A gem dealer's journal — gems
A Gem Dealer’s Journal: How Do Gem Labs Test Your Stones, with Lotus Gemology’s Billie Hughes:
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AsiaLounges: Following your last answer, do you think that removing colour calls / colour types and origin determination in order to stick to strictly provable data would help labs to be more coherent with one another or is this a fool’s errand either way?
Billie Hughes: Certainly having fewer subjective factors on the report could reduce the number of discrepancies on lab reports on the market, but you wouldn’t eliminate them completely. There may also be ways to modify the way we treat color calls and origin determination that could create more consistent results without doing away with them altogether.
Color types like Pigeon’s Blood and Royal Blue can be highly subjective, so removing those from reports could create more consistency. But it wouldn’t fix the problem of subjective color calls on colored stone reports, because the nomenclature for colored stones has been inconsistent for many years. Many variety names rely on judgements on color. For example, distinguishing between ruby and pink sapphire or green beryl and emerald is subjective. Which tourmalines get called “rubelite” or “indicolite?” Is the trade comfortable with removing “Padparadscha” from sapphire reports?
With regards to origin, moving to broader origin categories might be a middle ground between issuing very specific country of origin comments vs. getting rid of origin. For example, it can be difficult to separate blue sapphires formed in similar metamorphic deposits like Sri Lanka, Madagascar, and Kashmir (India). But the vast majority of these stones are easy to separate from blue sapphires from magmatic deposits like those in Australia and Thailand. Classifying stones in these kinds of categories would be more consistent. Stones from different types of deposits also tend to be more similar in appearance. However, there are always outliers so this wouldn’t eliminate the problem. Furthermore several years ago one of the world’s most well-known lab tried a similar system, and it never really took off. It seems the market was not ready for this type of system.
We must keep in mind that it is not as simple as just collecting data. How the data is collected can have an impact on results. A lot of our work involves the interpretation of data, and this interpretation is depending on the knowledge, attention to detail, and experience of the gemologist.
A Gem Dealer’s Journal: Interview with Second Generation Gem Dealer and Jewelry Brand Owner: Kamila Guerchouche:
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Hey Loungers, Many have mentioned that we do not interview enough females in these columns. While I disagree, I find myself interested to study a new pattern in our trade: The Path of Inheritance in the Trade, is it a curse, a boon or a bit of both? To that end, we have decided to interview Kamila Guerchouche about her new brand, Kaerche and used this opportunity to ask her a few questions about her path as a second generation gem dealer. If you are as interested in that story and potential new questioning arc, follow us with this very...
A Gem Dealer’s Journal: Interview with an Early Adopter: Hemi Englisher
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AsiaLounges: I understand that you are, still to this day, the person that takes the pictures and takes care of the web site for your company. Do you believe that the period we are in, late 2020 early 2021, with COVID forcing us all to stay put that online sales are becoming the new normal? Is it, in your opinion, a viable alternative to trade shows such as the Hong Kong Gem and Jewellery show?
Hemi Englisher: Although technology today allows us to transfer images of very high quality, I still think that the personal touch, human interactions, is still prevailing. More than that, the proliferation of gem dealers on the internet is clearly bringing down the level of professionalism overall. While it is true that not every gem dealer is a gemologist, one must wonder, when reading things like “nearly eye clean”, “assuming no heat” or the fact that every square stone is considered to be an Asscher, whether there are any professional gem dealers left at all... That being said, whether internet and E-marketing is a threat to existing, established wholesalers, time will tell. Even as a school master of the old school, I really cannot say.
A Gem Dealer’s Journal: Eying at the heart of the Gem trade with Phuket Khunaprapakorn from Gemburi
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Hey Loungers, You often hear us talking about Thailand, and Bangkok in particular, as being the beating heart of the gem trade yet never really explained why. Well, today, we can finally help you get a better grasp over the importance of Thailand for our merry trade. Today, we have the pleasure of introducing you to one of Chantaburi’s Lords of the Ruby trade. Today, we have the pleasure of interviewing the owner of the titanic Gemburi company, the jovial and outgoing Phuket Khunaprapakorn! Khun Phuket, the floor is yours! Discover Gemburi's K. Phuket Khunaprapakorn story now as a...
A Gem Dealer’s Journal: Behind the Nomadic lens (Part 2) with Nook Prangpak:
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