Corundalope
The corundalope is probably the rarest of all known corundums. An endangered species, it may nowadays be found only in laboratories. This specimen is cared for by Union Carbide's Milan Kokta (left) and Jeff Cooke.
Betwixt two worlds: A search for gemology in the 21st century by John L. Emmett and Richard W. Hughes. Bipolar gemology.
Tsavorite: An Untamed Beauty by V. Pardieu & R.W. Hughes. From the green hills of Africa…
Spinel: Resurrection of a Classic by V. Pardieu, with R.W. Hughes and E. Boehm. This overshadowed gem builds a name of its own.
Working the Blueseam: The Tanzanite Mines of Merelani by V. Pardieu and R.W. Hughes. The insane gem posse on the trail of true blue in tanzanite country.
Chevron: 1; Burmese: 0 by Richard W. Hughes. A look at politics, gem style.
Dangerous Curves by Richard W. Hughes and John I. Koivula. Verneuil synthetic corundum reexamined.
Brilliance, Windows & Extinction in Gemstones by Richard W. Hughes. Important cutting phenomena examined.
Trust by
John L. Emmett & R.W. Hughes. A brief essay on the ethics of of gem treatment disclosure.
Moon Over the Pamirs by
R.W. Hughes and Vincent Pardieu, with Guillaume Soubiraa and Dana Schorr. The
insane gem posse hits the trail in search of the lost mines of Marco Polo, finding
spinels, rubies, and something far more valuable.
Sorcerers and Sapphires: A Visit to Madagascar by Richard W. Hughes. Join the author as he pays a visit to the ruby and sapphire deposits of the lost island of Madagascar.
Heat Seeker: UV Fluorescence as a Gemological Tool by R.W. Hughes and J.L. Emmett. One of the challenges gem dealers and gemologists face today is to identify heat treatment. The authors examine UV fluorescence as an economical, yet powerful heat-seeking tool.
Fluxed Up: The Fracture Healing of Ruby by R.W. Hughes and J.L. Emmett. Just what treatment could possibly be so nefarious that it could not even be discussed in the polite pages of an industry publication? Read on…
The Kimberley Process: Appeasement comes to the diamond trade.
Think the diamond trade is concerned about human rights? Think the Kimberley
Protocols will fix the issue of “conflict” diamonds? Think again. Charles Ellias and Richard Hughes dissect this issue with the surgical precision of a US military bulldozer redecorating an Iraqi neighborhood.
Banned! Burmese gems in the crossfire by Richard W. Hughes and Brian Leber. The case for sanctions against Burma seems to be obvious. But the reality may be less so. In this pair of articles, the case both for and against sanctions is examined.
The Skin Game. When
something appears too good to be true, it usually is. And that was precisely
the case with the treated orange sapphires that poured out of Thai burners'
ovens in 2001.
Love and Hate. Max Green's stolen millions and the Lao sapphire mines.
There's a Rumble in
the Jungle: The Sapphire Face-Lift Face-Off Saga by Richard W. Hughes.
With all the talk about lattice diffusion, we've dusted off an
old piece from the early 1990's. It makes surprisingly good reading…
Vampire Blues by Richard W. Hughes. The funny thing about gem treatments. No matter how often you kill them, they always come back to haunt you…
Seeing Red: A Connoisseur's Guide to Ruby. Richard Hughes casts a discerning glance at the qualities that make ruby the most sexual of all gems.
Conspiracy Theory: Gems & Junkies in Burma. Should the world boycott Burmese gems? In a searing personal essay, Richard Hughes examines that question with a look at the relationship between the gem and drug trades in Burma.
Heat Wave by Richard
Hughes. A different take on the heat and Burma rubies.
The second-most valuable gem in the world Burmese Jade: The Inscrutable Gem
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Part 1: Burma's Jade Mines By R.W. Hughes, O. Galibert, G. Bosshart, F. Ward, Thet Oo, M. Smith, Tay Thye Sun and George Harlow. Fully illustrated.
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Part 2 – The cutting, grading, trading and faking of Burmese jadeite is detailed. Fully illustrated.
Don't Forget to Flush. The Digital Devil takes a fresh look at emerald enhancements.
Spinel. Kurt Sickafus & Richard Hughes dismantle the history of a most interesting gem material. |
"Freedom of the press is limited to those who own one."
A.J. Liebling
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A Brief History of Heat Heat Treatment of Ruby & Sapphire
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Andesine: Timeline of a Controversy by Richard W. Hughes
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Banned! Burmese gems in the crossfire by Richard W. Hughes and Brian Leber. The case for sanctions against Burma seems to be obvious. But the reality may be less so. In this pair of articles, the case both for and against sanctions is examined.
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Brilliance, Windows & Extinction in Gemstones Important cutting phenomena examined
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Burma's Jade Mines An Annotated Occidental History
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Burmese Jade: The Inscrutable Gem
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Part 1: Burma's Jade Mines A groundbreaking article on the second-most valuable gem in the world – Burmese jade. By Richard Hughes, Olivier Galibert, George Bosshart, Fred Ward, Thet Oo, Mark Smith, Tay Thye Sun and George Harlow. Fully illustrated.
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Part 2 – The cutting, grading, trading and faking of Burmese jadeite is detailed. Fully illustrated.
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Burmese Sapphire Giants includes interview with Mogok gem dealer U Thu Daw
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Catfights Enhancement
Codes & Trade Wars
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Cloak and
Dagger The Politics of Opticon
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Conspiracy Theory: Gems & Junkies in Burma
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Cry Freetown A
poem by Todd A. Pownell
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Crystal Optics by
Richard W. Hughes. A brief look at the optical properties of materials
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The Crying Game Diamond Color Grading
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Fluxed
Up More on flux healing of ruby
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Foreign Affairs Fracture Healing / Filling of Möng Hsu Ruby
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From Russia with Jade A
journey to Russia's jade mines
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Heat Seeker: UV Fluorescence as a Gemological Tool UV fluorescence for identification of heat treatment in ruby & sapphire
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Heaven & Hell The
Quest for Jade in Upper Burma
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The Kimberley Process: Appeasement comes to the diamond trade
- Laos: Land of a Million Elephants… & Sapphires A history of the Lao sapphire mines
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Love and Hate Max
Green's stolen millions and the Lao sapphire mines
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Moon
over the Pamirs The
search for Marco Polo's lost mines
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Moontown The history of Chanthaburi
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The Name Game Conventions
for selecting the names of precious stones
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Passion Fruit A Lover's Guide to Sapphire
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Pigeon's Blood A Pilgrimage to Mogok – Valley of Rubies. Illustrated.
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Rubies
and Spinels of Afghanistan A Brief History
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Seeing Red A
Connoisseur's Guide to Ruby. Richard Hughes casts a discerning glance at the qualities
that make ruby the most sexual of all gems.
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The Skin
Game When something appears to be too good to be true, it usually is. And that
is precisely the case with the orange sapphires that have been pouring out of Thai
burners' ovens over the past few months…
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Sorcerers and Sapphires: A Visit to Madagascar by Richard W. Hughes. Join the author as he pays a visit to the ruby and sapphire deposits of the lost island of Madagascar.
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Spinel Compounds Background & Historical
Perspective
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Thailand's
Jewelry Industry A 'Black Paper' on the State of the Trade
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There's
a Rumble in the Jungle More on surface-diffusion treated sapphires.
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Tracing the
Green Line A Journey to Burma's Jade Mines
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Trust by John L. Emmett. A brief essay on treatment disclosure.
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Uncle Ho's Rubies Vietnam's
Quy Chau Ruby Mines
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Weapons of Mass Donation by Randolph E. Post. Of politics and pearls in Burma.
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Where the Twain Do
Meet Thailand's Gem-Trading Border Towns
Devil's Advocate/ Digital Devil
Selections from the archives of
Richard W. Hughes' notorious column…
Passion Fruit A Lover's Guide to Sapphire. Richard Hughes dissects the qualities that make up a fine sapphire.
Big Time: Are these huge ruby and sapphire crystals worth anything? Read all about 'em.
Cry Freetown: A poem by Todd A. Pownell.
From Russia with Jade. A journey to Russia's jade mines. By Richard Hughes, with Nickolai Kouznetsov.
Blood From A Stone. What's up with these so-called
"blood diamonds?" Richard Hughes puts them under the Devil's microscope.
Have I Got An Idea For U. National Enquirer comes to the diamond business? Read all about the attempt to peddle GE/POL diamonds at prices higher than the natural gems.
C3: I See Thru U. Does synthetic moissanite scare the bejesus out of you?
Fun Down Under. What
do Henry David Thoreau and Australian opal miner Lenny Cram have in common?
Find out here.
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