I wish the gemological schools taught the concepts as part of the program. Most gemologists who graduate lack soft skills and are unemployable for variety of reasons. Here is a thought-provoking article for self-examination.
Nalin Garg writes:
Business schools are great! They add value to students' education by actively providing insights into the learnings and practices of some of the world's best theorists, academicians and business leaders. B-schools certainly do teach you a lot, but then there is more that needs to be learnt.
Initiative and risk-taking: Learning from others' experiences is wise. The successes and failures of individuals and companies have shaped current-day management courses.
Each of those instances was pioneering in its time. There were a small percentage of risk-takers who lived to tell the tale, instantly defining newer paradigms. Each perspective comes with its assumptions and constraints, and it is up to the individual to challenge and break new ground.
Adaptability: To roll with the punches and come on top each time, an individual has to assimilate the operating environment and conditions and, using that as a base, act!
That is easier said than done since the environment itself changes so rapidly - be it politics, the economy, and competition or consumer preference. A motley combination of various, seemingly unrelated, factors interact to create this environment.
Each instance of variation has a counterbalancing impact on some other factor, with a resulting change in the operating environment. The skill to succeed in this ever-changing, always evolving environment resides in the person, not in the B-school he or she went to.
Application: B-school courses use models, metrics and terminology to get potential entrants into corporate roles off to a flying start. They speak of and relate to events in the same way, using the same jargon.
However, the correct application of a model or tool is usually an individual's discretion; it is his or her interpretation of the situation that forces a judgment, accurate or otherwise. The application of learning is the proof of the pudding - a realization of the latent knowledge in an actual business context, which rests squarely on the individual's shoulders.
B-schools, too, work continuously trying to bring in the best inputs possible, in terms of trends, preferences and principles, though the introduction of such knowledge in course curriculum happens only after it has been published or, at least, documented.
This involves significant lag time, and given the breadth and speed of change, this is an uphill and never-ending task.
In sum, a B-school is the basic foundation that equips individuals to get a firm footing in the corporate arena, but there are several other skills that one needs to assimilate to survive and succeed there.
But most important of all - don't forget to live and have fun. It is too easy to get caught up in the rat race; stay out of it. Spend the first few years of your corporate life with your nose down, bury your ego, enjoy every moment of your work and make sure that you do the best you can. Success will follow.
Nalin Garg graduated from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, in 1992
More info @ http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/may/16bschool.htm
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Tsarafara, Madagascar
Tsarafara, near Mount Ibity in the Sahatany Valley of central Madagascar is a well known site that produces crystals of spodumene, morganite and tourmaline of various qualities. The miners use hand methods to find the crystals. Tsarafara is also known as Ankadilava or Ambalaroy in the literature. The colors of spodumene crystals from these mines may range from colorless to pale green, blue and pink. Top quality specimens are sold to collectors from around the world, and the rest are cut and polished at cutting centers in Southeast Asia and South Asia. The colors of tourmaline crystals may range from violet pink, green, dark green, bluish green to yellow, brownish yellow and near colorless. Top quality specimens end up with the collectors, while the low quality tourmalines are sold to African/Asian dealers for beads and carvings. The colors of Morganite crystals may range from pale to yellow orange color. Top quality specimens may show a pleasing orange pink to pink body color. Clean stones may yield beautiful faceted stones. As is the case with most low tech mines in Madagascar flooding during the rainy season can destroy the working mines.
An Interesting Large Mauve Stone
I wonder how many gemologists would go the extra mile to identify an unknown colored stone. They would simply try using the basic tools and if they can't, they just give up. Also, how many even know what a taaffeite is. Sri Lanka, Burma, and Madagascar are treasure troves for the novice and experienced gemologists.
(via The Australian Gemmologist, Vo.23, No.2, April – June 2007)
Some time ago, a large mauve faceted stone was submitted for testing at GSL. This gemstone was among a suite of stones thought to be natural spinels.
When testing the stones, it was noted that the mauve faceted stone had a spot R.I reading of 1.71 and a specific gravity of 3.61, which are within the range of natural spinel. No visible inclusions were noted, and the stone showed no reaction when exposed to ultraviolet light.
However, further investigation showed that the stone showed a doubly refractive behavior on the polariscope and a uniaxial interference figure was noted. When precise refractive index reading were taken they were found to be 1.713 – 1.720 and the optic sign was uniaxial negative. Indeed, these data proved the large faceted mauve gemstone to be a rare taaffeite. This gemstone measured 12.8 x 9.5mm and weighing 5.20 carats.
Of the remainder of the group of spinels (?) submitted for gem testing, another pinkish oval gemstone, weighing 0.90 carat, also was identified as a taaffeite.
(via The Australian Gemmologist, Vo.23, No.2, April – June 2007)
Some time ago, a large mauve faceted stone was submitted for testing at GSL. This gemstone was among a suite of stones thought to be natural spinels.
When testing the stones, it was noted that the mauve faceted stone had a spot R.I reading of 1.71 and a specific gravity of 3.61, which are within the range of natural spinel. No visible inclusions were noted, and the stone showed no reaction when exposed to ultraviolet light.
However, further investigation showed that the stone showed a doubly refractive behavior on the polariscope and a uniaxial interference figure was noted. When precise refractive index reading were taken they were found to be 1.713 – 1.720 and the optic sign was uniaxial negative. Indeed, these data proved the large faceted mauve gemstone to be a rare taaffeite. This gemstone measured 12.8 x 9.5mm and weighing 5.20 carats.
Of the remainder of the group of spinels (?) submitted for gem testing, another pinkish oval gemstone, weighing 0.90 carat, also was identified as a taaffeite.
Trust
2007: Here is a thought-provoking article on disclosure practices for gemologists, lab gemologists, gem dealers, jewelers and consumers. I totally agree with the author.
(via Jewellery News Asia, May 2007) Dr John Emmett writes:
Since early times, gemstones have been objects of desire. Indeed the historical record is littered with examples of wars fought, cities sacked and duels dueled, all to possess these precious objects.
Naturally enough, the scarcity and high value of gems has also led to fraud, as the following selection from Pliny’s History of the World illustrates:
…..Moreover, I have in my library certain books by authors now living, whom I would under no circumstances name….containing, for example, information on how to make a sardonychus (sardonyx) from a sarda (carnelian, in part sard): in other words, how to transform one stone into another. To tell the truth, there is no fraud or deceit in the world that yields greater gain and profit than that of counterfeiting gems.
It is clear from the above ‘improvement’ of lesser stones was not considered a path to heaven, nor did it earn merit for the next lifetime. And yet, what Pliny considered fraud is often referred by some today as: finishing the job that nature started. (Pliny: 23-79 AD)
I do not support such broad-brush rationalization. With definition like this, death simply finishes the job that birth started. I believe what happens in between matters, too.
Value
Everyone is taught that gemstones are valuable for three primary reasons—beauty, rarity and durability. Let’s consider treatments in light of these factors.
The purpose of a treatment is to increase value, usually via improvement in appearance. So what is the relative value of a treated counterpart? If we compare two stones of equal beauty and durability, the only remaining factor is rarity.
Heat
How does heat treatment affect rarity? The answer is dramatically—a radical increase in the number of beautiful stones in the marketplace.
The production of gem quality stones from any mine is only a small fraction of total production. Most specimens are too impure to be cut into gems. Consider Sri Lankan sapphire. Far more geuda (impure corundum) than gem quality sapphire is produced, perhaps 100 times as much. Beginning in the mid-1097s, the widespread adoption of effective treatments for Sri Lankan geuda dramatically increased the availability of fine blue sapphire. This resulted in a stagnation of sapphire prices that has continued for decades. As more and more gems undergo more drastic treatments, we have to ask if this is the future of the gemstone business?
And flux
In the late 1980s, large quantities of heavily fractured purplish rubies were discovered at Mong Hsu, Burma. Enter the oven, exit fine reds, the likes of which had never been previously seen in over two millennia of ruby production. What’s up?
Heating plus flux. The heat banished the blue in the stones, turning purple to red. But what about those cracks? They were also taken care of. Addition of fluxes during the heating process literally dissolved the walls of fractures and redeposited synthetic corundum, healing the problem away. Crack no more. How many customers that purchased these stones were told that they contain microscopic amount of synthetic corundum as fracture filler?
None. No one has been told. Instead the treatment has been obscured by words about glass ‘residues from the heating process’ on laboratory reports. So obtuse is this language that even most dealers are unaware of exactly what has occurred with these stones.
And beryllium
In 2001, again without disclosure, stones treated by a new process entered the market. The color of these stones resulted from diffusing beryllium into them from the outside, just like dyeing cloth. This process allowed one to manufacture yellow, padpardscha, and orange sapphire from low-value starting material. Later, it was shown that beryllium diffusion could also lighten overly dark blue sapphire. Suddenly the search for the Holy Grail was over. This ‘manufacturing’ process had the potential to dramatically rewrite the book on corundum rarity, allowing treaters to almost dye a stone at will.
What is the impact on rarity? Beryllium diffusion can increase the availability of yellow sapphire by a factor of over 1000, and of padparadscha, because of its natural rarity, by even larger factors. The sky is the limit for blue sapphire. What does this say about value?
Disclosure?
Virtually all gem trade associations have treatment disclosure policies. In reading them it is unclear if they are intended to truly inform the buyer or provide legal protections for the seller. It is certainly the rare sales person that can explain what has been done to a stone and put that information in a value-oriented context. In today’s market, value is determined far more by traders than an informed purchasing public.
Consumers are rarely told that this sapphire has been heated above the melting point of steel and thus is a hundred times less rare that a natural sapphire of similar appearance. Nor do many explain to the retail customer that a yellow sapphire was manufactured from nearly colorless low-value corundum via beryllium diffusion.
What might be the value of a heat treated sapphire if a consumer had a full understanding of three realities? Would he or she be willing to pay a hundredth the price of the natural sapphire, a tenth, a third, or more? We simply don’t know. What about stones manufactured by beryllium diffusion?
How about synthetic sapphire? Might retail buyers prefer a large beautiful synthetic sapphire, once they truly understood how close to synthetic so many stones are today? What would happen to values if the arcane knowledge of treatments became public? To date, few customers have been offered an honest description of treatments at the time of purchase. Who knows what might happen if they were?
Rebottling the genie
As we move into the future, gem enhancements will not become any less effective, nor will detection become easier. Increasingly sophisticated treatments have driven the cost of a thorough lab report on a corundum gem to levels that are prohibitive for most gems under few carats. From heated geuda sapphires, through titanium diffusion, glass-cavity filling, flux-fracture healing and beryllium diffusion, the past 30 years have seen one treatment after another foisted upon an unwary world without regard for proper disclosure. We used to believe in magic. We believed everyone could get rich by making silk purses out of sow’s ears. But we failed to see the future.
The future has arrived. Senior industry analyst Russell Shor, in the March 9, 2007 GIA Insider wrote:
“Thailand’s gemstone manufacturing industry is in crisis, according to its leaders, who report that many gem cutters in Chantaburi have closed or suspended operations. The two major trade associations have petitioned the government for funds to promote their gems in world markets and to establish a reasonable, government-sanctioned standard for disclosure of treatments? Exhibitors at the recent Thailand Gems and Jewellery Fair in Bangkok were offering sapphires in a variety of colors for as little as US$5 per carat (less if you wanted to bargain and/or buy in quantity) without a lot of takers. Some exhibitors labeled diffusion treated materials clearly, others did not. Buyers were unsure of what they were getting and, with only sporadic disclosure, sapphire prices for all colors have fallen to the level of greatest doubt.”
We rubbed the magic lamp, the genie granted our wishes. And suddenly we’ve decided we don’t believe in magic after all.
Trust is…
And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make (The Beatles, The End).
In recent years, a portion of the gem community has embraced the Fair Trade Movement, which seeks to ensure that mining and cutting of gemstones is carried out under safe, environmentally acceptable conditions, with fair compensation for all involved.
The concept is simple: fair play. It seeks to ensure that no single member of the supply chain can prey upon another. One of the basic tenets of this idea is full disclosure of treatments. Again, the concept is simple: buyers should understand exactly what has been done to a gem before making a purchase decision.
Today, the gulf between disclosure and understanding is not unlike that between birth and death. It is a vast chasm.
What lies between? It is not trivial. Disclosure is not enough. We must explain, we must teach, we must educate. In the end, it’s all about trust. We must trust customers enough to realize that their education and understanding are crucial to everyone’s success. Trust. In the end, it’s no different than love.
(via Jewellery News Asia, May 2007) Dr John Emmett writes:
Since early times, gemstones have been objects of desire. Indeed the historical record is littered with examples of wars fought, cities sacked and duels dueled, all to possess these precious objects.
Naturally enough, the scarcity and high value of gems has also led to fraud, as the following selection from Pliny’s History of the World illustrates:
…..Moreover, I have in my library certain books by authors now living, whom I would under no circumstances name….containing, for example, information on how to make a sardonychus (sardonyx) from a sarda (carnelian, in part sard): in other words, how to transform one stone into another. To tell the truth, there is no fraud or deceit in the world that yields greater gain and profit than that of counterfeiting gems.
It is clear from the above ‘improvement’ of lesser stones was not considered a path to heaven, nor did it earn merit for the next lifetime. And yet, what Pliny considered fraud is often referred by some today as: finishing the job that nature started. (Pliny: 23-79 AD)
I do not support such broad-brush rationalization. With definition like this, death simply finishes the job that birth started. I believe what happens in between matters, too.
Value
Everyone is taught that gemstones are valuable for three primary reasons—beauty, rarity and durability. Let’s consider treatments in light of these factors.
The purpose of a treatment is to increase value, usually via improvement in appearance. So what is the relative value of a treated counterpart? If we compare two stones of equal beauty and durability, the only remaining factor is rarity.
Heat
How does heat treatment affect rarity? The answer is dramatically—a radical increase in the number of beautiful stones in the marketplace.
The production of gem quality stones from any mine is only a small fraction of total production. Most specimens are too impure to be cut into gems. Consider Sri Lankan sapphire. Far more geuda (impure corundum) than gem quality sapphire is produced, perhaps 100 times as much. Beginning in the mid-1097s, the widespread adoption of effective treatments for Sri Lankan geuda dramatically increased the availability of fine blue sapphire. This resulted in a stagnation of sapphire prices that has continued for decades. As more and more gems undergo more drastic treatments, we have to ask if this is the future of the gemstone business?
And flux
In the late 1980s, large quantities of heavily fractured purplish rubies were discovered at Mong Hsu, Burma. Enter the oven, exit fine reds, the likes of which had never been previously seen in over two millennia of ruby production. What’s up?
Heating plus flux. The heat banished the blue in the stones, turning purple to red. But what about those cracks? They were also taken care of. Addition of fluxes during the heating process literally dissolved the walls of fractures and redeposited synthetic corundum, healing the problem away. Crack no more. How many customers that purchased these stones were told that they contain microscopic amount of synthetic corundum as fracture filler?
None. No one has been told. Instead the treatment has been obscured by words about glass ‘residues from the heating process’ on laboratory reports. So obtuse is this language that even most dealers are unaware of exactly what has occurred with these stones.
And beryllium
In 2001, again without disclosure, stones treated by a new process entered the market. The color of these stones resulted from diffusing beryllium into them from the outside, just like dyeing cloth. This process allowed one to manufacture yellow, padpardscha, and orange sapphire from low-value starting material. Later, it was shown that beryllium diffusion could also lighten overly dark blue sapphire. Suddenly the search for the Holy Grail was over. This ‘manufacturing’ process had the potential to dramatically rewrite the book on corundum rarity, allowing treaters to almost dye a stone at will.
What is the impact on rarity? Beryllium diffusion can increase the availability of yellow sapphire by a factor of over 1000, and of padparadscha, because of its natural rarity, by even larger factors. The sky is the limit for blue sapphire. What does this say about value?
Disclosure?
Virtually all gem trade associations have treatment disclosure policies. In reading them it is unclear if they are intended to truly inform the buyer or provide legal protections for the seller. It is certainly the rare sales person that can explain what has been done to a stone and put that information in a value-oriented context. In today’s market, value is determined far more by traders than an informed purchasing public.
Consumers are rarely told that this sapphire has been heated above the melting point of steel and thus is a hundred times less rare that a natural sapphire of similar appearance. Nor do many explain to the retail customer that a yellow sapphire was manufactured from nearly colorless low-value corundum via beryllium diffusion.
What might be the value of a heat treated sapphire if a consumer had a full understanding of three realities? Would he or she be willing to pay a hundredth the price of the natural sapphire, a tenth, a third, or more? We simply don’t know. What about stones manufactured by beryllium diffusion?
How about synthetic sapphire? Might retail buyers prefer a large beautiful synthetic sapphire, once they truly understood how close to synthetic so many stones are today? What would happen to values if the arcane knowledge of treatments became public? To date, few customers have been offered an honest description of treatments at the time of purchase. Who knows what might happen if they were?
Rebottling the genie
As we move into the future, gem enhancements will not become any less effective, nor will detection become easier. Increasingly sophisticated treatments have driven the cost of a thorough lab report on a corundum gem to levels that are prohibitive for most gems under few carats. From heated geuda sapphires, through titanium diffusion, glass-cavity filling, flux-fracture healing and beryllium diffusion, the past 30 years have seen one treatment after another foisted upon an unwary world without regard for proper disclosure. We used to believe in magic. We believed everyone could get rich by making silk purses out of sow’s ears. But we failed to see the future.
The future has arrived. Senior industry analyst Russell Shor, in the March 9, 2007 GIA Insider wrote:
“Thailand’s gemstone manufacturing industry is in crisis, according to its leaders, who report that many gem cutters in Chantaburi have closed or suspended operations. The two major trade associations have petitioned the government for funds to promote their gems in world markets and to establish a reasonable, government-sanctioned standard for disclosure of treatments? Exhibitors at the recent Thailand Gems and Jewellery Fair in Bangkok were offering sapphires in a variety of colors for as little as US$5 per carat (less if you wanted to bargain and/or buy in quantity) without a lot of takers. Some exhibitors labeled diffusion treated materials clearly, others did not. Buyers were unsure of what they were getting and, with only sporadic disclosure, sapphire prices for all colors have fallen to the level of greatest doubt.”
We rubbed the magic lamp, the genie granted our wishes. And suddenly we’ve decided we don’t believe in magic after all.
Trust is…
And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make (The Beatles, The End).
In recent years, a portion of the gem community has embraced the Fair Trade Movement, which seeks to ensure that mining and cutting of gemstones is carried out under safe, environmentally acceptable conditions, with fair compensation for all involved.
The concept is simple: fair play. It seeks to ensure that no single member of the supply chain can prey upon another. One of the basic tenets of this idea is full disclosure of treatments. Again, the concept is simple: buyers should understand exactly what has been done to a gem before making a purchase decision.
Today, the gulf between disclosure and understanding is not unlike that between birth and death. It is a vast chasm.
What lies between? It is not trivial. Disclosure is not enough. We must explain, we must teach, we must educate. In the end, it’s all about trust. We must trust customers enough to realize that their education and understanding are crucial to everyone’s success. Trust. In the end, it’s no different than love.
South Australian Diamond Exploration Database
(via Australian Gemmologist, Vol 23, No.1, Jan – Mar, 2007)
SADIEX, the South Australian Diamond Exploration Database, is a free DVD that has been compiled by the Mineral Resources Group, PIRSA (Primary Industries and Resources South Australia). Data readily accessed from this DVD includes exploration results from open file reports from 1990 to present, and additional data from a further 36 open file reports dating between 1969 and 1990. These data have been produced by exploration companies such as Stockdale, CRA Exploration, Diamond Ventures, Tracker Resources and Reedy Lagoon. The DVD also includes Excel spreadsheets containing location data, indicator mineral results and laboratory comments, mineral chemistry of indicator minerals, and trace element and whole rock geochemistry.
Copies of this DVD can be obtained by personal request to the Mineral Resources Group, PIRSA at http://www.pir.sa.gov.au
SADIEX, the South Australian Diamond Exploration Database, is a free DVD that has been compiled by the Mineral Resources Group, PIRSA (Primary Industries and Resources South Australia). Data readily accessed from this DVD includes exploration results from open file reports from 1990 to present, and additional data from a further 36 open file reports dating between 1969 and 1990. These data have been produced by exploration companies such as Stockdale, CRA Exploration, Diamond Ventures, Tracker Resources and Reedy Lagoon. The DVD also includes Excel spreadsheets containing location data, indicator mineral results and laboratory comments, mineral chemistry of indicator minerals, and trace element and whole rock geochemistry.
Copies of this DVD can be obtained by personal request to the Mineral Resources Group, PIRSA at http://www.pir.sa.gov.au
The Versatilist Manager
Nandan Nilekani, CEO and MD of Infosys Technologies writes:
A versatilist has the ability to apply skills more intensively to situations. Hence, they gain new competencies, build new relationships, and assume new roles. One should be equally at ease with technical issues as with business and strategic. You have to synthesize knowledge, experience and the context to create value.
The higher up an individual moves in an organisation, the more he needs to look at the big picture, understand more than one role and develop skills relevant to it— and the more he can be likened to an octopus with each tentacle dealing with a different aspect of the business. The need is to apply a plethora of roles and skills to create a new way of solving problems or taking decisions.
Useful link:
www.infosys.com
A versatilist has the ability to apply skills more intensively to situations. Hence, they gain new competencies, build new relationships, and assume new roles. One should be equally at ease with technical issues as with business and strategic. You have to synthesize knowledge, experience and the context to create value.
The higher up an individual moves in an organisation, the more he needs to look at the big picture, understand more than one role and develop skills relevant to it— and the more he can be likened to an octopus with each tentacle dealing with a different aspect of the business. The need is to apply a plethora of roles and skills to create a new way of solving problems or taking decisions.
Useful link:
www.infosys.com
Friday, May 18, 2007
Large Diamond From the USA
(via Australian Gemmologist, Vol.23, No.1, Jan – Mar, 2007)
The Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, Arkansas, has yielded its second large diamond in as many months. A tourist named Bob Wehle, from Ripon, Wisconsin, found a 5.47 carat canary yellow diamond in the park on October 14, 2006.
In September, Donald and Brenda Roden, of Point, Texas, found a 6.35 carat diamond at the Park, which is the only park in the world where tourists can look for and keep any diamonds they find.
Park officials said they are not in the business of estimating the value of diamonds visitors find, but a 4.21 carat flawless canary yellow diamond found in March was estimated to be worth US$15000—US$60000 by a New York diamond dealer. The park is the site of the largest diamond ever found in the United States—a 40.23 carat stone (lower LHS) dug in 1924 and dubbed the Uncle Sam diamond after it was faceted into a 12.42 carat emerald cut diamond (lower RHS).
Notable diamonds recovered from Arkansas Crater of Diamonds include:
1. Uncle Sam:
Date found: 1924
Uncut weight: 40.23 carats
Cut weight: 12.42 carats
Color: white
2. Amarillo Starlight
Date found: 1975
Uncut weight: 16.37 carats
Cut weight: 7.54 carats
Color: white
3. Star of Arkansas
Date found: 1956
Uncut weight: 15.33 carats
Cut weight: 8.27 carats
Color: white
4. Star of Shreveport
Date found: 1981
Uncut weight: 8.82 carats
Cut weight: uncut
Color: white
5. Lamle diamond
Date found: 1978
Uncut weight: 8.61 carats
Cut weight: -
Color: brown
6. Connell diamond
Date found: 1986
Uncut weight: 7.95 carats
Cut weight: -
Color: white
7. Stevens/Dickenson diamond
Date found: 1998
Uncut weight: 7.28 carats
Cut weight: uncut
Color: yellow
8. Cooper diamond
Date found: 1997
Uncut weight: 6.72 carats
Cut weight: uncut
Color: brown
9. Gary Moore diamond
Date found: 1960
Uncut weight: 6.43 carats
Cut weight: uncut
Color: canary
10. Lee diamond
Date found: 1988
Uncut weight: 6.30 carats
Cut weight: -
Color: white
11. Newman diamond
Date found: 1981
Uncut weight: 6.25 carats
Cut weight: -
Color: white
12. Fedzora diamond
Date found: 1991
Uncut weight: 6.23 carats
Cut weight: -
Color: white
13. Stockton diamond
Date found: 1981
Uncut weight: 6.20 carats
Cut weight: -
Color: white
14. Schall diamond
Date found: 1981
Uncut weight: 6.07 carats
Cut weight: -
Color: white
15. Cooper diamond
Date found: 1997
Uncut weight: 6.00 carats
Cut weight: -
Color: brown
16. Kahn Canary
Date found: 1977
Uncut weight: 4.25 carats
Cut weight: uncut
Color: canary
17. Strawn – Wagner diamond
Date found: 1990
Uncut weight: 3.03 carats
Cut weight: 1.09 carats
Color: white
This list of notable diamond from Crater of Diamonds includes all diamonds weighing six carats or more, and the much publicized ‘Strawn – Wagner Diamond’.
More info @ www.arkansasstateparks.com
The Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, Arkansas, has yielded its second large diamond in as many months. A tourist named Bob Wehle, from Ripon, Wisconsin, found a 5.47 carat canary yellow diamond in the park on October 14, 2006.
In September, Donald and Brenda Roden, of Point, Texas, found a 6.35 carat diamond at the Park, which is the only park in the world where tourists can look for and keep any diamonds they find.
Park officials said they are not in the business of estimating the value of diamonds visitors find, but a 4.21 carat flawless canary yellow diamond found in March was estimated to be worth US$15000—US$60000 by a New York diamond dealer. The park is the site of the largest diamond ever found in the United States—a 40.23 carat stone (lower LHS) dug in 1924 and dubbed the Uncle Sam diamond after it was faceted into a 12.42 carat emerald cut diamond (lower RHS).
Notable diamonds recovered from Arkansas Crater of Diamonds include:
1. Uncle Sam:
Date found: 1924
Uncut weight: 40.23 carats
Cut weight: 12.42 carats
Color: white
2. Amarillo Starlight
Date found: 1975
Uncut weight: 16.37 carats
Cut weight: 7.54 carats
Color: white
3. Star of Arkansas
Date found: 1956
Uncut weight: 15.33 carats
Cut weight: 8.27 carats
Color: white
4. Star of Shreveport
Date found: 1981
Uncut weight: 8.82 carats
Cut weight: uncut
Color: white
5. Lamle diamond
Date found: 1978
Uncut weight: 8.61 carats
Cut weight: -
Color: brown
6. Connell diamond
Date found: 1986
Uncut weight: 7.95 carats
Cut weight: -
Color: white
7. Stevens/Dickenson diamond
Date found: 1998
Uncut weight: 7.28 carats
Cut weight: uncut
Color: yellow
8. Cooper diamond
Date found: 1997
Uncut weight: 6.72 carats
Cut weight: uncut
Color: brown
9. Gary Moore diamond
Date found: 1960
Uncut weight: 6.43 carats
Cut weight: uncut
Color: canary
10. Lee diamond
Date found: 1988
Uncut weight: 6.30 carats
Cut weight: -
Color: white
11. Newman diamond
Date found: 1981
Uncut weight: 6.25 carats
Cut weight: -
Color: white
12. Fedzora diamond
Date found: 1991
Uncut weight: 6.23 carats
Cut weight: -
Color: white
13. Stockton diamond
Date found: 1981
Uncut weight: 6.20 carats
Cut weight: -
Color: white
14. Schall diamond
Date found: 1981
Uncut weight: 6.07 carats
Cut weight: -
Color: white
15. Cooper diamond
Date found: 1997
Uncut weight: 6.00 carats
Cut weight: -
Color: brown
16. Kahn Canary
Date found: 1977
Uncut weight: 4.25 carats
Cut weight: uncut
Color: canary
17. Strawn – Wagner diamond
Date found: 1990
Uncut weight: 3.03 carats
Cut weight: 1.09 carats
Color: white
This list of notable diamond from Crater of Diamonds includes all diamonds weighing six carats or more, and the much publicized ‘Strawn – Wagner Diamond’.
More info @ www.arkansasstateparks.com
Standards For Testing Jadeite
(via Australian Gemmologist, Vol. 23, No.2, April-June 2007)
In late 2006, The Gemmological Association of Hong Kong released HKSM/JJT-2006 titled ‘Standard methods for testing Fei Cui (jadeite jade) for Hong Kong.
This standard has been prepared in consultation with members of the Hong Kong gemstone and jewelry industries via the Task Force for Gemstone Testing—a body established under the Accreditation Advisory Board of the Hong Kong Accreditation Service. This 2006 version replaces a previous 2004 version.
The stated purpose of this standard is:
1. Definition of the nomenclature for Fei Cui.
2. Provide standardized practice and methodology for testing Fei Cui, and,
3. Provide set technical specifications for the format and comments used when issuing certificates of identity for Fei Cui.
Contents of this standard begins with a precise definition of Fei Cui, its major physical properties, and a tabulation of the various types of Fei Cui (Types A, B, C, and B+C) that are available commercially. Systematic standard testing methods are then described for shape and cut, dimensions, weight, transparency, color, polariscope examination, refractive index, specific gravity, fluorescence, Chelsea Filter reaction, VIS absorption spectroscopy, microscope examination, and FTIR spectroscopy. Chinese language versions of the definitions of Fei Cui, its properties and its various types are presented in three appendices at the end of the standard.
This precise, standardized approach to testing Fei Cui deserves to be copied for testing other major gemstones.
In late 2006, The Gemmological Association of Hong Kong released HKSM/JJT-2006 titled ‘Standard methods for testing Fei Cui (jadeite jade) for Hong Kong.
This standard has been prepared in consultation with members of the Hong Kong gemstone and jewelry industries via the Task Force for Gemstone Testing—a body established under the Accreditation Advisory Board of the Hong Kong Accreditation Service. This 2006 version replaces a previous 2004 version.
The stated purpose of this standard is:
1. Definition of the nomenclature for Fei Cui.
2. Provide standardized practice and methodology for testing Fei Cui, and,
3. Provide set technical specifications for the format and comments used when issuing certificates of identity for Fei Cui.
Contents of this standard begins with a precise definition of Fei Cui, its major physical properties, and a tabulation of the various types of Fei Cui (Types A, B, C, and B+C) that are available commercially. Systematic standard testing methods are then described for shape and cut, dimensions, weight, transparency, color, polariscope examination, refractive index, specific gravity, fluorescence, Chelsea Filter reaction, VIS absorption spectroscopy, microscope examination, and FTIR spectroscopy. Chinese language versions of the definitions of Fei Cui, its properties and its various types are presented in three appendices at the end of the standard.
This precise, standardized approach to testing Fei Cui deserves to be copied for testing other major gemstones.
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