Tag Archives: book review

Book Reviews: Kapur on J. B. Tavernier, Hughes on Ruby/Sapphire, Yavvorskky on Garnet

Jean Baptiste Tavernier, A Life:  KAPURIMAGE

Harish Kapur’s reasonably well written short biography of Jean Baptiste Tavernier, the 17th Century gem dealer who  the Hope Diamond has quite a bit to recommend it.  He covers the important parts of Tavernier’s life, travels and writing.  I am particularly taken by his ability to extract from the minutia of Tavernier’s long life, some of the more salient points.    

Unfortunately, the narrative is marred by a number of factual errors.  The most egregious, perhaps resulting from an injudicious use of MSWord’s find/replace shortcut the word “diamond” in the last two thirds of the manuscript has been replaced by “pearl.”  For the uninformed reader, this results in a number of misstatements about Tavernier’s objectives and focus as well as a several absurd statements concerning the “mining” of pearls and the “pearl mines” of India.   A photo of a drawing from Tavernier’s Six Voyages, of a diamond that became known as The Mirror of Portugal is ludicrisly mis-labeled “The Sara Pearl.”

The author also somehow misquotes Tavernier’s assertion that he traveled 60,000 leagues which becomes 600,000 leagues.  At three miles to the league that leads to the ridiculous assertion that Tavernier traveled not 180,000 (an amazing accomplishment in the 17th Century) but 1.8 million miles, which would have required 72 circumnavigations of the earth.  

Kapur also quotes an unfortunate statement made by New York Times reporter Guy Trebay (1/6/10) suggesting that Tavernier may have been involved in the acquisition of the Wittelesbach-Graff Diamond.  Though the diamond is first mentioned in 1677, while Tavernier was STILL in India completing his sixth and final voyage, there is absolutely no documentation supporting this theory.  Tavernier did mention several gems he successfully acquired and though he does not actually mention the 116 carat Tavernier Blue, the gem that eventually became the Hope, he did include a drawing of it in his book, The Six Voyages.

On the plus side, the book includes several appendices containing documents never before available to the English speaking reader and his research raises a number of intriguing theories regarding Tavernier’s motivations, travels, life and death.  Unfortunately, his sloppy copy editing may lead frustrated readers to disregard most of the  author’s conclusions.

Last, and certainly not least, in the bibliography, which includes my partly fictionalized biography of Tavernier, The French Blue, the author confuses me with someone named Robert.

 


Ruby & Sapphire, A Collector's Guide

In this general reference which can be looked upon as an update and supplement to his classic Ruby and Sapphire, Hughes, as usual, offers a uniquely personal insight into the world of corundum.

 

HughesUpdate His ability to blendup to date information with arcane references is a delight.  This volume together with his previous opus make the best general reference on ruby & sapphire published to date though I do wish Hughes had come up with a title that was not so similar to his first book.

HughesCollectorBook

As a bibliophile, I was particularly taken by his section on books and gem libraries.  Despite the fact that I have written and read extensively in the field and own a voluminous library, Hughes always seems to come up with obscure sources which send me scrambling back to that library to search for the odd passage and just as often to online sellers of rare books.

The photography appears to be a Hughes family project with contributions from his wife Wimon Manorotkul and his daughter E. Billie Hughes.  They are a truly formidable trio.   The images are uniformly beautifully composed, at times dramatic and always provacative. 

Never dry, Hughes offers a lively, if somewhat self-conscious and definitely idiosycratic narrative that is rarely off-putting and never dull.

If you missed the first volume here is an opportunity and if you didn't this book will complete the set.  Ruby & Sapphire, The Collector's Guide, published by The Gemmological Institute of Thailand (GIT), is not readily available in the U. S. Still, given its quality and the limited print run and the money saved by direct marketing, it is well worth paying the high shipping costs to get the book sent directly from the author.   

 

 

Terra Garnet: 

TGcoverWTo round out the year's splendid offerings, Vladislav Yavvorskky has brought forth his second book in his Terra series, Terra Garnet.  Like its predecessor, Terra Spinel (now out of print), this georgeous volume is sumptuously produced with fabulous images of some of the finest garnets on earth.   

VYportraitW

Vladislav Yavorskky

The accompanying text is written by Richard W. Hughes and Jonas Hjornered.  If the reader is seeking an in depth gemological analysis or history of garnet as a gemstone it won't be found here.  Other than brief introductions to garnet and a bit on producing countries, the commentary consists of short captions.  This book is all about the pictures and what pictures they are.  

Yavorskky is a talented photographer and Terra Garnet puts this talent on display. His photographs of gem mining and producing areas capture the essence of these often remote areas and will give the reader a real taste of the hard life of those who seek out precious gems.  

In these photographs, taken over twenty years, Yavorskky often juxtaposes the cut stone against the original rough material, visually initiating the reader in the awe inspiring metamorphosis that takes place as these beaufiful products of nature are transformed by the hand of man.  In the past decade, color printing technology has taken a great leap forward and this book showcases the best of it.  

One caveat: I have been adminring Vlad Yavorskky's gemstones for many years and though they are beautiful in person, many of these shots appear overproduced and likely to establish an unrealistic paradigm in the mind of the unintiated consumer.

Like Hughes' book, Terra Garnet is not available through standard channels.  This turns out to be a good thing, The book is so beautifully and expensively produced that its price would be substantially more if it was.  The reader as advised to act quickly.  Terra Garnet is available direct from the publisher


 

 

 

Gem Grading: The Death of the Lightbulb and Other Brilliant Ideas

Color temperatures a various types of lighting.  5500-6500 is the Kelvin temperature of daylight.  GIA uses a 6200 Kelvin light source for diamond grading.

Color temperatures a various types of lighting. 5500-6500 is the Kelvin temperature of daylight. GIA uses a 6200 Kelvin light source for diamond grading.

by Richard W. Wise, ©2011

New Technologies May Require Changes is How We Look At Gems:

In 2007 amid little fanfare, Congress passed a law that required that the efficiency of that iconic household standby, the incandescent light bulb, be improved or perhaps accept its doom.  The bulb has been around a long time and the technology has remained virtually unchanged since it was invented by Thomas Edison in 1881.  Turns out the old bulb is a real energy waster, only 10% of the energy used is given off as light, the rest is dissipated as heat.   Though some called it the death of the incandescent light bulb, Congress merely dictated an increase in efficiency, 20% by 2014, 60% by 2020.

Though the efficiency standards do not state what is allowed, such a dramatic increase in efficiency is bound to require new technologies which are likely to mean  changes in the light spectrum produced by whatever technology replaces the old standard.  No one has given much thought to the consequences this will have in the gem trade.  The new standards are scheduled to take effect this January.

In the evaluation of quality, gemstones have been traditionally viewed under two light sources, noon daylight or more lately daylight equivalent fluorescent lighting and plain old incandescent (in the 19th Century it was candlelight).  A stone that looked good by day but muddied up under the lightbulb is taken to be inferior to one that holds its color in both lighting environments.    In 2003 I published a book, Secrets Of The Gem Trade, that divides gems into daystones and nightstones. The terms refer to gem varieties that look best under a  given source.  This seemingly bright idea may mean dramatic reductions in oil imports, but wait!  What about the gem business, what’s a connoisseur to do?

The Tea Party To the Rescue:

Well our worries may be over, just last week the House passed legislation to deny funding to the law.  Apparently the bill’s original Republican sponsor, Texas Representative Michael C. Burgess had an epiphany.  He has seen the, ah, light.  “The government has no right to tell me or any other citizen what type of bulb to use at home,”  no matter how much energy it might save says Mr. Burgess.  We have the right to waste all the energy we like in the privacy of our own bedrooms, says so in the scriptures.

But seriously folks!  Sooner or later, new, more efficient types of lighting are bound to replace the old standby.  Will there be a new standby?  Probably not.  We are pretty much at the point where the type of lighting used will be dictated by the setting that it is used in.  Call it dial a light!  At that point will gem grading light be standardized.  To some degree it already has.  Most laboratories use  some artificial version of daylight.  The Gemological Institute of America (GIA-GTL) uses a 6200 fluorescent bulb, American Gemological Labs uses a 5500 Kelvin bulb.  What is the next step?  Stay tuned to GemWise.

Book Review: The Colour of Paradise, The Emerald In The Age of Gunpowder Empires

Kris Lane

The Colour of Paradise, The Emerald In The Age of Gunpowder Empires

280 pages including appendices

ISBN: 978-0-300-16131-1

9780300161311The history of the gem trade is a difficult research topic because gemstones are very small objects of great value that have been highly sought after for millenia by rich and powerful people looking for wealth that was portable and easily concealed.  The trade itself has been controlled for centuries by minority groups, often oppressed minorities, Jews, Armenians and Indians for whom secrecy was a proven form of self preservation.  Kris Lane is a historian, a Professor of History at the College of William and Mary.  In The Colour of Paradise, Professor Lane focuses very well honed research skills on the history of the emerald, one of the rarest, most mysterious and highly valued of all gemstones.

The book contains no particularly major revelations.  Most historians of the trade are aware that India’s so-called “old mine” emeralds were, in fact, Colombian emeralds imported by the Spanish into India in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries.   Lane’s contribution is to meticulously document both the early history of Spain’s brutal exploitation of Colombia’s indigenous people and its gem wealth.  He gives us a well documented overview of early trade routes and uncovers some very interesting and original information concerning 16th Century production; methods and emerald values.

Lane begins with the 16th Century and follows emerald production in Colombia right up to the present, with a good account of politics and production into the 1990s.

All and all this well organized and well written account brings real clarity to a relatively murky area of history.  The book also contains detailed appendices estimating early emerald at Muzo, relative values of emerald and diamond in Europe in the 17th Century and  an extensive bibliography.  The author has uncovered several original accounts that have until now been unrecognized.    Highly recommended.

Book Review: Terra Spinel by Vladyslav Yavorskyy

terraspinelcover

by Richard W. Wise G.G.

©2011

Tucson Gem Shows; A Brief Roundup:

Early Saturday morning, Rebekah and I woke from a deep sleep and reluctantly dragged ourselves to the Tucson International Airport.   Our two weeks at the annual gem-orgy was over, goodbye blue skies, hello ice and snow.   The Berkshires may look “dreamlike on account of that frosting” (James Taylor) but we are, quite frankly, over it!  The icicles on our roof are four feet long!

Tucson was quite productive this year.  The recession appears to be on the wane.  Attendance was up and most vendors were quite pleased, with sales as much as 50% above last year’s—though in some cases, that’s not saying much!   Prices in most gem varieties were strong with vendors unwilling to discount.   Big auction prices realized by exceptional rubies and sapphires appear to be putting some upward pressure on smaller, finer goods.

Book Review:  Terra Spinel:

Yavorskyy, Vladyslav and Hughes, Richard W., Terra Spinel, 2010 Privately Published and Printed in Hong Kong. Full Color,  200 pages; 240 x 260 mm  ISBN:  978-0-615-40901-6

Though this is hardly news, in the past three years, spinel prices have doubled, particularly for finer qualities of red, pink and Cobalt blue varieties.   Spinel has a long and illustrious history in the gem world, but it languished and traded in an indifferent market through most of the past century.  Perhaps this is due to the fact that colorless spinel was used as a diamond substitute in the 19th Century and the bad odor of “simulant” clung to the stone for much of the 20th.   This also explains why there has never been a comprehensive book written on spinel.   For those looking for such a volume, Terra Spinel is not it.

A magnificent red spinel before and after

A magnificent red spinel before and after

Terra Spinel, a large format coffee table sized portfolio (9.75 x 10.25″), designed, edited and written with the help of Richard W. Hughes,  author of the seminal Ruby & Sapphire, is a picture book, but what pictures!   Both Hughes and Yavorskyy are great photographers.  My wife and I look forward each year to receiving Yavorskyy’s annual photo-calendar (not available this year due to the cost of producing the book).  Vlad’s photographs burrow down and capture the gritty, often humorous and at times profound everyday realities of the remote regions he visits in search of gemstones.  Like the dustjacket pictured above, the book is printed on a medium-dark gray background which makes the images really pop.

old man, a villager from remote Afghanistan by Yavorskyy

Old man, a villager from remote Afghanistan, by Yavorskyy

Beginning with the magnificent 110 carat polished red spinel rough pictured on the cover, the book chronicles some of the fine gemstones Yavorskyy has sourced over the years.   Each page, even those with full page images of mines, villages and temples, and these are the majority, includes an example of a beautiful gemstone often juxtaposing rough and polished images of the same gem.  Most of these images are labeled with the weight, at least, of the cut version, but many are not.  Unfortunately this is also true of the final section entitled Spinel by the Book, which is essentially a seven page thumbnail sketch of the entire collection.  Given its importance, a list of sizes would have been very useful.

Hughes does begin with a brief but informative history of both the gem and its ancient names– spinel, balas ruby and lal. Brief biographies and  large images of  three of the world’s most famous spinels; Timur’s, The Black Prince’s and Catherine the Great’s rubies, are  also  provided.  Having recently visited the Imperial Collections in Moscow and St. Petersburg (October), I can attest to the fact that the color renderings of these important gems are the best available.  There are full color maps of both the major historical and current mining areas.   The book also contains a helpful two page bibliography.

Terra Spinel is a beautifully designed and sumptuously produced hardcover. The book is swathed in black cloth and wrapped in a thick chrome-coat dustjacket.  The title and authors’ names and blind stamped in embossed silver on both front cover and spine.  A color panorama begins on the inside front cover (endpaper) and extends to the endsheet; ditto inside the back cover.  These are all expensive extras which more than justify its $95.00 price.  Unfortunately shipping from Bangkok will cost another $65.00 bringing the total to $160.00.  The book may be ordered directly from the website.  For those traveling, the book will be available at the  Hong Kong International Jewellery Show: 4–8 March 2011. Grand Hall, Booth G09; Baselworld: 24–31 March 2011. Booth C30, Hall 3.1.

Book Review: Tears Of Mermaids

Book Review:

Tears of Mermaids, The Secret Story Of Pearls

Stephen G. Bloom

St. Martins Press

ISBN:  9780312363260, $27.99

by Richard W. Wise, G.G.

Layout 1First let me say I was a bit put-off by Mr. Bloom’s prose style.  He is without a doubt an elegant writer, but the glib-gonzo style, which is ok in a short piece, rapidly gets under the skin when stretched out to book length.

Mr. Bloom is a journalist and though journalists are not expected to necessarily be experts on the subjects the write about, they do have a responsibility to thoroughly research the topic and get it right.  There are times when Bloom does, but there are   times when he does not.

His first and most egregious error occurs in his introduction.  “Pearl pricing”, he says, “is totally subjective …The same strand can go for three thousand dollars or thirty thousand dollars.”  Nonsense!  Oh yes, there is a fool born every minute, but the fact is that pearls trade in a fairly orderly market.  So, absent the fool, no such gap between bid and ask prices exists (or the buyer would be soon out of business).  Bloom would have been correct if he had said that there is no universally accepted hierarchical grading nomenclature.  That is to say, one dealer may call the finest pearls “AAA”, while another may simply start with a single “A”.  However  the basic criteria: size, symmetry, surface, luster, orient and overtone are universal and used by all.

The writer’s statements about the people he meets in his travels say a great deal more about Mr. Bloom than they do about his sources.  For example, early in the book he meets a survey group, including the celebrated former National Geographic writer Fred Ward who “seemed too important to have anything to do with me.”  Well, I am familiar with that group and they have one afternoon in which to survey an entire gem show full of pearl dealers.  Could it be that Ward was simply focused on his work? Given the book’s stated objective, one wonders why his Chapter 5, The Rana of Fresno, was included at all.  Bloom takes such obvious pleasure in exposing the foibles, real and imagined, of his sources that, at times, it is difficult to tell if he is truly writing a book about pearls or just an extended gossip column.

Bloom’s comparison between the pearl and cocaine trade is unfortunate,  as are the constant inferences that the pearl trade, and pearl dealers in general, are really quite sleazy.  Bloom spends a page and a half justifying the cocaine comparison, finally admitting that “the biggest difference is that the possession of pearls is legal.”  Cocaine is sold by neighborhood dealers and pearls by local jewelers, hey, no difference there!  He might also have mentioned that unlike cocaine, pearls are not reduced in purity at every step along the distribution pipeline, and do not destroy the life of the purchaser– but that would have ruined the riff.

The above issues aside, there is much of value in Bloom’s book.  Few have the opportunity to spend so much time trying to understand this old and arcane industry.  Bloom’s first chapter, covering the history of pearls from the time of Columbus, is well researched and provocative.  Interesting as well is his chapter on life as a deckhand on a Pearl boat off the Australian coast, though his attempt to capture the Australian argot is ludicrous and his contempt for the working sailors palpable.  Yeah Stephen, having been a deckie, I kin tell yuz dat is ezakly the way sailors are “supposed to talk.”

His chapter on pearl trading in Hong Kong is excellent as is his description of diving off the Jewelmer pearl farm. A looming environmental catastrophe in the Philippines and his last two chapters about his visit to the island of Cubagua (where it all began) are thoughtful and poignant.  Had he spent more words discussing real issues of this sort and less time lampooning the hard working people who made his book possible (I am one of those local jewelers), I would have enjoyed it a good deal more.

French Blue Reading on Video

Gold Up 65% Since Last Holiday Season, Double Whammy for Jewelers:

by Richard W. Wise  © 2009

Gold prices December 2008 to December 2009.  Courtesy Kittco

Gold prices December 2008 to December 2009. Courtesy Kittco

Jewelers have been hit with a double whammy.   Gold prices, which tipped the scales at $800 per ounce in December last year, have topped $1200, a 65% increase in the midst of the worst sales turn down in memory.   Note I didn’t mention the Great Depression.  Contrary to popular belief, I was not alive during the depression and I have yet to see a soup line in The Berkshires, but I can say that jewelers have taken a big hit.  Couple that with the fact that prices are rising rapidly on gold stock and jewelry in general.   Jewelers must either increase prices or find themselves unable to restock sold items.  For goldsmiths, it means a substantial increase in cost.  Materials are normally 30% of the price of finished handmade jewelry.

Platinum Prices Punish Jewelers:

Platinum prices have seen a spectacular run-up since last December.  By law, jewelry marked platinum must be at least 90% pure.  14k gold is 58% pure and 18k gold is 75% pure.  Added to this platinum is 40% denser, meaning that a 1×1″ cube of platinum weighs 40% more than a one inch cube of pure gold.

Platinum price increases, December to December calendar year 2009-2010

Platinum price increases, December to December calendar year 2009-2010

Platinum has unique working characteristic which means it normally takes about twice the time to create a platinum piece identical to one created in gold.  Consumers looking to save money on jewelry in white metal should consider 18k white gold.  New white gold alloys no longer have the yellowish tint of older white alloys and are pretty much impossible to separate by eye from platinum.

The French Blue, Video Reading Now Available

November 19th, Gala kickoff, reading and books signing for The French Blue hosted by the Edith Wharton foundation, The Mount drew and overflow crowd.   Rebekah Wise served as master of ceremonies introducing actor George Bergen, who dressed as the novel’s protagonist, 17th Century gem merchant/adventurer, Jean Baptiste Tavernier, read selections from Richard Wise’s newly published novel.  There are three selections:  Introduction,   Chapter 7 The Diver,   Chapter 11; The Dinner Party Coming soon, a Q&A with my humble self.

40 years and 60,000 leagues! From the seraglios of Persia to the empire of Shah Jahan:

Actor George Bergen (left) dressed in a 17th Century costume, poses with Master of Ceremonies Rebekah Wise. Bergen gave a spirited reading of selections from The French Blue to an appreciative audience at The Mount.

Actor George Bergen (left) dressed in a 17th Century costume, poses with Master of Ceremonies Rebekah Wise. Bergen gave a spirited reading of selections from The French Blue to an appreciative audience at The Mount.

From the lands of the Great Mogul of India to the court of the Sun King of France. the true-to-live story of  Jean Baptiste Tavernier, Madeleine de Goisse and the world’s most fabulous diamond explode across a panorama of three continents.   Signed copies of Richard Wise’s newly published historical novel, The French Blue are now available at the book’s website.