General Gem Question

[xeresana]

Last night, I watched Blood Diamond. (Oooh...I love that HBO on Demand! Where has it been all my life??) I would guess a lot of gemstones have a...checkered...past. How do pearls fare in that department? Are there other gemstones that might have such dark origins that we just aren't hearing about?

 

[Caitlin]

Read about the Pearl of Allah for a history filled with mystery and dishonesty. There is an article you can read by clicking the "In the News" button up and to your left.

Therere is also a thread called "Pearl of Allah fact, pearl of Laotsu fiction" that has all the facts organized in the news article.

For a fiction book that is an easy read and follows the history of a fictional piece of jewelry with some fab rubies and pearls, try The Love of Stones by Tobias Hill. Available at Amazon for pennies on the dollar. .30 seems to be the going price here

 

[xeresana]

Thanks. I'll check it out. Searching for something totally unrelated, I stumbled on a post on Richard Wise's website, responding to that very movie. The post pointed out that more products than just gems have a negative history. It kind of makes me wonder how much human misery I have inadvertantly perpetuated.

 

[Valeria101]

It kind of makes me wonder how much human misery I have inadvertantly perpetuated.

If you would take my word for it: none more than everybody else... Too bad there is so much.

I couldn't ever understand why every shopper has to feel guilty for their buying power, instead of the responsible being brought to face their deeds. It isn't like no one knows where misery comes from. And it ain't them shoppers.

I've never heard of any initiative to ban the worst dictators from shopping top jewelry brands, say. No more then they might be denied convenient international banking or what not But there's no shortage of 'initiative' going for the easy target of guilt-prone buyers. Quite confusing that the results of such campaigns are usually measured in the market share of some responsible business. Good for them.

Hope there aren't anti-pearl campaigners chaining themselves from a mussel bank yet!

Phew! Oops... Easy to get me started on this one.

 

[Valeria101]

Go down the link below, take a look and... you'll see why I am not writing anything about it for now:

LINK and MORE.

'Guess cultured pearls could be added to the list of similar statements. If anyone ever wanted to.

 

[GemGeek]

Go down the link below, take a look and... you'll see why I am not writing anything about it for now:

LINK and MORE.

'Guess cultured pearls could be added to the list of similar statements. If anyone ever wanted to.

You always find the coolest sites. The first one has synthetic rutile in the rough. I've always wanted to facet gemstones. The list of wants keeps growing!

Thanks

 

[Valeria101]

Glad to hear! I think Morion sells faceted too. A few faceters still play with these in fancy custom cutting, and the stones are obviously, quite inexpensive. Can't believe how many take up cutting these days! It must be darn fun.. and who knows... maybe I'll need that extra hobby one day. Definitely understand the urge, that's for sure.


Just picked those two sites up because both companies make the case that their synthetics are better for the world then the mined counterparts. Interesting, although I'd much rather hear that sort of argument backed by some independent voice, or not at all. When they open factories in Cambodia or Madagascar or the like (i.e. to save the miners along with their land), I'll believe them.

Tried to find something similar about pearls (aside what was written here, that is) but couldn't. Instead can you believe that any sane marketer would invoke high mortality rates among mollusks as a GOOD THING - an argument for RARITY! Now, ain't that stupid ... It's for real, but not giving a link here.

 

[GemGeek]

***Warning***Pearl-less Post***

There is a local gem club that teaches faceting and costs very little to join. I had a long talk with Jeff Graham about faceting. It would be a pursuit of pleasure only. Even Gerald Wykoff said it was extremely hard to make money at it. So I will try it on club equipment rather than investing in my own.