corundum, treatments.6, flux healing, heat treatment, surface repair, gems

In 1997, a colleague and I submitted a paper to a gem industry trade association for publication in their newsletter. The article discussed a specialized heating technique used to treat over 95% of the ruby traded in the world market. To our great surprise, the editor rejected the article, deeming it “too controversial.” In the words of the official, “many mainstream journalists read our publication and if they got hold of this story it could mean big trouble.”Just what treatment could possibly be so nefarious that it could not even be discussed in the polite pages of an industry publication? I speak of the use of fluxes to “heal” open fractures in ruby. Since that time, the process has been a point of discussion at dozens of meetings between both traders and gemologists. While some today have a solid knowledge of flux healing, it is surprising that so many traders and even gemologists do not grasp the treatment method and its impact on a gem. The following is designed to shine a bit of light into this dark industry corner.

corundum, quality.10, gems

In this world, there's a nipple for every sucker. But why, oh why, does the gem business have to prove the truth of that axiom? This an industry that makes an awful lot of noise about integrity. We are the pompous and the proud, quick to declare that our word is our bond. And yet every now and again we are brought down by the few among us for whom greed is just the Hindenberg waiting for a match.

corundum, Burma.12, gems

From a distance life is simple, every hand the same. Hold yours out and take a look. Highs and lows, ridges and whorls, the maker's strokes, we all have them. Our lives, our intellectual development are just like our fingerprints. Begin from a tiny point and spin gently outward, drip-dreary accumulation. Birth, death and what happens in between. Here I sit, contemplating my hands. Yes, I see the spirals. But also other lines that follow no maker's mold, bold strokes that leap directly from ridge to distant ridge, bypassing the mundane maze of daily drudgery. These raw, wrong-way gashes exist not by grand design, but are unique to me alone. You could call them self-inflicted. Yes, self-inflicted. In particular, I remember two such slashes. The first was 1973, my sophomore year in high school. The event the Saturday Night Massacre" – a political throat slitting – when President Richard Nixon fired Watergate special prosecutor Leon Jaworski. Intellectually riding this thunderbolt to ground shattered the façade so carefully erected by my parents, teachers, preachers and political leaders. From that point on, nothing was the same. Childhood was gone. The final severing of innocence, though, did not occur until some five years later. I found myself in a small hostelry in the northern Thai opium town of Fang, where a book lurked quietly on the lobby table. It was Alfred McCoy's The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia. Its premise – the US government's war on drugs was a sham. While Washington piously lectured the world on the evils of narcotics and used the hammer of foreign aid to blackmail other governments into doing the same, US intelligence agencies were simultaneously engaged in and supporting countless individuals and groups whose major business was – to paint it black – running dope. The book was not completely new. I had come across a reference in a magazine a few months earlier, and had actually located a copy in a university library. But seeing it on that table in northern Thailand lent a certain legitimacy. Just a day later, as I walked the jungle paths of nearby opium-growing hill tribe villages, my ex-CIA Shan guide confirmed many of McCoy's statements. This was a terrorist bombing of my middle-American psyche, exploding my final illusions about official behavior. Slash. I entered adulthood."

sapphire, treatments.6, diffusion, bulk diffusion, surface diffusion, lattice diffusion, heat treatment, gems

In October 2001, Australian gemologist Terry Coldham informed the author of a new treatment for orange sapphire. His initial report was that a burner in Chanthaburi, Thailand had developed a new method to treat off-color Songea (Tanzania) stones to a fine orange to red-orange color. Shortly thereafter, several other sources confirmed the news. The stones were to be marketed under new names, such as Sunset sapphire, etc. AGTA Lab Director Ken Scarratt visited Bangkok last December and obtained samples. Pala International's Bill Larson also purchased samples of these stones in early December 2001 in Bangkok. When Scarratt examined his stones back in New York, he found that all had been exposed to high-temperature heat treatment. But under immersion, many displayed unusual orange color rims surrounding pink cores, suggesting there might be more to this than a simple bake job. On December 28, 2001, Scarratt asked the author if he knew anything about the stones, mentioning the orange color rims. We quickly examined the Pala stones just purchased in Bangkok and found identical color rims on most pieces. Shortly thereafter, the AGTA issued a Lab Alert and we sent a number of stones to the GIA for analysis. The following is based upon the AGTA Report of Jan. 8, 2002 and GIA reports of Jan. 28, 2002 and Feb. 16, 2002, along with discussions we have had with American experts, such as John Emmett, [1] and other dealers and gemologists around the world. [Note: new online reports by the GIA and AGTA were issued on April 19, 2002, with further updates on May 3, 2002 and 5 Sept., 2002]

corundum, sapphire, quality.10, Burma.12, Mogok, Madagascar, Kashmir, India.12, gems

The appraisal of precious stones is an eclectic skill, not for the timid or shameless, for such decisions involve both conscious and unconscious action. Try as we may to slice, dice and pigeon-hole elements of quality, in the end an analysis requires more than just a formula, just as fine cooking involves not simply ingredients and a recipe. It is about reaching for factors beyond the immediate senses, and in that respect is quite like enjoyment of fine art, food and music.While one man's Miles Davis might be another's Kenny G, there are certain things the discerning among us look for. Thus, what I will try to convey to you in the following passages is educated emotion, something to help separate the long, languid lines of artistic truth from aimless noodling. Here you will find the ingredients, the recipe, the score. But without the passion that only the viewer himself can bring, both these gems and our time on this precious planet are a waste. With that introduction, let us now examine blue sapphires. Here I have a confession to make. Blue is my favorite color. I love blue. Thus the following essay is one of love.

corundum, sapphire, Kashmir, India.12, gems, Thailand.12, Cambodia.12, Pailin

This article detailed a parcel of gems that the authors thought was from Kashmir. Christopher Smith correctly informed the authors after publication that the gems were probably from Pailin, Cambodia.

corundum, ruby, sales, gems

corundum, treatments, ruby, Burma.12, Möng Hsu, gems

Today, courts are increasingly being called upon to arbitrate such disputes, largely because sellers have failed to disclose the flux healing of fractures in Möng Hsu ruby from Burma. The problem is a huge one, a corundum conundrum that will only escalate until the trade begins to enforce a policy of full disclosure of all gemstone enhancements. The following article examines the roots of the issue.

gems, corundum, Burma.12, Mogok, ruby, sapphire

The author’s account of his first pilgrimmage to Burma's Mogok Stone Tract in 1996.

Thailand, politics, RWHL, gems

It is always a pleasure to read comments on my articles. And so it was with Scott Montgomery's discussion of my column, Death of the Thai Ruby" (Letters: JewelSiam, Dec./Jan., 1997, pp. 14–15). But his letter brought particular joy, for, as someone whose self-righteousness is quite literally off the scale, it is rare that I find myself in similar company. Truth be told, I had written a sequel to my previous column, "Death of the Thai Ruby," in which I expanded upon some of the questions raised in the first piece. This is it, modified to address some of the issues raised by Mr. Montgomery in his letter, along with a few other thoughts germane to the subject. Readers bothered by discussion of sex, politics or religion should probably close the magazine now. Are we ready? Okay, let's go to war."