Tag Archives: Richard W. Hughes

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an injudicious use of MSWord’s find/replace shortcut the word “diamond” in the last two thirds of the manuscript has been replaced by “pearl.”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


 

 

 

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.