Burma Ruby Embargo - Who Really Suffers?

The subject of Burma Ruby came up in a recent conversation on a social site and during a search for information on the subject I came upon this article:

Burma Embargo and the Gem Trade

on noted Gemologist Richard Hughes' site Ruby-Sapphire

Note: On July 28th 2003, US President George W. Bush signed into law the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003 (H.R. 2330). This act bans the importation into the United States of any article that isproduced, mined, manufactured, grown or assembled in Burma. The following piece is actually two:

1. Thoughts on the US Embargo Against Burma by Richard W. Hughes
2. How Sanctions Can Work by Brian Leber

In these two articles, Richard Hughes and Brian Leber examine the impact of these sanctions on the US gem trade, along with the entire issue of national sanctions, both pro and con.

These pro & con articles were written following the original Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003.

Hughes has updated it following the enactment of the Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE Act of 2008...really interesting read!

On July 29th 2008, US President George W. Bush signed into law the Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE (Junta's Anti-Democratic Efforts) Act of 2008, which modifies the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003 (H.R. 2330). This updated act prohibits "substantial transformation" being used to import Burmese jade or ruby. Despite what has been represented as a "loophole," the concept of substantial transformation is a basic tenet of international law, one that has allowed "Israeli" and "Belgian" diamonds" access to consumer markets, despite the fact that the earth in neither Israel nor Belgium has ever yielded even a single diamond.

JCK Luxury...Have You Made Plans To Attend?

For more information on LUXURY by JCK visit http://www.luxurybyjck.com

The LUXURY by JCK salon floor this year will be shared by over 130 of the jewelry industry's most respected manufacturers, brands and industry supporters. We have previewed a sampling of the collections that will be shown and they are truly breath-taking. Including collections from:

Alwand Vahan
Bastian GmbH & Co
Charles Krypell, Inc.
GN Diamond/Alito Collection
Gregg Ruth & Co.
Jack Kelege
Jewels by Star
Mémoire
Royal Asscher
Sylvie Collection/Spectrum Diamonds Corp.
William Levine Fine Jewels

To view the full list of 2010 LUXURY by JCK exhibitors click here.

Additionally, Thursday, June 3 - Monday, June 7, LUXURY by JCK Retailers will have access to over 25 of the world's most illustrious & legendary Swiss Watch brands including Bedat, Bulgari,Chopard, Harry Winston, TAG Heuer

Congratulations Diana!

The New York Mineralogical Club (NYMC) announced that fellow member and NYMC Bulletin columnist Diana Jarrett received three prestigious awards for articles submitted by NYMC to the Eastern Federation of Mineralogical and Lapidary Societies Inc., (EFMLS) a 60 year old association of over 150 affiliated groups and a membership of 10,000 plus individuals. The EFMLS annual writing competition has several categories including Original-Non Technical Articles and Written Features both of which earned Jarrett awards.

Third place honors went to Jarrett for Rough & Tumbled, a report on the rise in popularity of tumbled gemstones used in couture jewelry. Her story Consumer -v- Collector, in sixth place, distinguished between indiscriminate consumerism and purposeful gemstone collecting. Both of those articles appeared in Southern Jewelry News and Mid America Jewelry News. Seventh place went to her rutilated quartz report, Like Finding a Needle in a Gemstone, published in Jewellery Business.

One judge remarked, "How do I judge the merits of this wonderfully written and interesting article as compared to the many 'ordinary' writers? Shall I hold you to a higher standard? A dilemma. Clearly you write well, and often. I googled Diana Jarrett gemologist and over 300,000 hits came up. Incredible."

Jarrett has contributed gemstone stories to NYMC for five years. The prestigious gem and mineral society was organized in 1886 by George Frederick Kunz, the father of modern gemology. The club meets at the historic American Museum of Natural History in New York City, where it will celebrate its 125th anniversary in 2011.

Jarrett's brand strength lies with her in-depth familiarity of the subjects she writes about and her knowledge of the diamond and gemstone sector. Her allies in gem producing regions keep her connected to developments that affect the global market.

Jarrett's popular blog Color-n-Ice and her column The Story Behind the Stone in Southern and Mid America Jewelry News have been first-reads since 2005.

At Farlang, an elite online jewelry community, she serves as Editor in Chief, conducting exclusive interviews with top designers and auctioneers.

At Jewelry Website Designers; www.jewelrywebsitedesigners.com she creates original website content exclusively for members of the jewelry trade.

Contact Diana Jarrett through her website: www.dianajarrett.com

Call for Entries - Bench Jewelers Passion Award

The sixth annual Bench Jewelers Passion Award Design Competition will be held in conjunction with the Bench Jewelers Conference June 17-19, 2010 in Atlanta GA.

The entry deadline is fast approaching for the fifth annual Bench Jewelers Passion Award Design Competition.

The Deadline for Entries is May 1, 2010.

The competition is open to all professional Bench Jewelry Artist and Designers actively involved in the design and production of jewelry. The Passion Award Jewelry Design Contest consists of four categories for finished jewelry and CAD renderings.

For details, contest rules, and to enter the competition log onto: http://BenchConference.com/DesignContest

H. Stern Takes a Trip Down The Rabbit Hole...

With all the hype surrounding the new Tim Burton version of the Lewis Carroll classic Alice In Wonderland, I don't think I ever expected this partnership!

The designers at H. Stern collaborated with the folks at Disney and have launched a truly wonderful and slightly bizarre line of jewelry based on the film.

From the H. Stern website:

After a detailed study, H.Stern designers decided that the underworld of Tim Burton’s film would be their source of inspiration. Moving away from the obvious and from the well known characters of the story, they chose natural elements and spectacular creatures from Wonderland to give shape to five rings – pieces of art – that follow the intrinsic organic forms to the creative DNA of the brand.

Talking roses, colored mushrooms, a bird from the topiary garden, the Cheshire cat and the Jabberwocky dragon were the elements chosen by the Jeweler’s creative team. The pieces were developed starting from the natural elements, brought to the jewels with tremendous detail. It is intricate workmanship and demands incredible patience. The texture of the branches from the trees served as inspiration for the engraving of microscopic streaks in the gold branches. Faces, as of the cat and the monster, were sculptured in different materials until the goldsmiths managed to represent their traces and expressions in gold. Dozens of versions were made before reaching the final result.

The collection consists of five pieces that are so individual and unique that, while I would like to show them to you here, I feel that they are so well presented at the H. Stern website that I will just tease you with a couple and send you there for more...

Mushroom Forest: The Forest of mushrooms through which Alice wanders in the film inspired the creation of enameled gold ring in colors and textures carefully chosen to represent the natural forms. In order to reproduce the tones used in the film, dozens of colors were tested until the ideal tone for each piece was achieved. The texture of the real toadstools is seen not only on the outside of the ring but on the inside also. Some are covered with diamonds.

MJSA - Vision Award Winners 2010!

The Vision Awards recognize excellence among both professional and student designers, and the Thinking Ahead Awards recognize products that, through "the introduction of new technology or the improvement of existing technologies," are advancing the way in which jewelry is made and sold. Two products won the Thinking Ahead Awards, Speedwire (a laser welding wire dispenser) and the SpeckFINDER HD (an optical workstation for gem inspection and analysis). The Winner of the Professional Vision Award for Design Excellence: Jennifer Jordan Park Wear Ever Custom Jewelry Budd Lake, New Jersey "Splash." A cloisonné enamel box ring made with fine silver, 24k gold cloisonné wire, 18k and 22k gold, and various colors of opaque and transparent leaded enamel. The Winner of the Vision Award for Future of the Industry (Student) category: Davina Rae Romansky GIA Student Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio "Cascading." Necklace in sterling silver Vision Awards are also given for Gold and Laser Distinction as well as - my favorite - Technical Solutions! To view the other winners and for more info on the 2011 Awards check the MJSA Website.

Spinel - A Misunderstood Jewel

"Have you seen her all in gold
Like a queen in days of old
She shoots colors all around
Like a sunset going down
Have you seen the lady fairer…..

She's like a rainbow
Coming colors in the air
Oh, everywhere
She comes in colors “

Jagger/Richards

A completely misunderstood gem...in ancient days Spinel was thought to be Ruby...Boomers tend to remember it as a synthetic stone for class rings....in today's terms, we need to work on this stone's "brand".

Spinel is found in many locals worldwide - and in some of the most exotic, gem-rich countries. Today due to a new find in Tanzania this rich and beautiful jewel is finally taking its place beside the finest of gems and doing it with its real name intact!

The name Spinel comes from "spina" the Latin for thorn which is thought to refer to the pointed octahedral shaped crystals. It is the magnesium aluminium member of the larger spinel group of minerals, with the formula MgAl₂O₄.

As with most gems, Spinel in it's purest form is a clear colorless stone - trace elements in the areas where the deposits are found are responsible for the rainbow of colors that this up and comer can be found in. From the palest of pastel lavenders, pinks and blues, warm coffee browns to the most vivid red and gleaming black.

The Crown Jewels of Iran include what are thought to be the finest collection of Spinel, the largest of which is a 500 carat stone. This collection was plundered from India when the Mogul Empire fell. Yet the most famous Spinels, or should I say infamous are the 170 carat "Black Star Ruby" and 361 carat "Timur Ruby" found in the British Crown Jewels.

According to the Color-n-Ice blog by Gemologist and Author, Diana Jarrett:

Only 150 years ago was this gem identified as a separate species from its look-a-like corundum, or ruby. And by 1910 using the Verneuil method of synthesizing, spinel was successfully created in the laboratory.

Today gorgeous gems are coming out of Tanzania and the gem rich Mogok Valley. It's color and hardness make it a great option for jewelry.

Lustre: Vitreous

Crystal: Isometric

Morphology: Usually Octohedral

Hardness (Mohs): 7 1/2 to 8

I want to take a few lines to thank GemCal - Purveyors of Fine Spinel, a company that has been based in the Far East since the 80's, for the stunning gem photos. Their website is a wealth of information, gorgeous gems and for the adventurer the stories and photos of the mine sites.