The Book of Ruby and Sapphire J.F. Halford-Watkins | 2012 Prior to the 1930s, ruby and sapphire were mysteries, arcane gems oft-confused with spin...
The author makes his first pilgrimage to Burma's Mogok Stone Tract, home of the pigeon's blood ruby.
An account of the authors' 1997 visit to Burma's jade mines.
In 1996, several gemologists set off for Burma's remote jade mines, the first visit by foreigners since the early 1960's. This is the story of their epic journey.
A brief history of Burmese (Myanmar) sapphires, along with details of some of the major pieces of yore.
An essay on buying gems at the source in Asia, with a discussion of how con men play on the greed of those who believe gems will be cheaper at the mines.
An investigation into nephrite and imitation nephrite pebbles purchased in Guangzhou, China's Hualin Street jade market.
A brief look at the famous emerald and alexandrite from Russia's Ural Mountain mines.
The Opticon treatment of fissure-filling treatment emeralds with Opticon became an issue of huge controversy in the late 1990's. This article takes a ...
A curated list of the most important books on gems, gemology, jewelry, mineralogy and allied fields.
Since the late 1960's, East Africa has been home to some of planet earth's greatest gem discoveries. And yet, little has been written about certain of...
Links to websites related to gemology, gemstones, minerals and jewelry.
The Thai city of Chanthaburi (จันทบุรี) may be small, but it has played an important role in both the history of Thailand and the gem trade. Taking it...
The use of Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) in gem identification, with examples of sapphire & jadeite.
When Max Green set about looting trust fund accounts in Australia, he had no idea it would lead to a sapphire mine in Laos… and a dead body in Cambodia.
In search of Thailand's last ruby miner.
In search of ruby and sapphire on the lost Isle of Madagascar.
In a tragic underground cave in, Mike Roberts of the Roberts Yogo Sapphire Mine passed away in March 2012.
A discussion of the definition of padparadscha sapphire, from early to modern times, along with the difficulty in standardizing such definitions.
The chapter on ruby and sapphire from Burma (Myanmar) from Richard Hughes' 1997 book, Ruby & Sapphire.
