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May 2008
 In our newsletter this month:
Our Home in Chanthaburi, Thailand
New and Interesting Gemstones
New Content at GemSelect
Rare and Unusual Gems
Customer Questions
Our Home in Chanthaburi, Thailand
GemSelect is based in Chanthaburi, Thailand, a town of about 50,000 people located 245 km southeast of Bangkok (see map). It is not a very well known tourist place. In fact you'll hardly find it mentioned in the average tourist guidebook. In the gemstone world, however, it's a different story -- Chanthaburi is one of the world centers for cutting and trading colored gemstones, as important as Jaipur in India or Idar-Oberstein in Germany. Chanthaburi's weekend gemstone market is a rare experience for any gemstone lover.
Chanthaburi is also a wonderful place to live and work. As expatriates who've settled in Thailand for some years, we've come to love the life here. Though living and doing business in a developing country can be challenging -- we've survived a major flood and a minor military coup in the last couple of years -- the quality of life and the hospitable Thai people more than compensate for the occasional difficulties.
 While foreign tourists have not yet discovered us, Thai people know Chanthaburi as an area of great natural beauty and outstanding food. Located in a plain between the Gulf of Thailand and the rugged Chanthaburi Mountains, Chanthaburi is one of the few places in Thailand where you can enjoy both unspoiled beaches and mountain waterfalls. With an annual rainfall of more than 3,000 mm, Chanthaburi is famous for its tropical fruit, particularly durian, rambutan, mangosteen and longan. We also have abundant seafood, especially shrimp, much of it exported; and Chanthaburi is an important producer of high quality white and black pepper.
 Chanthaburi also has quite a fascinating history. When Ayutthaya, the historical capital of the Siam kingdom, was attacked and completely destroyed by the Burmese in 1767, the country was thrown into chaos. A Thai military commander named Phraya Taksin retreated to Chanthaburi, where he built up a force to repel the Burmese. After the defeat of the Burmese, Taksin became King of Thailand in 1768 and started the work to rebuild the nation.
 Though they fought a series of wars with Burma, the Thais are proud that they have never been colonized. While all the other countries in the region -- Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Malaysia and Indonesia -- were once colonies of the French or the British or the Dutch, Thailand managed to remain independent.
Chanthaburi, however, was a temporary exception. When Thailand tried to exert control over Laos and Cambodia in the 19th century, it led to a conflict with France in 1893, known as the Paknam crisis. One of the results of the crisis is that France occupied Chanthaburi and held it until a peace treaty was signed in 1905. Signs of the French occupation can still be seen here in the French architecture of the old town and the largest Catholic cathedral in Thailand.
With its flourishing gem grade and its fruit and seafood industries, Chanthaburi is a prosperous town, probably one of the wealthiest in Thailand. It has a small but significant foreign population, though most are African gem traders, not westerners. English is not widely spoken, but foreign visitors are warmly welcomed.
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| New and Interesting Gems -- updated November 2nd |
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Boulder Opal from Australia: Boulder Opal is the second most prized form of opal, after black opal. The name derives from the fact that this opal is found embedded in ironstone boulders. Boulder opal is especially attractive because, like the black opal, it has a dark body tone which adds vibrancy to the play of color. We've just purchased a small lot of excellent pieces, in sizes between 4 and 15 carats. |
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Clinohumite from Tanzania: Clinohumite is a rare mineral. It is a member of the humite group of minerals, which includes humite, clinohumite, chondrodite, and norbergite. Only three sources of gem-quality clinohumite are known: the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan, the Taymyr region of northern Siberia and the Mahenge plateau of Tanzania. Usually clinohumite is found in sizes under 1 carat but we just have acquired a small number of new pieces from Tajikistan in the 2-3 carat size. |
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Huge Topaz from Brazil: Gem-quality minerals are sometimes found in exceptionally large sizes. We've acquired some natural topaz from Brazil in sizes between 360 and 507 carats. We currently have 4 pieces in a light champagne color with outstanding clarity (all of been graded IF). Collectors take note. |
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Fluorite from Namibia: Fluorite is said to be the most colorful mineral in the world. We've just bought a new stock of some very colorful pieces, including electric greens and blues and some fascinating multicolor pieces. Most of the new pieces are in the 10 to 45 carat size, with a few larger stones, all with excellent clarity. We've recently added some very colorful cabochons as well. |
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Color-Change Diaspore from Turkey: Diaspore, sometimes marketed under the name Zultanite, is a color change gem from Turkey recently introduced to the international market. Under natural or fluorescent light, Diapsore has a kiwi green color, with flashes of yellow. Diaspore displays a champagne color under incandescent lighting, and when exposed to subdued lighting, such as candlelight, has a pinkish hue. We've recently bought a substantial number of new pieces, with a good choice of cuts and sizes. |
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Snowflake Obsidian from Mexico: Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass. It is formed when felsic lava extruded from a volcano cools without crystal growth.In some stones, the inclusion of small, white, radially clustered crystals of cristobalite in the black glass produce a blotchy or snowflake pattern, and this is known in the gem trade as snowflake obsidian. |
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Unheated Sapphire from Tanzania, Madagascar and Thailand: Our unheated sapphires have been very popular and we continue to increase our stock (now over 700 pieces). For the discriminating gem buyer who will accept nothing less than 100% natural, you'll find pink, blue, green, yellow and violet pieces, all guaranteed to be unheated. You may be surprised how affordable these are in the smaller sizes. |
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Seraphinite from Russia: Seraphinite is a trade name for a particular form of clinochlore, a member of the chlorite group. The dark green color of seraphinite is enhanced by a silvery and feathery shimmer caused by mica inclusions. Seraphinite was named for the seraphim, the highest order of angels, because of the feather-like appearance of the chatoyant fibers in the stone. This fascinating gemstone is a new addition our inventory. |
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Top Grade Amethyst from Brazil: We've just acquired some top grade natural amethyst from Brazil in very large sizes, ranging from about 20 to 75 carats. These are all VVS or IF clarity in the richest purple we've seen in amethyst in a long time. If you've been looking for a very special piece of amethyst, you'll want to check these out. |
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Demantoid Garnet from Namibia: Demantoid is the rarest and most valuable of the garnets, and is one of the most difficult to find of all colored gems. It is one of the few colored gemstones with a luster and brilliance similar to diamond. We have built up a stock of more than 100 pieces of Namibian demantoid, including some very fine matched pairs. |
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Amber from Poland: Amber is the fossilized hardened resin of the pine tree, Pinus succinifera, formed mainly in the Eocene epoch of the Tertiary period, about 50 million years ago. Amber has been used since prehistoric times for jewelry, amulets and religious objects. The most prized pieces contain inclusions of insects or plants or pyrites. Most amber is found in the Baltic region. We buy amber just a few times a year from our source in Poland and we've just added a new stock. |
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Turquoise from Afghanistan: Turquoise has been known and valued for thousands of years. We've bought some new pieces from Afghanistan, in an interesting variety of blue and blue-green hues. We've also found some of the popular apple-green turquoise that we first carried last year, and some superb matched pairs in blue. |
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Huge Star Rose Quartz from South Africa: We carry many large gemstones, but none as large as these Star Rose Quartz. We've collected 9 pieces over 100 carats, with the largest weighing in at an amazing 974 carats. The star effect in rose quartz is unusual in any size, but quite rare in these very large stones. |
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Axinite from Tanzania: Axinite is a group of brown to violet-brown or reddish brown minerals that sometimes occur in gem quality. Axinite is distinctive for its strong vitreous luster when polished, and its interesting pyro- and piezo-electric properties. Axinite is also popular with mineral collectors due to its unusual crystal structure. We have found a small stock of golden brown Axinite from Tanzania. |
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Spinel from Burma: We buy fine spinel whenever we can find it, and we've recently added some very fine pieces of Burmese spinel. You'll find red, violet, orange, blue and gray in a variety of shapes and sizes, including a good selection of pairs and lots. |
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Blue Sapphire from Madagascar, Ceylon and Tanzania: One of the most classic of all colored gemstones, the blue sapphire is always fashionable. This brilliant and hard-wearing gemstone is perfect for any kind of jewelry. We've added many new stones to our stock of more than 400 blue sapphires, including a number of excellent cornflower blue pieces. |
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Jadeite from Burma: Jade has been known and treasured for more than 7,000 years. But only in 1863 was it discovered that jade is actually not a single mineral. What was traditionally called jade is in fact two separate and distinct minerals: jadeite and nephrite. Jadeite is the rarer and more valuable jade, with the most famous deposits coming from Burma. We have verified samples of our Jadeite at the AIGS gemological lab in Bangkok. You'll find a good range of colors in these, including white, green and lavender. |
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Spessartite Garnet from Mozambique: We have added a large number of new pieces to our extensive inventory of this very popular gem. We now have over 500 pieces in stock, in mandarin and red-orange, in both cabochon and faceted. The range of sizes and quality grades is extensive. Our most recent additions are in the best mandarin orange color, mainly in smaller sizes. |
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Color-Change Garnet from Tanzania and Madagascar: We've recently found some rare Color-Change Garnet from Tanzania with a dramatic color change from greenish-brown to red pink. We have a small number of pieces, mostly eye-clean, in the 1 to 2 carat size. We've added these to our substantial stock of Color-Change Garnet from Madagascar. |
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Sphene from Sri Lanka: We have added some excellent new pieces to our stock of this rare gemstone famous for its remarkable dispersion or fire. These are bright golden and green pieces in interesting shapes and cuts, including a number of rounds in smaller sizes. Sphene tends to have inclusions, but we've found a number of eye-clean pieces. |
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New Content at GemSelect
We add hundreds of new gems to our inventory every day. But we also add new content to our site each week as well, in the form of articles and reference material.
Recently we've added new articles on topics ranging from zultanite to synthetic corundum to the gemstone cutting process. For useful buying information see our new articles on untreated gemstones and buying tourmaline.
Rare and Unusual Gems
In a new feature beginning this month, we feature a rare and unusual gem from our recent acquisitions. This month's featured gem is a huge sphene from Sri Lanka:
Sphene, also known as Titanite, is a brilliant yellowish-green, green or brown gemstone of high luster, unique color shades and an intensive fire that can compete with diamond. While always in demand, sphene has been a rare gem on the market. But very large sphene with excellent clarity are extremely rare.
This 12.18 carat heart-shaped piece is the largest sphene we have ever been able to buy, but also one of the cleanest. Sphene tends to be included, but this piece is so clean we've graded it VVS. The brilliance and fire of this sphene is difficult to capture in a photograph, but this gem glitters like very few colored gems we've seen. This large sphene is perfectly sized for a very impressive pendant.
For more information about sphene see recent feature article on The Brilliance of Sphene.
Customer Questions
Every month we answer questions of general interest from our customers. Please feel free to send your questions to help@gemselect.com. |
| Q: |
I was just wondering ... why do so many gemstone names end in "ite"? Thanks for your thoughts. MM, USA |
| A: |
The "ite" suffix derives from the Greek lithos meaning rock or stone (the adjectival form of lithos is "-ites"). It is a convention in the mineral world that new minerals are given names ending in "ite." The Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification of the International Mineralogical Association publishes guidelines for naming new minerals (or renaming old ones).
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| Q: |
Is there a difference between brilliance and luster in gemstones? Or do they have the same meaning? FB, Australia |
| A: |
Brilliance and luster have loose meanings in everyday language, but they are technical terms in gemology. Brilliance refers to the light reflected from the interior of a gem. Thus only a transparent gemstone can be said to have brilliance. Luster, on the other hand, refers to the light reflected from a gem's surface. Brilliance is graded from low to high, but luster is usually described in terms such as vitreous (like glass), adamantine (like diamond), silky, resinuous and greasy. |
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| A final note -- If you send us email, please be assured that we answer all our email very promptly, 6 days a week. But we sometimes have problems with spam filters on the receiving end, so please adjust the settings on your mail client so you can receive mail from help@gemselect.com.
Happy gem hunting,
Your friends at GemSelect
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