A gem dealer's journal — Asia Lounges

Hey Loungers, Today we interview our friend Zoe Michelou from Imperial Colors and we’ll be discussing about her path in the gem trade. Daughter of a prominent coloured-gems sourcing entrepreneur and emerald specialist, Zoe has made a name for herself in the fine quality gem segment. Discover with us today how she got involved in the trade and what pushed her to pursue the mine to market path she is now on. Without any further delay, we give you Zoe Michelou!   Here is Zoe Michelou looking at some fine emeralds in Colombia - Photo Credits: Zoe Michelou   AsiaLounges: First...

Hey Loungers,    Today we have the pleasure to interview a new acquaintance of ours: Jeremy Dunn. He is a talented Seattle based jeweller who has won 3rd place in the 2020 AGTA Spectrum awards.    Jeremy, whom we discovered during the very same Tucson show, follows a path that is not unlike that of our pal Jason Marchiafava in that he hand makes his jewellery instead of using the more modern CAD systems to develop his models.     Let us see in this interview how he came to be the artist he is today and what drove him to take the traditional approach rather than the modern one.   ...

Hey Loungers,

As you may have noticed, we have had a fair few gem cutters coming through our columns recently. Today, we interview the newly appointed president of the South Australian division of the G.A.A. (Gemmological Association of Australia), Madame the President Laura Phillis!

Laura is a famed lapidary artist, whom is more widely known by her company name on Instagram: Tatum Gems, who’s made a name for herself for coming up with brand new gem designs as well as for being a gemmological teacher in her native Australia.

We had the opportunity of meeting her recently during the 2020 edition of the Tucson show where she agreed to answer to our questions.

Hey Loungers, In this interview, done during Tucson 2020, we will be having a three way discussion about western style gem cutting, the differences between hobby cutters and professional ones as well as to discussing about the main differences that one may encounter as they are looking at competition cutters VS commercial cutters. In this interview you will find Laura Phillis from Tatum Gems Australia, Marie Alice Bellard from Amaterra Gems USA and lastly, our pal Justin K Prim from Magus Gems Bangkok and your favourite question slinger of course: Myself! Hope you'll like it and see you soon in...

Hey Loungers, This week we welcome as our guest Ms. Victoria Raynaud, the young French gemologist who has quite the track record albeit her age and is one of the last people to have learned the traditional Swiss cutting technique! She has worked diligently under our pal Vincent Pardieu both at GIA Bangkok and at DANAT Bahrain and is now setting her own activity as a gem cutting expert in Bangkok, Thailand! But whom better than herself could tell us more about herself? Victoria the floor is yours!     Victoria learning to cut on a traditional Burmese faceting handpiece during...