Gem Focus – October 2019
Tourmaline: The Mineral that comes in every Imaginable color.
**Gem Focus (Free Subscriber)Gem Focus – September 2019
Blue Sapphire: The Backbone of the US Colored Stone Industry. Corundum is an aluminum oxide mineral that occurs in the earth’s crust in abundance. It has been known as a common abrasive called “emery” when…
**Gem Focus (Free Subscriber)PRAISIOLITE VS GREENED AMETHYST VS GREEN AMETHYST
What’s in a name? There are many instances in our industry where multiple names for the same gem exist either through trade names or color descriptions to make things “simple.” A few examples are tsavorite…
Gem NotesColored Stone Market
Challenges are affecting global appetite for gem products. Prices stable for finer quality natural gems. Bumpy road ahead but long-term outlook pretty positive. Mining sector fast to respond to current economic conditions. Confidence solidly behind…
Colored Stone MarketCobalt Spinel
Spinel is a magnesium-aluminum silicate that forms in the cubic system. While most gemologists are only aware of gem quality, transparent spinels, it is, in fact, a solid solution series with many different species that…
Market TrendsSUMMER SLOWDOWN— OR IS IT MORE OMINOUS?
Traditionally at this time of year we expect a general slowdown in the diamond trade. Summer holidays and industry shutdowns generally lead to reduced activity in the market. This has always taken place at this…
Diamond MarketST-MARIES-AUX-MINES: GEMS IN JUNE, IN THE ALSACE, FRANCE
Nestled in a lush, forested valley in the Vosges Mountains, in northeastern France, lies the sleepy, traditional town of St-Marie-Aux-Mines. But it's not just any French village. For most of the year, day-to-day routine continues…
Featured ArticlesBehind the Designs
For the first in our series on innovators in jewelry design, we are focusing on Philip Zahm, president of Philip Zahm Designs. Well established as a dealer of fine gemstones for decades, Zahm has been…
Featured ArticlesA Brief Review of TRACEABILITY AND BLOCKCHAIN FOR GEMSTONES
Recent developments have brought ‘due diligence,’ along with tracking and traceability, to the forefront of discussions and requirements in the diamond, colored stone and pearl industries (Hänni and Cartier, 2013;Archuleta, 2016; Cartier et al., 2018…
Featured ArticlesGem Focus – August 2019
Spinel, the most misidentified and under appreciated gem in history, is gaining back its glory. Most gem professionals are made to believe that if it wasn’t for modern gemology, we wouldn’t know the difference between red spinel and…
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