The Black Gem Challenge
Black stones have been in vogue for some time even sold as loose stones on the TV or Internet. See figure 1. While originally these may have been black diamonds set in expensive jewelry, we…
Featured ArticlesBlack Opal from Lightning Ridge, Australia
The best known localities for precious opal have long been Australia, although, among others, Mexico, several states in the west of the USA and Slovakia have yielded precious opal over the years. Only recently a…
Featured ArticlesColored Stone Market
Business in the international gem market is reportedly way off this spring. Supply is tight in the high end goods and small scale investment in production is lagging. The excitement that colored stone dealers had…
Colored Stone MarketDiamond Market
At the last DeBeers site in April, rough prices were increased by an average of 3%. Stones in the one to two carat range and above 5 carats had higher increases. Since boxes were already…
Diamond MarketGem Market Pulse April 2013: Inconsistency in the Colored Gemstone Market
Inconsistency in the Colored Gemstone Market Inconsistency is the new norm. US colored stone dealers are more optimistic than a year ago, but many are noting that sales activity is markedly different than it was a…
*Gem Focus & Market Pulse (Free Subscriber)Gem Market Pulse March 2013: Fancy Color Diamonds
Fancy Color Diamonds In recent years, there has been a rise in demand for fancy color diamonds. Aside from greater awareness and exposure, prices started to climb rapidly for some colors and this only fed the…
*Gem Focus & Market Pulse (Free Subscriber)Book Review – The Value of Colours
This is a story about Idar-Oberstein, the history, the gems, and the 400 year history of the Wild family. The back cover of the book states that “Wild lets the reader look into his safe…
Book ReviewCo-Glass and Sapphire Composites
During a December trip to the 2012 GIT Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, the author purchased several blue stones claimed to be (Cobalt) Coglass filled sapphires. General observation seemed to confirm the blue sapphire color with…
Gem NotesPearls Shine in Tucson
The members of the annual Friday morning pearl walk organized by GemGuide advisor Lois Berger experienced the changes first hand. Dealers representing each of the major cultured varieties—Akoya, Tahitian, South Seas and Chinese Freshwaters—were reporting…
News ArchiveIn The Land of Zultanite
The Milenyum Diaspore mine is the world’s only known deposit of gem quality Diaspore. The mineral diaspore is mined in many locations around the world, but no other are currently known that produce this beautiful…
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