- Road south of Ilakaka, Madagascar
Madagascar
- Ilakaka, Madagascar
Madagascar
- Ilakaka, Madagascar
Ilakaka, Madagascar
- Lhasa, Tibet
Tibet
- Tibet
Tibet
- Gyantse, Tibet
Gyantse, Tibet
- Ilakaka, Madagascar
Ilakaka, Madagascar
- Tanzania
Tanzania
- Merelani, Tanzania
Merelani, Tanzania
- Tanzania
Tanzania
- Tibet
Tibet
- Pushkar, India
Pushkar, India
- Tibet
Tibet
- Yogo Gulch, Montana
Yogo Gulch, Montana
- Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
- Burma
Burma
- The road to Andranodambo, Madagascar
Madagascar
- Mining sapphire in Madagascar
Madagascar
Rants & Slants
Articles
Shooting Galleries
Images from a mortal coil
| Site Search |
The Book of Ruby & Sapphire
An undiscovered classic from 1934, published 2012
Ruby & Sapphire
The book
1997
Terra Spinel
The only book on spinel
2010
Cobalt-Doped Glass-Filled Sapphires
The Ownership of Words: An essay on Padparadscha
Passport to Obscurity
Guangzhou Jade Market Puzzle
FTIR Intrigue
FTIR and gemology
The Gemologist's Library
Recommended Reading
Following the Silk Road
Rutile silk in corundum identification
Living in the Dark Ages
The fiber-optic light in gemology
In Memoriam:
Mike Roberts
Yogo sapphire miner
In Memoriam:
Marc Bielenberg
Mr. Montana Sapphire
Questions on Andesine & Labradorite
A panel discussion (PDF)
Beryllium & Beefsteak
Diffusion in gemology
Faith
In search of the lost andesine mines, part 2
Andesine
Timeline of a controversy (PDF download)
Laos
Land of a million elephants… & sapphires
Downtown
Gem hunting in Central & Southern Tanzania
Barack Osama in Tibet
In search of the lost andesine mines
Inside Out
Inclusions & the internal symmetry of crystals
Moontown
A history of Chanthaburi
Hunting the Mother Lode Abroad
The importance of going to the source
Grease
A plan for plugging the Gulf of Mexico oil leak
Emerald Buddha
History of Thailand's iconic gem
Buying at the Source
Buying at the Source: Being an Essay on the Virtues of Dick's Law and Other Sundry Maxims of the East
The Pearl Trader
A chapter from this classic 1937 work
Black Prince's Ruby
History of this extraordinary gem
Betwixt Two Worlds
A search for gemology in the 21st century
Bonanno Award
Richard Hughes receives 2010 Antonio C. Bonanno Award for Excellence in Gemology
Merelani, Tanzania
Comprehensive study of the famous tanzanite mines
Red Sky at Dusk
Hunting the last Siamese ruby miner
Photoatlas Vol. 3
A book review
Tsavorite
An untamed beauty
Spinel
Resurrection of a classic
Working the Blueseam
The tanzanite mines of Merelani
Chevron: 1;
Burmese: 0
A look at hypocrisy, gem style
Dangerous Curves
Verneuil synthetic corundum reexamined
Brilliance , Windows & Extinction in Gems
Important cutting phenomena examined
Trust
An examination of the ethics of gem treatment disclosure
Crystal Optics
A brief look at the optical properties of materials
Moon Over the Pamirs
Ruby & Spinel from Tajikistan
Sorcerers & Sapphires
Ruby and sapphire deposits of Madagascar
Photoatlas Vol. 2
A book review
Heat Seeker
UV fluorescence as a gemological tool
Fluxed Up
Fracture healing of ruby
The Kimberley Process
Appeasement comes to the diamond trade
Walking the Line in Ruby & Sapphire
Defining padparadscha and pink sapphire
The Skin Game
Exposure of beryllium-treated padparadscha sapphires
There's a Rumble in the Jungle
Lattice-diffusion treated blue sapphire
Vampire Blues
No matter how often you kill a gem treatment, it still may still come back to haunt you…
Conspiracy Theory
Gems & junkies in Burma
Love & Hate
The perfect scam. Loot a trust fund and launder the proceeds via a Lao sapphire mine. But then everything went wrong...
Seeing Red
A discerning glance at the qualities that make ruby the most sexual of all gems
The War Prayer
An American classic
Passion Fruit
A lover's guide to sapphire connoisseurship
Crying Uncle
Homage to the late Gerry Rogers
The Name Game
Conventions for selecting gem names
Tracing the Green Line
A journey to Burma's jade mines
Heaven and Hell
The quest for jade in Upper Burma
Burmese Jade
The inscrutable gem
From Russia with Jade
Russia's jade mines
Burma's Jade Mines
An annotated Occidental history
Heat Wave
Burning in Burma
Blood from a Stone
Blood diamonds examined
Weapons of Mass Donation
Banned
Burmese gems in the crossfire
Don't Forget to Flush
Emerald enhancement heresy
Cloak & Dagger
The politics of Opticon
The Crying Game
Diamond color grading
Foreign Affairs
The flux healing of ruby
Spinel Compounds
Background & historical perspective
Cry Freetown
A poem
Internet Hell
Thoughts on web design
Fun Down Under
Of opals & diamonds
Big Time
Big rubies & sapphires
Thailand's Jewelry Industry
A black paper
Burmese Sapphire Giants
The big ones from Mogok
Catfights
Enhancement codes & trade wars
Dogfights
Dealers vs. gemologists
A Brief History of Heat
Heat treatment of ruby & sapphire
Pigeon's Blood
A pilgrimage to Mogok
Uncle Ho's Rubies
Vietnam's Quy Chau ruby mines
Where the Twain do Meet
Thailand's border towns
C3: I See Thru U
A look at synthetic moissanite
Have I Got an Idea 4 U
GE's HPHT treated diamonds
Life During Wartime
Death of the Thai ruby, Part 2
Death of the Thai Ruby
End of an era in Chanthaburi/Trat
Web Designer Netiquette
Tricky Dick's guide to online design
Rubies & Spinels of Afghanistan
A brief history
