Ignorance Factor and London Blue Topaz

Different shades of blue topaz.

Chart courtesy of Helmut Zimmerman/BCS Group.

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A year ago, when the NRC decided to enforce its long-ignored health and safety regulations for irradiated London Blue Topaz, most retailers stopped selling this very popular gem until licensed testing facilities could be opened. Now six facilities are open—and no one seems to be using them. Why?

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Blue topaz comes in basically three shades: Sky Blue, Swiss Blue and London or Denim Blue. There are some who also recognize a fourth blue called Super Sky Blue. All come from radiating the natural Clear or White Topaz. And then for those that have the available cash, there is a very rare natural Blue Topaz, which is very rarely seen. Forgetting the natural Blue Topaz, the lighter shades of blue have the lowest levels of radiation, while the London Blue takes at least 18 months for the radiation to drop to the safety standard set by the Nuclear Regulatory Committee (NRC). However, with time, even London Blue Topaz is quite safe. Nevertheless, an informal survey of several southern California jewelry chains and jewelry departments in major stores and visits to jewelry stores in Texas showed that while all the stores carried some Sky and Swiss Blue Topaz jewelry, only a couple carried any of the dark London Blue Topaz.. When asked about it, of the clerks who know about teh irradiation to color, most of the sales clerks would comment “You used to see that dark blue stuff all the time. Now no one has it.”

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Clearly the decision to cease stocking London Blue Topaz came from outside the stores visited. If fact, the majority of salespeople had no idea what type of treatment had been used on the Topaz stones to make them blue, many thought all Blue Topaz was natural. What’s more, most were oblivious to the NRC regulations. Of the few salespeople who were aware of the NRC regulations, all but one erroneously believed the regulations stemmed from widespread problems with “dangerous levels of radiation.”

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Given such confusion and ignorance about Blue Topaz among jewelry store staffers, it’s easy to see why people cite so many different reasons for the drop-off in sales of this lovely gem. Sadly, the decline didn’t have to happen if people in the jewelry industry would become familiar with processes and treatments associated with gemstones. Maybe the moral here is an old one: The jewelry industry has nothing to fear but fear itself.

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In the mean time fear could spread. After all, Blue Topaz is not the only gemstone to be regularly irradiated. Yellow Beryl, Smoky Quartz, Pink Tourmaline, some colored Diamonds and others are also enhanced in this manner. If disclosure of this basic truth becomes as hard to swallow with other gems, London Blue Topaz could just be the first of many gem casualties in a market that lives in needless, somewhat hypocritical fear of the facts about the products it sells. So in the end, if you like Blue, the Blue Topaz gemstones are still a great favorite and wearing them hasn't shown to be of any problem. For those dealers who know and explain the facts to their customers about Blue Topaz, the problems have not kept anyone from purchasing them.

Information from various medical authorities indicate that even with a necklace containing as many London Blue Topaz as shown, the wearer would have to wear it 24 hours a day for many many years and they still would not receive as much radiation as one can obtain on a beach in the full sun.

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Partial reprint of articles in Colored Stone Magazine, AGTA and ISG news releases.

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Another Find at the Arkansas Diamond Fields !

It's happened again, another big find at Arkansas' Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro. Rhonda Bankston from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, saw a segment about the park on The Travel Channel’s “The Best Places to Find Cash and Treasures.” So, she and a friend decided to head out to camp at the park and give diamond hunting there a try.

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On Sunday, around 11:00 a.m. on her second day of prospecting in the park’s 37 ½-acre search area, Bankston found a stunning, what appears to be flawless 2.09-carat white diamond as she was surface searching over the plowed field. The field is the eroded surface of the world’s eighth largest diamond-bearing deposit in surface area. She found the gem near a sign that marks the spot where the 40.23-carat Uncle Sam diamond, the largest diamond ever unearthed in the U.S., was found back in 1924. After her gem is appraised, Bankston will decide whether to keep the diamond or sell it. Shaped somewhat like, and about the size of, a tooth, her sparkling white diamond looks like a frosted ice cube.

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Crater of Diamonds State Park is the world’s only diamond-producing site open to the public. Diamonds come in all colors of the rainbow. The three most common colors found at the park are white, brown and yellow, in that order. The park staff provides free identification and certification of diamonds. Park interpretive programs and exhibits explain the site’s geology and history and offer tips on recognizing diamonds in the rough. In total, over 75,000 diamonds have been unearthed at Arkansas’s diamond site since the first diamonds found in 1906 by John Huddleston, the farmer who at that time owned the land, long before the site became an Arkansas state park. The largest diamond ever discovered in the United States was unearthed here in 1924 during an early mining operation. Named the Uncle Sam, this white diamond with a pink cast weighed 40.23 carats. Other semi-precious gems and minerals found at the Crater of Diamonds include amethyst, garnet, peridot, jasper, agate, calcite, barite and quartz. Over 40 different rocks and minerals are unearthed at the Crater making it a rock hound's delight.

A fairly nice .24 ct yellow Diamond found at the Arkansas Diamond Mines.

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Crater of Diamonds State Park is located two miles southeast of Murfreesboro. It is one of the 52 state parks administered by the State Parks Division of the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.

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The above two rocks, when located, tell you that you may be in Diamond Fields. Lamproite, on the left, contains small Diamond flecks but when associated closely to deposites of Kimberlite, on the right, in the same field, chances of larger Diamond finds are possible. Both of the above pieces were acquired by this writer during a visit to the same Arkansas Diamond Fields as the newest find. Sadly no Diamonds were found during that visit.

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Parts of this article from announcement by KARK Chnl 4 News

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Holiday Season Gems - Frankincense and Myrrh !

Items straight out of the Christmas Story and the Bible. Although the actual story in the Bible was written many years later, the fact that Frankincense and Myrrh were probable gifts is hard to deny in that area of the world. The picture above is of Frankincense (top) and Myrrh (bottom) directly out of the Middle East.
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Frankincense is tapped from the very scraggly but hardy Boswellia tree through scraping the bark and allowing the exuded resins to bleed out and harden. These hardened resins are called tears. There are numerous species and varieties of frankincense trees, each producing a slightly different type of resin. Differences in soil and climate create even more diversity in the resin, even within the same species.
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Myrrh is a reddish-brown resinous material, the dried sap of the tree Commiphora myrrha, native to Yemen. H igh quality myrrh can be identified through the darkness and clarity of the resin. However, the best method of judging the resin's quality is by feeling the stickiness of freshly broken fragments directly to determine the fragrant-oil content of the myrrh resin. Many times Myhrr appears as a powder with small chunks included.
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The following pictures are of Myrrh and Frankincense as seen in the Market Places in Yemen. Neither of these items, because of their crumbly nature, would make into gemstone jewelry for wear, but many incase either substance in small bottles or silver pouches, and wear on necklaces and earrings.


Myrrh powder and chunks................... Frankincense chunks
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JEWELRY HASN'T CHANGED IN 2000 YEARS !

This photo made available by the Israeli Antiquities Authority on Monday, Nov. 10, 2008 shows what archaeologists say is a 2,000-year-old gold earring discovered beneath a parking lot next to the walls of Jerusalem's old city. The Israel Antiquities Authority says the earring is inlaid with pearls and emeralds and was made around the time of Christ, between the first century B.C. and the beginning of the fourth century A.D. "It must have belonged to someone of the elite in Jerusalem," Ben-Ami said. "Such a precious item, it couldn't be one of just ordinary people." Archaeologist Shimon Gibson, who was not involved in the dig, said the find was truly amazing, less because of its Roman origins than for its precious nature. "Jewelry is hardly preserved in archaeological context in Jerusalem," he said, because precious metals were often sold or melted down during the many historic takeovers of the city. "It adds to the visual history of Jerusalem," Gibson added, saying it brings attention to the life of women in antiquity. Ben-Ami said the piece's placement in the destroyed building protected it from looters and kept it preserved. Its location also showed that it must be older than the house itself. (AP Photo/IAA, HO and IGS Newsletter)

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Fall & Holiday Colors - For Long Seasonal Wear !

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The colors of Fall, Thanksgiving and the Christmas Season all come together to provide for Jewelry Sets that can be worn for an extended period of time and still be in Season the whole time. Rainbow Jade, Carnelian, Red Jasper, Poppy Jasper and California Green Opal along with Black Onyx fill this requirement very nicely.

"Recessionista" Women Still Shop !

Most women are not letting money worries put an end to their shopping trips, but they are certainly more careful about what they buy, a survey by Grazia Magazine has revealed. Although seven out of 10 women (71%) said they are worried about the credit crunch affecting their lifestyle with almost half (46%) cutting back on their spending, 83% of women still shop for clothes, accessories and beauty products at least once a week - up 2% from six months ago. The survey identified changing attitudes with the emergence of a new kind of female shopper dubbed the "Recessionista".

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Gone are the days of buying anything and everything from cheap to high-fashion items to designer handbags. Instead, now women are going into more shops, doing more looking around to do their fashion homework and then visiting several more stores before parting with their cash. Half of those questioned (53%) said they were now much more selective about what they buy and the act of research and thinking twice before buying made 58% feel good when they finally did make a purchase. The Female Shopping Survey found that two-thirds of women (67%) bought an item at least once a week and almost a third (31%) bought something new at least three or four times a week. But a third (32%) admitted they no longer shell out for risky one-season trends, with a growing trend for choosing classics like a little black dress, knee-high boots and a well-cut coat, or a jewelry style that will serve several seasons and lasts longer (28%).

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Credit cards are also falling out of favour, according to the survey, as two-thirds (65%) of women said they now only use existing money to pay for their goods. If they don't have the spendable cash, then they don't need the item. Almost half of women (46%) are cutting back on their spending but rather than stopping buying clothes, they are cutting down on their social life, drinking of alcohol (32%) and a fifth (20%) are reducing their weekly food shopping. Jane Bruton, editor-in-chief of Grazia, said: "Reading all the doom and gloom recession predictions it's easy to believe shopping is dead and fashion will never be the same again. There will be tumbleweed blowing around the High Street fashion stores and we'll all have to wear 'safe' black trousers and 'sensible' court shoes for the next five years. "But our survey proves that, though of course we're worried about the economic climate, it's just turning us into more responsible, savvy shoppers who are becoming more creative and inventive with our wardrobes. Women have always used fashion as a feel-good way of expressing themselves. And no credit crunch is going to change that. Instead it's making us braver, not safer, with our style."

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Excerpts from the Grazia Magazine shopping survey.

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THE COLOR PURPLE !

Lepodolite Jasper & Amethyst

PURPLE is the new black ! Well, not quite. Will anything ever be the new black? But purple is this season's welcome addition to our beloved black. Be it grape or lilac, lavender or wine, violet, plum, puce, mauve, magenta, amethyst, pomegranate, eggplant or mulberry, there's no question that purple is the color of this fall and winter season. After all, we need something that is rich, luscious and exotic to liven up what has become an all-too-serious season of stripped-down, black-and-charcoal basics and bad financial times. Purple can bounce off of black, be used as a layering piece, or a shawl.
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Indeed, not since the recessionary 1980s have we seen so much of the royal hue in our clothing, jewelry, accessories and even makeup. We're seeing other '80s-era jewel tones, too - fuchsia, teal and power red - but it's purple that's popping up most often on everyone from TV pundits to yoga teachers to bank tellers to stars striding along the red carpet. Purple, a perfect blend of hot red and cool blue, is that rare color that's flattering on everybody. Some hues are better on some people than others, of course - deep, royal purple looks great on people with dark, dramatic colouring, for instance, while warm, wine-y shades are terrific with golden skin tones and cool lavender is lovely on fair beauties. Purple is also one color whose mood changes depending on what it is paired with. It is a chameleon, becoming earthy when matched with browns and beiges, delicately feminine with pinks and other pastels, dramatically eccentric with brights like red or green, and seriously sophisticated with silver, charcoal, black and other cool neutrals. In fact, very dark and very light purples practically are neutrals, just a whisper away from black, navy or dove grey. Symbolically, purple has long had a wide range of meanings including nobility, regality, ritual, imagination, spirituality and creativity.
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That's one of the reasons the color experts have chosen a shade of purple, "Blue Iris", as 2008's color of the year: "Combining the stable and calming aspects of blue with the mystical and spiritual qualities of purple, Blue Iris satisfies the need for reassurance in a complex world, while adding a hint of mystery and excitement." Long ago, purple was one of the most expensive, most difficult dyes to create, and so it was reserved for royalty. In coats of arms, it is still used to represent the gentry, and in military terms is awarded to the bravest, most noble of soldiers. It has also been a significant color for the ecclesiastical set, most notably for Roman Catholic bishops' robes, and has long been associated with spirituality, mysticism and the unknown. In many cultures, purple is also a color of mourning. Thai widows, for instance, traditionally wear purple, and during the Victorian era, purple was the transitional color for women in the period between deep mourning and the return to regular society.

Turquoise & Amethyst

More happily, though, it is also considered a creative color, the color of imagination, artistry, free-thinking and sensitivity. Many fashion experts believe that colors become popular not just because they are new and fresh and we're bored with last year's trendy shades, but because they resonate with the ethos of the times. So why purple, why now? Perhaps it is because, after a period of rampant excess and crass consumerism, we yearn to tap into our nobler selves, to seek a higher spirituality, to mourn the lost dreams of the North American middle class and to reconnect with our creative side. Or perhaps it's simply because it is beautiful, and it makes us feel beautiful when we wear it. And how you choose to wear purple is up to you - there is really no wrong or right way. You can keep it subtle, simply adding a touch of black currant eye shadow or the sparkle of an amethyst-coloured necklace to a black or grey outfit. Or you can add a bigger punch of drama with a magenta handbag, plum-coloured pump or a violet blouse or eggplant sweater under a businesslike jacket. Or you can go all out with high-impact pieces, like a purple party frock or mulberry puffer jacket.
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But whether you go for subtle or spectacular, one thing for sure: it's a PURPLE reign this fall.

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.Composite articles from the Vancover Sun and The Chicago Sun Times.
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Fair Warning ! US Customs is Enforcing Ban

US Enforces Law Barring Myanmar Gems

The United States began strict enforcment on Monday Oct 26th a law seeking to tighten an import ban on gems from military-ruled Myanmar (Burma) in a bid to deprive the junta of precious revenue. The Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE Act was approved unanimously by Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush in July but the US Customs and Border Protection provided a grace period for the jewelry industry to adapt to the new rules. The period expired on Sunday Oct 25th and the authorities on Monday the 26th began enforcing the law that aims to keep Myanmar's rubies and jade from entering US markets, even as rough or via third-party countries, officials said.
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"After the grace period expired on Oct 26, 2008, CBP (Customs and Border Protection) will begin enforced compliance," the agency's spokesman, Jaime Castillo, said. Despite a longstanding ban on all Myanmar (Burma) imports, gems from the impoverished country have entered the United States via third nations such as Thailand, China, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore continually even after the intial ban of direct import was started. The new law closes this loophole that allowed into the United States Burma Ruby and Jade gems cut or polished in a third countries, officials said. The gems trade is one of the most lucrative sources of profit for the military rulers, accused of blatant human rights abuses and stifling democratic opposition. New York-based Human Rights Watch called on US consumers to refuse buying from jewelers unless they ensured their gems were not from Myanmar, previously known as Burma. "For years many American jewelry retailers have bought Burmese rubies and jade that help finance the military junta's brutality," said Arvind Ganesan, the group's director of the business and human rights program. "Now it is illegal to support that trade." In addition to the import ban, the US Treasury Department has put in place targeted sanctions on a number of Myanmar companies involved in the gem business.
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Even the Jewelry Networks like JTV, have announced the information about this stricter ban and how it has effected and almost stopped the sale of Burma Ruby in this country. According to some sources, you must be able to prove Maynmar (Burma) material was purchased before July 2008, or you can be fined or arrested if found in possession.
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This is a consolidated reprint of several news articles on this subject from major newspapers and jewelry publications.
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