Title: Patrick Mohs Jewelry, 2013 JCK Rising Star Abstract: View Gallery

Background

	We are Patrick Mohs Jewelry – husband and wife jewelry designers and creators, Patrick Nelson and Mary Kay Mohs. We both grew up in small towns in Minnesota and studied at GIA in Carlsbad, but didn’t cross paths until a few years later. We met in 2005, happy to find out we had so much in common, especially our love for jewelry, gems and design.

	Patrick grew up in his mother’s jewelry store, so he had a fascination with jewelry from a young age.  Mary Kay always admired her mother’s beautiful jewelry and loved learning about rocks and gemstones and how they were formed in the earth. She knew that it was something that she wanted to be a part of.

	Patrick earned his Graduate Gemologist and Graduate Jeweler diplomas in 2000; Mary Kay earned her Graduate Gemologist in 2004.

	We have been married since 2006 and have been designing and making jewelry together ever since. Our studio is in Wayzata, Minnesota, where we bring all of our jewelry to life – from pencil and paper to metal and gemstones.

The Design Process

	It is a constantly evolving tug of war! It all starts with a concept, often taken from nature, then multiple sketches and many variations on paper. From there it’s back and forth between us until we settle on the final design to bring to life in our studio. We continue to make changes until it gets the feel we have in our minds. It has to be just right for both of us – this is our art.

	The look and feel of our jewelry is natural in its flowing lines and movement. Waves are a central theme we are working on. Other themes are natural shapes like volcanos, flowers and snow drifts, along with lakes (we are from Minnesota after all!).

	We are trying to say “explore” with our jewelry, in the hopes of making each piece striking and captivating. We see each design as an adventure we are sharing together. We want to create pieces that make people wonder and make the wearer feel special.

Favorite Gemstones and Metals

	One of our favorite gems is the golden South Sea pearl, which we find to be warm, delightful and unexpected -- especially in contrast to diamonds. We are always on the hunt for unique gemstones – such as Koroit opal, tsavorite, chrysoprase, purple sapphire, kunzite, gem silica – and enjoy contrasting them with another vivid color to bring a piece to life. Color brings a design to life!

	The metal we use the most is 18K yellow gold. We love the richness of its color and the way it contrasts with and highlights many gemstones. We also enjoy exploring with platinum and palladium.

	You can only imagine the “discussions” we’ve had about selecting gemstones since we are business partners, jewelry designers, married and both Graduate Gemologists!

Motivation

	We’re doing what we love and in turn, creating art.  We love having the freedom to challenge what might be the norm, explore what might be possible, and bring to life a vision. Every piece truly is an adventure.

	Mary Kay and Patrick Mohs. Photo provided by Patrick Mohs Jewelry. Source: GIA @topic:6


Title: The Rise of the Brazilian Jewelry Industry Abstract: The natural and cultural elements of Rio de Janeiro influence many jewelry designers.

                      I have traveled to Brazil many times over the last decade and witnessed tremendous changes there, including significant increases in its economic power and industrial development, and the emergence of women professionals. Accompanying these trends has been the rise of an incredible jewelry design and manufacturing industry.

At the August 2012 Feninjer show in São Paulo, I witnessed the full spectrum of Brazilian jewelry design. And while viewing the styles on display at the show is very informative, to see them actually being worn by Brazilians helps you understand the jewelry’s cultural connection.

	Brazil’s jewelry reflects the sense of style possessed by its women. Like Brazilian fashion and style, the jewelry is often bold. Photos courtesy of Vianna Joais (left) and Manoel Bernardes (right).
Designers in São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, and other cities are dedicated to capturing important elements of the domestic culture, creating styles that are uniquely Brazilian. The culture of Brazil is extremely rich and diverse. Portuguese settlers, indigenous societies, and Africans imported through the slave trade all contributed their own unique cultures. This cultural blend created a unique style.

	Afro-Brazilian culture has a strong influence on design.
Besides cultural diversity, Brazil is also known for its natural beauty, from the lush jungles of the Amazon to the picturesque beaches and mountains and the incredible variety of flora and fauna. Brazilian jewelry always seems to reflect these design inspirations.

	Brazil is a country full of natural wonders, such as Iguazu Falls, that inspire jewelry designs.
Another contributing factor is the wealth of gemstones available there. Brazil is one of the most significant producers of a variety of colored gemstones, which are often incorporated into these jewelry designs. The liberal use of gemstone color creates a bold look.

	Cultural aspects such as music and dance are sometimes reflected in Brazilian jewelry designs. Courtesy of Vianna Joais.
The cost of mining and cutting gemstones has risen steadily along with Brazil’s economy. Labor costs and government regulations have added significantly to operational costs, especially in the mining sector. For some mining operations, it is no longer being economically viable to produce certain gemstone varieties for the international market.

International gemstone trading is usually done in U.S. dollars, which has created a sort of double penalty. As business costs have risen, so has the value of the Brazilian real against the U.S. dollar. As a result, it now costs considerably more to mine and cut gemstones in Brazil, and they receive less dollar value when they’re sold.

As costs have risen, many Brazilian companies have thrived by moving up the value chain into branded finished jewelry. Their uniquely Brazilian style incorporates many different domestic gemstones. The high value of the jewelry makes gem mining and cutting profitable again and creates new employment opportunities.

	Brazilian jewelry designs are usually incorporated into matching suites. Courtesy of Vianna Joais.
Manoel Bernardes has been a wholesale colored stone supplier for decades. The majority of its business is now in branded finished jewelry, which completes for them the entire mine-to-market supply chain. The company also has its own retail stores in Brazil. Vianna Joais is another company with brand power in Brazil and, through its exports, around the world. Its jewelry designs and suites incorporate a wide variety of colored stones.

	Earth tones signify the strong connection between Brazilians and their environment. Courtesy of Manoel Bernardes.
Brazilian designers are known for combining colored stones to create a rainbow of attractive colors in a single piece. This look has been very popular with the domestic market and is one of the Brazilian style themes recognized worldwide, thanks to a growing export market.

	Brazilian designs often incorporate a variety of gem colors in a single piece. Courtesy of Vianna Joais.
One key factor in all this is the Brazilian woman herself. She has a unique sense of style that is modern, fashionable, and versatile. She prefers jewelry that blends with nature, evoking a sense of free-flowing movement. Earrings that dangle are a favorite.

	Pastel colors are also a popular choice. Courtesy of Vianna Joais.
Brazilian women love both intense and pastel colors in gemstones. They often wear large stones or pieces with combinations of different stones. The wealth of stones includes aquamarine, morganite, blue topaz, yellow to imperial topaz, amethyst, citrine, green quartz, smoky quartz, rose quartz, various colors of tourmaline, rhodonite, iolite, and others.

	Brazilian women often incorporate large pieces of jewelry into their fashionable wardrobes. Courtesy of Manoel Bernardes.
The Brazilian consumer often goes for the color rather than the higher-priced gemstones. While Brazil is a major source of emeralds for the world market, they are not among the more popular gemstones used in Brazilian branded jewelry, especially for the domestic market. Besides favoring less-expensive colored gemstones, Brazilians also make jewelry purchases and change styles more often than many other consumers. Many Brazilian jewelry designers come out with four brand-new collections a year. Because of domestic demand, this is almost a necessity. New jewelry lines often come out each season, to coordinate with the fashions Brazilian women will be wearing. Floral designs are especially popular in spring and summer.

	This design incorporates floral motifs and dangling gems. Courtesy of Vianna Joais.
For brands such as Vianna Joais and Manoel Bernardes, vertical integration offers a great deal of design versatility. They are not confined to styles that use standard gemstone shapes and sizes. They can create asymmetrical shapes and non-standard sizes and incorporate them into their brilliant designs, while still producing sufficient quantities to create entire seasonal jewelry lines.

	While Brazilian designers are known for taking advantage of the full rainbow of gem colors, they also incorporate neutrals. Courtesy of Vianna Joais.
This design philosophy also offers an economic advantage that helps offset the rising production costs. If rough gems from the mine are elongated, or have some other shape that would result in substantial weight loss for standard cuts, the designers can incorporate them in a way that retains a larger percentage of the stone’s original weight.

While 18K yellow gold is the standard metal for Brazilian jewelry, 18K white and rose gold have been gaining popularity. Silver has also become more important, partly because its lower cost helps maintain the right price points for the domestic market.

Brazilian jewelry makers can compete against lower labor costs elsewhere by incorporating unique designs and frequently introducing new lines. The manufacturing equipment and techniques are also constantly being updated and refined.

	Today, many of Brazil’s very talented and artistic jewelry designers are women.
Besides the Feninjer show for designers and manufacturers selling to retailers, I also attended Techno Gold in São Paulo earlier in 2012. Techno Gold was aimed primarily at Brazilian jewelry manufacturers, and state-of-the-art equipment was displayed and sold at the show.

	Many Brazilian jewelry brands have their own lapidary facilities where they can cut stones to any shape needed for their designs.
The future of the Brazilian designer jewelry industry looks very promising. The country’s vast gem wealth lends itself to custom jewelry designs with an innovative style that incorporates Brazilian culture and natural beauty. Colored stone suppliers have offset higher costs by moving up the value chain into finished jewelry, satisfying the domestic market while also branding their style internationally. Meanwhile, trade organizations such as the Brazilian Institute of Gems and Precious Metals (IBGM) sponsor design contests and conduct some 80 training programs across the country, preparing the next generation of jewelry innovators.

	Brazilian designs often combine pastel-colored gemstones with darker or more intense varieties. Courtesy of Vianna Joais. Source: GIA @topic:10


Title: The Business of Bling A Career in Jewelry Sales Abstract: Imagine a job where you're surrounded by shimmering diamonds, rubies, lustrous cultured pearls, and velvety blue sapphires. If this sounds like a dream come true, then perhaps a career in the glamorous and alluring world of gems and jewelry is for you.

Positions can range from working with gemstones to designing or manufacturing the latest jewelry, and from selling jewelry to managing a retail jewelry store. While each of these positions requires specialized education, a position in retail jewelry sales is one of the easiest and fastest ways to start a career in the gem and jewelry industry. GIA’s senior industry analyst, Russell Shor, estimates there are approximately 250,000 employed in retail jewelry sales in the U.S.

A retail jewelry sales position can also lead to a substantial income for top sales professionals, and commissions can add even more to the income. But jewelry sales associates say one of the most rewarding aspects of their work is the prospect of bringing symbols of love and happiness into someone’s life.

“The ability to answer questions about gems, jewelry design and the manufacturing process is critical to succeeding in jewelry sales,” said Larry Larson, GIA instructor. “While an aptitude for customer service is necessary, product knowledge cements the opportunity to close the sale. People buy from whom they trust… and they trust those who are educated.”

To gain this essential product knowledge, specialized courses are required. These courses can be taken through the convenience of distance education, such as GIA’s Accredited Jewelry Professional (AJP) diploma program. This program provides a strong foundation in product knowledge and sales through three short courses: Jewelry Essentials, Colored Stone Essentials, and Diamond Essentials. GIA, an independent, nonprofit organization based in Carlsbad, Calif., is a top educational institution for the gem and jewelry industry and the world's foremost authority in gemology.

The AJP program was designed for people who want to start a career in the jewelry industry. The courses give the right amount of product knowledge and sales techniques to answer questions that can arise in a retail situation. Source: GIA @topic:9


Title: Gems & Gemology Turns 90! Abstract: Welcome to the Spring 2024 issue of Gems & Gemology ! With this new volume year, we reach a special milestone at G&G: our 90th anniversary. In this first issue of our 90th year, we present research studies on colored stones and treatments, recap the Tucson gem shows, highlight an extraordinary garnet necklace, and offer our annual G&G Challenge quiz.
“…we reach a special milestone at G&G: our 90th anniversay”
Turquoise has been highly valued in China for thousands of years. Our lead article examines turquoise from the Tianhu East deposit in Xinjiang, China. Following a summary of the area’s geology and the results of studied samples, Ling Liu and coauthors identify atacamite as a unique geographic origin indicator differentiating Tianhu East turquoise from other Chinese turquoise. The authors also propose a hypothesis for the origin of the deposit.
Next, a team led by Zhaoying Huang investigates a translucent variety of jadeite jade from Guatemala known as “ice jade” that has become prominent in the Chinese market, second to jadeite jade from Myanmar. The authors detail the structural characteristics, mineral compositions, and color origin of the pale green material from the Morales mine in the Izabal Department of Guatemala.
In our final feature article, Tsung-Jen Wu’s research team analyzes colored gemstone coatings, using coated synthetic moissanite as a case study. Applying nanoscale analytical methods, the authors provide a basis for characterizing colored coatings on gemstones and identifying possible techniques used in the coating process.
Our regular features have much to offer as well. Lab Notes continues to deliver interesting reports from GIA’s global laboratories, including a natural blue diamond colored by fine milky cloud inclusions, a resubmission of a CVD-grown diamond after HPHT treatment, and a study of pearls from windowpane oysters. Micro-World provides a glimpse at the inner beauty of gemstones, highlighting an intriguing inclusion in a Kashmir sapphire, stunning pink and red epidote crystals in quartz, colorful parallel rays of light in rainbow lattice sunstone, and more. The latest installment of Diamond Reflections explores how superdeep diamonds make their way to the earth’s surface. Our Gem News International section begins with 30 pages covering the 2024 Tucson gem shows: trends, noteworthy designs, and interesting finds. The GNI regular features report on beryl with emerald rims from Newfoundland, phenomenal emeralds from Pakistan, Liberian ruby, and more. Also in this issue, we put a spectacular collaboration by Mary van der Aa and Todd Wacks In the Spotlight. The “Garanatus” necklace, featuring 28 garnets from all over the world, recently won two AGTA Spectrum Awards.
Finally, test your knowledge of our 2023 feature articles in the annual G&G Challenge, and find out which of those articles earned a Dr. Edward J. Gübelin Most Valuable Article Award.
Throughout our 90th anniversary year, we will renew the journal’s longstanding commitment to the gem trade with a variety of special content features. We hope you enjoy this first issue! Source: GIA @topic:1


Title: Butterfly Brooch Showcasing East African Gems Abstract: This colorful 18K gold butterfly brooch designed by Pietro DiBenedetto features 49 East African colored gems, accompanied by colorless and yellow diamonds. Photo by Robert Weldon; courtesy of Akiva Gil & Co.
At the AGTA show, Andrew Rosenblatt, company spokesperson for Akiva Gil (New York City), showed us a magnificent butterfly brooch featuring colored stones from East Africa (see above). Notably, Akiva Gil was among the first to acquire spinel and raspberry rhodolite from Tanzania in the early 2000s. Joseph Gil collaborated with the late master jeweler Pietro DiBenedetto to develop a piece that would showcase the beautiful array of colors from this part of the world.
The resulting brooch contains fine-quality green tsavorite (17.98 carats total), yellow grossular (0.98 carats total), and orange mandarin garnets (10.15 carats total) alongside pink spinel (15.00 carats total) and fancy-color sapphire (8.47 carats total). These are accented by 1.60 carats of yellow and colorless diamonds. This piece highlights the wide range of colored gem varieties in highly desirable hues that East Africa contributes to the gem trade today. Source: GIA @topic:6


Title: GIA's Gübelin Gem Project: Spinel Abstract: Spinels
Photo by Robert Weldon/GIA, courtesy Dr. E. J. Gübelin Collection
GIA Collection 34618, 34661, 34662, 34908

Found in nearly every color – most notably red, pink and blue – spinels are popular gemstones because of their abundance, moderate cost and attractiveness. Red spinel has often been mistaken for ruby. Some spinel exhibits asterism (a star-shaped pattern of reflections), chatoyancy (a “cat’s-eye” effect seen in reflected light) or a color change when viewed alternately under incandescent and fluorescent lighting.

34613

			3.34 ct Spinel
			Myanmar (PDF)

33510

			4.27 ct Spinel
			Myanmar (PDF)

33502

			4.54 ct Spinel
			Myanmar (PDF)

34605

			5.70 ct Spinel
			Myanmar (PDF)

33508

			5.72 ct Spinel
			Myanmar (PDF)

33512

			9.33 ct Spinel
			Myanmar (PDF)

34664

			9.98 ct Spinel
			Myanmar (PDF)

34592

			10.42 ct Spinel
			Myanmar (PDF)

34618

			10.94 ct Spinel
			Myanmar (PDF)

34610

			11.21 ct Spinel
			Myanmar (PDF)

34661

			20.98 ct Spinel
			Myanmar (PDF)

33506

			3.43 ct Spinel
			Pakistan (PDF)

33532

			4.11 ct Spinel
			Pakistan (PDF)

34904

			0.68 ct Spinel
			Sri Lanka (PDF)

34903

			1.38 ct Spinel
			Sri Lanka (PDF)

34923

			2.50 ct Spinel
			Sri Lanka (PDF)

33545

			3.73 ct Spinel
			Sri Lanka (PDF)

33521

			4.67 ct Spinel
			Sri Lanka (PDF)

33491

			5.32 ct Spinel
			Sri Lanka (PDF)

33541

			5.42 ct Spinel
			Sri Lanka (PDF)

33492

			6.65 ct Spinel
			Sri Lanka (PDF)

34922

			7.98 ct Spinel
			Sri Lanka (PDF)

34925

			8.10 ct Spinel
			Sri Lanka (PDF)

34907

			8.29 ct Spinel
			Sri Lanka (PDF)

34915

			9.39 ct Spinel
			Sri Lanka (PDF)

33534

			11.44 ct Spinel
			Sri Lanka (PDF)

34914

			13.52 ct Spinel
			Sri Lanka (PDF)

33526

			13.71 ct Spinel
			Sri Lanka (PDF)

33535

			19.31 ct Spinel
			Sri Lanka (PDF)

33496

			9.79 ct Spinel
			Tajikistan (PDF) Source: GIA @topic:1


Title: GIA's Gübelin Gem Project: Zircon Abstract: Zircon
Photo by Robert Weldon/GIA, courtesy Dr. E. J. Gübelin Collection
GIA Collection 33723

Although colorless when chemically pure, zircon is typically yellow-brown to brown. It also comes in red, blue, purple, and green. Because of its high brilliance and dispersion, colorless zircon has sometimes been used as a substitute for diamond in jewelry.

33703

			5.76 ct Zircon
			Cambodia (PDF)

33723

			6.61 ct Zircon
			Cambodia (PDF)

33698

			11.58 ct Zircon
			Laos (PDF)

35605

			2.01 ct Zircon
			Madagascar (PDF)

35602

			7.36 ct Zircon
			Madagascar (PDF)

35601

			7.66 ct Zircon
			Madagascar (PDF)

34640

			10.40 ct Zircon
			Myanmar (PDF)

34669

			14.37 ct Zircon
			Myanmar (PDF)

34671

			16.32 ct Zircon
			Myanmar (PDF)

33734

			6.21 ct Zircon
			Sri Lanka (PDF)

33717

			7.11 ct Zircon
			Sri Lanka (PDF)

33705

			10.72 ct Zircon
			Sri Lanka (PDF)

33729

			11.77 ct Zircon
			Sri Lanka (PDF)

34920

			12.66 ct Zircon
			Sri Lanka (PDF)

34958

			16.65 ct Zircon
			Sri Lanka (PDF)

33699

			24.24 ct Zircon
			Sri Lanka (PDF)

33756

			8.74 ct Zircon
			Tanzania (PDF)

34341

			12.81 ct Zircon
			Tanzania (PDF)

35070

			21.05 ct Zircon
			Tanzania (PDF)

35091

			4.06 ct Zircon
			Thailand (PDF)

33719

			11.48 ct Zircon
			Thailand (PDF)

35092

			15.13 ct Zircon
			Thailand (PDF)

33746

			19.31 ct Zircon
			Thailand (PDF)

33694

			22.15 ct Zircon
			Thailand (PDF)

33695

			28.15 ct Zircon
			Thailand (PDF) Source: GIA @topic:1


Title: GIA's Gübelin Gem Project: Tourmaline Abstract: Tourmalines
Photo by Robert Weldon/GIA, courtesy Dr. E. J. Gübelin Collection
GIA Collection 33673, 34233, 34234, 34237, 34239

Tourmalines have a very complex chemical composition, and more than a dozen mineral species are recognized within this group. Their highly variable chemical composition gives rise to a wide range of colors. Among the many varieties of elbaite tourmaline are verdelite (green), indicolite (blue) and rubellite (red). Some tourmaline specimens display multiple colors. Optical effects include pleochroism (a change of color when the gemstone is rotated) and chatoyancy (a “cat’s-eye” seen in reflected light).

35039

			13.31 ct Tourmaline (Dravite)
			Kenya (PDF)

34461

			4.17 ct Tourmaline (Dravite)
			Mexico (PDF)

33635

			31.21 ct Tourmaline (Dravite)
			Mozambique (PDF)

34666

			3.24 ct Tourmaline (Dravite)
			Myanmar (PDF)

35064

			10.36 ct Tourmaline (Dravite)
			Tanzania (PDF)

33648

			12.33 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite)
			Afghanistan (PDF)

33604

			4.52 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite)
			Brazil (PDF)

33617

			7.23 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite)
			Brazil (PDF)

33606

			8.01 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite)
			Brazil (PDF)

34310

			13.27 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite)
			Brazil (PDF)

34309

			16.87 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite)
			Brazil (PDF)

34311

			20.15 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite)
			Brazil (PDF)

34379

			3.36 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite)
			Kenya (PDF)

33624

			3.68 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite)
			Kenya (PDF)

33683

			6.53 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite)
			Madagascar (PDF)

34507

			7.13 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite)
			Mozambique (PDF)

34531

			7.50 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite)
			Mozambique (PDF)

33612

			8.05 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite)
			Mozambique (PDF)

34524

			12.87 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite)
			Mozambique (PDF)

34526

			16.08 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite)
			Mozambique (PDF)

34229

			31.48 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite)
			Mozambique (PDF)

34492

			48.86 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite)
			Mozambique (PDF)

34668

			11.59 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite)
			Myanmar (PDF)

34239

			5.57 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite)
			Namibia (PDF)

34724

			7.55 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite)
			Namibia (PDF)

34726

			10.00 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite)
			Namibia (PDF)

33629

			11.62 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite)
			Namibia (PDF)

34750

			3.61 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite)
			Nepal (PDF)

34749

			5.50 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite)
			Nepal (PDF)

33589

			21.57 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite)
			Nepal (PDF)

34945

			11.60 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite)
			Sri Lanka (PDF)

34245

			4.88 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite)
			The United States (PDF)

33619

			8.37 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite)
			Zambia (PDF)

33585

			40.08 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite) - Achroite
			Brazil (PDF)

33591

			4.80 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite) - Achroite
			The United States (PDF)

33679

			3.88 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite) - Indicolite
			Namibia (PDF)

33672

			7.25 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite) - Indicolite
			Namibia (PDF)

34728

			9.19 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite) - Indicolite
			Namibia (PDF)

34729

			9.88 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite) - Indicolite
			Namibia (PDF)

33671

			1.80 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite) - Indicolite
			Russia (PDF)

35202

			7.13 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite) - Indicolite
			The United States (PDF)

34500

			11.41 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite) - Rubellite
			Mozambique (PDF)

34721

			5.75 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite) - Rubellite
			Namibia (PDF)

35203

			14.63 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite) - Rubellite
			The United States (PDF)

33588

			16.84 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite) - Rubellite
			The United States (PDF)

33658

			12.33 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite) - Verdelite
			Afghanistan (PDF)

33665

			6.02 ct Tourmaline (Elbaite) - Verdelite
			Namibia (PDF) Source: GIA @topic:2


Title: GIA's Gübelin Gem Project: Beryl Abstract: Beryls
Photo by Robert Weldon/GIA, courtesy Dr. E. J. Gübelin Collection
GIA Collection 33007, 34281, 34289, 34815, 34290, 25919, 34270, 35274, 35253, 33058, 32698

Chemically pure beryl is colorless, but trace elements give rise to green, blue and pink/red colors. The most important variety is green emerald (colored by chromium or vanadium), followed by blue aquamarine and yellow heliodor (both colored by iron) and pink morganite (colored by manganese). Some beryls fashioned as cabochons exhibit asterism (a star-shaped pattern of reflections) or chatoyancy (a “cat’s-eye” seen in reflected light).

33052

			7.62 ct Beryl
			Brazil (PDF)

33004

			23.35 ct Beryl
			Brazil (PDF)

33005

			36.38 ct Beryl
			Brazil (PDF)

34348

			3.05 ct Beryl
			Kenya (PDF)

34400

			15.48 ct Beryl
			Madagascar (PDF)

34815

			10.27 ct Beryl
			Sri Lanka (PDF)

35253

			13.82 ct Beryl
			Zimbabwe (PDF)

34268

			17.96 ct Beryl - Aquamarine
			Brazil (PDF)

33117

			8.87 Beryl - Aquamarine
			Kenya (PDF)

34398

			9.60 ct Beryl - Aquamarine
			Madagascar (PDF)

34496

			12.58 ct Beryl - Aquamarine
			Mozambique (PDF)

34554

			11.02 ct Beryl - Aquamarine
			Myanmar (PDF)

34703

			1.60 ct Beryl - Aquamarine
			Namibia (PDF)

35272

			7.78 ct Beryl - Aquamarine
			Zimbabwe (PDF)

33869

			0.44 ct Beryl - Emerald
			Colombia (PDF)

33860

			0.74 ct Beryl - Emerald
			Colombia (PDF)

33872

			3.51 ct Beryl - Emerald
			Colombia (PDF)

33876

			1.13 ct Beryl - Emerald
			Russia (PDF)

33001

			31.46 ct Beryl - Goshenite
			Sri Lanka (PDF)

33043

			8.41 ct Beryl - Heliodor
			Brazil (PDF)

34281

			14.44 ct Beryl - Heliodor
			Brazil (PDF)

33034

			14.67 ct Beryl - Heliodor
			Ukraine (PDF)

35274

			4.72 ct Beryl - Heliodor
			Zimbabwe (PDF)

33046

			11.46 ct Beryl - Heliodor
			Zimbabwe (PDF)

33028

			4.54 ct Beryl - Morganite
			Brazil (PDF)

34269

			15.72 ct Beryl - Morganite
			Brazil (PDF)

33003

			23.66 ct Beryl - Morganite
			Brazil (PDF)

33000

			100.99 ct Beryl - Morganite
			Brazil (PDF)

33030

			21.10 ct Beryl - Morganite
			Madagascar (PDF)

33031

			16.25 ct Beryl - Morganite
			United States (PDF)

35278

			5.14 ct Beryl - Morganite
			Zimbabwe (PDF)

33058

			1.03 ct Beryl - Red Beryl
			United States (PDF)

35171

			4.27 ct Beryl - Red Beryl
			United States (PDF) Source: GIA @topic:3


Title: Mining Basalt-Related Gems in Southeast Vietnam Abstract: Figure 1. Gem materials from southeast Vietnam. The three largest yellow and white samples on the far left are feldspar, while the brown, orange, and near-colorless samples in the center are zircon and the two greenish white samples near the top right are hyalite opal. The rest of the dark stones are sapphires, garnets, augites, and brown peridot. Photo by Le Ngoc Nang; courtesy of Tran Ngoc Vien.
A number of gemstone deposits are known in provinces all across Vietnam. These include ruby (Yen Bai and Nghe An), sapphire (Yen Bai, Nghe An, Binh Thuan, and Dak Nong), spinel (Yen Bai and the Central Highlands), aquamarine (Thanh Hoa and Khanh Hoa), tourmaline and garnet (Yen Bai), and peridot (Gia Lai). Recently, seven gemstone occurrences have been identified within the basaltic fields in southeast Vietnam, which are mainly found in Dong Nai and Ba Ria–Vung Tau provinces. These gems include sapphire, zircon, garnet, augite, brown peridot, feldspar, and hyalite opal. They are found predominantly in basalt bedrock and its regolith as xenocrysts or xenoliths deposited on hillslopes or in placer formations along streambeds. Seven gemstone species from southeast Vietnam were collected and documented (figure 1).
The sapphires usually appeared as hexagonal crystals or fragments, exhibiting mainly blue, deep to dark greenish blue, and greenish yellow colors. Most were transparent to semitranslucent and some opaque, and the luster was greasy to vitreous. The typical rough sizes ranged from 5 to 20 mm, weighing 2–10 ct.

Figure 2. Basalt-hosted gem materials from southeast Vietnam: A subhedral zircon crystal in laterite (A), a garnet xenocryst in basalt (B), and a brown peridot nodule in basalt (C). Photos by Le Ngoc Nang.
Euhedral tetragonal crystals of zircon were very common, while the rest of them were fragmented. Colors included orange, brown-red, gray, and colorless. These zircon samples showed high luster ranging from adamantine to vitreous, with a transparent to semitransparent appearance. Zircons from southeast Vietnam were not found in fresh basalt; they were found mostly in placer and in weathered basalt instead (figure 2A).
“Red stone” is a local name for gem-quality garnet from Dong Nai. The garnets occurred in two forms of anhedral fragments: xenocrystic fragments (also called “orphan stone”) weighing 1–50 ct, with a corroded surface, and xenolith-hosted garnet containing small corroded fragments that produce 1–5 ct fashioned gems. Both xenocryst (figure 2B) and xenolith-hosted garnet were found mainly in the regolith on the hillslopes. The color ranged from deep to dark red and occasionally deep orangy yellow, with a transparent to semitransparent quality and a vitreous luster.
Euhedral crystals of Dong Nai feldspar were characterized by two directions of perfect cleavage. These feldspars were colorless, gray, and rarely light yellow, with a vitreous luster and a transparent to translucent appearance. This mineral was the most common gem material in the region and could be found in both bedrock and its regolith.
As reported recently, the augite samples appeared black under daylight-equivalent illumination but displayed green and brown colors under transmitted light. Most samples were transparent to translucent and had vitreous luster. The brown gems tended to be more transparent than the green ones (L.N. Nang et al., “Gem-quality augite from Dong Nai, Vietnam,” Summer 2023 G&G, pp. 182–194).
Brown peridot was found as slightly corroded xenocrystic fragments measuring 0.5–5 cm. The samples were black under reflected light but greenish yellow-brown with transmitted light. Most samples were transparent to translucent, with a vitreous luster. The brown peridot was quite rare and frequently confused with augite due to their similar morphology and occurrence in the vesicular basalt (figure 2C).
The hyalite opal was found in Ba Ria–Vung Tau, and each sample consisted of two parts: the inner body and the outer layer. The contact between the two parts was distinct. The outer layer was opaque white, 2–5 mm thick, and porous. The inner body was usually colorless and rarely green, brown, or light pink, transparent to opaque, with a vitreous appearance. The hyalite opals with good transparency were suitable for jewelry due to their glowing green fluorescence under long-wave ultraviolet light (weak fluorescence under short-wave UV).
Several of these gem deposits in southeast Vietnam are unlicensed. Most materials were collected by locals using artisanal methods, without any commercial mining. The gem materials found along hillslopes or stream channels were extracted at shallow depths ranging from 0.3 to 0.5 m. The gems appeared more frequently after rain and were distributed by their specific gravity. For instance, light material such as hyalite opal was concentrated on the hilltop, stored in slightly weathered and broken-up rock, while heavier minerals, namely sapphire, garnet, feldspar, and peridot, usually accumulated along the hillslopes. Zircon, on the other hand, was often deposited in streambeds. Some gems stored in basalt were extracted easily by homemade tools.
Most of the rough materials are sold to gem dealers in Ho Chi Minh City, who sell fashioned products to local markets in southeast Vietnam. Gemstones in the area have long been gathered by locals during farming and well drilling, but the old-fashioned mining methods led to a significant waste of gem resources. Preliminary evaluations of gem quality have shown that gemstones from southeast Vietnam are of economic potential. The thick basaltic host rock covering a large area is a foundation for prospecting numerous gem materials and requires further research to comprehensively assess available reserves. Source: GIA @topic:1


Title: Ethical Supply Chain Practices in Africa with Virtu Gem Abstract: Figure 1. Some of Virtu Gem’s larger gemstones from Kenya, Malawi, and Zambia at the Ethical Gem Fair. Clockwise from top: 45.00 ct citrine, 32.33 ct rutilated quartz, 9.80 ct aquamarine, 21.65 ct citrine, 9.99 ct aquamarine, 12.32 ct aquamarine, 17.20 ct aquamarine, and 20.15 ct citrine (center). Photo by Robert Weldon; courtesy of Virtu Gem.
This year marked Tucson’s fourth Ethical Gem Fair, a market cooperative of ten responsibly sourced gemstone suppliers (see Spring 2020 GNI, pp. 177–179). The fair was held January 28–31 at the Scottish Rite Cathedral. Virtu Gem sells gemstones directly from artisanal mining communities in Kenya, Malawi, and Zambia (figure 1) and debuted at the fair in 2022. We spoke with cofounder Susan Wheeler and Percy Maleta, Virtu Gem’s country exporter and ambassador in Malawi, about its beginnings, programs, and impacts.
Wheeler said more new customers come to the Ethical Gem Fair each year. “All the large companies come by, too,” she said. “There were a lot this year that everybody was surprised by. I think that the awareness of what artisanal mining is and what it can be is spreading.”

Figure 2. Artisanal emerald miners in Zambia celebrate a donation by Virtu Gem of safety equipment and a jackhammer. Photo courtesy of Virtu Gem.
Virtu Gem gives artisanal miners, cutters, and traders formal access to international markets and began as a project of Wheeler’s nonprofit Responsible Jewelry Transformative (RJT). Virtu Gem’s programs also offer training in cutting and basic gemology and help miners improve safety, labor, and environmental conditions at the mines, all with a focus on women. Their gemstone prices include a 10% premium that goes toward fulfilling the mining communities’ various needs. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the premium was used for food drives in all three countries and personal protective equipment for Kenyan women miners; currently it goes to the purchase of safety equipment (figure 2).

Figure 3. Left: Virtu Gem cofounders Jessica Hudson, Monica Gichuhi, and Susan Wheeler on a recent visit to Malawi. Right: Percy Maleta, the organization’s country exporter and ambassador in Malawi, examines a rough gemstone. Photos courtesy of Virtu Gem.
Wheeler and cofounders Jessica Hudson and Monica Gichuhi (figure 3) began selling gemstones from Zambia online in 2020, after the pandemic forced the cancellation of a conference they had planned there that would have provided a market for traders. “There was a call to action from the Organisation for Economic and Co-operative Development (OECD) to support all the artisanal miners because no one was coming to the country to buy their stones,” Wheeler said. The OECD’s Call to Action for Responsible Mineral Supply Chains cited COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on artisanal and small-scale miners, who make up more than 80% of the global mining workforce and already face inequities in the supply chain. Wheeler and Hudson are both jewelry designers; Gichuhi is a founding member of the Association for Women in Extractives in Kenya (AWEIK). Her connections with mining associations in Zambia were a starting point.
Beginning in 2021, Virtu Gem received two grants through RJT from the World Bank’s Extractives Global Programmatic Support fund. The fund’s purpose is to promote sustainable and inclusive mining in developing countries and thereby reduce poverty. The grants allowed them to expand into Kenya and Malawi, hold virtual cutting workshops, and implement CRAFT Code in eight mines. (“CRAFT” stands for Code of Risk mitigation for Artisanal and small-scale miners engaging in Formal Trade.) Virtu Gem also hired experienced international consultants.
“There’s been a huge amount of progress over the past two years,” Wheeler said. The funding helped Virtu Gem develop a strong foundation, she said, and grow enough to be able to pass any chain of custody standard for large-capacity buyers.
While Virtu Gem has had success in all three countries, Wheeler said Kenya has seen the most because some in the trade already had Ultra Tec cutting machines and were selling to the international market. “After the first few purchases we did, word spread,” she said. “People were showing up with 50 gems at a time to process.” Miners can also bring gems to the country coordinators for cutting.

Figure 4. Rough tsavorite mined from a site in Kenya. Photo courtesy of Virtu Gem.
Virtu Gem’s gemstones are cut in each country and tracked with Provenance Proof Blockchain. They include amethyst, aquamarine, citrine, moonstone, rhodolite and other garnets, in all three countries; emeralds in Zambia; tsavorite in Kenya (figure 4); and color-change garnet in Malawi. The three countries also produce tourmaline in various colors, including pinkish orange (“sunset”) in Malawi and Zambia and golden in Kenya and Malawi. Production of morganite from newly discovered deposits in northern Malawi recently began.
Virtu Gem has helped miners implement CRAFT Code at four mines in Zambia, two in Malawi, and two in Kenya. CRAFT Code is designed to improve safety, labor, and pay conditions through education at the mines. Its components include mine site certification, safety standards and equipment, and environmental planning, including carbon data tracking and reduction.
CRAFT Code has an emphasis on protecting women, and Wheeler said they focused on women for the associated training. Focusing on woman-owned mines was more difficult, however. “It’s a big challenge for women to own any land at all, especially in Zambia, Kenya, and Malawi,” Maleta said. In Zambia, two of the mines—one emerald and one amethyst—were woman-owned, and in Kenya they worked with a young woman whose family owned a mine.

Figure 5. Artisanal rhodolite miners in Malawi. Photo courtesy of Virtu Gem.
One of Virtu Gem’s benefits is helping artisanal miners formalize their mining process. In Malawi, country coordinator Chiko Manda wanted to focus on rhodolite. Maleta said women account for roughly 80% of rhodolite production there (figure 5). Rhodolite is alluvial and best mined during the rainy season in Malawi, when the women are busy tending their gardens. Virtu Gem worked with a young couple, Ben and Tamara, who did not have a mining certificate.
“The chief of the Chewa people didn’t want the women mining,” Wheeler recalled. “Ben had to go and prove himself to the chief, that he wasn’t going to take advantage, and that the women could still do their agriculture.” Ben joined Virtu Gem’s calls with miners in Kenya and Zambia who shared advice. “He ended up getting permission to mine on the land and the blessing of the chief,” she said. “He sent me on WhatsApp a picture that he had gotten his certificate. He was so happy.” Maleta said that Ben recently received another land permit and is applying for a second mining certificate. “That was a way we could still work with the women,” Wheeler said.
Wheeler mentioned the danger of holding a large amount of gemstones in an informal market, which Ben and Tamara encountered with a quantity of rhodolite. “You have the paradox of the women’s safety,” she said. “Everybody hears about it, and you get all these other dealers and traders coming in. How are they going to get a fair price? Yet they can’t hold on to it.” She said Ben called his friends and pleaded with them to purchase some of the rhodolite. She would like to see a formal system to address this type of scenario.
Maleta said the past four or five years have seen an influx of Kenyans and Zambians to Malawi to buy gems, some of whom export them back home and misrepresent the source country. By exporting directly from Malawi, Virtu Gem has improved supply chain transparency.
Maleta said Virtu Gem pays more than the informal market, but convincing people to participate can be a challenge. “To have someone leave a stone with you and wait—for maybe two months, three months—it hasn’t been easy,” he said. “But we have people who understand the process, who know that the stone they are leaving with Virtu will be sold, but also understand that if it’s not sold, it will be returned. That is trust.”
“I was surprised by the lack of trust at the beginning,” Wheeler said. “We have to work hard to earn the trust from everybody in the gemstone community. We couldn’t have done this without our partner, Monica Gichuhi, working within the communities, and our country coordinators.” She mentioned Caroline Muchira in Kenya, who is also a cutter and a GIA Graduate Gemologist; Manda in Malawi; and Pauline Mundia in Zambia, a respected woman leader whom everyone calls “Mama Pauline.”
“Living up to expectations is hard every single day,” Wheeler said. “Tucson is hard because we don’t own anything on display. Those are people sending us their stones that they’ve invested in. Before, they would have just sold them and not invested in separating parcels and cutting. That’s a lot of pressure. We’ve earned some of that trust, and we really have worked hard to earn that.”
“It’s a dream come true for many to have their stones sold at this level,” Maleta said. “For us, for the country, for the people who are trading, the future is bright.” Source: GIA @topic:9


Title: Gem Rhodochrosite from the Sweet Home Mine, Colorado Abstract: Massive banded rhodochrosite has long been used for carvings and other ornamental objects. Although intense red transparent rhodochrosite crystals of remarkable size have been known in Colorado since 1895, not until recently were mining techniques developed to recover them economically. These new mining techniques have combined state-of-the-art equipment and technology to detect and extract large, fine-quality rhodochrosite specimens and gem rough. Although rhodochrosite is a soft mineral, faceted rhodochrosite can be set into jewelry provided it receives special handling and consideration with respect to wear. Faceted rhodochrosite can be readily separated from possible imitations on the basis of standard gemological testing. Source: GIA @topic:1


Title: Gem Legacy: A Nonprofit for East African Communities Abstract: Figure 1. Sourcing gem rough from East Africa led Roger Dery to seek ways to benefit the communities. These pink and green tourmalines are from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Photo by Rachel Dery.
The launch party for Gem Legacy, a nonprofit organization benefiting East African mining communities, was held in Tucson on February 8. This author sat down with founder Roger Dery (Roger Dery Gem Design, Royal Oak, Michigan) to discuss the organization’s mission and projects.

	Gem Legacy: A nonprofit for East African communities

Dery entered the trade in 1981, supplying gems from Brazil, India, and East African countries to jewelry stores in the Midwest before becoming a cutter. He took his first trip to Africa in 2008, visiting a dozen mines in Madagascar over 17 days and purchasing rough from the communities (see figure 1). Over the course of several more trips, also visiting mines and gem dealers in Tanzania and Kenya, Dery realized that he did not just want to purchase goods and leave, nor did he want to conflict with local customs. Through 2017, he and his fellow travelers brought food to mining villages to build trust and contribute to each community.

Figure 2. Through the work of Gem Legacy, orphans in the Mwatate Children’s Home in Mwatate, Kenya, had their school fees covered. Photo by Rachel Dery.
After consulting with his wife and daughter about the best way to contribute to these communities, in 2018 Dery formed Gem Legacy, a nonprofit that supports specific projects in the areas of education, vocational training, and entrepreneurship. Gem Legacy has provided three sessions of gemological training in Malawi (in conjunction with the country’s Ministry of Mines), paid school fees for orphans in Malawi (figure 2), provided beds to orphaned children in Kenya, and delivered equipment to women miners in southern Kenya. They are now raising funds to update the machines at Tanzania’s Arusha Gem Faceting School.
There are many ways to give through Gem Legacy. Retailers may choose to stock souvenirs made in communities that benefit from the nonprofit and donate all proceeds back to the communities. Other options include event hosting and donating a percentage from sales of a given collection. Gem Legacy also encourages pajama, toy, and book drives; grassroots fundraising through platforms such as GoFundMe; and direct donations to the nonprofit itself.
For more on Gem Legacy, go to https://www.gemlegacy.org. Source: GIA @topic:7


Title: Research on Gem Feldspar from the Shigatse Region of Tibet Abstract: The existence of a natural red andesine deposit in China/Tibet has been the subject of controversy since 2006. In late September 2010, an international group traveled to the Shigatse region of Tibe tand visited two reported andesine occurrences, at Zha Lin village and the Yu Lin Gu alluvial fan. These sites are located ~3 km from the previously investigated Bainang andesine mining area near Nai Sa village. The Zha Lin deposit appeared genuine, but the group could not confirm the authenticity of the Yu Lin Gu occurrence, and no primary andesine-bearing source rocks were found in either area. Some of the samples had glassy surface residues that are difficult to explain naturally, while initial argon isotopic measurements of a few Zha Lin and Yu Lin Gu andesines (without glassy residues) showed that they had not been heated. Laboratory studies of the Tibetan samples—and a comparison to known-treated red andesine from Inner Mongolia—showed that it may be possible to separate these feldspars using a combination of several advanced destructive techniques, but this methodology is not practical for gem testing laboratories. More detailed investigations will be needed to establish feasible identification criteria for natural-color andesine from Tibet. Source: GIA @topic:2


Title: Mt. Mica: A Renaissance in Maine’s Gem Tourmaline Production Abstract: The Mt. Mica area in southwestern Maine has been mined for tourmaline and other pegmatite gems since the 1820s. Most tourmaline production occurred during the late 1800s to the 1910s, with occasional finds made from the 1960s to 1990s. Since May 2004, a new mining venture has produced gem- and specimen-quality tourmaline in a variety of colors. The faceted stones typically are yellowish green to greenish blue, although pink and bicolored or tricolored stones have been cut. Their gemological properties are typical for gem tourmaline. Chemical analysis shows that the tourmaline mined from pockets at Mt. Mica is mostly elbaite, with lesser amounts of schorl, rossmanite, and foitite. Source: GIA @topic:1


Title: GSA Annual Meeting: Gem Research Session Abstract: The 2020 annual meeting of the Geological Society of America was held online this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Courtesy of GSA and Image AV/e-Attend.

The Geological Society of America held its 2020 annual meeting as a virtual conference October 26–30 (see above). The session on gemological research took place on Thursday, October 29, and featured presentations on various gemological topics.
Nelson Eby from the Department of Environmental, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences of the University of Massachusetts in Lowell presented a chemical classification of emeralds from 24 deposits in 10 countries. Using data on major and minor chemical elements in emeralds obtained by the instrumental neutron activation analysis, he demonstrated how these emerald occurrences could be grouped into deposits related to igneous processes, to those related to low-to-moderate temperature solutions in sedimentary environments, and to metamorphic processes. Rhiana Henry of the Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver described a method that could be used to calculate the water content of an emerald based on measured values of either Na+ atoms per formula unit (apfu) or weight percent Na2O. Cisil Badur of the Department of Geosciences at Auburn University in Alabama investigated plagioclase megacrysts containing macroscopic inclusions of native copper from the Dust Devil mine in south-central Oregon. She concluded that the homogeneous distribution of major and trace elements (including Cu) in the feldspar resulted from a rapid rate of cooling of the host basalt (which prevented substantial internal chemical diffusion following initial crystallization). The megacrysts display anomalously young argon-argon (or 40Ar/39Ar) ages, which she attributed to the loss of radiogenic argon. Shiyun Jin of GIA in Carlsbad, California, investigated the thin, oriented, ribbon-like inclusions of magnetite and hematite whose presence creates an aventurescence effect in some rainbow lattice sunstone from Australia. The iron in these inclusions is thought to have been initially dissolved in the feldspar lattice and then expelled during exsolution of albite (as lamellae) and ordering of the crystal structure during cooling of the host orthoclase.
A study of zircon inclusions in unheated sapphires from four important commercial metamorphic deposits was carried out by Wenxing Xu from the Gübelin Gem Lab in Lucerne, Switzerland. She demonstrated how Raman spectroscopic features can help distinguish geologically younger sapphires from Kashmir and Myanmar from geologically older samples from Sri Lanka and Madagascar. Wim Vertriest of GIA in Bangkok discussed the identification of opaque sulfide inclusions in rubies. Inclusions in marble-hosted rubies from Mogok, Myanmar, proved to be pyrrhotite and sphalerite, while those from amphibole rocks in Montepuez, Mozambique, were complex mixtures of Fe-Cu-Ni sulfide minerals, which suggests differences in the geological conditions of ruby formation. Evan Smith from GIA in New York discussed the genetic relationship between type IIb and certain type IIa diamonds. Both types appear to have formed in the sublithospheric mantle with the involvement of subducted serpentinized peridotite.
Ping Ma of the China University of Geosciences in Wuhan discussed the value of using three-dimensional fluorescence spectra to help differentiate untreated and various treated jadeite samples in the marketplace. Di Cui of the Engineering Research Center of Gems and Technological Materials of Tongji University in Shanghai described the chemical composition and crystal structure of both the emeralds from the Davdar deposit in Xinjiang Province of northwest China, and in a separate presentation, the high vanadium-content emeralds from the Dayakou deposit of Malipo County in southwestern China. Elina Myagkaya of GIA in New York described an unusual brownish yellow diamond that was found to be a IIa + IIb mixed-type diamond. Investigation using cathodoluminescence and photoluminescence hyperspectral imaging revealed a complex growth pattern distinguished by differences in luminescence colors and various optical defects. Source: GIA @topic:1


Title: Portrait of a Paraíba Rough: Challenging Gems in Hard Times Abstract: Figure 1. This 85 g Mozambican cuprian tourmaline was released in the Chanthaburi market in May 2020. While everyone can agree that this is a unique and valuable piece, there is no agreement on the price that can be put on it. Photo by Simon Bruce-Lockhart.
The impact of COVID-19 on the global gem trade is unquestionable. Traditional sales and services in most consuming countries came to a grinding halt. But the effects of lockdowns are also deeply felt in distant trade centers that rely on a steady supply of rough gemstones to feed their cutting, treating, and manufacturing industries.
Many of the brokers that take care of the transfer from producing countries to manufacturing hubs were suddenly unable to perform their vital role in the gemstone supply chain. Without a constant flow of new rough material, the wheels that drive the entire industry stop turning.
When a crisis like this happens, people are forced to turn to other sources. In the trading center of Chanthaburi, Thailand, the most obvious source of rough is easily overlooked: the back of the safe. Over the years, rough parcels of varying qualities have been kept for a rainy day, and in some cases material has been held back for years to keep prices buoyant via artificial scarcity.
Difficult times have seen many established businesses releasing some of these old parcels, sometimes of material not seen in volume for years (or even decades), such as Kenyan rubies from the John Saul mine or spessartine “Fanta” garnet from Nigeria.
Both authors had the privilege to handle one of the unique pieces that came from the back of someone’s safe into the market.

When SBL first saw this piece, his immediate reaction was that it was tanzanite. Several other colleagues and knowledgeable friends had the same first impression. It was difficult to imagine the true identity of this crystal, which was the size of a duck’s egg.

Figure 2. The UV-Vis-NIR spectrum shows clear absorption peaks at 660 and 900 nm that are typical for cuprian tourmaline.
This was an 85 g, 427 ct piece of unheated cuprian or Paraíba-type tourmaline rough from Mozambique (figure 1). The stone was shown in the rough gem trading circuit of Chanthaburi near the end of May 2020. The GIA laboratory in Bangkok was able to do some limited testing on the stone, confirming that it was indeed a cuprian tourmaline (figure 2).
Large crystals of copper-bearing tourmaline were seen a decade ago at the advent of the Mavuco mines, but nothing of this size and quality has been seen on the open market for some time. For more on this material, see B.M. Laurs et al., “Copper-bearing (Paraíba-type) tourmaline from Mozambique,” Spring 2008 G&G, pp. 4–30.
There is little doubt that such a large, prestigious piece attracts attention. After that, the consensus stops. While it is undeniable that this stone is very valuable, no one can agree on precisely how valuable it is.
The decisions of how to heat and cut it to open up that coveted blue-green color produced by copper are critical to the value-adding process. The results of heat treating Mozambican cuprian tourmaline can be seen in figure 22 of Laurs et al. (2008).
The unheated Paraíba gem was taken to the handful of factories in Chanthaburi and Bangkok capable of buying and value-adding such a piece. Factoring in cracks, internal stress, and the orientation of some inclusions, all the factories determined that the stone should be cut into several pieces.
But everyone had a different opinion of exactly how to manufacture this piece. And this is where the dreams of Paraíba profits get smashed on the anvil of market reality.
A well-saturated large crystal will, when cut into numerous smaller pieces, exhibit a paler saturation of the original hue. Given that the market will pay much more per carat for larger Paraíbas of intense color than for smaller paler Paraíbas, the range of potential value outcomes regarding the number of pieces to cut is dizzying.
Furthermore, heat treatment of any stone is unpredictable, but tourmaline is a notoriously fickle gem to heat. Would you simply remove the frosted surface and heat it before sawing and preforming? This carries the risk that the gem will shatter uncontrollably during heating, but also the possibility of producing a single Paraíba tourmaline of spectacular size and a coveted deeper color. Or would you play it safe by cutting and grinding it into several smaller preforms and heating the many pieces? This mitigates some of the risks, but sacrifices the potential for capitalizing on the size of the rough.
Even if you play it safe, there is still no guarantee that minor unintended cracking will not require the resizing and re-orientating of preforms before faceting, which could significantly reduce the final color and weight yet again.
The transformative yet risky process of slicing, preforming, heating, and faceting is in some ways a gamble. The reality is that neither buyer nor vendor actually knows what will happen, and there is an element of chance layered on top of the manufacturer’s skill. The coveted “Paraíba” hue and saturation after heating are not guaranteed, and cases of “overcooking” cuprian tourmalines until only a pale pink color remains are not unheard of. These many variables create unknowable outcomes.
The most prudent buyers calculate their offers based on the risk of as many as six or more paler pieces, and offer much lower than expected when seeing this magnificent piece of rough. The vendors optimistically hold to their dream of a higher value based upon two or three larger, well-saturated pieces—and with such a wide disparity in value-outcome consensus, rough gems like this take time to sell. In the case of this piece, no agreement was reached after several rounds of back-and-forth between the different parties, and the stone was returned to its owner.
While this story is not unique, it highlights many aspects of the gem trade that most people throughout the supply chain are unfamiliar with. In these tough COVID times, it becomes especially important to realize how many hands have handled the gems we are seeing and which challenges every single one faces. Source: GIA @topic:7


Title: Greenish Blue Glass Imitating Gem Silica Abstract: Figure 1. Two oval and one marquise cabochon of greenish blue glass samples ranging from 2.17 to 2.60 ct. Photo by Min Ye.

Gem silica, also known as “chrysocolla chalcedony,” is considered the most valuable variety of chalcedony. Its attractive blue to bluish green color is generated by finely disseminated minute inclusions of chrysocolla. The main sources include Taiwan, the United States, Mexico, Peru, and Indonesia. For years, gem silica has been especially popular in Taiwan. Due to the pleasing saturated blue color of Taiwanese material, which is among the world’s finest, it commands a premium price. At the same time, the current lack of production in Taiwan is driving prices substantially higher. Thus, imitations and treatments are gradually emerging in the marketplace, confusing customers. Recently we obtained three polished specimens from a gift shop in Taidong County, Taiwan (near the locality of the gem silica mine), that appeared to have good quality of color and transparency (figure 1). The merchant claimed they were gem silica mined in Taiwan, but they were subsequently identified as glass imitations.

Figure 2. Left: Numerous gas bubbles of various sizes were typical internal features of the three samples; field of view 1.28 mm. Right: Many small dimples could be found on the polished surface; field of view 3.70 mm. Photomicrographs by Min Ye in overhead lighting (left) and oblique illumination (right).
Standard gemological tests showed the following properties of the three samples: color—uniform greenish blue; diaphaneity—translucent; spot RI—1.48; SG—2.48 to approximately 2.57; fluorescence—inert to long-wave UV radiation, weak greenish white to short-wave UV radiation. Actual gem silica, meanwhile, has the following properties: color—commonly uneven; spot RI—1.54; SG—approximately 2.63. Examination with a gemological microscope revealed numerous obvious gas bubbles of different sizes (figure 2, left). In the case of the marquise sample, numerous gas bubbles led to a relatively low specific gravity. When viewed with oblique incident light, many small dimples were visible on the polished surface (figure 2, right). In addition, there were some small conchoidal fractures along the bottom edges of samples. In order to gain a more thorough understanding, further advanced analysis was carried out.

Figure 3. Representative infrared reflectance spectra of the three samples (green trace) were compared with the reference spectra for glass (blue trace) and natural gem silica (red trace, collected by the author). The diagnostic reflected peak of the glass sample is near 1065 cm–1, quite different from the gem silica peaks. The spectra are offset for clarity.

Figure 4. Typical UV-Vis-NIR absorption spectra of the three samples (green trace) were compared with those of Cu2+-doped glass (blue trace) and natural greenish blue gem silica (red trace, collected by the author). In the typical plot for the glass samples, the absorption band around 760 nm is assigned to Cu2+. Two weak absorption bands in the glass imitation at 424 and 439 nm might be related to trace amounts of iron, while the 690 nm band is possibly due to the presence of chromium. The spectra are offset for clarity.
FTIR reflectance spectroscopy showed a main reflected band at approximately 1065 cm–1 (figure 3), consistent with the characteristic spectrum of glass (see Fall 2019 GNI, p. 443–445; T.B. Wang et al., “Relationship between the frequency of the main LO mode of silica glass and angle of incidence,” Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 119, No. 1, 2003, pp. 505–508). Chemical analysis by LA-ICP-MS detected multiple elements: Si (averaging 617000 ppmw), Na (averaging 151000 ppmw), Al (averaging 101000 ppmw), Ca (averaging 24900 ppmw), K (averaging 19600 ppmw), Ba (averaging 17800 ppmw), Pb (averaging 3840 ppmw), Mg (averaging 2580 ppmw), Fe (averaging 1620 ppmw), Cu (averaging 5940 ppmw), and Cr (averaging 716 ppmw). This composition identified the three samples as silicate glass, which is decidedly different from gem silica (whose majority component is silica and chrysocolla, a copper silicate). UV-Vis-NIR spectra of the specimens presented a strong broad absorption band around 760 nm (figure 4), revealing Cu2+ as the coloring agent. In addition, two weak absorption bands at 424 and 439 nm might have been related to trace amounts of Fe3+, while the 690 nm band was possibly due to the existence of Cr3+ (see W. Thiemsorn et al., “Redox ratio and optical absorption of polyvalent ions in industrial glasses,” Bulletin of Materials Science, Vol. 30, 2007, pp. 487–495; V. Vercamer, “Spectroscopic and structural properties of iron in silicate glasses,” PhD thesis, Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris VI, 2016, pp. 97–145).
Combining all the evidence, the three greenish blue samples were confirmed to be artificial glass colored by an unknown copper additive. Gas bubble inclusions were the diagnostic feature for identification, and FTIR spectra were also helpful. This case is a reminder that customers need to be cautious when purchasing gemstones, even near the geographic source. Source: GIA @topic:3


Title: On the Trail of Africa’s Hidden Gems with GIA’s Field Gemologists Abstract: Seeking Africa’s Hidden Gems

	On the trail of Africa’s hidden gems with GIA’s field gemologists

	Join GIA’s field gemologists as they trek through the gem mining areas of Madagascar, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, and Mozambique. This short video reveals the diverse character of colored gemstone mining in East Africa, running the gamut from small-scale artisanal workings to big mechanized mines run by multinational companies.

	On one end of the scale, you’ll catch a glimpse of the independent miners’ tough working conditions in Madagascar, Kenya, and Tanzania, and perhaps witness a little of their irrepressible spirit as well. “We come here to give the Devil a hard time,” says Peter, a Kenyan miner laboring in the dust of an underground tunnel. “So we tell him to release the stones now…they don’t belong to him anymore.”

	“They all live in darkness until they’re taken out into the light…,” he continues with a smile.

	At the other extreme is Zambia’s KAGEM emerald mine, with its heavy machinery and geological surveying, backed by the multinational corporation, Gemfields. “It’s all about economics…your revenue per carat versus cost per carat,” says Gemfields geologist Robert Gessner.

	Finally you’ll stop off in Mozambique with the GIA team for a brief visit to the Montepuez ruby mine, another Gemfields operation.

	These GIA Field Expeditions (FE39 and FE55) took place in 2012 and 2014 respectively. Along with Vincent Pardieu and cameraman Didier Gruel, expedition participants included GIA gemologist Jonathan Muyal, researcher Boris Chauviré of the Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique de Nantes, France, and Dr. Gaston Giuliani, Director of Research at the Institute of Research for Development (IRD) in Nancy, France. Source: GIA @topic:7


Title: Gem Carvings, Fantasy Cuts, and Master Recutting Abstract: Figure 1. Left: Nick Alexander exhibits a selection of his work. Photo by Jennifer Stone-Sundberg. Right: A 64 ct fantasy cut amethyst from Bahia, Brazil. Photo by Kevin Schumacher; courtesy of Nick Alexander, Alexanders Jewelers.
This year at the AGTA show, the number of booths selling skillfully carved, fantasy cut, or expertly recut items was noticeably higher than in past years. These forms of working rough or previously cut material are a way to add significant value and desirability to material that might otherwise be cut into standard shapes or with the intent to maximize weight at the expense of beauty.

	Gem carver Nick Alexander

Nick Alexander (figure 1, left) of Alexanders Jewelers in Gilbert, Arizona, was exhibiting his work for the first time at the AGTA show. This year, Mr. Alexander won second place in the carving category of the AGTA Cutting Edge Awards with his 42.05 ct Oregon sunstone piece at the impressive age of 17. A favorite material of his is electric blue gem silica from the Ray mine in Arizona (see figure 2 in the Tucson Overview). Mr. Alexander is also skilled at fantasy cutting with materials such as amethyst (figure 1, right) and beryl.

Figure 2. A 322.72 ct Madagascar rose quartz lotus flower carving with grayish blue and padparadscha Montana sapphires in the center (5.56 and 0.65 ct, respectively), shown by the artist, Glenn Lehrer. Left photo by Robert Weldon/GIA, courtesy of Glenn Lehrer; right photo by Jennifer Stone-Sundberg.
One of the carvers who has inspired Mr. Alexander, Glenn Lehrer of Larkspur, California (figure 2, right), was also at the AGTA show. Mr. Lehrer shared with us one of his newest works, an exquisite lotus flower carved out of a top-quality rose quartz from Madagascar (figure 2, left). This piece started as part of a museum collection project with designer Paula Crevoshay. It took two years to find the 3.8 kg rose quartz rough meeting his stringent demands: It had to be clean, clear, and with strong color. The finished carving measures 79.5 × 69.8 mm and weighs 322.72 ct. To complement the piece, the center features two sapphires from the Rock Creek area of Montana: a 5.56 ct grayish blue “torus ring” carving and a 0.65 ct padparadscha.

Figure 3. Left: David Nassi of 100% Natural, Ltd. showing a collection of unheated spinels he has recut, ranging in size from 7.10 to 18.53 ct. Photo by Jennifer Stone-Sundberg. Right: A 14.49 ct cat’s-eye alexandrite from Sri Lanka cut by Nassi, showing reddish brown to green color change. Photos by Emily Lane; courtesy of David Nassi.
Master gem cutter David Nassi from New York City (figure 3, left) showed us an impressive set of unheated natural spinels and several other gems he had recut to maximize color and light return. Of particular interest was a phenomenal gem, a natural color-change cat’s-eye alexandrite (figure 3, right) that was polished to a double-sided cabochon to display the cat’s-eye effect on both sides of the stone. Watch videos of David Nassi displaying his work:

	David Nassi displaying his recutting work Source: GIA @topic:10


Title: Television Documentary Series: “Beautiful Gem Stories” Abstract: Figure 1. Dr. Ahmadjan Abduriyim hosts an episode of “Beautiful Gem Stories,” filmed on location at the Montepuez ruby mine in northern Mozambique. Photo by Tomoaki Miyake.

The unique allure of jewelry and the excitement of the global gem industry are captured in the Japanese documentary series “Beautiful Gem Stories.” The program is broadcast on BS-TBS channel, a subsidiary of Tokyo Broadcasting System, and hosted by longtime G&G  contributor and editorial board member Dr. Ahmadjan Abduriyim (Tokyo Gem Science, LLC and GSTV Gemological Laboratory). Hour-long episodes examine the growth of gemstones deep under the earth’s surface and the mining methods to recover them, as well as the characteristics, craftsmanship, and cultural significance that make them special.

Figure 2. In this episode, Dr. Abduriyim reports from the Bogawatalawa sapphire deposit in Sri Lanka. Photo by Tomoaki Miyake.
Since 2016, Dr. Abduriyim has filmed on location at important gem deposits in Madagascar, Mozambique (figure 1), Tanzania, Namibia, Sri Lanka (figure 2), Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Brazil, Colombia, and other countries. He has also gone to natural and cultured pearl localities in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, and Japan, as well as global manufacturing centers, museums, and trade shows.
After monthly episodes from 2016 to 2018, four new episodes are broadcast per year now. With more than one million regular viewers, “Beautiful Gem Stories” has been warmly received.
“The financial crisis that hit the Japanese economy in 2008 took a heavy toll on consumer interest in jewelry,” said Dr. Abduriyim. “But I am very grateful to contribute to restoring the jewelry industry in Japan and throughout the world with an enlightening look at gemstones.” Source: GIA @topic:7


Title: Colombian Emeralds and Mozambican Rubies from Fura Gems Abstract: Figure 1. Colombia’s Coscuez mine, worked by Fura Gems since early 2018, produced the stunning emerald rough shown here. These specimens range in weight from 0.089 to 1.279 g (0.445 to 6.397 ct). Photo by Kevin Schumacher.
We had the opportunity to talk with Rupak Sen, vice president of sales and marketing for Fura Gems in Dubai. Founded in January 2017, Fura holds mining assets in Colombia (emerald) and Mozambique (ruby).
In Colombia, Fura Gems owns and operates the iconic Coscuez mine (D. Fortalechéet al., “The Colombian emerald industry: Winds of change,” Fall 2017 G&G, pp. 332–358). During its long history, this mine has produced some of the finest gem-quality emeralds, such as the 1750 ct Guinness emerald crystal. In the 1970s, Coscuez accounted for nearly 90% of the world’s emerald production, but mining virtually halted during the civil war in the 1980s. In the 1990s, artisanal mining picked up and small licenses were issued by the government. Each license consisted of one tunnel, and many were dug. The approach was very basic, with no scientific exploration or use of engineering to construct the tunnels. People knew that emeralds were associated with white calcite veins, but they had no way of knowing how rich or extensive these veins would be. In the 2000s, Hernando Sanchez acquired and combined all of the small licenses. He has partnered with Fura Gems, which is doing large-scale studies and surveys at Coscuez.
Since work began at the mine in January 2018, Fura has sought to improve the existing infrastructure. The company has done test sampling by washing 3,000 metric tons of emerald-bearing rock, retrieving about 6 carats of gem-grade emerald per ton (figure 1). These numbers will likely drop to 2–3 carats/ton once the mine is in production, since much more rock has to be processed. According to recent resource estimations, around 60 million carats are still unrecovered, representing 30 years of mining. If the mines are expanded deeper underground, those numbers could double or even triple, although geologic exploration is still underway via a drilling program to determine the deposit’s depth.
Around 300 people are employed at the site, mainly in bulk sampling; 280 of them are from the local community. They have experience with most aspects of emeralds, including grading and local geology, but they lack knowledge of modern mining techniques and safety measures. Large companies such as Fura are able to instruct their employees on these matters, which they focused on in the months prior to the production stage. Workers also receive formal contracts and monthly wages rather than being given a part of the production as their wages.
Fura also focuses on social responsibility, including gender issues and environmental reclamation. Fura will be opening a women-only washing plant, where emeralds will be handpicked from the processed host rock. They also understand that while mining is an important part of the community, the entire community cannot work in the mine. Fura has looked at alternative employment opportunities, such as a bakery and a sewing workshop to create uniforms and mining gear. While Colombia has strict environmental regulations that must be addressed every time a license is renewed, Sen says that Fura goes beyond what is required, since environmental issues are becoming more important for shareholders. These efforts are part of the larger concept of responsible mining: respect for the environment, safety, employees, and local communities. One example is setting up a football academy as an after-school activity for kids.

	Fura Gems

Emeralds will be presorted at the mine and taken to company headquarters in Dubai for final sorting and grading before auction. The plan is to bring these rough emeralds to auction in summer 2019 and invite 25–30 companies from Colombia, New York, Hong Kong, and Jaipur. Fura plans to hold two or three auctions per year and will sell only rough. This will provide a regular flow of emerald to the market while allowing for continuous upgrading of the mine and expansion of community programs.
Fura also has interests in Mozambique, where they own the largest ruby mining licenses in terms of area. Demand for rubies is huge and growing, so a consistent ruby supply is highly valued. According to Sen, Myanmar produced about US$1 billion of rough rubies per year at its peak. This has slowed to around US$120 million annually, leaving an enormous demand for other producers to satisfy.

Figure 2. These rough rubies were collected from Fura Gems' claims near Montepuez, Mozambique. Photo courtesy of Fura Gems.
Since rubies were discovered in Montepuez only a decade ago, the deposit is still developing. The rubies are found there in very shallow gravel layers (figure 2); mining is very easy compared to Colombian emerald extraction. Fura has experience with this deposit and the material, as they helped develop the area’s largest ruby mine. They have also acquired Mustang Resources’ ruby licenses and assets and produced there for more than a year. Sen feels that illegal mining is no longer a major problem, which will make it easier to work with the local population.
Fura is exploring the huge license with a drilling campaign to locate the ruby deposits, the extent of which will be determined by more detailed surveys. Once the deposits are identified, bulk sampling will establish the grade. Bulk sampling was scheduled to start in March 2019. They are aiming for a workforce of 400 to 500 by the end of 2019, consisting of 90% local people. Fura is working on social initiatives in Mozambique but did not disclose specifics because the company is still identifying the communities’ needs.
Fura hopes to bring the first rough rubies to auction by the end of 2019, in a system similar to their planned emerald auctions. Using this system, a company can learn the pricing of these highly specialized goods and find out which type of buyer prefers certain material. This will allow for better presentation of goods at later auctions (e.g., creating matching sets of rough in the same lot). They also want to set up a ruby treatment facility in Dubai, where rubies can be enhanced by heating prior to auction for clients who do not have these skills. Most of the buyers are expected to be from Thailand, with others from India, Sri Lanka, and Hong Kong.
Sen sees changes in the jewelry market. The 1990s were heavily focused on gold, with diamonds taking the main focus in the 2000s. He believes we are entering the “decade of color,” and consumers will move toward colored stones. Since retail margins on colored stones are also higher than on diamonds and gold, retailers are motivated to work with them, further increasing demand. Of course, this does not mean that emeralds and rubies will replace diamonds, only that they will complement each other. Fura Gems sees as its biggest competitor other luxury industries such as high-end designer fashion and accessories. Creating and advertising more attractive products in the jewelry range, Sen said, will be critical to keep customers. Source: GIA @topic:1


Title: The Real Gemology of Ethiopian Opals in ‘Uncut Gems’ Abstract: NBA star Kevin Garnett, left, plays himself in "Uncut Gems," by Josh and Benny Safdie, along with Lakeith Stanfield, center, and Adam Sandler. They are looking at an Ethiopian opal in matrix that Sandler's character, Howard Ratner, is putting up for auction in the movie. Photo courtesy of A24 Films

The magical quality of opals is the central metaphor of the 2019 movie “Uncut Gems,” starring Adam Sandler. A giant piece of Ethiopian opal, still in its matrix, is smuggled to New York.
“They say you can see the whole universe in opal, that’s how … old they are,” Sandler’s character, Howard Ratner, a jeweler and gem dealer on 47th Street in New York City, tells basketball star Keven Garnett when he shows the opal to him. Garnett is captivated to such an extent that he cannot play well without owning it.
Sandler’s character is enamored with the opal’s potentially huge sale price. He estimates that the piece weighs between 4,000 to 5,000 carats and, at up to his estimated value of $3,000 per carat, he sees millions coming his way. But the auction house he consigns it to values the piece at much less -- $150,000 to $225,000. Why?

Ethiopian opal ‒ the featured gemstone in the movie “Uncut Gems” ‒ was first discovered in Ethtiopia in 1994. Photo by Eric Welch/GIA
With opals, as with most gemstones, the final polished stones weigh only a fraction of their rough form. The specimen shown in the movie appears to have several opal nodules (though probably not black opal) inside the matrix of host rock, but that host rock appears to account for the majority of its volume. This means that it would be very difficult – in real life – to evaluate the opal and appraise its value until the matrix was removed.
“In real life, the opal nodules must be shaped and polished into gems after removing the valueless matrix, which often results in much more weight loss,” explained Nathan Renfro, GIA Graduate Gemologist® and manager of colored stone identification services at GIA. “Any realistic valuation of rough gem material is based on the potential for yielding polished gems and the risk involved in fashioning finished gemstones.”
Adding to that risk is the fact that, unlike most gems, opals are not stones or minerals.
Opals are formed from centuries upon centuries of seasonal rains that leach microscopic silica particles from sandstone, carrying them deep into underground fissures and cavities. As the deposited materials dry, the microscopic silica spheres become compressed into a closely-packed lattice. As light travels through this microstructure, it creates a dazzling kaleidoscope of flashing rainbow colors, called play-of-color.

The opal that beguiles the main characters in “Uncut Gems” was still in its matrix, similar to this piece of rough opal in matrix. Photo by Robert Weldon/GIA
The Many Colors and Types of Opal
There are five major types of opals:

White or light opal: Translucent to semi-translucent, with play of color against a white or light gray background color, called bodycolor. The opal specimen seen in “Uncut Gems” appears likely to be a representation of a white opal, despite its description as a black opal in the film.
Black opal: Translucent to opaque, with play-of-color against a black or other dark background. They often sell for higher prices than white opals because the color contrast is much greater against the dark background.
Fire opal: Transparent to translucent, with brown, yellow, orange or red bodycolor. This material, which often doesn’t show play-of-color, is also known as “Mexican opal.”
Boulder opal: Translucent to opaque, with play-of-color against a light to dark background. Fragments of the surrounding rock, called matrix, become part of the finished gem.
Crystal or water opal: Transparent to semitransparent, with a clear background. This type shows exceptional play-of-color.

Australian opal is best-known and the country remains the most prolific source of opals - mainly white and black. Ethiopia is the newest source, with the first discovery in 1994.
The most prolific source – which was named in the movie – was in found 2008 near a town called Wegal Tena in Wollo Province. This material, mostly white opal, was formed from the silica from ancient volcanic ash. Another deposit, producing black opals about 30 miles to the northwest of the Wollo mine, was discovered in 2013 – a year after 2012, the year in which “Uncut Gems” takes place.
GIA has reported extensively on opals for many years and much research can be found in this Summer 2019 Gems & Gemology chart. Source: GIA @topic:11


Title: Gems & Gemology’s 7 Most Unusual Encounters from 2019 Abstract: Face-up image of the natural diamond with CVD synthetic diamond overgrowth. The blue color is due to the boron-doped CVD layer. Photo by Robison McMurtry

Each year, GIA’s laboratories receive an enormous variety of diamonds and colored stones for grading and identification and origin reports. Specimens that are rare or eye-catching or reveal unusual characteristics appear in the quarterly Lab Notes column of Gems & Gemology. Here are G&G’s seven most interesting and unusual from 2019.
1. Diamond on Diamond: CVD Layer Grown on Natural Diamond
A 0.64 ct Fancy grayish greenish blue cushion modified brilliant showed two distinct fluorescence patterns, as well as characteristics of both type Ia and type IIb diamond. The specimen was found to be a composite of a CVD synthetic diamond layer on top of a natural diamond. This was only the second such composite seen at GIA, but it could represent a new type of product entering the market.

Dislocation bundles in the CVD layer are visible under crossed polarizers in methylene iodide. Photo by Troy Ardon; field of view 1.90 mm.
2. Big Sky, Big Ruby: Large Montana Ruby
Montana’s secondary deposits produce sapphire in a wide range of mostly pastel colors. Pink sapphires from Montana are rare, and corundum with enough depth of color to be called ruby are rarer still. A 1.70 ct purplish red octagonal modified brilliant was examined. Its color and large size made it an exceptional specimen—only the second report for a Montana ruby issued by the lab to date.

Inclusions in the 1.70 ct ruby from Montana. Left: Close-up of a glassy melt inclusion with an associated thin film showing geometric patterns; field of view 1.76 mm. Right: A melt inclusion with an iridescent thin film, partial hexagonal zone of particles, and short needles; field of view 3.81 mm. Photomicrographs by Claire Malaquias
3. V for Vanadium: High-Vanadium Color-Change Burmese Sapphire
A 5.68 ct transparent cushion mixed-cut sapphire displayed a strong color change from grayish violet in fluorescent light to purple-pink in incandescent light. Chemical analysis showed an unusually high level of vanadium, the first time the Carlsbad lab had encountered a color-change sapphire with this chemistry profile.

This 5.68 ct cushion mixed-cut sapphire showed a strong color change from grayish violet in fluorescent light to purple-pink in incandescent light. Photo by Robison McMurtry.
4. Neon Faux: Paraíba-Like Synthetic Sapphire
Two gemstones, 7.78 and 4.90 ct, had a neon green-blue to blue-green color similar to that of Paraíba tourmaline. Curved color banding and Plato lines identified them as flame-fusion synthetic sapphire. This was the first time GIA’s Carlsbad lab had examined flame-fusion synthetic sapphire with a Paraíba-like color.

This 7.78 ct round brilliant and 4.90 ct cushion brilliant displayed a blue-green and green-blue color, respectively, that are reminiscent of Paraíba tourmaline. Photograph by Nathan Renfro
5. Not Easy Going Green: Rough Diamond with Fake Green Coating
Natural green diamonds are extremely rare. Their color is typically caused by exposure to radioactive minerals and fluids, which is accompanied by green or brown patches called “radiation stains.” A 6.49 ct green crystal was found to have been coated with chromium oxide powder, followed by annealing of the powder to produce surface plates resembling radiation stains. While the coating was easily detected with magnification, this was a significant attempt to mimic the features of natural green diamonds.

This 6.49 ct rough diamond with patchy green surface color was submitted to GIA’s Carlsbad laboratory for a Colored Diamond Grading Report. Photo by Diego Sanchez
6. Stellar Stellate: Diamond with Remarkable Stellate Cloud
A 3.70 ct faceted Fancy brownish greenish yellow diamond contained an eye-visible stellate cloud inclusion consisting of six legs that each radiated to a point on the polished octahedron. This “asteriated” diamond was striking due to the well-defined nature of the star and the strong yellowish green color it exhibited under long-wave UV. The faceted octahedron cutting style was unconventional, but served to showcase the inclusion scene contained within the diamond.

This 3.70 ct brownish greenish yellow faceted octahedron contained a remarkable stellate hydrogen cloud (left) that showed strong yellowish green fluorescence under long-wave UV light (right). Photos by Diego Sanchez
7. Mega Stars: Large Laboratory-Grown Star Ruby and Sapphire
Two unusually large loose stones with asterism—a 4,759 ct red sphere with a diameter of approximately 76.96 mm, and a 467.2 ct blue cabochon measuring approximately 52.04 × 42.29 × 20.89—were identified as synthetic ruby and synthetic sapphire. While synthetic star corundum is not particularly rare, these were among the largest laboratory-grown star rubies and star sapphires submitted to GIA.

A 4,759 ct synthetic star ruby and a 467.2 ct synthetic star sapphire were submitted to GIA’s Tokyo lab. Photo by Shunsuke Nagai
Be sure to check out every issue of Gems & Gemology for more interesting and unusual Lab Notes. Source: GIA @topic:1


Title: Derek Katzenbach: Faceter, Gem Artist, Custom Jeweler Abstract: Figure 1. Katzenbach’s “Colors of Maine” kaleidoscope features 71.74 carats of Maine tourmaline and 66.05 carats of Maine quartz between three lenses. Photo by Brian Moghadam, courtesy of AGTA.
Derek Katzenbach, winner of multiple AGTA Spectrum Awards, was once a marine biology student visiting a local gem show. Until then, the thought of working in a creative industry had never crossed his mind. He spent much of his savings at that show, leaving with a bag full of stones but no idea what to do with them. He decided to take jewelry manufacturing classes and learn more as an apprentice in a jewelry store. The owner convinced Katzenbach to attend GIA, where he completed the Graduate Gemologist and Graduate Jeweler programs. There he honed his skills and learned new techniques.
He also saw a lot of gems, triggering an interest in lapidary and how brilliance and scintillation can influence appearance. A friend taught Katzenbach the basics of faceting, and he kept practicing and experimenting with different patterns. He started working with concave faceting, inspired by the work of Dalan Hargrave and Richard Homer. Eventually he spent a week with them to refine his technique. After graduating from GIA, he went back to work at the same store for five years before starting his own business.
In his experience, gem cutters and metalworkers look at stones very differently. Having a background in both fields gave him a unique advantage in pushing boundaries and experimenting even further.
One of Katzenbach’s most celebrated pieces is a kaleidoscope, shown in figure 1, called “Colors of Maine.” For this he chose Maine tourmaline (the official gem of his home state) and Maine quartz. Most of the gems in the kaleidoscope come from Plumbago Mountain, where about a ton of gem tourmaline was recovered between 1972 and 1974. The green tourmalines are from the Havey mine. Apart from the cutting of melee and very small stones, Katzenbach did most of the work himself.

Figure 2. Katzenbach created this top, which uses 18K gold, sapphire, alexandrite, tourmaline, tsavorite, and other garnets, to resemble a “spinning rainbow.” Photo by Derek Katzenbach.
“Colors of Maine” won first place in the Objects of Art category at the 2017 AGTA Spectrum Awards. Afterward, the piece was bought and donated to GIA, where it is on display at the Carlsbad campus with other Maine tourmalines. Creating the kaleidoscope sparked Katzenbach’s interest in objets d’art. He had always been fascinated by such pieces but found most of them boring and restricted because you cannot touch them. Katzenbach wanted to do something different. This gave him the idea to create a spinning top (figure 2) reminiscent of a rainbow. He used a variety of gemstones—including sapphire, alexandrite, tourmaline, tsavorite, and other garnets—to create this 18K gold toy that no one can resist spinning. The top can be seen in motion at https://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology/spring-2019-gemnews-derek-katzenbach.

Figure 3. This 7.48 ct cuprian tourmaline uses what Katzenbach calls his “fantasy cut.” Photo by Kevin Schumacher.
Katzenbach also creates traditional jewelry. He has always been drawn to a mix of modern pieces with micro-pavé and the lacy textures of Victorian and Edwardian jewelry, but he loves to add color to them. He works mostly with locally sourced Maine minerals, which he finds through miners, collectors, and even museums. Tourmaline (figure 3) is the most common, but he also uses garnet, aquamarine, smoky quartz, and rare minerals. He occasionally sources internationally, but his favorite gems are Oregon sunstone and Montana sapphire.
Katzenbach would like to get back into engraving, something he enjoyed during his time as a gemology student. He feels that many great gemstone and jewelry artists, including carvers, metalsmiths, and gem setters, are embracing each other’s work and actively looking for collaborations. This will inevitably lead to new and exciting jewelry creations in the coming years. Source: GIA @topic:10


Title: Pezzottaite Debuts as the Newest Trapiche Gem Mineral Abstract: Figure 1. As viewed through the pinacoid face, strong oblique fiber-optic lighting illuminates the six-legged trapiche structure emanating from the c-axis of this doubly terminated 2.33 ct pezzottaite crystal. Photo by Kevin Schumacher.

Since the first enigmatic six-spoked emeralds were sent to GIA in the mid-1960s for analysis (H.L. McKague, “Trapiche emeralds from Colombia,” Fall 1964 G&G, pp. 210–213, 223), the family of trapiche-type gem minerals has grown to include a variety of species and morphologies. One of the latest mineral varieties to exhibit the rare trapiche form is a relatively new and rare mineral itself: pezzottaite.

Following its appearance at the 2003 gem shows in Tucson, pezzottaite has quickly become an item coveted by gem and mineral collectors around the world. A member of the beryl group and with trigonal symmetry (the beryl species has hexagonal symmetry), it was approved by the International Mineralogical Association in September 2003 as a unique species and named after mineralogist Dr. Frederico Pezzotta (see B.M. Laurs et al., “Pezzottaite from Ambatovita, Madagascar: A new gem mineral,” Winter 2003 G&G, pp. 284–301).

In 2004, while working in the gem markets of Mae Sai and Mae Sot along the border of Thailand and Myanmar, Elaine Rohrbach of Gem-Fare obtained a small collection of pale pink trapiche crystals and crystal fragments reported to be of Burmese origin. Laboratory analysis later proved these crystals to be the cesium-containing mineral pezzottaite (previously confirmed localities include Madagascar and Afghanistan).

Figure 2. Another well-developed, doubly terminated pezzottaite crystal from the same
locality, weighing 6.17 ct and measuring 11.19 × 10.71 × 8.61 mm, has separate crystals
growing at random angles on each pinacoid face. Each of these smaller crystals also
exhibits trapiche growth. The white trapiche growth reaches all six prism faces in both of
the tabular crystals, as well as those faces on the secondary growth crystals. Photo by
Elise A. Skalwold.
A doubly terminated, well-developed crystal obtained by one of the authors (JIK) exhibits the tabular prismatic habit characteristic of the species, but with a complete six-spoke trapiche structure that is clearly visible in both reflected and transmitted light (figure 1). Another doubly terminated crystal obtained by author EAS from the same parcel shows secondary crystals growing out of each pinacoid face, each of which are also trapiche crystals (figure 2). Similar to trapiche crystals of other mineral species, each of the spokes radiates from the central c-axis toward the prism faces and in a plane parallel to the basal pinacoid. Exploring the former crystal’s inner world revealed not only the details of the white spokes and a spray of golden brown needles and eye-visible black needles, but also a delightful surprise: minute euhedral blue crystals (figures 3 and 4). Unfortunately, the black needles were not identifiable despite their distinct Raman spectrum. Due to their depth within the host, the brown needles and blue crystals remain mysteries as well. Let this be a lesson that nondestructive testing cannot always provide answers, but we can be content with exploring the beauty of the micro-world while leaving some mysteries for the future.

Figure 3. Eye-visible dark needles were seen throughout the pezzottaite crystal with diffused transmitted illumination. Despite a clear Raman signal, the features could not be conclusively identified. Photomicrograph by Nathan Renfro; field of view 1.10 mm.

Figure 4. Using diffused transmitted and oblique fiber-optic illumination, a golden-brown spray of needles is shown deep in the crystal, along with a bright blue crystal to its right. Their depth precluded analysis by Raman spectroscopy. Photomicrograph by Nathan Renfro; field of view 0.91 mm. Source: GIA @topic:2