Tucson 2009 Wrap Up

by Richard W. Wise, G.G.

©2009 (all rights reserved)

Rubies From Winza, Tanzania:

As promised, here is an image of the 4.10 carat cushion shaped ruby from the new strike at Winza, Tanzania. Ruby from this source contains iron, though not as much as gems from the now exhausted Thai deposits. Stones from this source will not fluoresce strongly in ultraviolet light and thus will not exhibit the supercharged fluorescence of the very best from Burma. Again, due to iron, the red may show a slightly orangy secondary hue.

That said, natural unenhanced rubies over three carats are almost unobtainable. These new Winza beauties will stand toe to toe with most Burmese at a much more reasonable price.

An Extraordinary Strand of Natural Pearls:

I spotted a magnificent strand of natural pearls from a dealer at AGTA. What makes this two strand exceptional is its symmetry. When considering natural pearls it is necessary to bracket all that you have come to expect from their cultured counterparts. The word round, for example, takes on a whole new meaning when applied to naturals. We have gotten used to the "perfection" of the ubiquitous Akoya pearls from Japan, perfectly round, with matching color. Few realize that all this is a result of processing; the pearls are left in the shell just long enough to deposit a thin coat of nacre, so thin that GIA had to redefine it's definition of "thick" coating from 0.50 to 0.25mm. The pearls are then bleached white to remove spots, then further bleached for uniformity of color, then dyed pink.

The World Of Fantasy:

In the world of natural pearls, perfect symmetry, combined with matching color, resides in the realm of fantasy. The strand pictured right is natural, the pearls graduate from 4.31-9.50mm, each is perfectly round and well matched in color and luster. Compare these two with the Baroda Pearls (pictured left). Readers will recall that the Baroda strand sold at a world record price. A cursory look reveals that these magnificent gems are not really round---yet they achieved a record of $7.1 million at auction.

Secrets Of The Gem Trade Goes To Third Printing:

Brunswick House Press has just announced that the paperback edition of my Secrets Of The Gem Trade, The Connoisseur's Guide To Precious Gemstones is being reprinted. Originally published in hardcover in 2003, now with 32,000 copies sold, Secrets has become a best seller. "Secrets has succeeded beyond our wildest expectations." said Dick Sage, President of Brunswick House.

We have a few copies available at R. W. Wise, but the publisher will not be able to fill wholesale orders until the new edition arrives in about 90 days.

Notable Quotes:

“Since radiation is the cause of pink color in tourmaline, the presence of these features should not be attributed to any type of intentional diffusion, but rather to the influx of radioactive fluids in their post-growth environment.”

John I. Koivula, Chief Gemologist, GIA

"THERE ARE NO PROVEN EXPERTS ON THIS SUBJECT OUTSIDE OF ROBERT (James) EXCEPT TED THEMELIS WHO HAS ALREADY CONFIRMED ROBERT’S FINDINGS. SHOW ME ONE PERSON OF ANY STANDING WHO HAS DONE THE AMOUNT OF RESEARCH THAT ROBERT HAS USING ADVANCED ANALYTIC TECHNOLOGIES AND I’LL LISTEN. GIA’S PRESS RELEASE WAS BASED ON OLD-FASHIONED INFERENTIAL METHODS DERIVED SOLELY OR MOSTLY FROM MICROSCOPE OBSERVATION OF ONE STONE. ROBERT HAS TESTED THOUSANDS OF STONES. DUH!. SO IF THE PUNCH-DRUNK FIGHTER TO WHOM YOU REFER IS ROBERT, COME TO THE ARIZONA HOTEL ON FRIDAY,"I KNOW WHERE TO PUT MY MONEY. IT IS A HORSE RACE. AND THE ODDS ARE RUNNING STRONG AGAINST YOU (Richard Wise) AND THE GEMOLOGICAL ESTABLISHMENT. THAT’S WHY I HAVE REPORTED THAT THIS IS AN EPOCHAL GEMOLOGICAL CRISIS. CROSS-SPECIES DIFFUSION WILL PROVE OUR INDUSTRY’S EQUIVALENT OF THE SUBPRIME MORTGAGE CRISIS." (emphasis Federman, parenthesis mine)

David Federman, Editor-in-Chief, Colored Stone
by email 1/30/09

Colleagues,
"I read RJ (Robert James) newsletter forwarded to me by another colleague. As for as I am concern, RJ does not deserve my reply or any respect whatsoever. He is trying to tell us about his invention of the hot water using all kinds of tactics. In conclusion, it does not serve any useful purpose to discuss any longer RJs research activities. There are more important issues to discuss in the gemological forums. Let's move forward."

parenthesis mine!
_________________
Ted Themelis
Research & Development
Gem Treatment Lab
from Gemologyonline 2/13/09

Visit Burma's Valley of the Serpents and learn how sapphire is mined and graded. Follow me on gem buying adventures in Burma, Thailand and Sri lanka. Visit the gem fields of Australia and Brazil. 120 carefully selected photographs showing examples of the highest quality gems to educate the eye, including the Rockefeller Sapphire and many more of the world's most famous gems. Consider my book: Secrets Of The Gem Trade, The Connoisseur's Guide To Precious Gemstones.


“Wise is a renowned author... He’s done a marvelous job of this first book, monumental work, a tour de force...My recommendation: Buy this book”.
Charles Lewton-Brain, Orchid

whether you like to know what the best colour is in Tanzanite, or how to grade a Diamond, you will find it in this book. No other book I read before dealt with this topic is such detail as Richard Wise's masterpiece."
A. Van Acker, FGA Amazon June 2005

"Secrets Of The Gem Trade: The Connoisseurs Guide To Precious Gemstones by Richard W. Wise is an impressive new reference for dedicated dealers and collectors of gems, gemstones, and ... pearls. Introducing and descriptively exploring each and every gem covered in the easy-to-use reference, Secrets Of The Gem Trade contains an illustrated summary of each stone inclusive of its history and general information, hue and tone, saturation, which may be noticed as the finest, an understanding of the particular gems rarity, and the caution for synthetics and how to depict them, however depending upon the stone there may be description of clarity, color fading, multi-color effect, etc. Secrets Of The Gem Trade is very highly recommended to anyone interested in gemology as a superbly organized, authoritative, comprehensive, and easy-to-follow reference."


Midwest Book Review April 2006

Only $39.95 in paperback. Read a couple of chapters online an order: We recently discovered about a dozen copies of the out of print hardcover: $79.95 signed by the author www.secretsofthegemtrade.com.

Buy it on Amazon: www.amazon.com

Focus On Antique Jewelry

by Richard W. Wise, G.G.

© 2008

From Our Antique Jewelry Gallery:

ANTIQUE SALAMANDER BROOCH.

by Rebekah V. Wise

Okay, she may actually be a newt, but this winsome girl is mostly prized for the bright green racing stripe of Russian demantoid garnets down her back.

Originally from a pre-revolutionary source in the Ural Mountains of Russia, demantoid is the green gemstone variety of the mineral andradite, the most expensive and rarest of the garnets. So-named because of their diamond-like refractivity and unusually high dispersion (higher than diamond and often visible as rainbow-colored flashes of light).

Demantoid garnets were a favorite gemstone of jeweler Peter Carl Fabergé. Many of his jewelry designs for the Russian Imperial Family featured these lively bright green stones. Total demantoid weight is 4.00 carats. Surrounded by 53 Old European-Cut diamonds for a total

diamond weight of 1.20 carats. Crafted in 18k yellow and white gold. Don't let her slip away!

Call or email me for more information: 800.773.0249. richard@rwwise.com

New Face On The Gem Forums:

Pricescope.com, the world’s busiest gem forum has been sold. I was recently introduced to the new president and CEO is Andrey Pilipchak. Andrey took over in July of 2007. During a casual conversation with Pricescope founder Leonid Charny.

“He mentioned he is a little bit tired of running Pricescope and before you knew it I became the new owner.”

Pricescope is the six hundred pound gorilla on the internet. The site boasts 31,000 registered users. Pricescope’s reach contrasts with forums such as Gemologyonline with 1600 registered users and yourgemologist with 6,100 members. “We average about 1,500-2,000 posts a day.” Andrey said in a recent interview, “with over 350,000 unique visitors per month.”

Ranking the Forums:

According to Alexa.com the major gem forums rank as follows: It shows Pricescope far in the lead:

1. Pricescope.com 42,927

2. Diamondring.com 126,540

3. Yourgemologist.com 240,066

4. Gemologyonline.com 240,334

Different Strokes:

Rating the gem forums is sort of like comparing apples to pomegranates. Each of the four sites mentioned have a different focus and attract different sorts of users. Pricescope members are predominantly consumers looking for information or collectors who want to show off their most recent gem and jewelry acquisitions. Diamondring.com (formerly diamondtalk.com) is a commercial site masquerading as a forum and is mainly about selling diamonds. Yourgemologist and Gemologyonline are oriented toward student and professional gemologists, lapidaries and gem dealers.

Don't look for big changes at Pricescope. Pilipchak’s plan: “Keep focus on diamonds and wedding discussions.” Pricescope started as a diamond site. The new owner intends to stay on track with that model. With diamond market share at 95% of the total gemstone market, it seems like a good plan.

Pilipchak graduated from Bradley University with a BS in Electrical Engineering. He has worked in the software engineering field for over 20 years as a developer and manager, skills that should be very useful to him in his new role.

The Brotherhood of the Banned:

As Pricescope became more powerful it developed a reputation for banning members, particularly professionals, over relatively minor infractions of its rules. I, myself, was banned by the former owner for mentioning and posting a link to another forum. See GemWise: Rating The Gem Forums.

Pilipchak has taken what he calls a “liberal approach” to past transgressions. “I look at them on a case by case basis.” He must truly be a liberal; he invited your’s truly back on the site. Several other formerly banned individuals have also been reinstated.

“I am basically one person and I have a lot to do.” Pilipchak has a very small staff and his wife helps him out. How is he doing? “I am enjoying it so far. It is a wonderful venture and I feel it has a lot of room to grow.” We wish him luck. Stay Tuned!

Price Watch: Gemstones:

Gem prices, particularly those for larger finer gems, have risen dramatically in the past three years. Over the past thirty years I have seen a number of ups and downs in the market though you will never get a dealer to admit that. For dealers, prices are always up and finer stones are always more difficult to find.

Another theory, gem prices have always about the same. Apparent price differences are simply the result of fluctuating values in paper currency. This somewhat cynical view certainly seems to reflect the current market. Take the D flawless diamond. Stones over five carats, particularly the rare type IIa diamonds are up about40% at the wholesale level in the past year. Two years ago ruby prices made a great leap forward. This correlated with the decline of the dollar against the Thai bhat.

Colored diamond prices including prices for the relatively available fancy yellow and brown stones have gone along for the ride. I recently priced a 2+ carat blue with the coveted "fancy vivid" grade from GIA; at over $500,000 per carat wholesale. With 5+ carats bringing between 1.3 and 2 million per carat that should not be surprising. Colored diamond expert Stephen Hofer put it succinctly: "Prices are crazy" he told me.

In other markets, heat-treated blue sapphire is currently in good supply. Prices have declined a bit a fine stones are available at perhaps 10% less than a year or two ago. Prices for fine natural (unheated) stones have increased and stones are becoming more difficult to find.

Rarity coupled with demand is another important factor driving price increases. Emerging gems, such as the new finds in peridot, cuprian tourmaline, spessartite garnet and demantoid garnet have been rising slowly but steadily in price over the past five years. Spessartite garnet, finer pure orange stones above 5 carats have increased by about $100-200 per carat annually. Peridot over 5 carats is up in price. Lighter, brighter pastel green-blue tourmaline, whether cuprian or not, have also increased substantially in price.

The new greenish-blue to blue Mozambique cuprian (copper bearing) tourmaline have not increased in price because a consortium of dealers managed to establish a high price for the stone right out of the gate. As of this writing, prices for Mozambique tourmaline are stable with perhaps a bit of softness in the market due to the economic downturn in the US.

Featured Gemstone:

As I mentioned earlier, prices for fancy color diamonds have skyrocketed. Colored diamonds are the only diamonds that are truly rare. Diamond is so hard, the atomic lattice so tight, that few impurities, the sources of color, can penetrate the crystal lattice. One of the three atoms in Nitrogen. This is the source of yellow in diamond.

Queen of the colored diamond is the Fancy Vivid gem. #7448 this 0.70 carat pear shape has been graded Fancy Vivid Yellow-Orange by the Gemological Institute of America's laboratory (GIA-GTL). Yellow diamonds incline towards either orange or green the two colors adjacent on the color-wheel. Of the two possible secondary hues, orange is preferred. Technically this is an orange diamond but to my eye this gem has just the right mix of yellow and orange to give it a truly sun-kissed glow.

The stone was purchased before recent price increases in is therefore available at a reasonable price. The stone is particularly well cut and completely eye-clean. For more wonderful pieces visit our online gallery: www.rwwise.com (click on gallery). For more information about this 3/4 carat vivid yellow-orange beauty call me at 800.773-0249 (413-637-1589) or email me richard@rwwisecom.

Take a boat ride across an exotic lagoon. Visit Burma's Valley of the Serpents and learn how rubies are mined and graded.

Follow me on gem buying adventures in the pearl farms of Tahiti. Visit the gem fields of Australia and Brazil. 120 carefully selected photographs showing examples of the highest quality gems to educate the eye, including the Rockefeller Sapphire and many more of the world's most famous gems. Consider my book: Secrets Of The Gem Trade, The Connoisseur's Guide To Precious Gemstones.

“Wise is a renowned author... He’s
done a marvelous job of this first book, monumental work, a tour de force...My recommendation: Buy this book”.

Charles Lewton-Brain, Orchid

whether you like to know what the best colour is in Tanzanite, or how to grade a Diamond, you will find it in this book. No other book I read before dealt with this topic is such detail as Richard Wise's masterpiece."

A. Van Acker, FGA
Amazon June 2005

"Secrets Of The Gem Trade: The Connoisseurs Guide To Precious Gemstones by Richard W. Wise is an impressive new reference for dedicated dealers and collectors of gems, gemstones, and ... pearls. Introducing and descriptively exploring each and every gem covered in the easy-to-use reference, Secrets Of The Gem Trade contains an illustrated summary of each stone inclusive of its history and general information, hue and tone, saturation, which may be noticed as the finest, an understanding of the particular gems rarity, and the caution for synthetics and how to depict them, however depending upon the stone there may be description of clarity, color fading, multi-color effect, etc. Secrets Of The Gem Trade is very highly recommended to anyone interested in gemology as a superbly organized, authoritative, comprehensive, and easy-to-follow reference."

Midwest Book Review
April 2006

Only $35.95. Read a couple of chapters online: www.secretsofthegemtrade.com.

Buy it on Amazon: www.amazon.com