|
November 2007
In our newsletter this month:
A Day at the Chanthaburi Gems Market
New and Interesting Gemstones
Finding Your Way Around GemSelect
Gemstones Worth Knowing
Customer Questions A Day at the Chanthaburi Gems Market
Many people who visit Thailand shop for gemstones in Bangkok. But very few people have the chance to see where many of the Thai gem dealers buy their gemstones. For that you need to travel 250 kilometers south east of Bangkok to our home of Chanthaburi. This small city of about 50,000 people is the major processing and trading center for colored gemstones in southeast Asia. It is estimated that 80% of the world's supply of ruby and sapphire passes through Chanthaburi.
Chanthaburi was once famous for its ruby and sapphire mines. The mining business reached its peak in the 1960's and 70's when political events in Burma reduced the supply of Burmese ruby to a trickle. The demand for Thai gemstones was so great that by the 1980's the local mines were worked out. The gem business in Chanthaburi might have died along with mining, but the gem factories here had developed new techniques for heating gemstone to improve their color and clarity. When the local supply of ruby and sapphire started to disappear, traders began to bring colored gemstone from all over the world to be processed in Chanthaburi.
Gemstone processing in Chanthaburi is largely a cottage industry. Though there are a few large companies, most of the work is done by smaller family-owned businesses. Their expertise is in grading, cutting and polishing gemstones, not in marketing their product to the world. So a local market has developed to help the Chanthaburi factories get their gemstones into distribution. For those in the know, this market has some of the best deals in colored gemstones in the world.
The Chanthaburi gemstone market, known in Thai as the talad ploy is open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, from about 11 in the morning to about 6 in the evening. The main part of the market is in a narrow set of lanes at the intersection of Si Chan ("Gems Street") and Thetsaban. This neighbourhood is full of retail shops for gemstone and gemstone equipment (scales, loupes and the like). But the weekend gems market is a world unto itself. The talad ploy is a public market where anyone can come to buy and sell. But if you visit the market for the first time, you probably won't know where to begin. This is not a market where dealers display their wares and buyers browse through the goods. The commercial model here is entirely different from the local produce market a few blocks away. At the talad ploy, the buyers occupy the trading desks and the sellers circulate through the market looking for buyers.
 |
So let's say you wanted to buy some sapphire at the market. The first thing you need to do is find a place a sit. You'll see a number of storefronts, many of them open to the street, with desks and chairs. These are trading offices and they'll be happy to provide you with space for your trading. The trading offices make their living by earning commissions on every sale. You won't know exactly what the commission is, since it's paid by the seller. But it could be as high as 15% in the most popular spots. Just remember that the commission will be factored in to the price you will pay for any gems you buy.
The next thing you need to do is let the market know what you want to buy. This is done by posting a sign (in Thai of course) on the window of the trading office or to the front of your trading desk. Sometimes the signs are fairly general, such as "tourmaline and spinel." But very often you will see buyers looking for sapphire, for example, in a specific color and size or weight.
Sellers who have gemstones that meet your requirements will stop by and show their goods.
The sellers are fairly easy to spot in the market -- they are the people with shoulder bags worn securely across their chests. Inside those bags are gemstones that may be worth several hundred thousand dollars. You might be surprised at the unassuming appearance of these sellers, dressed in t-shirts, jeans and sandals. Are these really the wealthy gem dealers of Chanthaburi? In fact they are only brokers, acting as the legal representatives of the gem owners, who rarely make an appearance in the market.
The brokers will show you what they have to offer and can answer questions about the goods, assuming you can speak enough Thai to ask. They will state an asking price, but the final price may well be only 40% of the initial price, so you'll need very good negotiating skills to get the best price. If you make an offer on some gemstones that the broker thinks might be acceptable to the owner, the gemstones will be wrapped up and taped securely with your name and price, and the broker will disappear to consult with the owner by phone. You'll usually get your answer within the hour. If you've offered a low price for the gemstones, you may get lucky if the owner has done well on other gemstones from this lot, or he needs to raise some cash quickly.
 |
Eventually you'll get hungry, and this being Thailand, there are many food sellers right in the market. You'll see many of the same street stalls you see all over Thailand -- noodle soup, chicken or pork over rice, fresh local fruit and interesting sweets. You definitely won't go hungry.
The final stop on our tour is a new gems market building a few blocks away. This modern airconditioned building has an open trading floor and a number of private trading rooms. It even has a gemological lab on site where you can get identification reports within an hour or two. This clean and inviting trading environment looks to be the future of the gems market in Chanthaburi. But where are the buyers and sellers? The half empty trading floor stands in stark contrast to the crowded streets of the old market. Traditions die very slowly in Asia, and despite the heat and the dust and crowds, the market still prefers the atmosphere of the old quarter.
|
| New and Interesting Gems -- updated November 9th |
 |
Watermelon Tourmaline from Nigeria: Watermelon tourmaline is one of the most distinctive gems in the world. We have just purchased a small number of exquisite pieces from Nigerian with outstanding color and clarity. These are the finest we've seen this year. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
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. |
|
| |
 |
Emerald from Colombia: We have just received a new stock of Colombian emeralds with rich color and good transparency. These are mainly ovals and pears in smaller sizes, ideal for earrings and ring settings. |
|
|
|
Finding Your Way Around GemSelect
We are always looking for ways to make it easier for our customers to find what they're looking for on our website. Since we've recently added a large number of interesting gemstone pairs and lots, we made some changes so you can find them easily:
1. On our home page, you'll see 2 buttons labelled "Pairs" and "Lots." Clicking on these buttons will show you all of our Pairs (or Lots) listed by gem type.
2. When you're browsing a gem page such as sapphire or tourmaline, you can use the blue pull-down menu to view just the Pairs or Lots for that gem type.
3. On any page, you can use the search box and look for "spinel pairs" or "tourmaline lots" for example.
Gemstones Worth Knowing
Each month we focus on one of the lesser known gemstones. This month's featured stone is Peridot.
Peridot is one of very few gemstones found only in one color. That's because the green of peridot comes from the basic chemical composition of the material itself (magnesium iron silicate) rather than from minor impurities.
The bright yellow green of peridot is quite unique in the gems world, and peridot has been an historically important gem. It is mentioned in the Bible and legend has it that peridot was the favorite gemstone of Cleopatra. Fine peridot is sourced from a number of locations, including Pakistan, the USA, Burma, China and Vietnam.
To see all our stock in this intriguing gemstone click here.
Customer Questions
Every month we answer questions of general interest from our customers. Please feel free to send your questions to help@gemselect.com, with "Newsletter question" in the Subject line.
|
| |
|
|
| |
Q: |
When gem people talk about "luster" what do are they referring to? Is it just how shiny a gemstone is? Hope this isn't a silly question! JK, Canada
|
| |
A: |
It's not a silly question at all. "Luster" is actually a technical term used to refer
the appearance of a gem as seen by reflected light. Luster is a function of both the surface and the refractive index (RI) of the mineral itself. Though it's a technical term, it is qualitative rather than quantitative.
Luster is a function of both the surface and the RI of the mineral itself.
Terms used to describe luster include metallic, adamantine (like the luster of diamond), pearly, silky, vitreous (like glass), resinous, and waxy.
The most common luster of gemstones is vitreous, but some interesting gems have non-vitreous luster, such as turquoise (waxy), amber (resinous), cat's eye (silky), and jadeite (greasy). One of the few gems with an adamantine luster (apart from diamond) is sphene.
|
| |
Q: |
Could you explain specific gravity? I know it has to do with the density of a gemstone, but what does it mean exactly and how do I measure it? Thanks, DTO, USA
|
| |
A: |
You're correct -- specific gravity is a way to express the relative density of a gemstone. It is measured as the ratio of the density of the gemstone to the density of water. It is expressed as a number which the indicates how much heavier the gemstone is compared to an equal volume of water.
Scientifically, specific gravity is defined as a ratio of the mass of a given material to the mass of an equal volume of water at 4 degrees centigrade. Most gemstone substances are two to four times denser than an equal volume of water. Specific gravities are expressed in decimal numbers, for example, 4.00 for corundum, 3.52 for diamond , and 2.72 for quartz. Zircon, the densest of all gemstones, may have a specific gravity as high as 4.73!
For exact determinations various weighing devices are used, but rough approximations of the specific gravity of lighter stones can be made by means of a series of liquids of known specific gravity. If the stone will float in a liquid having a specific gravity of 4 and sink in a liquid with a specific gravity of 3, the specific gravity of the stone must lie between these limits and be approximately 3.5.
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
|
.gif){kind=small}