One of the greatest gemological challenges is determining if a ruby or sapphire has been heat treated. UV fluorescence can assist in that identification, as well as detecting fillers in emerald.

The Thai city of Chanthaburi (จันทบุรี) may be small, but it has played an important role in both the history of Thailand and the gem trade. Taking its name from the Sanskrit word for moon ('chan'), this petite town is among the most charming in the Land of Smiles.

Introducing the blue filter as a gemological tool to separate natural and Verneuil synthetic yellow sapphires.

For those who wish to explore the literature of inclusions in gemstones further, we have selected the following articles and books that are of particular merit. Most of these are cited in the Lotus Gemology Hyperion Inclusion Database, but are listed below in a more convenient summary format. Many of the links will allow you to download a PDF copy of the original article.

Introducing…

Inside Out: GEM•ology Through Lotus-Colored Glasses

by

E. Billie Hughes  |  Richard W. Hughes  |  Wimon Manorotkul

with a foreword by Paolo Minieri

Chinese translation by Jason C.H. Kao (高嘉兴), with Jinding Yu (俞瑾玎) and Bonnie Chao (晁艳)

From the dawn of time, precious stones have both attracted and fascinated humans in ways that few other items could. For while objects of desire are found throughout the natural world, physical beauty is too often ephemeral. From the allure of a man, woman, flower or butterfly, through the fleeting moments of a sunset, there is little that lasts and practically nothing that can be passed down to our descendants. The exception is precious stones. Not only are they the most durable creations of Mother Nature, but their visual splendor is truly eternal.

This book presents a completely fresh approach to the subject. Dubbing it humanistic gemology, the authors take readers around the world, showing the places they have explored in their search for gems, along with the people and cultures encountered along the way.

Within this volume, remarkable photographs of the human world are interwoven with images of the microscopic realm of the gems themselves. In a lifetime beset by time control, where living is broken into ever smaller bits, as you browse through these pages suddenly you plunge into a domain of frozen time, one that affords vistas of millions or even billions of years. For jewels offer not just superficial beauty, but a window on the primordial forces that birthed both our planet and universe.

Inside Out – Gemology Through Lotus-Colored Glasses represents a fascinating new direction for gemology, linking the external and internal worlds of precious stones for the first time. 

•

Published 2020; Now shipping

Standard Edition – Hardcover
Price: Thai Baht 3000 + Shipping & Handling

•

International Shipping & Handling from Thailand
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Hardcover with Dust Jacket
152 pages; 270 x 360 mm (10.6 x 14.2 inches); 2.5 kg shipping weight
Full Color Throughout  |  Bilingual text in English & Simplified Chinese

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A few comments from reviewers…

I am doubtless readers both inside and outside of the gem trade will enthusiastically welcome Inside Out. Buy it, read it, give it away. I am fully confident you will be satisfied, ingratiated and inspired.
Jeffery Bergman – InColor Magazine

This book fills a gap in the literature on gems by pictorially exploring the relationship between humans and gems on an artistic and emotional level. It is a work of art that lives from the quality of the photographs and gets by with minimal textual commentary on the images.
Michael Hügi – Journal of Gemmology

Inside Out is a truly stunning work reflecting the combnied personalities, skills, knowledge and philosophy of the authors, who have created something exceptional and innovative for the world of gemmology.
Terry Coldham – Australian Gemmologist

Inside Out  •  GEM•ology Through Lotus-Colored Glasses

E. Billie Hughes, Richard W. Hughes, Wimon Manorotkul  |  2020

From the dawn of time, precious stones have both attracted and fascinated humans in ways that few other items could. For while objects of desire are found throughout the natural world, physical beauty is too often ephemeral. From the allure of a man, woman, flower or butterfly, through the fleeting moments of a sunset, there is little that lasts and practically nothing that can be passed down to our descendants. The exception is precious stones. Not only are they the most durable creations of Mother Nature, but their visual splendor is truly eternal.

This book presents a completely fresh approach to the subject. Dubbing it humanistic gemology, the authors take readers around the world, showing the places they have explored in their search for gems, along with the people and cultures encountered along the way. Within this volume, remarkable photographs of the human world are interwoven with images of the microscopic realm of the gems themselves. In a lifetime beset by time control, where living is broken into ever smaller bits, as you browse through these pages suddenly you plunge into a domain of frozen time, one that affords vistas of millions or even billions of years. For jewels offer not just superficial beauty, but a window on the primordial forces that birthed both our planet and universe.

Inside Out – Gemology Through Lotus-Colored Glasses represents a fascinating new direction for gemology, linking the external and internal worlds of precious stones for the first time. 

Inside Out | GEM•ology Through Lotus-Colored Glasses Order Page 

Plunge into the fascinating microworld of ruby and sapphire with award-winning photomicrographer E. Billie Hughes.

zircon in sapphire

Jade  •  A Gemologist's Guide

Richard W. Hughes, editor  |  2022

The study of jade is unlike any other gem, trespassing across all conventional boundaries, particularly those of the gemological and mineralogical realm. Despite the march of mineralogical orthodoxy and conformity, the word “jade” is a fist in the air of protest, crying out not for reduction and definition, but an expansion of the mineralogical lexicon to include the cultural aspects of human civilization and life. The word “jade” is the anti-mineral. Because jade is so much more than a simple census of atoms, their valence states, and their places of residence.

An understanding of jade is not limited to the technical or exacting; it also incorporates a feeling for the cultural, textural, and ephemeral qualities that make the study of this gem unlike any other in the world of gemstones. It is our heartfelt hope that this volume will not just fill the “traditional gemological” gap, but will open readers’ eyes to a world beyond. Because jade is so much more.

While the literature on jade is vast, perhaps greater than any other gem, there is a distinct lack of a volume that treats jade as a gemological material. This book is designed to fill that gap, with extensive information on the history, sources, appraisal and identification of both treated and the various forms of imitation jade. All of this is together in a single volume for the first time, making this a must-have for all collectors, dealers, gemologists, appraisers, curators and anyone else with an interest in this fascinating gem.

Jade • A Gemologist's Guide Order Page Jade • A Gemologist's Guide Order Page Order Page

The history of the Lao sapphire mines at Ban Huay Xai is detailed, along with modern mining by Hong Kong based Sino Resources Mining Corp. Ltd. from 2006–2012.

A description of the inclusions found in ruby around the world, including Myanmar, Thailand/Cambodia, Vietnam, Tajikistan, Madagascar and Mozambique.

A lecture on the trading and grading of ruby and sapphire, with an emphasis on the fine points of what collectors should look for.

Lotus Gemology's E. Billie Hughes looks at the important sapphire producing localities in Madagascar, along with the key gemological features that can help separate them from other sapphire sources.

Lotus Gemology's E. Billie Hughes will captain a special workshop devoted to gemological microscopy and photomicrography.

A look at the geology of Myanmar's Mogok Stone Tract, home to pigeon's blood rubies and so much more…

An account of a 2013 visit to Mogok – Myanmar's fairy-tale wonderland.

Lotus Gemology warns that oiled rubies, sapphires and spinels are entering the Bangkok wholesale market in increasing numbers. Most, but not all, of these gems are originating from Burma.

An orangish pink “padparadscha” sapphire was submitted for testing at Lotus Gemology’s Bangkok laboratory. Testing showed a number of conflicting features that suggested the gem was a cleverly treated synthetic pink sapphire designed to imitate natural padparadscha.

A discussion of the definition of padparadscha sapphire, from early to modern times, along with the difficulty in standardizing such definitions.