GemWise (Moved to www.rwwise.com/blog

That's All She Read: The French Blue, by Richard W. Wise

2009-10-13T17:49:00.000-04:00

That's All She Read: The French Blue, by Richard W. Wise

We Have Moved

2009-07-16T17:18:00.004-04:00

You will find us on our website; www.rwwise.com/blog. Visit GemWise at our new address:

Book Review: Emeralds, A Passionate Guide by Ronald Ringsrud

2009-06-13T16:11:00.022-04:00

by Richard W. WiseThe subtitle of Ronald Ringsrud's new book, A Passionate Guide, The Emeralds, The People, their Secrets has been well selected. The book is not just about emerald, most specifically Colombian emerald, it is about a country, its people and one man's love affair with it all.I first met Ron Ringsrud about a year and a half ago. I had never been to Colombia and as is my custom

Lecture: GIA Washington D.C. Alumni Association

2009-06-01T16:54:00.008-04:00

Tuesday, June 9th I will be delivering a lecture entitled: The Four C's of Connoisseurship, Quality Grading Colored Gemstones at the Gemological Institute of America's Washington D.C. Alumni Association.This is a very active organization. The meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn, Rosslyn-Key Bridge, 1900 North Fort Myer Drive in Arlington, Va. The meeting begins at 7:00pm.If you are in the

Grain Boundary Diffusion in Tourmaline; The Epochal Crisis, Part II; A Tempest in a Tabloid:

2009-05-19T13:32:00.007-04:00

An Open Letter to David Federman, Editor-in-chief, Colored Stone.By Richard W. Wise, G.G.©2009David Federman, I just finished reading Joel Arem’s article Ending Diffusion Confusion in the current issue of Colored Stone together with your editorial titled Some Badly Needed Science. You have written so many open letters to the gemstone industry I thought I would try my hand at writing one to you.

Investing in Gemstones, Part II; A Strategy:

2009-04-10T07:54:00.001-04:00

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Investing In Gemstones, Part I: The Market

2009-03-22T15:02:00.007-04:00

by Richard W. Wise, G.G.© 2009Bye, Bye Bling:Perhaps it’s the tenor of the times. Increasingly I find myself fielding questions about gems as an investment. With government printing presses working 24/7, many people are concerned that deficit spending, coupled with Government stimulation of the credit markets in the U. S., Europe, China and Japan, will eventually lead to hyperinflation. With

Tucson 2009 Wrap Up

2009-02-28T12:13:00.029-05:00

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Drama In The Desert: ISG Seminar---A Dry Hole!

2009-02-11T12:51:00.006-05:00

Drama In The Desert: ISG Seminar--A Dry Hole:by Richard W. Wise, G.G.The much ballyhooed "Epochal Crisis" never quite materialized at the International School of Gemology's "Let the Science Speak" seminar held February 6th at the Arizona Hotel. In a rambling presentation, ISG President Robert James back-pedaled on some of his previous statements and presented the results of advanced tests that

Tucson Day 3-4

2009-02-08T10:21:00.023-05:00

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Tucson 2009; Day 2

2009-02-03T11:53:00.016-05:00

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Tucson 2009, The View From The Desert

2009-02-01T22:24:00.017-05:00

by Richard W. Wise©2009The first Saguaro emerges from predawn darkness, looming above me like a giant being from another planet. The sun rises over Gates Pass. Last night we sat on the porch of our adobe, deep in the Sonoran Desert, with Orion twinkling overhead, listening to a coyote chorus. Today the show opens at the old Pueblo Inn, the traditional first day of jumpstart at the 2009

What's Ahead; Tucson 2009

2009-01-25T14:28:00.028-05:00

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Really The Blues; The Hope & Wittelsbach Diamonds

2009-01-02T21:10:00.045-05:00

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Antique Jewelry: Edwardian Elegance

2008-11-26T09:48:00.015-05:00

A PORTRAIT: EDWARDIAN ELEGANCE AND ARTISTRYby Rebekah V. WiseWhen Edward VII ascended the throne in 1901, he and Alexandra set the tone for a wealthy new era known as La Belle Epoque. This new era saw England as a dominant global force, greatly influencing the rest of the civilized world. Based on wealth and not on lineage, this new prosperity was preoccupied with status and luxury and chose

Copper Diffusion: Is It Gemology's New Worst Nightmare? Part II

2008-10-22T14:09:00.025-04:00

An exceptional emerald crystal:This month’s feature on the R. W. Wise website is an exceptional Colombian emerald crystal. It was found at the La Pita Mine, part of a complex of mines of the same name that I visited during my last buying trip to Colombia.Historically gems of this quality were found at the old mines like Muzo and El Chivor. Chivor was appropriated by Spanish conquistadors in 1550;

Copper Diffusion; Is It Gemology's New Worst Nightmare? Part I

2008-09-24T10:00:00.005-04:00

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September is Sapphire

2008-09-09T13:44:00.015-04:00

What is the finest color in blue sapphire? Actually there are two standards. For the first, think of the sky at midnight in the light of a full moon. The color is a dark, but not inky, it is a rich vibrant blue with perhaps a touch of purple that imparts a velvety hue. It is a color that teeters on the edge of darkness. Gems of this description are most often found in Burma and Sri Lanka and

Modern Masters; Tomorrow's Heirlooms

2008-08-10T10:50:00.044-04:00

I enjoy these occasional run-ups in precious metal prices. Despite the odd foul-up, such as the time a Paul Revere spoon was sold for scrap, high metals prices help to clear away the detritus. Just as record high oil prices stimulate conservation and research into sustainable energy, high gold, silver and platinum prices also serve the public good.Ninety Five percent of the "fine" jewelry sold

Focus On Antique Jewelry

2008-08-03T15:11:00.024-04:00

by Richard W. Wise, G.G. © 2008 From Our Antique Jewelry Gallery:ANTIQUE SALAMANDER BROOCH.by Rebekah V. Wise Okay, she may actually be a newt, but this winsome girl is mostly prized for the bright green racing stripe of Russian demantoid garnets down her back. Originally from a pre-revolutionary source in the Ural Mountains of Russia, demantoid is the green gemstone variety of

Bits & Pieces: Hughes Resigns; Schon publishes a new book on Modernism

2008-07-26T09:45:00.041-04:00

Hughes Resigns from AGTARichard W. Hughes the peripatetic gemologist/author and sometime journalist has handed in his resignation as Gemological Administrator at the AGTA Gemological Testing Center . As of September Hughes will be heading back to Bangkok where he worked for 15 years before moving back to the U. S. For the past several years Hughes has been a lab gemologist with the

The Making of a Masterpiece III

2008-07-11T14:18:00.041-04:00

by Richard W. Wise, G.G. © 2008Part of the genius of a true artist consists in his ability to transform the mundane into the beautiful. Gem sculptor Tom Munsteiner did just that with this 29.73 carat chunk of citrine quartz. I fell in love with the design and purchased the stone from Tom two years ago. Not having a plan, it sat in m<!--[if gte vml 1]> <![if !mso]> <

The Arcane World of High Priced Gems

2008-06-12T13:54:00.024-04:00

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Jewels in Sin City, Las Vegas 2008

2008-06-04T16:59:00.016-04:00

By Richard W. Wise ©2008 Welcome to Las Vegas, the only town that I know of where a jewelry show with 3,000 exhibitors can be hidden behind a bank of slot machines. Unlike Tucson where the sprawling gem shows take over half the town, the flagship JCK Show set up at the Venetian Hotel boasts 3100 exhibitors’ and 20,000 buyers and is virtually invisible in the glitz. The jewelry

Big Type IIa Diamonds Glow at Sotheby's and Christie's

2008-05-27T12:39:00.018-04:00

By Richard W. Wise, G.G. ©2008 At a Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels auction held in New York on April 17th, a 24.42 carat D color Internally Flawless diamond sold for 3.6 million or better than $148,443 per carat. One day earlier at Christies another rectangular step cut diamond weighing 27.91 carats (pictured above left) sold for 4.04 Million or $145,933 per carat. In this case the early bird