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editor’s note

2012 has proven to be a challenging year for many people, various industries and even some countries. Thankfully at this moment, 2013 had been exciting so far. In Singapore, there will be two major jewellery exhibitions instead of the one and only jewellery trade fair held in July for the last many years. Across the globe, Gem-A, of which courses are offered here, bought their very own premises and has since shifted in for the betterment of the gems and jewellery trade in London as well as around the world.

Our students have also grown in knowledge and acquired experiences in gemology through study trips and even buying of mines in Madagascar. Some of them went on to become gem dealers. Of course, many of them started making more confident purchases.

As for me, I went to Brisbane, Australia last October with Mr. Tay to conduct our Jade course for the valuers in Australia. You may ask why Australia for a Jade course? Well, jade materials are very popular even among the westerners. These valuers are trained to do valuation and appraisals on jewellery and watches, but not (at least not yet!) in testing and identification of jade. The course became popular and Mr. Tay went to Melbourne in June 2013 to conduct the course again. The valuers in Australia proved to be keen learners. They continued to ask questions even after Mr. Tay had come back to Singapore.

With all the exciting travelling Mr. Tay had, I too had to join in the fun. I was invited to follow on a buying trip with the merchandising director of a jewellery company. We went to Myanmar, Yangon. There I bought jade samples for students. It was a fruitful trip, except that new treatment came up and I would never know until I bumped the wall.

It was then I truly experienced the importance of being a responsible jeweler. Even as a trained gemologist, I needed to keep myself abreast of the market, especially on the type of treatment going on.

Indeed, there are no coincidences for any of these events to occur. I believe the next half of 2013 will continue to be exciting and from “where gemology comes alive”, you will continue to be well informed and be inspired in all ways.

credits

Contents

CHIEF EDITOR

Tay Thye Sun

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Loke Huiying

ARTICLE CONTRIBUTORS

James Riley

Tay Kun Ming

Sally Yang Qiujing

Damien Wilkinson

WRITERS

Tay Thye Sun

Loke Huiying

DESIGNER

Margaret Kua

COPYRIGHT STATEMENTThis is a publication of Far East Gemological Institute Pte Ltd. The Publication is distributed free to its students and members of the public and has no subscription or newstand price.Copyright (c) Far East Gemological Institute Pte Ltd, 2013. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or part without prior written permission. All rights reserved.

Far East Gemological Institute Pte Ltd (Reg. No: 20101354H)12 Arumugam Road #04-02 Lion Industrial Building B Singapore 409958O (65) 6745 8542 | (65) 6735 8569 F (65) 6745 2562

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LAB FINDINGSTreated Quartzite Imitating as Treated Jadeite

CAREERSThe Joys and Challenges – Interview with Gems & Jewellery Merchandise

INTERESTING NEWSBe smart! Know what you are buying.Valuation of WatchesDiamonds – still an ethical issue

INTERVIEWSInterview with Damien, Student of FEGI & Owner of mine in Madagascar

FIELD TRIPInvestigation of the Process of Nephrite Carving

Loke HuiyingExecutive EditorFar East Gem Institute


Last month, our staff went to Yangon, Myanmar for an excursion and also visited the gem trading area in Bogyoke Market (Scotts Market). While there, our staff bought some B-jade and also B+C-jade for our student study samples. It was later tested at our lab and found that the B-jade lot has been mixed with quartzite that has been polymer impreg-nated and another samples lot were of dyed and polymer impregnated quartz-ite imitating B+C-jade (Table 1). The testing results are as a follows:Table 1. Gemological data of the dyed

Identificationof polymer

impregnated quartzite imitating B-jade, and dyed andpolymer impregnated quartzite imitating B+C-jade

By Tay Thye Sun and Loke Hui Ying from Far East Gemological Institute Pte Ltd, Singapore.

lab findings lab findings

WEIGHT 41.42 ctsCOLOUR Light greenCARVING Donut or ‘Pi’ R.I. Spot 1.55

WEIGHT 31.84 ctsCOLOUR Very light grayish greenCARVING Laughing BuddhaR.I. Spot 1.54

WEIGHT 30.84 ctsCOLOUR Medium-light greyish greenCARVING Laughing BuddhaR.I. Spot 1.65

ABSORPTION SPECTRUMJadeite spectrum 437nm and weak absorption at 690nm

ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT LW – weak chalky yellowish-greenSW – inert

MICROSCOPIC OBSERVATION

Surface fibrous crystal grain structure damage caused by bleaching process (20x).

FTIRThe infrared absorption spectrum from 1,000 to 5,000 cm-1 of three treated jade and jade-like materials. The absorption spectrum in green is treated jadeite-jade or B-jade with polymer peaks at 3054, 3037, 2964, 2929, 2873cm-1(3); the absorption spectrum in brown is polymer impregnated quartzite / dyed green (1); the absorption spectrum in blue is polymer impregnated quartzite (2).

IDENTIFICATION B-jade or bleached and polymer impregnated jadeite

and polymer impregnated quartzite (1), polymer impregnated quartzite (2) and B-jade or bleached and polymer impregnated jadeite-jade (3).

Conclusions: Traditionally, treated jade and jade-like materials are manufac-tured in Hong Kong and then later in China, but for the above samples that were purchased in Yangon, we suspect that these treated material may be manufactured in Burma. Gemologists or gem dealers who want to do a quick identification of these materials in a market place, one possible way is to use

heft method i.e. hefting of quartz and jadeite based on their S.G. (quartz: 2.65 and jadeite: 3.34). Of course, it would good to have a refractive index reading. Heft method, although a bit difficult for beginners, it would be useful method for quick test whether it may be jadeite or quartz. The next test would be is use of loupe to look for the crystal grain structure damage caused by bleaching process and also any possible dye colour in fissures and between crystal grain structure. Our above finding confirmed the treated quartzite is one to watch out.

Reference:

1. Fritsch, E., Wu, S-T.T., Moses, T., McClure, S.F. and Moon, M. (1992) Identification of bleached and polymer impregnated jadeite. Gems & Gemology, 28 (3), p.176-187.2. OuYang, C.M. Jade ABC (Chinese edition), (1997), p130-140.3. Tay, T.S., Paul, S. and Puah, C.M. (1993) SEM studies of bleached and polymer-impregnated jadeite, The Australian Gemologist, Vol.18, No.8, p257-261.

Acknowledgement: Ma Gyan and Ma Swae Swae Aye for their kind assistance while in Yangon.

ABSORPTION SPECTRUMDyed green with absorption band at 650 – 670nm

ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT LW – moderate chalky blueSW – weak chalky blue


Surface granular crystal grain structure damage caused by bleaching process (20x).

FTIR

IDENTIFICATION Dyed and polymer impregnated quartzite

ABSORPTION SPECTRUMNone

ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT LW – weak chalky blue SW – inert


Surface granular crystal grain structure damage caused by bleaching process (20x).

FTIR

IDENTIFICATION Polymer impregnated quartzite


careers careers

The Joysand Challenges

of a Purchasing ManagerInterview with Ling

How did you first start out in the jewellery trade?

I saw an advertisement on newspaper recruiting merchandisers and I applied for that job. Interestingly, the human resource department called me up for an interview as a Purchaser instead.

How long have you been in this line?

I started in my purchasing career in various companies of different indus-tries since 1996. It was only in 2005 when I joined my current company as a diamond purchaser. It was an interesting 8 years working in the purchasing department here.

Can you tell us what is your job scope?

Most of the time, I work directly with local suppliers and overseas suppliers. In working with these suppliers, I build up good relationships with them so that the process of purchasing diamonds, coloured stones and pearls will be more efficient. While making the usual purchases from the company’s suppliers, I also have to always keep a look out for new suppliers whom we can work with. Our utmost focus is to find suppliers who can provide the best quality gemstones at the lowest possible price. During sourcing trips, I have to ensure that any purchases I make for the company is at low cost per unit.

As I am the one buying gemstones and diamonds for the company, I am also given the responsibility to make sure the gemstones and diamonds are of natural origin and acceptable quality. Hence, grading of diamonds and identifying coloured stones is also part of my job. Last but not least, I assist in the inventory control of the company for diamonds and gemstones.

In the course of your work as a purchasing manager, how many countries have you visited and where are they? Which is the country you frequent the most due to work?

So far, I have been to various parts of China, Hong Kong, India, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam for sourcing trips. Mostly Asian countries. The most frequented country is Hong Kong, as the largest gems and jewellery fair is held in Hong Kong at least twice a year.

Which country you visited gave you the deepest impression?

I would say that it is Myanmar. It was my first sourcing trip to Myanmar and I had a serious culture shock, not in the standard of living, but in their system in trading of stones. It was totally unlike how we had been buying from any other places. Despite their interesting way of trading gemstones, I had enjoyed myself very much, especially when we visited one of the seven wonders, Shwe Dagon Pagoda.

Can you share with us three things you like most about your job?

I really enjoy making deals with the lowest possible purchase price. It is like a challenge to me and I feel accomplished being able to do it. Visiting many different countries and learning about the local trading practices is also another thing I like about my job. Not many people have the opportunity to travel and not many people can be in-volved in trading, especially gemstones. Because of all these travelling, I get to see a wide range of different stones that we don’t commonly see in the retail market. I can say that these things make my job more enjoyable than I can describe.

How about 3 things that you find the most challenging in your job

It takes a lot of skills and patience to negotiate the price with suppliers. Some of them are really tough to negotiate with. Thankfully, none ended up violent. Another challenge is the risk in buying imitation stones or even synthetic stones. It happens once in a while and sometimes it can cause great damages to the company. I have to be responsible in the purchases I make. Most of the time, sourcing for stones is done at a reasonable pace. However, sometimes I have to make purchases of stones in a very short notice, for example, for an event that is coming up in one or two month’s time.

Any final words to aspiring merchandising/purchasing managers out there?

If you like negotiating, sourcing and meeting people, this could be a career for you!

The gems and jewellery industry is a “Bling Bling” industry. It consists of the

whole chain of mine prospectors to gem miners to

gem cutters to gem dealers to gem retailers, and

of course, to the very important gem consumers. In this issue of The Gem Times careers series, we were very

honoured to be given the opportunity to interview an experienced purchasing

manager, Ling, from a well-known local

jewellery company.


BeSmart!Know what you are buying.

interesting news

Mr. Tay Kunming is a resident trainer at Far East Gemological Institute. He holds various qualifications such as the prestigious FGA (Gem-A, London) and CDG (HRDAntwerp). Kunming is also a member of the Diamond Exchange of Singapore and sits in the youth committee of the Singapore Jewellers Association.

He travels around Asia regularly to source for a wide range of gemstone specimens, as well as to update himself with trends and developments in the gemstone market.

In this issue of The Gem Times, Kunming will be sharing with you his experiences

buying the two most sought after gemstones – Rubies and Emeralds.

EmeraldEmeralds have a very long history dating back to 1650 B.C. (Source: “Encyclopedia Britannica.”)

This green stone has a special place in many cultures. In India, many believed in its healing properties and the promise of good luck and well-being. In ancient Rome, green was the colour of Venus, the goddess of beauty and love. In China, some em-eralds could pass off as top quality jadeite jade.

So what are emeralds?Emeralds belong to the Beryl family Beryllium Aluminium Silicate, Be3Al2(SiO3)6 and is coloured green by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes vanadium. Fine Emeralds can be found in Columbia, Zambia, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan and Russia.

Emeralds are relatively hard, with a hardness of 7.5 to 8 on the Moh’s Scale of Hard-ness. Due to its physical make up, emeralds tend to have many fissures and inclu-sions making it brittle and therefore difficult to cut. This is one of the reasons why emeralds that are free from inclusions are very rare and valued higher.

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What about treatments?When buying an emerald, it is a known dry up. As it is difficult to differentiate the clarity enhancement method, many gemological laboratories around the world state only the degree of clarity enhancement, instead of stating the kind of clarity enhancement. Some laboratories would term the degree of enhancement to be “none”, “insignificant”, “minor”, “minor to moderate”, “moderate” and “significant”.

What should you look out for when buying emeralds?First, make sure that the emerald is of natural origin. Secondly, find out to what degree has the stone been treated. Ask your gem dealer or jeweler for a gemstone identification report. Make sure the report came from a reputable laboratory.

After these steps, we can start to exam-ine the 4 Cs of the gemstone.

1. Carat weight - The larger the stone, the higher the price per carat.

2. Colour – A green emerald that does not have a secondary colour of yellow or blue will be significantly higher in price.

3. Clarity – The less included the emerald, the higher the price. How-ever, if the gem has been significant-ly enhanced for clarity, make sure you do not pay too high a price.

4. Cut – Most emeralds are step cut. Oval and round shape emerald are harder to come by, hence may affect its value. When looking at cut, the gemstone must be symmetrical, and free from chips and nicks.

Lastly, all the above characteristics are equally important. Therefore the more perfect the stone, the more you have to pay. With that said, always remember to go for the emerald that appeals most to you at the end of the day!

Red is for PassionMany Chinese people believe that Red is an auspicious colour as it symbolizes prosperity, good fortune, a new beginning and end of winter (start of spring). During special occasions, you’ll see the Chinese people adorn themselves with red Cheongsams, red clothing etc. It’s also a tradition to hang a red cloth over the doorway of your house to welcome all the good things and to ward off evil.

In our modern Singapore pop culture, red symbolizes love, passion and even sex appeal. In this article, I will be shar-ing with you some of the common red gemstones that you could possibly find in the market.

Ruby (July Birthstone)

Yes, ruby is a very famous red gemstone. It comes from the corundum family. The other gem from this family is sapphire, which is any other color other than red.In the last three years, Rubies have become more rare. The reason is that many mines that were producing them in the early days have been almost de-pleted. Places like Mogok and Mong Hsu in Myanmar or even Thailand are either producing much less or nothing at all.Though the supply of gem quality rubies have diminished tremendously over the past three years, the demand has been ever increasing as the Mainland Chinese people started to understand ruby and they have begun to collect them.

interesting news


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Spinel

Due to the increasing prices of rubies, red spinels are now another alternative to using a ruby. Top quality red spinels can look as red or even redder than rubies! A famous spinel is the “Black Prince’s Ruby (actually a spinel)” on the Imperial State Crown of the crown jewels.

Red spinel comes from Myanmar, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Madagascar and Tajikistan.

When looking for a red spinel, one must look for the purest red possible, as red spinels tend to have a secondary pinkish or brownish colour.

Rubellite (Pinkish-Red Tourmaline) Rubellite is a variety of tourmaline which is pinkish-red in colour. Of course, the more red the colour, the better the quality! Rubellite is an important gemstone for a few reasons:

1. Size - It is still very possible to get a rubellite above 20 carats! Average sizes of a rubellite is around 1- 8 carats.

2. Colour - Good quality rubellites look almost red. Could pass off as a ruby to the untrained eye!

3. Clarity - There is a good quantity of rubellites that are relatively good in clarity (i.e. stones with no major inclusions visible to the unaided eye).

4. Price - Though the prices of good quality rubellites have gone up the last few years, it is still not as costly as compared to a good quality ruby or spinel. This makes it attractive for people to own one.

Garnet (January Birthstone)

Garnets come in various colours. The more commercially important ones are pyrope garnets, almandine garnets and rhodolite garnets. These are all brown-ish-red to purplish-red in colour.

To find a garnet with a vivid red colour and with well-cut proportions is rare. Garnets lose a lot of their beauty to improper cutting. They have a relatively high refractive index, which make them sparkle very well (higher than ruby, tourmaline, spinel).

Garnets can be easily found in sizes ranging from 5 carats and above. Colour can range from dark red to purplish red, depending on the chemical composition.

Fascinatingly (or fortunately), there are little known treatments for garnets!

In the last issue of The Gem

Times (Issue 2), there was an

article on “Medicinal values from

coloured gemstones”. Red, green

and blue coloured gems were

mentioned. Perhaps the above

red stones may help in your

healing process! If not, enjoy their

beauty and rarity!

A “President” model 6917

A very interesting 18ct yellow gold ladies Rolex “President” model 6917 came in for a valuation a week or so ago.

It is a very good example of always be on the guard and I hope this article proves informative for people with limited knowledge of vintage watches,

and also to those who feel confident about watches as it serves as a good wake-up call to all of us – myself included.

This is the item:• One ladies 18ct yellow gold Rolex “President” model 6917, serial number xxxxxxx (puts it at a 1981 model) Diamond bezel, diamond mother-of-pearl dial, diamond set band.

• Total weight is approximately 86 grams.

• 10 single cut diamonds on the dial, 36 brilliants x 0.015ct brilliants on the bezel, 210 brilliants x 0.005ct on the band.

interesting news


The first thing I noticed and identified was that the bezel was an aftermarket i.e. non-Rolex diamond bezel. No big problem here, there are a few of these going around.

However, the band made me a bitcautious because even though Rolex do a diamond set band, it was way over the top for even this watch (an older ladies president). The condition of the band was superb with very tight links and no “flex” at all which one would expect from a solid gold watch band of this age. The setting of the diamonds on theband was very good - close to micro-pavé as I have ever seen on a band.

(a) The Saint Bernard mark was used af-ter 1995 and this is a 1981 model Rolex. Prior to the Saint Bernard it was a lady’s head. This is not a major cause of concern as the band could well have been replaced after 1995 if the original was worn out. Actually, this is relatively common as a 30 year-old 18ct gold band often shows signs of wear and are replaced for this reason.

(b) However, there is no very small letter “g” in the ear of the dog. More alarm bells started ringing when I saw this, so I took the watch in - as a ‘ladies watch’ i.e not a Rolex watch and then scrutinized the watch further.

After my examination I determined the watch band to be a fake - not a ‘copy’ as in ‘Rolex style band’, but afraudulent fake as it was stamped as a Rolex. The small ‘g’ is an important omission. Also, looking closely at theRolex logo on the band, it is not as sharp and ‘crisp’ as the genuine.

When you look closely at the images of the buckle, you can easily see nine very nice hallmarks as one would expect on this watch. However, and this is the crucial part, there was the Saint Bernard hallmark. Two crucial points here:

1

3

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When the end link in the band was removed, it showed very poor quality however it should be noted that this can only be seen after the band is removed.

Looking closely at the writing on the dial, you can see that it ‘bleeds’. In a genuine mother-of-pearl Rolex dial,this would not happen.

On the dial the Rolex logo is flat. On an original Rolex it would be more ‘puffed up’.

Puffed up

Not puffed up

Note also the image where the bracelet is quite a rose colour and the solder for the catch yellow. Not what one would expect from Rolex.

The date magnifier should be 2 ½x and while I think it is close to this, it is maybe 1 ½ to 2x. Also as can be seen the, plexi is not straight (it misses the date window by a bit) - not a sign of a good watchmaker here!

Also the ‘T Swiss made’ T at the bot-tom, which means that tritium is used as luminous markers so the watch can be read in the dark. The hands are not luminous, nor has any diamond that I have ever seen! This means the forgers actually went one step too far with this.

6

7

10

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Now Look at the image of the genuine mother-of-pearl dial. Note that the letters do not ‘bleed’ and also, as of course it should, it does not say ‘T Swiss made T’ or ‘SwissT<25’ which both would indicate luminous markers. Also look at that infamous Rolex logo how it is slightly ‘puffed up’ compared to the flat logo on the other. The case and movement were actually genuine Rolex,and acid testing the band came up as 18ct gold.


Simply this. The lack of the small letter ‘g’ raised my suspicion as did the (obscene!) amount of diamonds on the band. However let’s say the watch came in with the fake band without the diamonds and without the fake dial and without the diamond bezel, how many people would have valued this as a genuine Rolex watch?

The forgers of Rolex are no longer producing poor quality models that were bought on the streets of Bali for $20. They are re-producing the hallmarks superbly and if this is the quality that they are now doing compared to the Bali knockoff ’s of the 1990’s, who can imagine what they will be like in another 5 or 10 years?

As valuers we really have to be on the ball with not only fake watches, but watches that are made up of 80% fake parts where the case and movement is still genuine. And also, don’t forget that the main point to this article is not how one would value it, but the quality of those hallmarks on the band and how easy it would have been to not scrutinize them further.

Having this watch allowed to me photograph and study the watch and write this article as well as replying to a request on the NCJV MailTalk forum. It was through the Mailtalk Forum that it opened up an interesting can of worms and had valuers coming from different perspectives on how to value this watch, from a scrap gold and metal price, to auction price, jewellery first, watch second and so on. As for myself I ended up returning the watch to a now very unhappy customer with no valuation as I simply chose to refuse to value the item for any price, and I do not regret this especially with the later knowledge that this person had a woman lined up to purchase it as the real deal. I urge all valuers to sign up to the NCJV MailTalk Forum as it is a great way to express views on topics such as this.

And one last thing… don’t believe the customer... I never do!

interesting news

Following the recently published GoldPaper, the UK Ethics Committee willshortly be turning its attention to diamonds and suggesting the standards which everyone working with diamonds should follow. This is of course a some-what utopian ideal. Many may argue that with the Kimberley Process (KP), we have a clean diamond industry. Well, this is a moot point. While efforts have obviously been made to put the house in order the diamond trade does have serious issues which it needs to address in the very near future. The whole ‘Blood Diamond’ perception may have largely subsided, but one should remember that it was a problem which was arguably perpetuated by the trade so that it could benefit from the PR of being seen to solve this issue with KP.The issues now are, of course, morecomplex but still revolve around corruptgovernments, underpaid workers, and exactly where the money from diamonds goes. Add to this disclosure of origin, treatments, synthetics and a lack of conformity between labs and you will see that there is a very delicate path to tread. So when we talk about ethical trading with diamonds, what exactly are we talking about? For the most part we are looking at the working condi-tions and pay of the artisanal miners in Africa. Undoubtedly they do not get the true price for what they are mining,

Diamonds –still an ethical issue

James Riley, CEO of Gem-A, explains why the concerns that surround responsibly-sourced diamonds have not gone away.

but they earn far more than the average wage. Governments are increasingly demanding state control over mining and the disposal of all minerals from their countries. Zambia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania have all publicly stated their intent in recent months. Forty years ago it was the man from De Beers who said ‘yes’; now it is the man from the mining ministry. So what’s changed? In the old days the colonially-minded De Beers (its charter was set up in the 1880s and evenincluded provision for a private army) would claim that it paid a fair and even price all over the world. While many would dispute this, there was probably a greater degree of accountability and one has to remember that they pulled out of Angola, Sierra Leone and the Congo at the first signs of local unrest or civil war to avoid supporting government or state militia. Today the governments of many countries are making up the rules as they go along. It doesn’t need me to describe the issues with Zimbabwe. Miners know they are being ripped off but they stay alive and they have enough to feed their families. Many would like to boycott these countries but it is interesting to note the UN’s – and thus CIBJO’s and KP’s – stance on this. Yes there is corruption in these countries but there’s a duty of care to give the ordinary individual the opportunity to feed his family. Sanctions against these

countries will merely cut off thelivelihood of these people – such as it is – and drive the trade in stones under-ground. We have to change and evolve the system as it is now, not impose a Utopian solution which will just be ignored. So how does this affect you? The potential for a large-scale exposé is great and those affected will be you the retailers.

Ask yourself:“What do I know about the provenance of what I’m buying?” The answer is ‘very little’. The miners know exactly where their rough comes from but mix it to provide quantities of specific types of rough be-cause it makes life easier. The De Beers system is over 100 years old and worked when stones predominantly came from South Africa. Now at the point of the sight, no one knows from where a specific stone originated. Not only does it make it easier for illicit diamonds to enter the system, but there is no chance to add value. A Kashmir sapphire has extra value not just because of its beauty but also because of its origin. Diaman-taires are trying to cash in on Type IIa diamonds by calling them ‘Golconda’

So whatpoint

all

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stones after the Indian deposits of the 17th century. In most cases the only Indian connection is that they have been cut in Surat. There is nothing to stop the industry

separating stones by origin – it would just cost more money and add to the price of diamonds. But it could be done. However it’s not in the vested interest of the trade bodies to change and force the rules because the very people who run them have a vested interest in the status quo. Canada has proved that this can work… though there is a premium to pay. The question is do you and your customers want the choice? If the answer is ‘yes’ then the ripple effect through the industry will mean that the ultimate producers will have to improve their ways. If you’re not bothered then don’t complain if diamond sales drop in a few years as they become the anthrax of the industry. We haven’t even started on working conditions of polishers, or that hoary old chestnut ‘laboratory reports’… let alone the carbon footprint of the diamond industry.

The UK Ethics Committee – chaired by Vivien Johnston with representa-tives of the NAG, Gem-A and BJA working together with key players in

the ethics debate – will provide suggestions as to what can be done to improve the industry. Ultimately though, you will decide if you want to implement them.

interesting news / interviews

Dream ChaserIT Professional and Mine Owner

Many people stay in their day job, but dream of travelling to places they never imagined to go. But for him, nothing stops him from chasing his dreams.

Damien Wilkinson, graduate from Far East Gem Institute, shares his adventures travelling around the world in search of natures’ treasures.

interviews

What is your day job?I have been working as an IT professional in an investment bank in Singapore for the past six years, since 2007. Before I came to Singapore I was working for the same bank in Hong Kong, a small IT company in the Bahamas and with Microsoft in Ireland for several years.

When did you start getting interested in gemstones and gemology?It came quite naturally. During a trip to Brazil with a friend in 2010, we visited H.Stern a large gem and jewellery specialist in Rio. My initial thought was that those were nice stones. Then, a beautiful stone caught my attention. I came to find out that it was a Paraiba Tourmaline. It was love at first sight. The electrifying colour of the gemstone was so captivating. I knew it was something very rare, and I ended up paying quite a bit for that stone at the time. From then, I started to look for somewhere to learn about gemstones.

Did you go for any formal gemological training? If so, where?Yes. Since I was working in Singapore, I decided to search online for a course on gemstones conducted in Singapore. And of course, I found Far East Gem Institute. My first visit to the office was in fact for testing of a piece of gemstone. Mr. Tay then introduced the courses to me and I decided to take up the Gemstone Identification course.

Where have you been to in the world in search of gemstones?

First stop was naturally to the jewelry fair in Singapore. Then I started to visit the jewelry shows in Hong Kong. Initially it was only the March show, but I ended up going there for the jewelry shows two to three times a year to learn as much as I could and meet dealers from all over the world

The jewellery fairs didn’t satisfy my curiosity. So I started to source for minerals. I went on to Myanmar at the Scotts Market, trying my best to bar-gain as an Ang Moh. There I discovered the beautiful Spinel, my favorite of all gemstones.

Next, I went to Eifel, Germany as part of a stopover trip to visit my parents. I was very keen to go in search of another beautiful and very rare blue gemstone called Hauyne. The Hauyne crystals here were ejected in pumice many millennia ago during a violent eruption of a super volcano the remnants of which form a large caldera lake here. Other rare and wonderful crystals can be found here including beautiful Jeremjevite.

I had came across a website (http://www.hauyne.eu ) which was started by Eckhard Mucke a mineral collector who goes to local quarries to look for Hauyne at the weekend when the quarries are not operational. I emailed Eckhard, and he agreed to show me the quarry’s he search’s for Hauyne with his friend Rickard another fellow collector. Now, I have a collection of this blue gem material. I am in deep gratitude to Echkard and Rickard for this experience

My foray into gems was getting exciting and I started to read more and more books about prospecting for gemstones. I went to Perth, Australia to do some prospecting (or tried to!), but it was not the best place though it gave it some experience. It was during this time I was doing my Gem-A Foundation course.

After this trip, I went to Madagascar.....

A picture of one of the Hauyne quarrys in Eifel,Germany on the edge of a dormant super volcano in the heart of Europe.


The center bright blue mineral is a Hauyne crystal. Hauyne crystals are usually quite small but very rarely a large one carat or more specimen is found. Anything over half a carat cut Hauyne gemstone is considered rare.

Entrance to the wild wild west town of Ilakaka, Madagascar that was built after of the discovery of alluvial deposits of Sapphire in 1998. A company called ColorLine based in Ilakaka organizes tours to the mines. Llakaka is a long but scenic 13 hour drive from the capital.

Careful where you step. Exploratory mine shaft to find the old river bed. Llakaka is full of such holes stretching for kilometers in all directions.

Two sapphire miners on their way to llakaka to sell some of their finds. They had already cycled half a day from their mine and had a bit of a way to go. The miner in the foreground has several small pink sapphire crystals in his hand. Thai and Sri Lankan gem dealers will inspect the material in llakaka and offer them a price if they like the material

Rickard showing the layer of pumice where Hauyne is found.

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Madagascar

Larger Hauyne crystals can be found in the darker layers of pumice which stand out from the surrounding material. Cavities in the layer indicate where prospectors have chipped away to look for crystals. This is considered fairly risky as it has in the past lead to the cliff face collapsing on prospectors.

Digging through loose rocks in search of Hauyne. On a Friday the quarrymen will often deposit a pile of fresh material for prospectors to go through. This is far safer then chipping away at the quarry cliffs. A good rock hammer is an essential tool for the job. Funnily enough a bright blue flower the color and size of of Hauyne crystal is found growing in the quarry and often leads to mistaken excitement.

One of the main gem trading centers in Antsirabe. You never know what surprise material you may find here.

This is the famous sapphire mining area in Madagascar, ILAKAKA. Workers in the background dig down to the old riverbed some 30 feet or more down to find sapphire that were deposited many millennia ago when the river ran its course through here

Negotiating an emerald deal for rough material with Barry in Mananjary. Sadly the price was not right.

Damien at the llakaka mine with diggers in the background

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adventure....


We heard you bought a mine in Madagascar, was it producing a lot of gemstones?

I went there with no plans and I knew nobody. However, I was lucky to meet a taxi driver who ended up being my driver for the week. Interestingly, I had an article about gem mines in Madagascar and one of it was Ilakaka, which was a famous source for sapphires. He knew I wanted to visit the mines. So we first went to the central gem market, Antsirabe, 3 hours outside of the capital. There were a lot of long drives. Journeys were usually in the day as it is dangerous to be out at night on the roads.

It was interesting that when “Fazza” (means foreigner) arrives, the dealers flock to you. They crowd around you and it was overwhelming. The gem dealers at the market don’t always have great materials at hand and it takes a lot of patience and some time before the real quality materials emerge.

I asked the driver to ask the gem dealers if anyone of them owns a mine. I was very fortunate to meet Ninhy, a local gem association director for a miners co-operative, who owns three tourmaline mines and two stores in Antsirabe. He was also very happy to see me and willingly brought me to his mines. It was a simple mine. No machinery, just pick and axes. Most of the mines in Madagascar are worked by manual hard work.

We spent a few days together at the mountains. Ninhy told me that the mine would have to stop if there are no investors. So he offered me a share of a quarter of one of the mines. This financing will help to pay for five miners, so they could continue the mine. The mines do not continue every day. It really depends on the weather. There are no mining activities from January to March due to cyclones, where heavy rains can cause cave-ins. The political situation in Madagascar is also in a crisis and safety and lawlessness is a problem which often prevents work at the mine. At this point, they are working only in bits and pieces. I am glad I have the opportunity to help the miners in their livelihood in this manner.

Do you intend to sell the gemstones you mined? How do you know the gemstones are of good quality/gem quality?

Now I go back to the mine every four months. As the mining gets closer to the core, you get larger and nicer pieces of gemstone. It can get as large as 5 to 6 carats size red tourmalines. Otherwise, the mine produces mostly large beautiful mineral samples.

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Ninhy at the entrance to a

Tourmaline mine in Madagascar. The nearest town is

Ambositra. Mines are dug straight

into the rock.

How do you make sure the miners do not pocket thegemstones mined?

Security is definitely an issue. To top it up, the political situation there makes the bandits more lawless. Fortunately, local villagers are the ones protecting the mine. In return , some of the sales of minerals will contribute to help to make improvements to local villages . Often entrances to the mines are hidden beside bush or whithin a clump of trees to disguise the entrance.

Do you think learning gemology helped you in your journey in search of gemstones?

From learning gemology, I learnt about how to go about doing prospecting and sourcing for materials. Geological informa-tion and indications are important in sourcing for materials. And that is where the excitement starts.

Final words for aspiring gemstone explorers.

The returns are great. You can buy inexpensively, and achieve a considerable markup, sometimes as much as ten times. What I like about Madagascar apart from its wonderful people is that it is a beautiful, vast and under explored land with gemstone deposits yet to be found. The sense of adventure is really exciting.

If you like adventure, you can definitely profit from this. Just don’t be afraid and don’t over plan things. Just get there on the ground and work from there. You will meet people along the way to help you in your path in searching for gem-stones. There’s always risk, but balance the risk and the rewards.

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Red Tourmaline similar to the one found in the Ambositra mine

Concluding the financing deal on the mine.

Finally, always check out the licenses and permits for exporting precious materials. I was caught unaware of the custom rules once and never allowed myself to go through it the second time.


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Date 10/06/2013 Author Qiujing Yang Student Number 808425

In November 2012, I joined a trip to Beijing organized by Far East Gemological Institute. During the trip, one of our itinerary was a visit to a nephrite carving factory. This paper describe about the factory and also a meeting with Master Su, the master jade carver who talks about the style of carving, what material is used for her work and also the process of carving a white nephrite-jade.

What is nephrite-jade?

Nephrite Jade is a rock that is tough which is mainly composed of tremolite and actinolite minerals. Its chemical composition is calcium magnesium silicate with hydroxyl, and there may be extensive replacement of Mg by Fe. Nephrite can be white (includes mutton fat), greenish-white, green, dark green, brown, black, and other colours with different amount of minerals and trace elements. The factory we visited principally manufactures white Hetian Jade.

An Introduction of the carving factory

The carving company is named “Zhong DingYuan”( 中鼎元 in Chinese), which is an enterprise that carries out design, production and marketing artworks of nephrite. The main raw materials of their masterpieces are 籽料of nephrite from Hetian area of Xinjiang

Investigation of the Process of

Nephrite Carving

province, and they specialize in carving of high-and-medium-grade Hetian Jade. The master carvers and senior craft artists of Zhong Ding Yuan have won many national competition and prestigious national award for their works. As a result, their craftsmanship were very much sought after by collectors and some of their pieces were kept and exhibited by some museums.

Material selectionZhong Ding Yuan chooses ‘ 籽料’ mainly from Hetian, Xinjiang. ‘籽料’ means seed material in Chinese, i.e. therough nephrite that has been exposed to weathering over long period of time in the riverbeds. Quality to look out for in 籽料(Zi Liao) are fine fibrous texture, white with some brownish skin on the outside. Because of the fine texture, it reflects on the smooth surface appearance. Top quality 籽料 is the best

Hetian Jade. The next best quality is 山流水, literally translate as mountain slope water quality, i.e. those material that were transported away and remain in the mid-and-upper part of the rivers. Third quality is 戈壁玉, this quality is mainly found in alluvial deposits such as rivers, terrace, Gobi desert area, the material has been transported by wind and water flow). Lastly, 山料 this material comes are extracted from mountains, the quality of this material is not as superior as that of ‘籽料’.

The concept of ‘Hetian Jade’ has been broadened as other province and countries also produced white nephrite jade. In China, there is no national standard of Hetian Jade, (nephrite jade) as long as its main

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component is tremolite, Hetian jade from Xinjiang is the main important source. Besides Xinjiang, other locations in China are Qinghai, Liaoning, Guizhou, outside China, Russia, Canada, and South Korea also produced white nephrite-jade that may be called ‘Hetian Jade’. The best method to distinguish authenticate Hetian Jade from the Russian material is that white Russian material tends to have coarser texture, ceramic white colour, and looks less oily in its appearance and feels less smooth.

The top-quality white material of Zi Liao 籽料 is also known as mutton fat nephrite. Nephrite has to be natural even white, fine texture, and oily appearance i.e. it looks like a piece of mutton fat.

Processing flowDESIGNINGThere are two major concepts of designing of jade, i.e. one can makes full use of the white material, the other is to retain the natural beauty of the material i.e. brown stain or any defects.

For the first concept, the master carver would make full use of white material by carving a bangle from the rough mate-rial (see picture above). After making a bangle out of the rough material, the remaining material within the centre of the bangle, i.e. the core of the bangle, is then make into pendant. If there is some more material available for a smaller pendant, a pendant would be carved out of it. Therefore, nothing is wasted.

The second concept of carving is the jade master carver would normally try to leave the stone in their original forms i.e. to take advantage of the natural beauty and also the imperfections of the material. Defect such as brown skin or fractures within the material, the

jade master carver would preserve the brown by carving a ancient hieroglyphs on it without polishing away the brown skin. It is a tradition dating back over two thousand years ago that among jade master carvers to incorporate cultural elements together with the natural blemishes of the rock. Thus enrich and animate the carving, and also enhances its value.


POLISHING

Once the carved stone reaches the desired shape and pattern, the next step is to polish. Unlike other carving factories where mechanized polishing process were used, Zhong Ding Yuan continues to use hand-polishing technique. The reason is that it is easier to control and artworks will appear more delicate. At this step, craftsmen also do an overall polishing of the whole piece using different finer grade of sandpaper sticks. The whole process is carried out without water, thus giving the final touch to a more even appearance.

Besides the traditional craftsmanship, another feature which a jade carver would like to achieve is that if the jade has taken enough polish, the jade material should be kept as such and any further attempt to polish it to higher lustre would destroy it beauty. Because in this concept, the natural beauty is most attractive and important to a jade

Besides the two concept mention above, to start work on a piece rough nephrite jade, Master Su has to think of the design by researching into the history and background of that design. Sometimes, it may take one or two years just to decide on a suitable design for the rough nephrite. Once Master Sue has decided the design for example Buddha with his disciples, she would hand draw the design on the stones. Master Su’s[1]drawing is very delicate and lifelike. You can feel that she has put her ideas and understandings of Chinese traditional culture into the works. Master Su always emphasizes on distinct feature so as to differentiate her masterpieces from those mechanized works, which are rigid, rough and lifeless.

OUTLINING AND SHAPING

Once the outline of the design is drawn, carving began. The jade carver would use abrasive and slowly carved away the unwanted material around the design. Abrasive of pencil-like tips of differ-ent sizes are used to go over the stone, working under water. There are several abrasive tips ranging from flat, sharp, round, to spear-shaped, which are used to achieve a desirable finish. The next, high-speedwith varying-shaped tips are used to remove unwanted sections of the stone and give a general outline of the design.

DETAILED CARVING

Upon completion of the general shape, it is followed by more detailed carving work. In order to make the figures stand out from the surrounding, the carver would cut deeper to create a relieft. Many manual processing techniques are exploited at this step using needle-like tips of various thicknesses, including

3lining, removing, cleaning, smoothing, and so forth so as to create that relieft.

field tripcarver. To keep jade polish as natural as possible thus retain its powerful element, and desirability. In the eyes of an expert, those poorer quality materials need more polishing to achieve a better luster. For example, the bangle to the left in this photo is of poor quality so there is a need for more polishing in order to get a better lustre and colour.

TreatmentsA good piece of Hetian Jade-籽料 normally is white with a coloured skin, which can be reddish-brown or light yellow due to oxidation. The surface of 籽料 is smooth and rounded due to weathering. As there is demand for this type of material, it tends to be imitated by using poorer quality nephrite and colour treated on the surface.

Dyeing is the main method of treatment, and may be followed with heating. One of the common practice is to grind the jade, then dye on the surface, making it looks greasy in order to cover up flaws and defects.

Both organic and inorganic dyestuffs are used. In the early days, animal’s blood was used as dyes. It is believed that people would put nephrite-jade stones into a newly died horse, dog or other animal, and then bury them in the earth. This is to allow the blood to penetrate into the stone, thus staining the white nephrite-jade. Through their experience, they realized that the cause of brown staining is due to iron, then they switched to using iron as dye. One way is to wrap a nephrite stone with an iron sheet, then quench the wrapped stone into hot vinegar, and lastly bury it in the earth for a period of time. The other method is to immerse the stone into a river, for a period of time, after that the stone got a smoother appearance and iron rust penetrated into the stone, and finally the stone was burned to get an even and in-depth colour.

Inorganic dyes mainly include iron compounds [i.e. FeSO4, Fe (NO 3)3, FeCl3, Fe (NO3)2, FeCl2] and manganese compounds, and the mechanism is charge transfer. Besides, other dyes, such as neutralization reagent [Al (NO 3)3, A lCl3, A l(OH)3], mixture of dyes, mixture plus resin materials, are also used as dyestuffs. The dyeing procedure with inorganic dyestuffs is roughly divided into four steps: diffusing slowly; rapid dyeing under certain temperature and pressure; dyeing and heating in acidic condition; dyeing in the acidic environment first, and then grinding after soaking in alkalai to neutralize.

Identification of dyeTo identify dye treatment, it is necessary to look for difference in colour, lustre, shape, cracks, hardness, and toughness.Artificial dye colour tends to be intense, superficial, and unnatural in appearance. The dye could be seen concentrated in fissures.

- Intense colour aberration between the surface and the fissures, especially obvious when the stone is seen at the cross section.

- Those acid etched layer often appears white or yellow under ultraviolet light.

- The shape of the rough stone tends to be too perfect and unnatural in appearance, without any traces of knocks. Some of the artificial made pebbles would show grinding and polishing marks to imitate natural weathering process. Whereas, those pebbles that comes from the river would tend to show trace of abrasion, knocks and corrosion on the surface i.e. natural origin.

- Dye colour tends to show signs of bleaching and colour-fading.

-Although Hetian Jade 籽料 has the same physical and chemical properties as other white nephrite-jade from other localities, it is said that Hetian Jade is harder and would take a better polish compared with others.

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ConclusionAs a result of this visit and work on this project, I learned and enriched by this experience. Firstly, I know more about Hetian Jade, and the criteria for authenticating Mutton Fat Nephrite-jade. Secondly, I have better idea about carving procedures, such as how the jade carver pick the stone, followed by design, outlining, carving and polishing. I also appreciated exquisite masterpiece of carving. Lastly, I think it is important to bear in mind that there are always treatments and imitations of gemstones, and the method to distinguish natural from treated materials. It is a fantastic experience, and I find that the more I learn, the more I like this ‘magic stones’.

BibliographyBibliographySu Ran is the chief designer and master jade carver of Zhong Ding Yuan. She is one of the two female masters of jade carver and the youngest one in Beijing. Su Ran’s works combines merits of both northern and southern China carving styles. With the emphasis on the essence of royal jade arts, Su Ran’s carving is appreciated by collectors as well as museum curators as it shows dignified, elegant, and distinguished royal style.

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http://collection.sina.com.cn/fcys/20120820/162380660.shtml, accessed on June 6thhttp://baike.baidu.com/view/39713.htm , accessed on June 6th

APPENDIXhttp://baike.baidu.com/view/58242.htm?fromId=162178 , accessed on June 7thhttp://www.htyuqi.com/article-750.html , accessed on June 7thhttp://xj.cnwnews.com/html/xjys/htyzs/htyzs/201102/27-315690.html, accessed onJune 9thhttp://baike.baidu.com/view/42000.htm ,accessed on June 9thGem-A Foundation Notebook, Nep-1

唐寅, 2010, 汤盘礼鼎有续作, Zhongdingyuan’s Jade Carving Yearbook of 2010, 中国工艺美术出版社

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Documents

jade course

jewellery company

east gemological institute

jewellery trade fair

identification of jade

jade materials

jade samples

major jewellery exhibitions