I think James Surowiecki was spot on.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
The Pirates’ Code
James Surowiecki writes about pirate ships and the simple constitutions + the link between pirate governance and CEO leadership @ http://www.newyorker.com/online/2007/07/09/070709on_onlineonly_surowiecki
The New Gold Rush
Do you think gold mining is any different from gem mining? The local/foreign godfather (s) will always exploit the miner (s) one way or the other, and the loser (s) will be always the poor locals.
(via AP/Bangkok Post, July 10, 2007) Jonny Hogg writes:
For 12 years, Lauren Rakotondramara has been panning for gold on the banks of the Ikopa river in the dry western grasslands of this Indian Ocean island. For hours each day, he digs sand, places it in a panning dish made from an old oil drum lid and swirls it gently in the water, hoping tiny flecks of heavier gold will remain when the grit is washed away.
Rakotondramara scrounges together a gramme and a half of the precious metal a week. In the village market, he gets about $19 a gramme, so his takings come to four times the national average weekly wage.
“Every day my body aches from my work but if luck is with me and I find a lof of gold I can make good money,” the thin 57 year old said.
Rakotondramara is part of an innovative pilot project the government hopes will help it develop the gold industry in Madagascar, the ninth poorest country in the world, as well as allow workers like Rakotodramara to earn more from their labors—and free some from situations akin to indentured labor.
Madagascar has been known for its wildlife, not its mining. It has no formal gold industry, although there has been some large-scale mining, mostly controlled by French syndicates. More than 500000 small-scale miners like Rakotondramara have been operating clandestinely, risking harassment from authorities and price fixing on the black markets.
Under new laws that came into force in December, gold panners and collectors must register with the government and pay for permits. Funds raised from the permits go to local communities to fund infrastructure and development.
Johary Andriamanantena, director of the Gold Agency, the government agency that issues all mining permits, said the plan was being piloted among about 10000 miners in about 15 villages. He hoped to bring about 70 percent of all small scale miners in the country into the programme by next year.
“We don’t even know how much gold there is in Madagascar because before the industry was informal,” Andriamanantena said.
“We know that need a gold refinery in Magagascar to maximise profits for the country and we are hoping that a private investor from abroad will build one next year. The problem at the moment is that we have no statistics to show productivity or capacity, which is what investors want. By next year we will have these so the situation will be different,” he said.
“At the moment the price of gold here is lower than the global price,” Andriamanantena said. “With the new system we will publish international gold prices, so collectors (miners) will be able to get more for the gold that they sell.”
Gold on international markets is now at more than $600 a troy ounce (31 grammes). In Antanimbary, 300 km west of the capital, Antananarivo, each miner and panner pays $1.50 a year for a permit and buyers pay $50 a year to make purchases in the area. Miners and buyers will be taxed as well. Most miners have expressed happiness with going legal.
“Before this new law we had to hide when we worked and people caused us problems. Now, no one can cause me any problems and I can do my work openly. I can also get a better price for my gold,” Rakotondramara said.
Already, 1383 gold panners and miners, as well as 55 buyers have registered. A new school and four wells have been built and electric lighting for the main streeet installed, all with the money raised from permits.
According to Ranaivo Nonot, from NGO Green, a local development agency assisting the project, the local mayor’s budget for the area has tripled to about $7800.
“I had to show when I started this pilot project that I was reducing rural poverty,” Nonot. “You just have to look at things atht the village can afford now to know that we are being successful.”
NGO Green is funded by the World Bank which is helping with the implementation of the new law and teaching the local communities how the system will work. Tom Cushman works as a mining consultant for the World Bank. He wears loud shirts and he drives a hard bargain. After hours of checking the quality and quantity of the gold in Antanimbary market, he buys over a kilogramme.
“I’m trying to set up a model to show that it is possible to buy gold directly from the lowest level….and bring it all the way to the international market. This gold directly benefits the community, they are making a profit from it. Also, the people mining it and panning it are now part of the national economy. Before they were illegal and could be exploited, now they have a vested interest in the development of their country and they are protected by law.”
With the rough terrain unsuitable for agriculture and the tough stringy grass unpalatable for zebu, a type of cow aht is the most common livestock in the country, 80 percent of the Antanimbary relies on gold to generate an income.
Officials hope the new system will help wipe out exploitation. Now many of those digging or panning for gold sell only to their bosses. They are often forced to borrow money from the boses to live and in some cases entire families, including children, work on the mines to help pay off debt.
Some distance from the river, in the hills above the village, Randriananrivo, aged 62, who did not wish to give his full name, works at a shaft mine. The site is wind-swept and hot, littered with old shafts cut into the red earth. Thirty workers, some with families, live there in simple huts made from dried grass.
“I came here with no money,” Randriananarivo said. “My bos paid for my good and transport and I must sell my gold to him. He has taken my identity card so I cannot easily leave. If I cannot pay him back at the end of my contract he will give me more food and I must continue to work. But the food is expensive, maybe 50 percent more expensive than in the market, and we must pay someone to bring it to the mine site. Everyone here is in debt to their boss. We have to work to pay him back otherwise we’ll never leave.”
Randriananarivo said they received a fair price for the gold they mined but when asked about safety, he laughed and shook his head.
“We asked for oxygen so we could breathe properly in the mine but our patron said no, we owed him money so we must work,” he said.
According to miners, two people died at the site last year in mining accidents. Jean Jacques Rakotomavo, deputy mayor of Antanimbary, acknowledges that the exploitation and the safety fo the miners are two major problems they have not yet brought under control.
Rakotomavo said wealthy gold buyers, who are part of the new plan, are continuing to loan money to workers. As part of the loan they will pay for the worker’s mining permit.
“I know many people are in debt to rich people here. It’s not right but that’s the way it is. We try and control it but it’s difficult. If we can crack down on these rich people, those in debt won’t be able to work here and they’ll sill be in debt. I don’t think everything that is happening here is good, but we are at the very beginning and we will overcome these problems.”
(via AP/Bangkok Post, July 10, 2007) Jonny Hogg writes:
For 12 years, Lauren Rakotondramara has been panning for gold on the banks of the Ikopa river in the dry western grasslands of this Indian Ocean island. For hours each day, he digs sand, places it in a panning dish made from an old oil drum lid and swirls it gently in the water, hoping tiny flecks of heavier gold will remain when the grit is washed away.
Rakotondramara scrounges together a gramme and a half of the precious metal a week. In the village market, he gets about $19 a gramme, so his takings come to four times the national average weekly wage.
“Every day my body aches from my work but if luck is with me and I find a lof of gold I can make good money,” the thin 57 year old said.
Rakotondramara is part of an innovative pilot project the government hopes will help it develop the gold industry in Madagascar, the ninth poorest country in the world, as well as allow workers like Rakotodramara to earn more from their labors—and free some from situations akin to indentured labor.
Madagascar has been known for its wildlife, not its mining. It has no formal gold industry, although there has been some large-scale mining, mostly controlled by French syndicates. More than 500000 small-scale miners like Rakotondramara have been operating clandestinely, risking harassment from authorities and price fixing on the black markets.
Under new laws that came into force in December, gold panners and collectors must register with the government and pay for permits. Funds raised from the permits go to local communities to fund infrastructure and development.
Johary Andriamanantena, director of the Gold Agency, the government agency that issues all mining permits, said the plan was being piloted among about 10000 miners in about 15 villages. He hoped to bring about 70 percent of all small scale miners in the country into the programme by next year.
“We don’t even know how much gold there is in Madagascar because before the industry was informal,” Andriamanantena said.
“We know that need a gold refinery in Magagascar to maximise profits for the country and we are hoping that a private investor from abroad will build one next year. The problem at the moment is that we have no statistics to show productivity or capacity, which is what investors want. By next year we will have these so the situation will be different,” he said.
“At the moment the price of gold here is lower than the global price,” Andriamanantena said. “With the new system we will publish international gold prices, so collectors (miners) will be able to get more for the gold that they sell.”
Gold on international markets is now at more than $600 a troy ounce (31 grammes). In Antanimbary, 300 km west of the capital, Antananarivo, each miner and panner pays $1.50 a year for a permit and buyers pay $50 a year to make purchases in the area. Miners and buyers will be taxed as well. Most miners have expressed happiness with going legal.
“Before this new law we had to hide when we worked and people caused us problems. Now, no one can cause me any problems and I can do my work openly. I can also get a better price for my gold,” Rakotondramara said.
Already, 1383 gold panners and miners, as well as 55 buyers have registered. A new school and four wells have been built and electric lighting for the main streeet installed, all with the money raised from permits.
According to Ranaivo Nonot, from NGO Green, a local development agency assisting the project, the local mayor’s budget for the area has tripled to about $7800.
“I had to show when I started this pilot project that I was reducing rural poverty,” Nonot. “You just have to look at things atht the village can afford now to know that we are being successful.”
NGO Green is funded by the World Bank which is helping with the implementation of the new law and teaching the local communities how the system will work. Tom Cushman works as a mining consultant for the World Bank. He wears loud shirts and he drives a hard bargain. After hours of checking the quality and quantity of the gold in Antanimbary market, he buys over a kilogramme.
“I’m trying to set up a model to show that it is possible to buy gold directly from the lowest level….and bring it all the way to the international market. This gold directly benefits the community, they are making a profit from it. Also, the people mining it and panning it are now part of the national economy. Before they were illegal and could be exploited, now they have a vested interest in the development of their country and they are protected by law.”
With the rough terrain unsuitable for agriculture and the tough stringy grass unpalatable for zebu, a type of cow aht is the most common livestock in the country, 80 percent of the Antanimbary relies on gold to generate an income.
Officials hope the new system will help wipe out exploitation. Now many of those digging or panning for gold sell only to their bosses. They are often forced to borrow money from the boses to live and in some cases entire families, including children, work on the mines to help pay off debt.
Some distance from the river, in the hills above the village, Randriananrivo, aged 62, who did not wish to give his full name, works at a shaft mine. The site is wind-swept and hot, littered with old shafts cut into the red earth. Thirty workers, some with families, live there in simple huts made from dried grass.
“I came here with no money,” Randriananarivo said. “My bos paid for my good and transport and I must sell my gold to him. He has taken my identity card so I cannot easily leave. If I cannot pay him back at the end of my contract he will give me more food and I must continue to work. But the food is expensive, maybe 50 percent more expensive than in the market, and we must pay someone to bring it to the mine site. Everyone here is in debt to their boss. We have to work to pay him back otherwise we’ll never leave.”
Randriananarivo said they received a fair price for the gold they mined but when asked about safety, he laughed and shook his head.
“We asked for oxygen so we could breathe properly in the mine but our patron said no, we owed him money so we must work,” he said.
According to miners, two people died at the site last year in mining accidents. Jean Jacques Rakotomavo, deputy mayor of Antanimbary, acknowledges that the exploitation and the safety fo the miners are two major problems they have not yet brought under control.
Rakotomavo said wealthy gold buyers, who are part of the new plan, are continuing to loan money to workers. As part of the loan they will pay for the worker’s mining permit.
“I know many people are in debt to rich people here. It’s not right but that’s the way it is. We try and control it but it’s difficult. If we can crack down on these rich people, those in debt won’t be able to work here and they’ll sill be in debt. I don’t think everything that is happening here is good, but we are at the very beginning and we will overcome these problems.”
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Memoirs Of A Geisha
Memorable quote (s) from the movie:
You cannot say to the sun, more sun or to the rain, less rain. To a man, geisha can only be half a wife. We are the wives of nightfall. And yet, to learn kindness after so much unkindness, to understand that a little girl with more courage than she knew, would find her prayers were answered, can that not be called happiness? After all these are not the memoirs of an empress, nor of a queen. These are memoirs of another kind. She paints her face to hide her face. Her eyes are deep water. It is not for Geisha to want. It is not for geisha to feel. Geisha is an artist of the floating world. She dances, she sings. She entertains you, whatever you want. The rest is shadows, the rest is secret.
You cannot say to the sun, more sun or to the rain, less rain. To a man, geisha can only be half a wife. We are the wives of nightfall. And yet, to learn kindness after so much unkindness, to understand that a little girl with more courage than she knew, would find her prayers were answered, can that not be called happiness? After all these are not the memoirs of an empress, nor of a queen. These are memoirs of another kind. She paints her face to hide her face. Her eyes are deep water. It is not for Geisha to want. It is not for geisha to feel. Geisha is an artist of the floating world. She dances, she sings. She entertains you, whatever you want. The rest is shadows, the rest is secret.
Writing On The Walls In South Africa
Chaim Even-Zohar writes about uncertainities over South Africa's diamond industry + other viewpoints @ http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullEditorial.asp?TextSearch=&KeyMatch=0&id=26214
Diamond Road
Don't miss the documentary on diamonds on Discovery Times coming July 17.
More info @ http://times.discovery.com/tv-schedules/series.html?paid=141.14339.112572.29396.3
More info @ http://times.discovery.com/tv-schedules/series.html?paid=141.14339.112572.29396.3
Agate-staining In The Early Part Of The Century
(via The Journal of Gemmology, Vol.XIV, No.3, July 1974) M J O’Donoghue writes:
In 1913 Dr O Dreher published a book entitled Farben des Achates, in Idar Oberstein. Long out-of-print, there is no copy in the library of the Gemmological Association nor in the British Museum. However, in his recent book, Gemstone & Mineral Data Book, John Sinkankas summarizes a number of Dr Dreher’s findings.
For obtaining a red color Dr Dreher recommends a dye solution with the following composition: ¼ kg iron nails dissolved in 1 kg concentrated nitric acid. When the liquid is clear the agate slabs are soaked for a duration depending on their thickness, e.g. 3 mm thick, 6 – 10 days, 7 – 10 mm from 3 – 4 weeks. Stones are then heated in a closed crucible for 2 – 3 or 8 – 10 days again according to the original thickness. Dreher found the iron nitrate supplied by a chemical house less satisfactory than the somewhat cumbersome nail method. S. Hoffman worked through the same method to obtain red agate.
For blue Dreher used 250 g of yellow potassium ferrocyanide dissolved in 1 litre of lukewarm water. Stones were immersed for 8 – 14 days. They are then washed and subsequently placed in a lukewarm saturated solution of ferrous sulphate.
For black the stones are immersed in a solution composed of 375 g of sugar per litre in which they are soaked for 2 – 3 weeks, with the occasional addition of water to replace losses through evaporation. They are rinsed and dried and then placed in a bath of concentrated sulphuric acid. This is warmed for one hour until it is hot. The stones are soaked for 1 – 2 hours while the acid is brought close to boiling point (340ºC). They are carefully washed on removal. It was not necessary to bring the acid to boiling point to achieve carbonization of the sugar.
Green staining is accomplished by the use of a saturated solution of chromium trioxide in 1 litre of water. Immersion lasts from 8 – 14 days for thin slabs, 2 – 8 weeks for thickness of 3 – 10 mm. After removal and rinsing the agates are placed in ammonium carbamate acid carbonate followed by heating to redness.
In 1913 Dr O Dreher published a book entitled Farben des Achates, in Idar Oberstein. Long out-of-print, there is no copy in the library of the Gemmological Association nor in the British Museum. However, in his recent book, Gemstone & Mineral Data Book, John Sinkankas summarizes a number of Dr Dreher’s findings.
For obtaining a red color Dr Dreher recommends a dye solution with the following composition: ¼ kg iron nails dissolved in 1 kg concentrated nitric acid. When the liquid is clear the agate slabs are soaked for a duration depending on their thickness, e.g. 3 mm thick, 6 – 10 days, 7 – 10 mm from 3 – 4 weeks. Stones are then heated in a closed crucible for 2 – 3 or 8 – 10 days again according to the original thickness. Dreher found the iron nitrate supplied by a chemical house less satisfactory than the somewhat cumbersome nail method. S. Hoffman worked through the same method to obtain red agate.
For blue Dreher used 250 g of yellow potassium ferrocyanide dissolved in 1 litre of lukewarm water. Stones were immersed for 8 – 14 days. They are then washed and subsequently placed in a lukewarm saturated solution of ferrous sulphate.
For black the stones are immersed in a solution composed of 375 g of sugar per litre in which they are soaked for 2 – 3 weeks, with the occasional addition of water to replace losses through evaporation. They are rinsed and dried and then placed in a bath of concentrated sulphuric acid. This is warmed for one hour until it is hot. The stones are soaked for 1 – 2 hours while the acid is brought close to boiling point (340ºC). They are carefully washed on removal. It was not necessary to bring the acid to boiling point to achieve carbonization of the sugar.
Green staining is accomplished by the use of a saturated solution of chromium trioxide in 1 litre of water. Immersion lasts from 8 – 14 days for thin slabs, 2 – 8 weeks for thickness of 3 – 10 mm. After removal and rinsing the agates are placed in ammonium carbamate acid carbonate followed by heating to redness.
For Gemology Students
Prof Hermann Bank is one the most well known gemologist in the world. He shares the very lessons he had learnt during the past several decades as a teacher and researcher. All opportunities are accompanied by their own challenges. All the available knowledge in the world is accelerating at a phenomenal rate.
Prof Hermann Bank’s Address:
In his address, following the presentation of awards to the Gemmological Association of Great Britain at Goldsmith’s Hall on 14th November, 1983, including candidates from many different parts of the world, Prof Hermann Bank said:
Es war fur mich eine grosse Ehre, nach 7 Jahren wieder von der Gemmological Association of Great Britain eingeladen zu warden, um den erfolgreichen Kandidaten der Diplom-Prufugen des Jahres 1983 ihre Urkunden auszuhandigen. But as in 1976 I think that you would prefer that I try to continue in your language, and I beg you to excuse my poor English.
It was a great honor for me to be invited to present the awards of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain to the successful candidates of 1983, and I thank you very much for this invitation and the friendly welcome. The occasion is particularly pleasing for me for several reasons—(1) it is exactly 30 years since I passed the Diploma Examination in 1953 and became FGA; (2) as you have realized already, my eldest daughter is among you successful candidates; (3) it was pleasant to be able to present the Anderson-Bank Prize this year after Basic Anderson did it last year; (4) one must enjoy such an occasion anyhow. Since I have been asked to address you after having fulfilled my first task, I shall now try to fulfill my second too, and I should like especially to speak to the candidates.
You have now got your diplomas, and we hope that you do not think, as Goethe expressed in his Faust, ‘What you possess black on white you can confidently carry home,’ and relax on your success. It is one your duties to always perfect your gemological education, to keep your knowledge on a high standard, and you must allow me to give you some advice.
Gemology was much easier thirty years ago, and, if students of 1953 such a myself had remained on the level of knowledge of that time, they would now be lost. The developments and the progress have been so enormous in all fields of gemology that it has been necessary for us to learn steadily to keep always up to date.
There have been discovered new minerals. There have been found old minerals worth cutting. There have been invented new synthetic and artificial products. There have been effected new color manipulations, so many irradiations and diffusions and heatings, that it has also been necessary to use new techniques to disclose all these phenomena. Often the techniques must be more and more scientific to get the right results.
For a long time gemology was regarded only as a more commercial and technical appendix of mineralogy. The discovery of new mineral species by gemologists and the necessity of adoption of scientific methods to distinguish between gemstones and their substitutes or their manipulation have brought gemology to the level of a science. Last year the I M A (International Mineral Association) has formed its own commission on gem materials. That means, the I M A has accepted gemology on its own as scientific part of mineralogy. More and more mineralogists are taking an interest in gemological problems and assisting us to solve them, doing research on new minerals and varieties as well as on synthetic and imitation stones, their properties and distinguishing characteristics. Comprehensive information is increasingly important, and jeweler’s customers want more information. Therefore jewelers must have better education to be able to pass the required information on to their interested customers.
The Gemmological Association of Great Britain recognized this demand at the earliest stage and started gemological education courses over fifty years ago, and the courses have become an example and a model for gemological associations in other countries. The title FGA is highly esteemed throughout the world—hence the number of students every year. It is your proud duty to uphold the professional reputation which this title implies.
In the preliminary course the Gemmological Association of Great Britain tried to give the students a general idea, and, in the Diploma course, special theoretical knowledge and practical ability to use the various methods. However, we can only give and receive instruction until the day of the examination. Education combines the knowledge of the past with the unknown dark of the future by using wisely the present.
The candidates of today know—or at least should know—what we knew thirty years ago, and they also know what happened in these thirty years, but they and we do not know what problems will occur in the next thirty years. The unknown dark is spread over the developments of the future.
One fact is certain. New technologies will create new problems, and we can solve these problems only when we study steadily and try to keep on the newest stand of knowledge of the theoretical part and of the practical know-how of the methods.
A poet once said: ‘We must demand the extraordinary from ourselves to be able to do the ordinary.’
This we should at least try to do. If you have the slightest doubt, do not hesitate to consult an experienced colleague. We have a German proverb: ‘Was fur einen vielzuviel, ist fur 2 ein Kinderspiel.’ (What one cannot do is child’s play for two).
Experts are not made in heaven, and it is better to ask than to make an error. ‘Student is, who wants to learn something: Fellow or journey-man is, who knows something: Master is, who devised or invented something.’
Always take enough time to test a stone; never be in a hurry. Take your time also to study the Journal of Gemmology and other sources of information, and try to think, as Goethe expressed it: ‘Do not say, ‘Tomorrow I will do this and that: Do it, and wait until tomorrow and say then ‘I did it,’ which means, ‘Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.’ Mineralogical gemologists and mineralogists try always to find and to develop new scientific equipments and methods which are suitable for easily distinguishing between gemstones and their substitutes, if possible without destroying them (neither gemstones nor substitutes).
Do not think that you only need to know a bit. A little learning is a dang’rous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring.’ (Pope: Essay on Criticism, 216). That means that we should try to obtain a thorough and comprehensive, broadly based knowledge.
The old Chinese said: ‘What you hear, you easily forget; What you see, you keep better in mind; Only what you have touched and worked with, you keep forever.’
So, please, use your instruments and get practice. In over ninety-nine percent of cases you can identify a stone by means of our classical gemological instruments—the polariscope, the conoscope, the refractometer, the microscope, the spectroscope, the UV lamp, etc. Only in very few cases is it necessary to consult X-ray powder methods or X-ray fluorescence or even X-ray topography or Tomography, the microprobe, IR spectroscopy or other more scientific equipments. But they are absolutely necessary for basic research and for doubtful cases.
It is not enough to have knowledge, it is necessary to use it.
And it is not enough to be willing, you must also do it.
So do work to get acquainted with methods and with all gemstones and their substitutes. The more you gain practice for yourself, the more you become sure on the one side but the more you also understand the verity of the two words of Socrates: ‘Scio nescio’ (I know what I do not know)
But Goethe consoles us when he writes: ‘It is not important what do know; but that we always have the right idea at the right moment.’
And it also is not correct that you should only buy instruments and textbooks, because often the purchase of a book is mistaken for the appropriation of the contents. So buy, use and read.
Successful candidates, I congratulate you on your Diplomas and I welcome you among the Fellows of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain. I wish you every success in your gemological future.
It is not important that one or the other of you will become a famous gemologist, but it is important that each and every one of you does his or her duty so that your clients have confidence in gemology and gemologists. To merit this confidence, do not remain on your present level of knowledge; study carefully to keep always up to date. Then I hope that your gemological practice will be characterized by a minimum of errors, a maximum of perfect results, and an optimum of joy. I wish you all the best and what is generally necessary in human life—a bit of good luck. Thank you.
Prof Hermann Bank’s Address:
In his address, following the presentation of awards to the Gemmological Association of Great Britain at Goldsmith’s Hall on 14th November, 1983, including candidates from many different parts of the world, Prof Hermann Bank said:
Es war fur mich eine grosse Ehre, nach 7 Jahren wieder von der Gemmological Association of Great Britain eingeladen zu warden, um den erfolgreichen Kandidaten der Diplom-Prufugen des Jahres 1983 ihre Urkunden auszuhandigen. But as in 1976 I think that you would prefer that I try to continue in your language, and I beg you to excuse my poor English.
It was a great honor for me to be invited to present the awards of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain to the successful candidates of 1983, and I thank you very much for this invitation and the friendly welcome. The occasion is particularly pleasing for me for several reasons—(1) it is exactly 30 years since I passed the Diploma Examination in 1953 and became FGA; (2) as you have realized already, my eldest daughter is among you successful candidates; (3) it was pleasant to be able to present the Anderson-Bank Prize this year after Basic Anderson did it last year; (4) one must enjoy such an occasion anyhow. Since I have been asked to address you after having fulfilled my first task, I shall now try to fulfill my second too, and I should like especially to speak to the candidates.
You have now got your diplomas, and we hope that you do not think, as Goethe expressed in his Faust, ‘What you possess black on white you can confidently carry home,’ and relax on your success. It is one your duties to always perfect your gemological education, to keep your knowledge on a high standard, and you must allow me to give you some advice.
Gemology was much easier thirty years ago, and, if students of 1953 such a myself had remained on the level of knowledge of that time, they would now be lost. The developments and the progress have been so enormous in all fields of gemology that it has been necessary for us to learn steadily to keep always up to date.
There have been discovered new minerals. There have been found old minerals worth cutting. There have been invented new synthetic and artificial products. There have been effected new color manipulations, so many irradiations and diffusions and heatings, that it has also been necessary to use new techniques to disclose all these phenomena. Often the techniques must be more and more scientific to get the right results.
For a long time gemology was regarded only as a more commercial and technical appendix of mineralogy. The discovery of new mineral species by gemologists and the necessity of adoption of scientific methods to distinguish between gemstones and their substitutes or their manipulation have brought gemology to the level of a science. Last year the I M A (International Mineral Association) has formed its own commission on gem materials. That means, the I M A has accepted gemology on its own as scientific part of mineralogy. More and more mineralogists are taking an interest in gemological problems and assisting us to solve them, doing research on new minerals and varieties as well as on synthetic and imitation stones, their properties and distinguishing characteristics. Comprehensive information is increasingly important, and jeweler’s customers want more information. Therefore jewelers must have better education to be able to pass the required information on to their interested customers.
The Gemmological Association of Great Britain recognized this demand at the earliest stage and started gemological education courses over fifty years ago, and the courses have become an example and a model for gemological associations in other countries. The title FGA is highly esteemed throughout the world—hence the number of students every year. It is your proud duty to uphold the professional reputation which this title implies.
In the preliminary course the Gemmological Association of Great Britain tried to give the students a general idea, and, in the Diploma course, special theoretical knowledge and practical ability to use the various methods. However, we can only give and receive instruction until the day of the examination. Education combines the knowledge of the past with the unknown dark of the future by using wisely the present.
The candidates of today know—or at least should know—what we knew thirty years ago, and they also know what happened in these thirty years, but they and we do not know what problems will occur in the next thirty years. The unknown dark is spread over the developments of the future.
One fact is certain. New technologies will create new problems, and we can solve these problems only when we study steadily and try to keep on the newest stand of knowledge of the theoretical part and of the practical know-how of the methods.
A poet once said: ‘We must demand the extraordinary from ourselves to be able to do the ordinary.’
This we should at least try to do. If you have the slightest doubt, do not hesitate to consult an experienced colleague. We have a German proverb: ‘Was fur einen vielzuviel, ist fur 2 ein Kinderspiel.’ (What one cannot do is child’s play for two).
Experts are not made in heaven, and it is better to ask than to make an error. ‘Student is, who wants to learn something: Fellow or journey-man is, who knows something: Master is, who devised or invented something.’
Always take enough time to test a stone; never be in a hurry. Take your time also to study the Journal of Gemmology and other sources of information, and try to think, as Goethe expressed it: ‘Do not say, ‘Tomorrow I will do this and that: Do it, and wait until tomorrow and say then ‘I did it,’ which means, ‘Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.’ Mineralogical gemologists and mineralogists try always to find and to develop new scientific equipments and methods which are suitable for easily distinguishing between gemstones and their substitutes, if possible without destroying them (neither gemstones nor substitutes).
Do not think that you only need to know a bit. A little learning is a dang’rous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring.’ (Pope: Essay on Criticism, 216). That means that we should try to obtain a thorough and comprehensive, broadly based knowledge.
The old Chinese said: ‘What you hear, you easily forget; What you see, you keep better in mind; Only what you have touched and worked with, you keep forever.’
So, please, use your instruments and get practice. In over ninety-nine percent of cases you can identify a stone by means of our classical gemological instruments—the polariscope, the conoscope, the refractometer, the microscope, the spectroscope, the UV lamp, etc. Only in very few cases is it necessary to consult X-ray powder methods or X-ray fluorescence or even X-ray topography or Tomography, the microprobe, IR spectroscopy or other more scientific equipments. But they are absolutely necessary for basic research and for doubtful cases.
It is not enough to have knowledge, it is necessary to use it.
And it is not enough to be willing, you must also do it.
So do work to get acquainted with methods and with all gemstones and their substitutes. The more you gain practice for yourself, the more you become sure on the one side but the more you also understand the verity of the two words of Socrates: ‘Scio nescio’ (I know what I do not know)
But Goethe consoles us when he writes: ‘It is not important what do know; but that we always have the right idea at the right moment.’
And it also is not correct that you should only buy instruments and textbooks, because often the purchase of a book is mistaken for the appropriation of the contents. So buy, use and read.
Successful candidates, I congratulate you on your Diplomas and I welcome you among the Fellows of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain. I wish you every success in your gemological future.
It is not important that one or the other of you will become a famous gemologist, but it is important that each and every one of you does his or her duty so that your clients have confidence in gemology and gemologists. To merit this confidence, do not remain on your present level of knowledge; study carefully to keep always up to date. Then I hope that your gemological practice will be characterized by a minimum of errors, a maximum of perfect results, and an optimum of joy. I wish you all the best and what is generally necessary in human life—a bit of good luck. Thank you.
Cassiterite
Chemistry: Tin oxide (tin stone).
Crystal system: Tetragonal; prismatic, capped by pyramids; often twinned (geniculate); massive and granular, botryoidal, reniform with radial fibrous structure.
Color: Transparent to translucent; reddish brown to black, colorless, yellow.
Hardness: 6 - 7
Cleavage: Indistinct: brittle; Fracture: uneven, conchoidal.
Specific gravity: 6.8 – 7.1
Refractive index: 1.997 – 2.093; Uniaxial positive; 0.096.
Luster: Vitreous to adamantine; greasy on fracture.
Dispersion: Very high.
Dichroism: Weak to moderate; yellowish, brownish.
Occurrence: Granite and alluvial, high temperature hydrothermal veins and pegmatites; Australia, Bolivia, Malaysia, Mexico, Namibia, England.
Notes:
Principal ore of Tin; collectors stone; may be confused with diamond, hematite, sphene, zircon; faceted and cabochons.
Crystal system: Tetragonal; prismatic, capped by pyramids; often twinned (geniculate); massive and granular, botryoidal, reniform with radial fibrous structure.
Color: Transparent to translucent; reddish brown to black, colorless, yellow.
Hardness: 6 - 7
Cleavage: Indistinct: brittle; Fracture: uneven, conchoidal.
Specific gravity: 6.8 – 7.1
Refractive index: 1.997 – 2.093; Uniaxial positive; 0.096.
Luster: Vitreous to adamantine; greasy on fracture.
Dispersion: Very high.
Dichroism: Weak to moderate; yellowish, brownish.
Occurrence: Granite and alluvial, high temperature hydrothermal veins and pegmatites; Australia, Bolivia, Malaysia, Mexico, Namibia, England.
Notes:
Principal ore of Tin; collectors stone; may be confused with diamond, hematite, sphene, zircon; faceted and cabochons.
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