Pigeon’s Blood Red – the phrase evokes images of tropic forests, crowded bazaars, and exotic palaces. Pigeon’s Blood Red is actually a traditional name in the gem trade for the finest color of ruby. The term probably originated centuries ago in Burma, for many centuries the source of the best rubies.
Light has a very special role of gems- in diamonds, it can dance and twinkle, in rubies, it can simmer with vivid passion, or in other gems, it can play tricks. In gemology, we refer to these special gems that magic the light as the phenomenal gems. The soft bluish glow emanating from this beautiful […]
We just completed an estate appraisal for a client which included this nice looking white gold bracelet. During the take-in process, we noticed a missing stone and a broken hinge. And, somehow the bracelet just didn’t look quite right. When we turned the bracelet over, we immediately noticed some remnant parts that were out of […]
An article I noted in the current AGTA ePrism newsletter refers to the challenges facing the Japanese saltwater cultured pearl industry. Prior to my career with Mardon Jewelers, I worked with John Latendresse, the creator of the American Freshwater Cultured Pearl, and learned firsthand just how difficult, labor intensive and risky the pearl culturing business […]
I was recently asked to appraise this topaz and a matching pair of 8 mm triangles. At first glance, the stones had a sort of attractive somewhat muted “teal” greenish blue color but something about the look of the stones was not quite right. A quick examination under our trusty gemological microscope revealed a surface […]
The pure grass green color of the Emerald has long been symbolic of serenity and virtue and is the primary reason why emeralds have been treasured and sought after for so many centuries. The qualities of beautiful color, rarity, and durability (see my blog on restoring damaged Emeralds) have traditionally earned the emerald the reputation […]
May 12–Sotheby’s achieved a hammer price of $10,498,000 swiss francs (~ 9.5 million US) for the fabulous 7.03 ct Fancy Vivid Blue Internally Flawless Cullinan Blue Diamond. Sotheby’s original presale estimate was 5.8 to 8.5 million US. “This is already a new world record price for a fancy vivid blue diamond and a new world […]
The classic emerald is a beautiful gemstone with a reputation for fragility. When you understand the rigors that emeralds undergo during their formation, you’ll see that this reputation is mostly undeserved. Colombian emeralds, for example, form when ocean sediments are compressed under tectonic plates and then are metamorphosed and uplifted to the top of the […]
Ever so often in this business, we see something that makes us truly humble and amazed at the accomplishments of our fellow artisans. The Frog Boatman tells it all when you realize that this panel is less than an inch high. We recently had the privilege of working with this wonderful Japanese bracelet– we think […]
from Rapaport The recent buzz about the 7.03 carat Cullinan Blue diamond to be offered at the upcoming Sotheby’s auction in Geneva has generated a lot of interest in colored diamonds. Because there is a lot of misinformation about these ultra-rare gems, we thought it would be helpful to our readers to describe and discuss […]
