Digital Devil #14. An exposé on massive "gem" specimens matched with bogus "appraisals." 

Digital Devil #13. A tale of Burmese rubies, Burmese heat, a Shan princess and a Burmese general.

Jadeite jade is a stone intimately associated with Burma (Myanmar). But there are deposits in other countries. This article details Russia's jadeite d...

Digital Devil #12. The subject of "blood diamonds" (conflict diamonds) quickly became a major story in 2000. Here, Richard Hughes casts a jaundiced ey...

Installment #11 of my Digital Devil column, once again going after GE and LKI for their HPHT treated diamonds.

Digital Devil #10. It was Tucson. Show over. The last supper. One of those marvelous evenings which Tucson regularly delivers…

Digital Devil #9. Once again, we take a look at emerald fillers.

Digital Devil #8. The Fred Ward emerald case killed his business and nearly killed the emerald business in the US. Here was my tongue-outta-cheek take...

Myanmar's jadeite mines occupy a privileged place, representing the planet's principal source of fine jadeite jade. This article covers the deposits t...

A history of spinel, including balas ruby and lodestone.

Digital Devil #7. The believe-it-or-not story of Australia's Lenny Cram and his opal mine in a mason jar.

Installment #6 of my Digital Devil column, which discusses the introduction of HPHT diamonds into the market by Lazare Kaplan Inc. This one kicked up ...

Digital Devil #5, where I transition from hard-nosed gemological gumshoe to lamenting the lack of romance and appreciation of beauty in gemology.

Digital Devil #4. Genius is a funny thing. Those who possess it tell you it's just a matter of hard work, elbow grease, if you will. Those of us who l...

A critical examination of the methods used in gemological laboratories for the color grading of diamonds.

Digital Devil #3. This column is for both those who know about the web, as well as them that have yet to understand its power.

Digital Devil #2. It took me a while to realize that the editor wanted me to write about gems.

Links to websites related to gemology, gemstones, minerals and jewelry.

Digital Devil #1: The fights between gem dealers and gemologists are legendary, with each side looking down upon the other. It's truly dog against dog...

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 ...