and sometimes clarity. This is the best that the trade has come up with at present.
How will all this stand up in a court here? I am no lawyer but I suspect that the judge will listen to the trade practice if the dispute is within the trade, but may apply other standards if a member of the general public claims that they have been cheated.
The ulcer that has been plaguing our trade has flared yet again. You will recall the recent story about the jeweler in the United States who sold filled diamonds without declaring the process to his customers. That story ended tragedy with the jeweler in question taking his own life. One must emphasize that the filling of diamonds is one of the few treatments that is recognized by all sections of the trade to be declarable.
Another case has now occurred in the USA, this time over the fissure filling of an emerald and again the retail purchaser was reportedly not told of the treatment. It is difficult to work out exactly what has happened in this case as the reports one reads in the trade press do not tell the same story. Briefly, as I understand it, an emerald was sold for $14000 and has ended up costing the seller nearly $400000 in compensation and fines.
The case occurred in Washington DC. An emerald ring was sold, and after several months was taken to a jeweler for some alterations and the emerald was damaged in the process. The jeweler informed the owner that the emerald had been filled with Opticon resin and heating had caused the damage. The original sellers claimed that the emerald they sold had not been so treated and if Opticon was now present it had not been put there by them and must have been introduced into the stone after they had sold it.
The owner sued the seller and others including the appraiser (the valuer) and the insurance company. The case was heard in front of a jury and in spite of trade testimony as to the present ambiguity about disclosure of resin filling of emeralds in the trade, the jury found in favor of the owner. The jeweler was found guilty on a number of counts including Breach of Warranties, Unlawful Trade Practice and Outrageous Trade Practice. The consumer was awarded treble damages in the amount of $78000 and, with legal costs, the total amounted to $400000. At the time of writing an appeal against judgments has been lodged.
Total disclosure?
Those who have advocated ‘total disclosure’ over the years can now say ‘We told you so’. Disclose everything and sleep at nights.
Unfortunately it is not that simple, as I have tried to point out in previous articles, because it is often difficult to detect some treatments. Stones have been treated from the time that they were first used as ornaments and objects of value. Oiling, waxing, bleaching, heating and burning are all treatments, and even cutting and polishing can be considered a treatment. And when one cuts and polishes for example an emerald, oil is used and if the stone has open fissures some of this oil will penetrate the stone.
When the trade began to organize itself through bodies such as CIBJO and the Diamond Bourses, they tried to lay down guidelines as to what treatments should be disclosed. Some treatments had long been applied to certain stones and those early legislators introduced the concept of ‘accepted trade practice.’ As new processes come about the trade initially tries to slot them in to the existing rules and if it cannot do this then new rules were made.
They try to use commonsense and look at other trades. They too have their ‘accepted trade practices.’ When you buy an article made of real leather you are not told that it has been treated, oiled, stained, stretched and has had other things done to it. Or when you buy a woolen article again the various treatments it has undergone are not enumerated.
Perhaps we should regard our trade as being sui generic, i.e. it is unique of its kind and cannot be compared to other trades. In this modern age, when consumer rights have become paramount, the trade should no longer hide behind ‘accepted trade practices’ and should tell the consumer everything they know. But this is where the problems start. The only person who knows for certain if a treatment has been applied to a stone is the person who actually carries out that treatment. If he does not disclose, or someone in the chain does not disclose, then to detect the disclosure becomes detective work and not everyone is capable of carrying out such detection.
Repeated oiling
Let us look at the specific case of the fissure filling of emeralds—this after all is one of the problems still not solved within the trade. Emeralds, from the time they are taken out of the ground, are constantly oiled. They are oiled after the rough has been cleaned, they are oiled while the rough remains unsold, they are oiled after cutting, they are oiled after polishing. In the way everyone knows that leather is oiled, dealers and jewelers have assumed that everyone knows emeralds are oiled. Like leather the oil dries out, but in contrast to leather the consumer expects the emerald to retain its beauty. Emeralds are oiled because they have open fissures (only rarely are emeralds free from open fissures) and any oil that goes in will eventually come again, as is the case with leather.
Over the past few years attempts have been made to keep the oil thus introduced in the emerald for as long as possible. This has been tried using different oils, and also pressure is used in some cases to ensure that the oil penetrates further into the stone and will thus evaporate more slowly. Attempts have also been made to seal the oil in the emerald. In recent years resins are being used, especially ones with refractive indices similar to natural emerald to make them less visible. The most popular resin that was eventually used was a synthetic one marketed under the name Opticon. This was already being used in the building trade to cover the cracks and fissures in marble and other decorative stones. But since this was still a volatile substance, albeit with low volatility they tried to seal it into the stone. It was found that it reacted with a hardening substance and solidified. At first this was done with all Opticon when it was introduced into the emerald. When it dried it solidified, but in some stones it contracted and gaps appeared inside the stone which gave rise to a rainbow effect and made the appearance worse than the untreated stones. Some fillings also discolored in time, again spoiling the appearance of the stone. Some techniques involved introduction of the resin under pressure causing the stone to be in tension and liable to shatter if any pressure was applied.
Hardening substance
To overcome these problems the Opticon was introduced into the stone and the hardening substance was applied to the surface only. Thus the theory was that this would seal in the filler without incurring the problems encountered above. But again it was found that tension could remain in the stone rendering it more fragile than untreated stones. So in many cases now the Opticon is introduced into the stone in the way that oil was used in the old days without the use of any hardening material. The trade does not like to use the word Opticon, as this is a trade name and other similar resins may be used. So the term now used is resin filled and the resin may be natural or artificial, i.e. man-made.
The traditionalists wanted to differentiate between oils that they had used and the new resins now being used. It is difficult to find a rationale for such thoughts. Perhaps they wished to protect their old stocks, perhaps they were scared of change, but there was a clamor within the trade, but not by the public, to differentiate between oils and resins. Many more gem quality stones can have their appearance improved with resins than with traditional oils, which was perhaps the reason for a sudden increase in the number of such stones on the market.
Raman spectroscopy
The situation at present is that many people in the trade regard the fissure filling of an emerald with a resin to be inferior to that of an oil and refuse to buy resin-filled stones. The demand was made on the laboratories to make this differentiation, and most labs claimed they could do so. But then came the claim by some laboratories that with the use of Raman spectroscope they could now positively identify the filling materials. Such a claim implies that without the use of such a instrument, the detection of the filler to be a resin as opposed to an oil was, in many cases, more guesswork than knowledge.
How does the Raman spectroscope work? In Rapaport Diamond Report (20 (38)) it is made clear that even the use of this latest technology is not foolproof. Briefly a laser beam of light is pointed at the filler and the resulting spectra are compared with those of known substances. A stone may undergo several treatments with different substances and the Raman analysis will only give a result for the one spot on which the beam has been focused, which is minute. So, many spots would have to be examined to give a more complete answer. Such an instrument costs about $200000 so many laboratories cannot afford such an expense.
What is the answer?
Where does the answer lie to such a problem? The trade is beginning to realize the answer should come through education and not merely legislation. The education must be effective in the High Street shops, for it is the retailer who is in the front line. And it is the sales person who is obliged in law to sell correctly described goods—which means to a certain extent educating the customer.
Many dealers now feel that filling a stone with a resin is no different to filling a stone with an oil. If a hardener is used the situation is of course different. Information is transmitted down the line by the use of general disclosure that stones have fissures filled to improve their clarity and others, such as corundum, are heated to improve their color and sometimes clarity. This is the best that the trade has come up with at present.
How will all this stand up in a court here? I am no lawyer but I suspect that the judge will listen to the trade practice if the dispute is within the trade, but may apply other standards if a member of the general public claims that they have been cheated.
Hot Gems And Fake Diamonds
(via Gem & Jewellery News, Vol. 7, Number 2, March 1998) Harry Levy writes:
1998 started with an international alarm for the gem trade and jewelry markets. The scare began in Bangkok with news that quantities of radioactive chrysoberyl cat’s eyes were being sold there and exported all over the world.
A few gem species have been irradiated for a number of years now to improve or change their color. The stone most subjected to this treatment has been white topaz. The most common types of irradiation have been electron and neutron bombardment of the stones to produce various shades of blue.
Electron irradiation produces paler shades of blue, known in the trade as ‘sky blue’. In this instance rough or cut pieces of white topaz are exposed to electron irradiation and the longer the exposure the stronger is the color, but a saturation point is reached beyond which the color will not intensify. When the stones are annealed (heated and maintained at certain temperatures) they turn blue. On cooling the stones maintain their color and the color change is permanent as far as we know.
The dealer or cutter who has the stones irradiated determines the amount of radiation the stones should be exposed to; this is an economic decision, as the longer the stones are irradiated the higher is the cost charged by the laboratory. Different stones from different localities need different quantities of irradiation to obtain the optimum color, but the dealer cannot experiment with small quantities as the fee for irradiation is based on the time and strength of exposure for material in a chamber of fixed capacity, however full it is. The other popular method is to expose the stones to neutron irradiation and in this instance the blue color produced is known in the trade as ‘London blue’. The color known as ‘Swiss blue’ is obtained by applying both types of irradiation to the topazes.
Since the color changes produced in topaz have been so dramatic, other stones have been exposed to such treatments in the hope of producing similar changes and this has resulted in such stones as ‘hot pink’ tourmalines (the hotness referring to the color not the radioactivity), and various colors in diamonds.
Subjecting a stone to irradiation is not something that can be done in the back of a kitchen or in a shed at the bottom of the garden. Stones are irradiated in a nuclear accelerator at known nuclear plants, research institutions or universities. Normally they are subject to the most rigorous government controls and workers would never release material which was dangerously radioactive to anyone involved in the gem trade. The stones are only released from such establishments when they display acceptable levels of radioactivity.
Scares about radioactive gemstones have been circulating ever since it became known that they could be treated in this manner. We are all exposed to various levels of irradiation in our everyday lives. During one of the early discussions it was alleged that a single flight in Concorde exposed one to more radiation, due to the height of the flight path, than being covered in irradiated topaz for a lifetime.
Other scare stories have concerned irradiated topaz being stolen from various vaults in Brazil, where they had been put to cool, and sold on the international markets while they were still dangerously radioactive. A similar story emerged at one of the Hong Kong shows about such stones from China. The basis for such stories seems to be economic, where dealers from one center are more than keen to believe that stones coming cheaper from another source must be dangerous.
Dealers and others who handle such stones would never expose themselves, their families, their staff or their customers to such danger, although with rumors constantly circulating in the trade an increasing number of dealers are beginning to include an instrument for detecting radioactivity as part of their equipment. A simple Geiger counter registers most but not all the known rays that could be present, other instruments are needed to register the troublesome ones.
Coming back to our radioactive chysoberyls, the media picked up the story and television pictures were flashed round the world showing worried-looking dealers and jewelry shop owners in Bangkok being shown such stones next to ticking Geiger counters. This is a marvelous story for an investigative reporter and whole television programmes on this topic have been shown in such countries as Germany.
Unless the trade is very careful, a lay person watch such a programme will be told about radioactive chrysoberyl cat’s eyes, but will only remember radioactivity in association with gemstones in general, and continued media coverage will soon convince him and his ilk that every stone and every diamond is radioactive and hence all jewelry is dangerous to wear.
Of course, the public has rarely proved itself to be so fickle. They are aware that many things they come into contact with have been subjected to irradiation, but they trust the authorities and the traders to be responsible and not subject them to any danger. It again comes down to education and all those involved in the jewelry trade must make themselves aware of exactly what they are handling. It is not enough to have the ability to buy and sell something at a profit, because the trade should be the ones most able to educate the public, who are their customers, answer their questions and allay any fears they may come across. And the safest way to trade is to deal with reputable suppliers.
1998 started with an international alarm for the gem trade and jewelry markets. The scare began in Bangkok with news that quantities of radioactive chrysoberyl cat’s eyes were being sold there and exported all over the world.
A few gem species have been irradiated for a number of years now to improve or change their color. The stone most subjected to this treatment has been white topaz. The most common types of irradiation have been electron and neutron bombardment of the stones to produce various shades of blue.
Electron irradiation produces paler shades of blue, known in the trade as ‘sky blue’. In this instance rough or cut pieces of white topaz are exposed to electron irradiation and the longer the exposure the stronger is the color, but a saturation point is reached beyond which the color will not intensify. When the stones are annealed (heated and maintained at certain temperatures) they turn blue. On cooling the stones maintain their color and the color change is permanent as far as we know.
The dealer or cutter who has the stones irradiated determines the amount of radiation the stones should be exposed to; this is an economic decision, as the longer the stones are irradiated the higher is the cost charged by the laboratory. Different stones from different localities need different quantities of irradiation to obtain the optimum color, but the dealer cannot experiment with small quantities as the fee for irradiation is based on the time and strength of exposure for material in a chamber of fixed capacity, however full it is. The other popular method is to expose the stones to neutron irradiation and in this instance the blue color produced is known in the trade as ‘London blue’. The color known as ‘Swiss blue’ is obtained by applying both types of irradiation to the topazes.
Since the color changes produced in topaz have been so dramatic, other stones have been exposed to such treatments in the hope of producing similar changes and this has resulted in such stones as ‘hot pink’ tourmalines (the hotness referring to the color not the radioactivity), and various colors in diamonds.
Subjecting a stone to irradiation is not something that can be done in the back of a kitchen or in a shed at the bottom of the garden. Stones are irradiated in a nuclear accelerator at known nuclear plants, research institutions or universities. Normally they are subject to the most rigorous government controls and workers would never release material which was dangerously radioactive to anyone involved in the gem trade. The stones are only released from such establishments when they display acceptable levels of radioactivity.
Scares about radioactive gemstones have been circulating ever since it became known that they could be treated in this manner. We are all exposed to various levels of irradiation in our everyday lives. During one of the early discussions it was alleged that a single flight in Concorde exposed one to more radiation, due to the height of the flight path, than being covered in irradiated topaz for a lifetime.
Other scare stories have concerned irradiated topaz being stolen from various vaults in Brazil, where they had been put to cool, and sold on the international markets while they were still dangerously radioactive. A similar story emerged at one of the Hong Kong shows about such stones from China. The basis for such stories seems to be economic, where dealers from one center are more than keen to believe that stones coming cheaper from another source must be dangerous.
Dealers and others who handle such stones would never expose themselves, their families, their staff or their customers to such danger, although with rumors constantly circulating in the trade an increasing number of dealers are beginning to include an instrument for detecting radioactivity as part of their equipment. A simple Geiger counter registers most but not all the known rays that could be present, other instruments are needed to register the troublesome ones.
Coming back to our radioactive chysoberyls, the media picked up the story and television pictures were flashed round the world showing worried-looking dealers and jewelry shop owners in Bangkok being shown such stones next to ticking Geiger counters. This is a marvelous story for an investigative reporter and whole television programmes on this topic have been shown in such countries as Germany.
Unless the trade is very careful, a lay person watch such a programme will be told about radioactive chrysoberyl cat’s eyes, but will only remember radioactivity in association with gemstones in general, and continued media coverage will soon convince him and his ilk that every stone and every diamond is radioactive and hence all jewelry is dangerous to wear.
Of course, the public has rarely proved itself to be so fickle. They are aware that many things they come into contact with have been subjected to irradiation, but they trust the authorities and the traders to be responsible and not subject them to any danger. It again comes down to education and all those involved in the jewelry trade must make themselves aware of exactly what they are handling. It is not enough to have the ability to buy and sell something at a profit, because the trade should be the ones most able to educate the public, who are their customers, answer their questions and allay any fears they may come across. And the safest way to trade is to deal with reputable suppliers.
How Can The Independent Jeweller Compete?
(via Gems & Jewellery News, Vol. 8, Number 1, December 1998) Harry Levy writes:
By the time you read this article the Christmas season will be behind us. At the time of writing it is difficult to predict what sort of Christmas our trade will have this year. The patterns of yesteryear have long since left us. In those days, by the end of October most outlets had placed their orders for Christmas and, apart from a few specials at the last minute, we all knew what sort of year we would have. As far as the independent jeweler is concerned today, most of his sales will consist of specials, and he will leave his orders up to the last minute, as will his customers.
So rather than sit and take stock as to what has happened this year let us try to look to the future, to next year and beyond.
Alternative outlets
The jewelry trade has fragmented and the loser has been the traditional high street jewelry shop. He has seen his business go to the multinationals, mail order catalogues, and now mail order shops, TV outlets and soon the Internet, although this is with us already, as well as the auction houses. How much business these new outlets have actually taken away, as opposed to creating new demands and bringing in different sections of the public to buy jewelry items is debatable.
I recall many years ago when I first set up home, I needed some fitted carpets. I had a cousin in the trade who promised me that he would supply me the carpets. I bought from him and it was only several weeks later, when I was in one of the specialist carpet stores with branches everywhere, that I saw my identical carpet at prices above twenty percent below what I had paid my cousin. On complaining to him, he informed me that the groups had a much higher buying power than him and thus could negotiate better prices than he could get.
We have a similar situation in our trade at present. Many jewelers have remarked that they cannot make an article for the price that the same thing can be bought from these outlets. How can they compete?
The simple answer is that they cannot. So in order to survive they must concentrate on selling articles which the outlets cannot make. Put very simply, it means that they must try to sell jewelry which cannot be readily duplicated.
Mass production
The mass market depends on selling numbers of identical units. A piece of jewelry is selected by a buyer or a panel to go into their range. In almost all cases the buyers are not jewelry specialists and in order to ensure that they get and sell pieces that match up to their original samples, they insist on each item being exactly the same for any given line. Thus, if one is selling an amethyst and diamond cluster ring, the diamonds must all be of a similar size and quality and the amethysts, likewise, must all be identical. It is not enough that they be of the same size and shape, but must all be of the same hue in color and purity.
The manufacturer who supplies these articles must set up to produce identical units and periodically to reduce his prices in order to stay in with the buying group. He can do this by improving his manufacturing processes and reducing the price of his components, as well as reducing his profits.
Falling standards
Several years ago, one of the manufacturers who were supplying one of the multiples stopped buying a type of stone for which he had given me regular orders. When I asked him why he had stopped ordering these stones from me and accused him of buying them elsewhere, he remarked that the group was constantly asking him to reduce his price. The article was a pair of earrings, and the only way left for him to reduce the price was to make the gold thinner and thinner, until he reached the situation where there was not enough gold to hold the stones in place so they kept dropping out. In the end he dropped the line.
The manufacturers in this country try to source their components, and eventually find that the article can be produced and purchased much more cheaply abroad. Finally they become importers and put the finishing touches in this country as part of their manufacturing process. With the prospect of hallmarking being no longer mandatory in this country, they will become merely re-packers of such items. They also run the risk that their customers, in turn, will use outlets abroad and cut them out totally. Luckily for us, many of these items produced abroad do not have the quality of those that are made in this country and hopefully the buyers will appreciate this fact and return to rely on home produced goods.
I see little future for those of us who are middle people in our trade. The large groups will find ways of marketing the goods to the public, and sourcing them, cutting out our retailers and manufacturers. Their main criterion will be price and while it remains that way quality will suffer.
The way forward
Quality is the factor on which our own trade will survive, producing jewelry that is good in quality and value for money. Such jewelry must be sold on the rarity of its components and the craftsmanship of its makers. There will always be a place for the High Street Jeweler, even if he has to move into a mall and be right next to his competitors, provided he can sell things which are not easily imitated.
I come across many young and new designers and they are all finding outlets for the unique pieces of jewelry they produce. The mass of cheap jewelry available now is making the public more aware of jewelry: they buy these items to wear a few times and then throw away. Let us hope that this awareness they are getting will make them want something a little better and more lasting for that special occasion, and when they think of buying such an item they will come into a high street jeweler.
I hope you all have an enjoyable Christmas and that some of you will put pen to paper and let us have your views about our trade. It is going through a state of flux, both in marketing, as the movement of goods becomes easier and in the amount and variety of treatments of the natural and synthetic gems that go into the making of a piece of jewelry.
By the time you read this article the Christmas season will be behind us. At the time of writing it is difficult to predict what sort of Christmas our trade will have this year. The patterns of yesteryear have long since left us. In those days, by the end of October most outlets had placed their orders for Christmas and, apart from a few specials at the last minute, we all knew what sort of year we would have. As far as the independent jeweler is concerned today, most of his sales will consist of specials, and he will leave his orders up to the last minute, as will his customers.
So rather than sit and take stock as to what has happened this year let us try to look to the future, to next year and beyond.
Alternative outlets
The jewelry trade has fragmented and the loser has been the traditional high street jewelry shop. He has seen his business go to the multinationals, mail order catalogues, and now mail order shops, TV outlets and soon the Internet, although this is with us already, as well as the auction houses. How much business these new outlets have actually taken away, as opposed to creating new demands and bringing in different sections of the public to buy jewelry items is debatable.
I recall many years ago when I first set up home, I needed some fitted carpets. I had a cousin in the trade who promised me that he would supply me the carpets. I bought from him and it was only several weeks later, when I was in one of the specialist carpet stores with branches everywhere, that I saw my identical carpet at prices above twenty percent below what I had paid my cousin. On complaining to him, he informed me that the groups had a much higher buying power than him and thus could negotiate better prices than he could get.
We have a similar situation in our trade at present. Many jewelers have remarked that they cannot make an article for the price that the same thing can be bought from these outlets. How can they compete?
The simple answer is that they cannot. So in order to survive they must concentrate on selling articles which the outlets cannot make. Put very simply, it means that they must try to sell jewelry which cannot be readily duplicated.
Mass production
The mass market depends on selling numbers of identical units. A piece of jewelry is selected by a buyer or a panel to go into their range. In almost all cases the buyers are not jewelry specialists and in order to ensure that they get and sell pieces that match up to their original samples, they insist on each item being exactly the same for any given line. Thus, if one is selling an amethyst and diamond cluster ring, the diamonds must all be of a similar size and quality and the amethysts, likewise, must all be identical. It is not enough that they be of the same size and shape, but must all be of the same hue in color and purity.
The manufacturer who supplies these articles must set up to produce identical units and periodically to reduce his prices in order to stay in with the buying group. He can do this by improving his manufacturing processes and reducing the price of his components, as well as reducing his profits.
Falling standards
Several years ago, one of the manufacturers who were supplying one of the multiples stopped buying a type of stone for which he had given me regular orders. When I asked him why he had stopped ordering these stones from me and accused him of buying them elsewhere, he remarked that the group was constantly asking him to reduce his price. The article was a pair of earrings, and the only way left for him to reduce the price was to make the gold thinner and thinner, until he reached the situation where there was not enough gold to hold the stones in place so they kept dropping out. In the end he dropped the line.
The manufacturers in this country try to source their components, and eventually find that the article can be produced and purchased much more cheaply abroad. Finally they become importers and put the finishing touches in this country as part of their manufacturing process. With the prospect of hallmarking being no longer mandatory in this country, they will become merely re-packers of such items. They also run the risk that their customers, in turn, will use outlets abroad and cut them out totally. Luckily for us, many of these items produced abroad do not have the quality of those that are made in this country and hopefully the buyers will appreciate this fact and return to rely on home produced goods.
I see little future for those of us who are middle people in our trade. The large groups will find ways of marketing the goods to the public, and sourcing them, cutting out our retailers and manufacturers. Their main criterion will be price and while it remains that way quality will suffer.
The way forward
Quality is the factor on which our own trade will survive, producing jewelry that is good in quality and value for money. Such jewelry must be sold on the rarity of its components and the craftsmanship of its makers. There will always be a place for the High Street Jeweler, even if he has to move into a mall and be right next to his competitors, provided he can sell things which are not easily imitated.
I come across many young and new designers and they are all finding outlets for the unique pieces of jewelry they produce. The mass of cheap jewelry available now is making the public more aware of jewelry: they buy these items to wear a few times and then throw away. Let us hope that this awareness they are getting will make them want something a little better and more lasting for that special occasion, and when they think of buying such an item they will come into a high street jeweler.
I hope you all have an enjoyable Christmas and that some of you will put pen to paper and let us have your views about our trade. It is going through a state of flux, both in marketing, as the movement of goods becomes easier and in the amount and variety of treatments of the natural and synthetic gems that go into the making of a piece of jewelry.
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