Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Travels In India

Concerning Diamonds, And The Mines And Rivers Where They Are Found; And Especially Of The Author’s Journey To The Mine Of Rammalakota
(via Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Travels In India / V Ball / Edited by William Crooke)

I have known them to weight a stone with 150 livres of lead. It is true that it was a large stone, which weighed 130 carats after it had been cut, and that the mill was like ours, the large wheel of which was turned by four blacks. The Indians do not agree with us in believing that weighting them causes flaws in the stones. If theirs do not receive any it is because they always have a small boy who holds in his hand a very thin wooden spoon, with which he anoints the wheel incessantly with oil and diamond powder. Besides this their wheel does not go fast as ours, because the wooden wheel which causes the steel one to revolve is seldom more than 3 feet in diameter.

The Indians are unable to give the stones such a lively polish as we give in Europe; this, I believe, is due to the fact that their wheels do not run so smoothly as ours. For, being made of steel, in order to grind it on the emery, of which it has need every twenty-four hours, it has to be taken off the tree, and it cannot be replaced so as to run as evenly as it should do. If they possessed the iron wheel like ours, for which not emery but the file is required, it it not necessary to remove it from the tree in order to file it, and they could give the stones a better polish than they do. I have stated that it is necessary to rub the wheel with emery or to file it every twenty-four hours, and it is desirable that this should be done every twelve hours if the workman is not lazy. For when the stone has run a certain time, the part of the wheel where it has pressed becomes polished like a mirror, and if the place be not roughened by emery or the file, the powder does not stick to it. When it does adhere more work can be done in one hour than in two when there is none on the wheel.

Although a particular diamond may be by nature hard, having, so to speak, a kind of knot, such as is seen in wood, the Indian diamond-cutters would not hesitate to cut such a stone, although our diamond cutters in Europe would experience great difficulty in doing so, and as a general rule would be unwilling to undertake it; but the Indians are paid something extra for their trouble.

I come to the government at the mines. Business is conducted with freedom and fidelity. Two percent, on all purchases is paid to the King, who receives also a royalty from the merchants for permission to mine. These merchants having prospected with the aid of the miners, who know the spots where the diamonds are to be found, take an area of about 200 paces in circumference, where they employ fifty miners, and sometimes a hundred if they wish the work to proceed rapidly. From the day they commence mining till they finish the merchants pay a duty of 2 pagodas per diem for fifty men, and 4 pagodas when they employ a hundred men.

These poor people only earn 3 pagodas per annum, although they must be men who thoroughly understand their work. As their wages are so small they do not show any scruple, when searching the sand, in concealing a stone for themselves when they can, and being naked, save for a small cloth which covers their private parts, they adroitly contrive to swallow it. The chief of all the merchants who embark in mining one day pointed out to me one of these miners, who had worked for him for many years, and who had stolen a stone from him which weighed a mangelin, i.e. nearly two of our carats. He had concealed it in the corner of his eye, but it was taken from him as soon as the theft was discovered. In order to prevent these knavish tricks there are always twelve to fifteen watchmen employed by the merchants to see that they are not defrauded. If by chance a stone is found which weighs above 7 to 8 mangelins, it is taken to the master of the mine, who by way of recompense gives a sarpo, which is a piece of cotton cloth to make a turban, of the value of 25 to 30 sols, and generally with it half a pagoda in silver, or else a pagoda, when rice and a plate of sugar are not given.

The merchants who visit the mine to buy, remain in their dwellings, and every morning at from 10 to 11 o’clock the masters of the miners, after they have dined (for the Banians never leave their houses till they have washed and eaten), take their diamonds to show to them. If the parcels are large, and contain many stones of the value of from 2000 up to 15000 or 16000 ecus, they entrust them to the foreign merchant for seven or eight days or more in order that he may examine them with care. When the stones have been examined, and are returned by the merchant, if they suit him he should conclude the transactions at once, otherwise the owner of the stones wraps them in a corner of his waistband, his turban, or his shirt, and departs, so that one never sees the same stones again, or at least they are mixed with others, when the miner returns with another parcel. When the transaction is concluded the purchaser gives an order for payment on the Shroff or person who issues and receives bills of exchange. If you have agreed to pay in three or four days, and delay longer, you have to pay interest at the rate of 1½ percent per month. Most frequently, when the merchant is known to be solvent, a bill of exchange on Agra, Golkonda, or Bijapur is preferred, but more especially one upon Surat, where, as it is the most famous port in India, the dealers desire to purchase the commodities which come in vessels from foreign countries, and are suitable for their wants.

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Travels In India (continued)

Singin' In The Rain

Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Directed By: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly
Screenplay: Betty Comden, Adolph Green
Cast: Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds

(via YouTube) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkEvy-9yVyQ

A real gem. All-time favorite musical.

Nuristan

(via Wikipedia): Nuristan (also spelled Nooristan, Nurestan, or Noorestan) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. It was formed in 2001 from the northern parts of Laghman Province and Kunar Province. The ethnic Nuristanis make up the majority of the population of this province. Located on the southern slopes of the Hindu Kush mountains in the northeastern part of the country, Nuristan spans the basins of the Alingâr, Pech, Landai Sin, and Kunar rivers. Its capital is Nuristan. It is bordered on the north by Badakhshan Province, on the west by Panjshir Province, on the south by Laghman and Kunar provinces, and on the east by Pakistan + the region is well-known for its unique colored gemstone deposits.

Useful links:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nurestan_Province
www.gems-afghan.com

MoMA Makes Its Move

Barbara Pollack writes about moving an entire museum + real-estate issues + other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1136

A Modernist Manifesto

Ann Landi writes about Meyer Schapiro (1904–96) + his concepts + the liberating quality of avant-garde art + other viewpoints @ http://www.artnews.com/anniversary/top4.asp

The Emerald Story

Emerald Simulants (synthetics and imitations)

Synthetic emeralds: Synthetic emeralds are man-made emeralds which have the same physical, chemical and optical properties of a natural emerald. Man has very skillfully duplicated this natural green stone so that it is sometimes extremely difficult to tell the difference. However, with the aid of magnification and other tests, a synthetic readily reveals its true identity. Synthetic emeralds have been in the market for several decades, but it’s only now, due to sophisticated mass production techniques that they have become more prevalent and a cause for concern. In the past synthetics were deceptively passed off as natural emeralds by dealers, but today they are now being successfully marketed as synthetics or lab-created by such companies as the San Francisco-based Chatham Inc, Russian-based Tairus, and others.

The techniques employed for the production of synthetic emeralds are:
- Flux growth
- Hydrothermal growth

Flux method: A flux is a chemical compound which when melted has the ability to assist another substance to melt at a temperature lower than would be normal for that material. The chemical components of emerald may be dissolved with an appropriate flux while being held within a platinum-lined crucible. Upon cooling, crystals of synthetic emerald are formed. Chatham employs the flux method for the production of his synthetic emeralds.

Typical inclusions:
- Solid masses of residual flux which appear cloudy.
- Wispy veils—look like thin veils blowing in breeze. Resemble natural liquid fingerprints, but may be more dense.
- Venetian-blind—refers to the appearance of very fine straight line growth zoning which takes on the appearance of venetian blinds.

Hydrothermal process: Of all the synthetic gem growth techniques, this process mimics most closely the process of nature for the creation of emeralds. As the name indicates, it involves water, heat and pressure. Nutrient material (chemical compound for emerald) is placed in an autoclave or ‘bomb’ along with a number of seed crystals located towards to upper (eventually cooler) part of the vessel. Heated water under high pressure dissolves the nutrient and through convection, the chemical needed to grow emerald are deposited on the seed crystal. These crystals now continue to grow so long as the conditions for growth remain and there is a supply of the nutrient.

Typical inclusions:
- Liquid feather with the appearance of fingerprints.
- Distinct fine line zoning.
- Arrow head zoning.
- Nail-head-like phenakite inclusions.

Emerald Story (continued)

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Travels In India

Concerning Diamonds, And The Mines And Rivers Where They Are Found; And Especially Of The Author’s Journey To The Mine Of Rammalakota
(via Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Travels In India / V Ball / Edited by William Crooke)

The diamond is the most precious of all stones, and it is the article of trade to which I am most devoted. In order to acquire a thorough knowledge of it I resolved to visit all the mines, and one of the two rivers where diamonds were found; and as the fear of dangers has never restrained me in any of my journeys, the terrible picture that was drawn of these mines, situated in barbarous countries to which one could not travel except by the most dangerous routes, served neither to terrify me nor to turn me from my intention. I have accordingly been at four mines, of which I am about to give descriptions, and at one of the two rivers whence diamonds are obtained, and I have encountered there neither the difficulties nor the barbarities with which those imperfectly acquainted with the country had sought to terrify me. Thus I am able to claim that I have cleared the way for the others, and that I am the first European who has opened the route for the Franks to these mines, which are the only places in the world where the diamond is found.

The first of the mines which I visited is situated in the territory of the King of Bijapur in the Province of Carnatic, and the locality if called Rammalakota, situated five days journey from Golkonda, and eight or nine from Bijapur. The fact that the two Kings of Golkonda and Bijapur were formerly subject to the Mogul, and were then only Governors of the Provinces which they acquired by their revolt, caused it to be said, and to be still said by some people, that the diamonds come from the Empire of the Great Mogul. It is only about 200 years since this mine of Rammalakota was discovered, at least so far as I have been able to ascertain from the people of the country.

All round the place where the diamonds are found the soil is sandy, and full of rocks and jungle, somewhat comparable to the neighborhood of Fontainebleau. There are in these rocks many veins, some of half a finger and some of a whole finger in width; and the miners have small irons, crooked at the ends, which they thrust into the veins to drawn from them the sand or earth, which they place in vessels; it is in this earth that they afterwards find the diamonds. But as the veins do not always run straight, as some ascend, while others descend, they are obliged to break the rocks, always following the direction of the veins. After they have opened them out, and have removed the earth or sand which may be in them, they then commence to wash it two or three times, and search it for whatever diamonds it may contain. It is in this mine that the cleanest and whitest-watered diamonds are found; but the evil is that in order to extract the sand more easily from the rocks the miners strike such blows with a heavy iron crowbar that it fractures the diamonds, and gives rise to flaws. This is the reason why so many thin stones come from this mine, for when the miners see a stone in which there is a flaw of some size, they immediately cleave it, that is to say split it, at which they are much more accomplished than we are. These are the stones which we call thin (foible), which make a great show. If the stone is clean they do not do more than just touch it with the wheel above and below, and do not venture to give it any form, for fear of reducing the weight. But if it has a small flaw, or any spots, or small black or red grit, they cover the whole of the stone with facettes in order that its defects may not be seen, and if it has a very small flaw they conceal it by the edge of one of the facettes. But it should be remarked that the merchant prefers a black point in a stone to a red one. When there is a red one the stone is roasted, and the point becomes black. I learned this trick at length so well that when I examined a parcel of stones which came from this mine, and saw that there were facettes on any of them, especially small facettes, I was certain that there was some speck of flaw in the stone.

There are at this mine numerous diamond cutters, and each has only a steel wheel of about the size of our plates. They place but one stone on each wheel, and pour water incessantly on the wheel until they have found the ‘grain’ of the stone. The ‘grain’ being found, they pour on oil and do not spare diamond dust, although it is expensive, in order to make the stone run faster, and they weight it much more heavily than we do.

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Travels In India (continued)

Spain Shown Perils Of Climate Change

(via The Guardian) The images from the book 'Photoclima' via Greenpeace is quite shocking. What will be the fate of cities like Dubai, Singapore, and other coastal cities in the coming decades? Frightening and nowhere to run!

Useful link:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/nov/10/flooding.climatechange