Saturday, July 28, 2007
Jonathan Oppenheimer Repeating Great-Grandfather’s Subsidy Demands
Chaim Even-Zohar writes about Jonathan Oppenheimer's views on Botswana's Bushmen + the concept of individual rights + community rights + constitutional rights of the government + government subsidies to cutters + other viewpoints @ http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullEditorial.asp
Gem Testing
(via The Journal of Gemmology, Vol.10, No.1, January 1966) A E Farn writes:
Recently, a rather rubbed brown cabochon stone in a ring with a reasonable ray to the stone came in for test. At first glance the stone looked a quartz cat’s eye, by the coarse nature of the ray. However, as the stone was worn by bad usage, it could be partially the reason for a poor chrysoberyl looking like quartz. The stone was backed; this prevented one looking at the back of the stone for a hint of quality.
However, the very useful distant vision reading methods of taking a refractive index soon solves the question of quartz or chrysoberyl cat’s eye. Maybe I am going a long way round to bring the point home, but the telephone rang whilst I was looking at the stone in question, and having dealt with that matter I returned to the stone, put a spot of liquid on the refractometer and took a spot reading. I saw quite a reasonable changeover light bar at 1.74 which seemed reasonable enough—completely divorcing it from quartz. Automatically, I turned the spot intensity lamp on and tried to see the chrysoberyl absorption spectrum and could not. I was not surprised; there was a lot of glare from a reflected light (the stone was backed). Something did not seem quite right, so I took the distant vision again and got a good quartz reading.
Then the penny dropped—after answering the telephone I pulled the refractomete towards me and put on methylene iodide as a contact liquid (I have two dropping bottles and two refractometers). The methylene iodide gave a good spot pattern for itself and the quartz being rubbed it did not react as strongly as it should.
There seems to be some sort of moral here about keeping bottles separate, but actually at the moment of writing we are threatened with a telephone strike at night. Well, all I say is, let us have it by the day and get our testing done without interruptions.
Recently, a rather rubbed brown cabochon stone in a ring with a reasonable ray to the stone came in for test. At first glance the stone looked a quartz cat’s eye, by the coarse nature of the ray. However, as the stone was worn by bad usage, it could be partially the reason for a poor chrysoberyl looking like quartz. The stone was backed; this prevented one looking at the back of the stone for a hint of quality.
However, the very useful distant vision reading methods of taking a refractive index soon solves the question of quartz or chrysoberyl cat’s eye. Maybe I am going a long way round to bring the point home, but the telephone rang whilst I was looking at the stone in question, and having dealt with that matter I returned to the stone, put a spot of liquid on the refractometer and took a spot reading. I saw quite a reasonable changeover light bar at 1.74 which seemed reasonable enough—completely divorcing it from quartz. Automatically, I turned the spot intensity lamp on and tried to see the chrysoberyl absorption spectrum and could not. I was not surprised; there was a lot of glare from a reflected light (the stone was backed). Something did not seem quite right, so I took the distant vision again and got a good quartz reading.
Then the penny dropped—after answering the telephone I pulled the refractomete towards me and put on methylene iodide as a contact liquid (I have two dropping bottles and two refractometers). The methylene iodide gave a good spot pattern for itself and the quartz being rubbed it did not react as strongly as it should.
There seems to be some sort of moral here about keeping bottles separate, but actually at the moment of writing we are threatened with a telephone strike at night. Well, all I say is, let us have it by the day and get our testing done without interruptions.
Lazulite
Chemistry: Magnesium aluminum phosphate.
Crystal system: Monoclinic; pointed pyramids; often twinned or granular masses.
Color: Transparent to translucent; medium to dark violetish blue/greenish blue; massive: translucent to opaque, often mottled with white.
Hardness: 5.5
Cleavage: Indistinct: 1 direction; Fracture: brittle, uneven to granular.
Specific gravity: 3.1 – 3.2
Refractive index: 1.62 mean; Biaxial negative; 0.03
Luster: Vitreous.
Dispersion: Low
Dichroism: Strong: colorless to dark blue
Occurrence: Granite pegmatites; Brazil, India, Madagascar, USA, Australia.
Notes
Faceted stones may look like blue apatite; translucent stones may be confused with azurite, lapis lazuli and sodalite; faceted (rare).
Crystal system: Monoclinic; pointed pyramids; often twinned or granular masses.
Color: Transparent to translucent; medium to dark violetish blue/greenish blue; massive: translucent to opaque, often mottled with white.
Hardness: 5.5
Cleavage: Indistinct: 1 direction; Fracture: brittle, uneven to granular.
Specific gravity: 3.1 – 3.2
Refractive index: 1.62 mean; Biaxial negative; 0.03
Luster: Vitreous.
Dispersion: Low
Dichroism: Strong: colorless to dark blue
Occurrence: Granite pegmatites; Brazil, India, Madagascar, USA, Australia.
Notes
Faceted stones may look like blue apatite; translucent stones may be confused with azurite, lapis lazuli and sodalite; faceted (rare).
Friday, July 27, 2007
Sweet Smell Of Success
Memorable quotes from the movie:
J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster): What's this boy got that Susie likes?
Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis): Integrity - acute, like indigestion.
J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster): What does that mean - integrity?
Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis): A pocket fulla firecrackers - looking for a match! It's a new wrinkle, to tell the truth... I never thought I'd make a killing on some guy's integrity.
J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster): What's this boy got that Susie likes?
Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis): Integrity - acute, like indigestion.
J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster): What does that mean - integrity?
Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis): A pocket fulla firecrackers - looking for a match! It's a new wrinkle, to tell the truth... I never thought I'd make a killing on some guy's integrity.
Robb Report
Robb Report, announced the launch of the Robb Report Global Luxury Index to track the market performance of a representative group of public luxury goods and services companies listed on public exchanges all over the world. More info @ http://www.robbreport.com
An Indian Summer In The United States
Chaim Even-Zohar writes about the changing diamond business landscape in the United States + the special skills required to understand the game + other viewpoints @ http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullEditorial.asp?TextSearch=&KeyMatch=0&id=25777
Nothing Like This Picasso
Thomas Hoving writes about Pablo Picasso's great 'Les Demoiselles d'Avignon' + the artists interpretation + its special effects on art historians + other viewpoints @ http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-oe-hoving8may08,1,5897482.story
Blue Ocean Strategy
Good Books + New Business Models: (via Emergic) Here is an excerpt from one of the online customer reviews on Amazon.com by Peter Leerskov about the book:
What is a Blue Ocean Strategy?
The authors explain it by comparing it to a red ocean strategy (traditional strategic thinking):
1. Do not compete in existing market space. Instead you should create uncontested market space.
2. Do not beat the competition. Instead you should make the competition irrelevant.
3. Do not exploit existing demand. Instead you should create and capture new demand.
4. Do not make the value/cost trade-off. Instead you should break the value/cost trade-off.
5. Do not align the whole system of a company's activities with its strategic choice of differentiation or low cost. Instead you should align the whole system of a company's activities in pursuit of both differentiation and low cost.
A red ocean strategy is based on traditional strategic thinking - e.g. Harvard's strategy guru Michael Porter. A blue ocean is created in the region where a company's actions favourably affect both its cost structure and it value proposition to buyers. Cost savings are made from eliminating and reducing the factors an industry competes on. Buyer value is lifted by raising and creating elements the industry has never offered. Over time, costs are reduced further as scale economies kick in, due to the high sales volumes that superior value generates.
Examples of strategic moves that created blue oceans of new, untapped demand:
- NetJets (fractional Jet ownership)
- Cirque du Soleil (the circus reinvented for the entertainment market)
- Starbucks (coffee as low-cost luxury for high-end consumers)
- Ebay (online auctioning)
- Sony (the Walkman - personal portable stereos)
- Cars: Japanese fuel-efficient autos (mid-70s) and Chrysler minivan (1984)
- Computers: Apple personal computer (1978) and Dell's built-to-order computers (mid-1990s).
Blue Ocean Strategy provides a framework to start thinking about new opportunities.
I think there must more ideas to come out of Blue Ocean Strategy + the concept is a tipping point + only time will tell whether the concept works in diverse business landscapes.
What is a Blue Ocean Strategy?
The authors explain it by comparing it to a red ocean strategy (traditional strategic thinking):
1. Do not compete in existing market space. Instead you should create uncontested market space.
2. Do not beat the competition. Instead you should make the competition irrelevant.
3. Do not exploit existing demand. Instead you should create and capture new demand.
4. Do not make the value/cost trade-off. Instead you should break the value/cost trade-off.
5. Do not align the whole system of a company's activities with its strategic choice of differentiation or low cost. Instead you should align the whole system of a company's activities in pursuit of both differentiation and low cost.
A red ocean strategy is based on traditional strategic thinking - e.g. Harvard's strategy guru Michael Porter. A blue ocean is created in the region where a company's actions favourably affect both its cost structure and it value proposition to buyers. Cost savings are made from eliminating and reducing the factors an industry competes on. Buyer value is lifted by raising and creating elements the industry has never offered. Over time, costs are reduced further as scale economies kick in, due to the high sales volumes that superior value generates.
Examples of strategic moves that created blue oceans of new, untapped demand:
- NetJets (fractional Jet ownership)
- Cirque du Soleil (the circus reinvented for the entertainment market)
- Starbucks (coffee as low-cost luxury for high-end consumers)
- Ebay (online auctioning)
- Sony (the Walkman - personal portable stereos)
- Cars: Japanese fuel-efficient autos (mid-70s) and Chrysler minivan (1984)
- Computers: Apple personal computer (1978) and Dell's built-to-order computers (mid-1990s).
Blue Ocean Strategy provides a framework to start thinking about new opportunities.
I think there must more ideas to come out of Blue Ocean Strategy + the concept is a tipping point + only time will tell whether the concept works in diverse business landscapes.
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