Category Archives: tourmaline diffusion

Colored Stone Magazine is No More

After 22 years Colored Stone Magazine has ceased publication. Other than a letter addressed to advertisers and signed by V.P. David Pyle, the parent company, Aspire Media, publicly known as Interweave Press, there has been little by way of an epitaph. The website is still up. Subscribers who have recently signed up have been told that they will be provided with an alternate subscription. The website is no longer accepting subscriptions requests.

With the demise several years ago of Gem Key, the loss of the 22 year old magazine leaves only two publications, one a relative new comer, In Color, published by The International Colored Stone Association and Gem Market News, another quarterly published by The Guide, covering the colored gemstone industry.

Founded in 1987 by the Gilbert family as a quarterly industry news magazine, Colored Stone has been through several incarnations. Its current owner, Interweave Press, is its third. As the name suggests, the parent company is most involved in publishing consumer oriented fiber arts magazines.

What brought the magazine to its end? According to Pyle’s letter it was all about the current economic situation. “The corporation was definitely profit driven” said Morgan Beard the former editor in chief. Beard who ran the magazine for 10 years, notes that “Colored Stone never really made money. The Tucson Show Guide kept the magazine afloat.” At its peak, the circulation was between 8-10,000, “sometimes”, she said, “we broke even.”

“Sorry to see it go”, said dealer Bear Williams summarizing industry reaction. “Yes, it’s too bad”, said Simon Watt (Mayer & Watt), but Watt goes on to make the broader point that: “we never have had any sort of real industry journalism.”

Many readers will recall Colored Stone’s controversial coverage of the so-called “Copper Diffusion” issue by then Editor-in-chief David Federman. Federman wrote several articles based unsupported claims by the proprietor of an unaccredited online gemological school concerning copper diffusion treatment of tourmaline, garnet and topaz. “Federman was on the right track with his coverage of enhancement issues”, but, on the James issue, “I called and told him, ‘“David you have lost perspective, he hung up on me.”’ “David Federman is a great writer but a lousy editor.” said Watt. Beard agrees, “Federman wrote what he believed but often did not investigate or take a balanced approach”, she said. Eventually the claims were determined to be faulty by Colored Stone’s own Science Editor among many others.

Federman’s coverage also resulted in a lawsuit by the Direct Shopping Network (DSN) that named Colored Stone and Interweave Press as defendants. Did the controversy contribute to Interweave’s decision to pull the plug on Colored Stone? Beard doubts it. “Interweave just shut down three of its magazines. I think they finally decided, we have the Show Guide making money and the magazine not, so why continue the magazine?” she speculated. Another source told me that an outside executive had been brought in to reorganize the magazine.

Another Interweave publication, the venerable Lapidary Journal/Jewelry Artist may be asked to step up and fill in the gap caused by the demise of her sister publication. Originally called just Lapidary Journal, the 60 year old magazine changed its focus just two years ago and directed its coverage more toward jewelry, but since October has begun repositioning itself back into the gem world said Merle White, Editor-in-Chief. When asked if this meant that her magazine would pick up the slack left by Colored Stone, “that has not been discussed”, she said. “We strengthened our gem coverage because our readers asked for it” she stated. Federman was terminated but Managing Editor, Karla Rosenbusch has been retained to coordinate The Tucson Show Guide. What will be the fate of Colored Stone’s online newsletter Gem-Mail? “That is under discussion” said White.

Countdown To Tucson 2010

Taken at Tucson 2009. Photo: R. W. Wise

The major industry extravaganza known as The Tucson Gem Shows are just a couple of weeks away. This will be my 25th year and my wife Rebekah and I will spend a full two weeks at the shows.

I predict that it will be all about price this year. The gem and jewelry industry is being squeezed from both ends. As Wayne Prentise of Troy Diamond Report points out: “for 2009 three currencies tracked gained over 20% in real value: Australian Dollar +27.72%, Brazilian Real +24.99%, New Zealand Dollar +21.81 …while Gold increased +28.2%, all when measured to the basket of currencies.” Prentise predicts higher prices for Brazilian and Austrailian gems at Tucson this year. By contrast, David Stanley Epstein, an American dealer living in Brazil recently reported substantial decreases in the prices of Brazilian gem being offered in the Brazil’s gem capital of Teofilo Otoni.

Where does the truth lie? Stay tuned for the true gem. I will be posting regular reports from Tucson on GemWise beginning February 1st.

Grain Boundary Diffusion in Tourmaline; The Epochal Crisis, Part II; A Tempest in a Tabloid:

72 Replies

An Open Letter to David Federman, Editor-in-chief, Colored Stone.

by Richard W. Wise, G.G.

David Federman, I just finished reading Joel Arem’s article Ending Diffusion Confusion in the current issue of Colored Stone together with your editorial titled Some Badly Needed Science. You have written so many open letters to the gemstone industry I thought I would try my hand at writing one to you. Given your reception of my January letter to the editor, I decided that the wisest course was to publish my opinion here.

First question; who is confused? For over a year you have repeatedly published your claims that tourmaline, topaz and tsavorite are being diffusion treated with little backup up of those claims other than your “long simmering suspicions” and the unsupported evidence of one man while many experts in the gemological community have been saying that the evidence presented to support those claims is just plain wrong. You state:

“Was there a better way to test James’ conjecture? I think so…It’s called experimental gemology.”

I find it ironic that you are suddenly calling for “experimental gemology.” I agree with your call, but let’s, just for a change, accurately define our terms. Continue reading →

Drama In The Desert: ISG Seminar—A Dry Hole!

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Drama In The Desert: ISG Seminar–A Dry Hole:

The much ballyhooed "Epochal Crisis" never quite materialized at the International School of Gemology's "Let the Science Speak" seminar held February 6th at the Arizona Hotel. In a rambling presentation, ISG President Robert James back-pedaled on some of his previous statements and presented the results of advanced tests that contradicted his own theories.

The silence was eerie. It was painful to watch. Thanks to Colored Stone Magazine's drum beating, the talk was attended by a who's who of gem scientists. James' attempts at folksy humor fell flat. The scientists sat quietly and listened to the presentation of evidence. After the presentation, they politely applauded, asked few questions and filed out, leaving Robert James' reputation as a gemologist in a heap of smoldering ruins.

In a series of internet broadsides last September, James made sweeping claims that large amounts of Mozambique cuprian, as well as other tourmaline, were being subjected to copper diffusion treatment. Recently he cast his net wider, suggesting that what he now calls Grain Boundary Diffusion, is being used to improve the color of not only tourmaline, but garnet and topaz as well.

Goop In The Tubes:

The presentation centered on what James called "crud in the tubes." Hollow growth tubes are a characteristic tourmaline inclusion. What James finds telling is the fact that in some Mozambique tourmaline, these tubes are filled with a yellow-red substance that James cannot identify. In a previous GemWise blog, serious questions concerning these claims were raised by John Koivula and Christopher Smith, questions that James failed to address. In a significant variation on last September's theme, James has now backed away from his claim that the filling material is copper. In fact, he carefully avoided using the term copper diffusion throughout the lengthy talk.

James showed slides showing what he calls diagnostic "footprints" which prove treatment. However the footprints he finds in topaz do not in the least resemble the "footprints" he finds in tourmaline. His tourmaline slides showed straight growth tubes; his topaz slides showed a spider web of tiny lines. He presented absolutely no proof of diffusion in tsavorite garnet; he simply suggested that the appearance, in the past decade, of tsavorite over two carats is ominous. He never explains how that relates to his diffusion theory. Last September, he claimed he discovered that undisclosed amounts of synthetic tourmaline were being sold, but now admits that he was wrong. (image right: large chunks of tsavorite rough from a 2007 strike at the Scorpion Mine, Voi, Kenya, that yielded several stones above 10 carats. Courtesy: Tsavorite USA)

The conclusions drawn from the advanced testing promised last September conclusively demonstrated that James understands neither the characteristics of his test material, nor the diffusion process itself. According to James, LA-ICP-MS testing (commonly called laser ablation) conducted by Evans Analytical showed differing concentrations of manganese and iron in the tourmaline samples tested, with higher concentrations toward the center of the specimens. James suggests that this is another "footprint" left by the treatment process, and fails to note that the characteristic color zoning in tourmaline is the result of compositional differences within the stone. For example, higher concentrations of manganese produce richer pink zones in tourmaline.

In a later Q&A session, when the soft-spoken Dr. Adolf Peretti, former head of the Gueblin Lab and President of the GRS Lab in Bangkok, told him flat out that varying concentrations of elements are characteristic of natural tourmaline, James suggested that Peretti's test samples had been altered by diffusion. (photo left: Gemology 101, a natural "footprint" crystal cross-section: pink color zone caused by concentrations of Mg. in the center of the crystal. Similar images exist in the literature going back 150 years)

How Diffusion Works:

Diffusion is the word currently bandied about, but what is it, what does the term mean? Let me share with you an analogy suggested to me by one of the world's leading authorities on the use of diffusion treatment in gemstones:

Consider a dollop of blue ink dropped into a glass of water. The ink will slowly diffuse throughout the water, eventually turning the water a uniform light blue. Ion diffusion, or deep diffusion, works exactly the same way. Diffusion moves from higher to lower concentrations. Just as the ink does not remain concentrated, outside substances such as Beryllium and copper, when introduced into gem material, spread out and diffuse throughout the material. The ions do not concentrate as James suggests–concentration is the result of slow natural crystal growth and results in zones of color, a common trait in tourmaline. Thus, James' advanced testing proves, as Dr. Piretti and Dr. Kiefert have pointed out, exactly the opposite of James' contention. Concentrations of manganese and iron in tourmaline prove that the color is natural.

Industry writer and James acolyte David Federman has been warning for months that James' presentation would spark what he terms as an "epochal crisis" in the gem trade. Abandoning any pretense of objective journalism, he has written three articles praising James and ignoring prominent scientists such as John Kiovula, Richard Hughes, Christopher Smith and Ted Themelis who profoundly disagree with James' methods and conclusions. In the current Colored Stone, Federman says we are living in "gemological end-times." What did all this apocalyptic rhetoric amount to? What James actually presented was mostly old, largely discredited information that although full of sound and fury, flies in the face of science and logic and proves his own theory to be totally false.

AGTA and GJX:

There was definitely more action at the gem shows, but then gems are the major reason most people are here in Tucson during this two-week period. Most dealers I interviewed said that sales exceeded their expectations, though they didn't say what those expectations were. All signs point to a tough year ahead. As dealer Chris Johnston pointed out, its a Darwinian crisis, and as usual, the strong will survive.

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Copper Diffusion; Is It Gemology's Worst Nightmare?

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Copper Diffusion; Is It Gemology’s New Worst Nightmare? Part I

The Latest From Bangkok?

Rumors are reverberating through the gem trade that gem alchemists in Thailand have developed a method to diffuse copper into tourmaline. This method converts low-end pale blue tourmaline into highly saturated material similar to the high priced cuprian tourmaline currently coming out of Mozambique. The first salvo was fired by Ted Themelis a well known expert on gem treatments and repeated in an article by David Federman in Colored Stone Magazine. One of my sources, a dealer active in Bangkok, wrote me two weeks ago claiming that some of this material had actually been certified as cuprian or “Paraiba” type tourmaline by an unnamed gem laboratory. (image above left; gemologist John Koivula lectures at the World of Gems Conference, Chicago)

Adding more fuel to the fire, just as I was about to leave for the World of Gems Conference (WOG) in Chicago, Robert James, FGA, President of The International School of Gemology (ISG) released a study that suggests that tourmaline, even some of the pricey Mozambique cuprian tourmaline is deep-diffused with copper to improve its color. The conference was abuzz with Mr. James’ contentions. Though deep diffusion was not on the agenda, everyone seemed aware of the article and James conclusions were much discussed. Unfortunately, James, who had planned to attend, was unable to due to Hurricane Ike.

This is James’ second broadside in a series. In the first installment he published a study that he says proves that Andesine is being bulk diffused with copper. Many of the gemologists I spoke to in Chicago expressed admiration for the James chutzpah while at the same time questioning both his methodology and conclusions. Stuart Robertson, Research Director of Gemworld International summed up the views of many of the gemologists attending the WOG Conference: “his conclusions on andesine may be right, but his science is flawed. He is way off base on tourmaline.”

Andesine Diffusion Has Arrived:
“Ive been able to turn it red in the lab.”
Dr. John L. Emmett

“I’ve done it” said Dr. John Emmett said in an interview just yesterday when I asked about copper diffusion in andesine. “I’ve been able to turn it red in the lab and made some that look like a good ruby.” The real issue says the former associate director of the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory is differentiation. Emmett, whose firm, Crystal Research, specialized in heat treating Montana sapphire, has tested labradorite from all the major sources, including Oregon sunstone and Mexican material from the Casa Grande mine. “There is natural labradorite, heated labradorite and copper diffused labradorite.” The question now is how do you tell the difference? Emmett prefers the term labradorite to andesine because, he says, the demarcation between the two is completely arbitrary.

Studies of this kind are normally done in well equipped gemological laboratories and subjected to a long process of peer review. Preliminary findings are submitted to colleagues, methods and are minutely scrutinized and conclusions challenged. This time consuming process works to the benefit of the scam artists. Gemologists are put in the position of always playing catch up. Why is this the case?

“Gem labs are sitting there fat, dumb and happy.”
Dr. John L. Emmett

“The problem is, gemology is an observational science not an experimental science”, Dr. Emmett stated. “Gem labs are sitting there fat, dumb and happy.” No one is doing the research. If GIA had put together a small research team in the 80s when surface diffusion first became an issue they would have discovered all the possibilities and would have been able to identify the possible diffusion treatments before the Japanese bought 100 million dollars worth of Beryllium diffused padparadascha sapphire.

Peer Review Goes Public:

James decided to shortcut the review process and has courageously or foolishly, depending upon your point of view, chosen to go public before completing his research, opening himself to a potentially painful process of public review. As luck would have it, several of the world’s leading gemologists; John I. Koivula, Chief Gemologist at The Gemological Institute of America (GIA), Dr. Lore Kiefert, head of the AGTA lab were in attendance and I took the opportunity to raise the issue of tourmaline diffusion with them and a few others. Stay tuned!