Following is an excerpt from the book Understanding Rough Gemstones
authored by SHYAMALA FERNANDES and GAGAN CHOUDHARY. Republished
with permission from the INDIAN INSTITUTE OF JEWELLERY (IIJ), Mumbai.
in foCus
The million dollar emerald
crystal:
About 10 years ago, a single six sided
prismatic crystal weighing about one
kilogram, fairly transparent and a good
emerald green colour, was offered for
a million dollars to a rough buyer. The
conditions of buying were not ideal since
this was at a remote village in Zambia.
The buyer was a regular buyer and had
vast experience in purchasing all types of
emerald rough. Negotiations went on for
about a week with no deal being made.
© Yurchyk | Dreamstime.com
I
n the world of gemstone
rough buyers and sellers,
there is many a slip
between the cup and the
lip. The trade is full of scams,
big and small, which though
not the norm, tend to cast a shadow over
trade practices. In this section, we wish to
narrate a few such cases which we have
come across during the past 25 years.
Being part of Jaipur, the ‘Emerald City’,
naturally gives us more stories about
emeralds.
© True North Gems Inc
The tragedy is that a
buyer normally looks
at the deeply coloured,
fairly transparent
pieces and makes an
assessment of the
rough, forgetting that
it is also mandatory to
check that the rough is
what it is said to be.”
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It suddenly occurred to the buyer that
the seller never brought the specimen in
daylight hours and absolutely refused to
release it for a more thorough examination.
This made him suspicious and since rough
buying is a lot about one’s instincts, he
decided against the purchase, even as the
price kept dropping. Another buyer was
not as cautious. He thought he was getting
a bargain at half the price and triumphantly
returned to his country. Imagine his dismay
when he realised that the specimen was
none other than a large rock crystal quartz
which had been sawn off at both ends, then
roughed up and with a little bit of mica and
mud looked like an emerald crystal. An
internal cavity had been filled with a green
pigment which suffused the entire crystal
with a pleasant green colour!
Rock crystal quartz with
internal filled cavities:
Mentioned above was a large single
crystal, but on a routine basis, one of the
most common scams has been the sale of
irregular rough specimens of rock crystal
filled with a green colour. Large lots of low
to medium grade emerald rough which
contained at least 25% of this coloured
quartz pieces were being brought for sale.
The tragedy is that a buyer normally looks
at the deeply coloured, fairly transparent
pieces and makes an assessment of the
rough, forgetting that it is also mandatory to
check that the rough is what it is said to be.
Fluorite as emerald – a
convoluted story:
As the gemmologist in charge at the
Gem Testing Laboratory, Jaipur, India, I
(Shyamala Fernandes) was often in some
uncomfortable situations. One such
situation was when a gentleman (6ft.
tall) brought about two and half kilos of
graded emerald rough for testing. He had
invested a considerable amount and was
upset that every piece they tried to cut was
just breaking apart. It was a beautiful lot of
transparent, deep green, evenly chipped
pieces (to make it a graded lot) but with
a lower lustre. I asked him if he had ever
seen this sort of a formation or lustre in
emerald. To which he replied that first the
rough was chipped (hence the formation)
and additionally he had been informed
that the rough would be coated with a
© Joanne Zh | Dreamstime.com
in foCus
colourless resin so that it would appear
slightly translucent which was just so that
it would apparently then be downgraded
by the customs appraisers, thereby saving
some money. All of which he believed, in
spite of being an emerald manufacturer!
What accounted for my discomfort was
the fear that he would succumb to a heart
attack (so great was his despair since he
had invested heavily) on learning that the
entire lot was just fluorite. This example
gave me two valuable insights – never listen
to a convoluted story about the rough and
secondly coating rough with a colourless resin
is a good camouflage through customs.
Glass cut as a hexagonal
emerald rough piece:
This is an example, one that has been
often reported, with which every
gemmologist has either had a firsthand
experience or at least of which he/she has
heard. I (Shyamala Fernandes) am citing
this for only one reason and that is we
tested this specimen five times, over a period
of six years – twice while I was with GII,
Mumbai and three times more when I
was with GTL, Jaipur. It was a good clean
piece with clear gas bubbles and mud and
mica mixture along cracks and over the
surface. The final time we tested it was
in 1994, when we advised the trader to
destroy the specimen or donate it to us!
Needless to say, he did not donate it but we
never came across it again.
Synthetic ruby dug up from
the mining areas:
Orissa in India is known for a number
of different rough gemstones. As it rose
into the limelight so did the frauds. The
most popular was the nexus between a
miner, a gem dealer and a person from
the administrative circles. The miner
would offer to sell rough ruby with the
condition for authenticity being that the
buyer accompanied him to the digging
area and watched as he recovered the
ruby rough. Something along the lines of
“buy fresh vegetables directly from my
garden, Sir”. Needless to say, synthetic
ruby specimens (pre-fashioned to appear
as natural) had already been buried into
the ground earlier. The miner then digs
up the rough with much excitement and
advises the buyer not to trust him but to
get it checked with a knowledgeable gem
dealer. Enter the gem dealer who confirms
the natural status and advises the buyer
that to take the rough lot safely out of the
area he should make a payment to the
local person. Once this is done, the buyer
returns to Jaipur to manufacture and
sell his goods. Then reality steps in with
a GTL identification report stating the
synthetic origin!
My favourite example is the
composite emerald rough:
This has already been written up in the
earlier chapter on synthetics. Since it in
context here, we just wish to recount it.
A light green beryl was sliced at one end
and a drill hole made within the crystal. A
glass rod with green adhesive was placed
within the drill hole and the sliced cap
was stuck to close the opening. The crystal
was then randomly covered with mud and
black mica to make it look the real thing.
The overall effect was of a deep green
emerald with natural inclusions, but with
a tantalising glimpse of a clean portion
within the crystal, which could yield an
emerald of exceptional quality on cutting.
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© ICA
in size diamonds brought in a 11ct.
octahedron. It was a colourless crystal
with trigons and other markings on the
surface reminiscent of a natural crystal.
As the diamond dealer put it “It looks like
diamond, it feels like diamond, but there
is something wrong and I cannot decide
what that is.” We were fresh gemmologists
at the time and thrilled to be part of such
a ‘big’ diamond identification. Each one
of us examined it visually and marvelled
at the perfection of the natural features
till suddenly someone noted that it was
very heavy. That opened the way and the
specific gravity confirmed our suspicions.
This example is only to bring home
to each one of us that every time there is
something new out there, anyone of us
can be mistaken if we are not meticulous
in our testing methods. As far as the
traders of today are concerned, there is
no sense in taking any chances, especially
with fine quality high priced goods. One
must be absolutely sure while one is
buying rough or then one must play the
game and take the losses and the windfalls
in one’s stride.
And there is pricing...
In recent times, with
companies controlling
mines, pricing of
gemstone rough have
stabilised to a great
extent, though there are
still some good bargains
out there. This is more
so in countries where
new deposits are being
located and no form
of organised mining or
governmental controls
are yet in place.”
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This crystal was then mixed into a parcel
of medium grade natural emerald rough.
Needless to say that the trader bought the
parcel on the assumption that he would
make a fortune on this one piece. Imagine
his shock and dismay when he sliced off
the cap of the crystal! It brings home the
singular fact that when buying rough, be
educated and trust your intuition.
Synthetic cubic zirconia as
diamond:
This example goes back to the early 1980s
while I (Shyamala Fernandes) was with
GII, Mumbai. At the time synthetic cubic
zirconia had just entered the trading circles
and as with any new product there was a
lot of anxiety and fear of mixtures in the
markets. Also, at that time, there was more
trust and ethics among traders. Under
these conditions, it was not odd when a
senior diamond dealer who dealt purely
In the mid 1980s, a group of jewellers from
Jaipur had gone to Geneva to buy emerald
rough. At the office there was a long queue
of Zambians waiting to sell rough. One
of the jewellers, Mr. Yogi Durlabhji spoke
about one lot of about ten thousand carats
which was offered to them at five hundred
dollars per carat. According to him “the
goods looked like they were below five
dollars a carat. With such a discrepancy of
thought, what sort of offer does one give?”
One of the other jewellers who were with
him said “give an offer of two and a half
dollars per carat”. They made the offer and
after one solid hour of negotiations, the lot
was purchased at two dollars sixty cents
per carat!!!
There are numerous stories of fantastic
prices asked and equally fantastic low
offers made. This was the norm three
decades ago. In recent times, with
companies controlling mines, pricing
of gemstone rough have stabilised to a
great extent, though there are still some
good bargains out there. This is more so
in countries where new deposits are being
located and no form of organised mining
or governmental controls are yet in place.
And there are mixtures...
Even the most seasoned rough gemstone
buyer has been misled at some time or
other, by mixtures of similar appearing
rough gemstones.
Rubellite and red garnet:
In 2003, a trader (qualified gemmologist
with years of experience) from Jaipur
had gone to Bangkok to buy rough pink
tourmaline. He had been warned about
treatments and possible mixtures which
he might come across. As a regular rough
dealer he was confident that he would be
able to catch any such irregularities. After
spending a few days looking at rough, five
lots were eventually selected. Two lots of
tourmaline were mixed lots of the lighter
pink to deep Rubellite shades. The trader
re-examined all the goods and purchased
them. Back in Jaipur he sorted the deep
Rubellite and found that about 30% of
the larger sizes were garnets! Apparently
they were the exact shade of the Rubellite
with reflecting fractures, which misled
him and he did not realise that he was
missing the obvious pleochroism which
© ICA
© True North Gems Inc.
in foCus
should have been there. It is important to
remember that stress and fatigue are often
responsible for expensive mistakes.
White Topaz and Rock
crystal: The most common mixture
and the bane of those who deal in
white topaz is the percentage of quartz
which is commonly mixed. With topaz
commanding the higher price, every
quartz rough piece mixed in is a loss.
Furthermore, since a large volume of
rough white topaz is being bought for
treatment, this becomes an added loss. So
buyers be aware!
Topaz and Aquamarine:
Recently, I (Gagan Choudhary) came
across a rough lot of aquamarine
purchased from South India (said to be
originated from the Karur- Kangayam
region of Tamil Nadu). About 15% of
the crystals displayed a typical hexagonal
prismatic habit while the rest were broken
and/or partially pebbled. We were going
through the lot and suddenly discovered
that few specimens were relatively
heavier. This prompted us to check those
specimens in bromoform. They sank!
Additional tests revealed that these were
actually topaz and not aquamarine.
Further, we checked all the specimens of
the lot and found that more than 60% of
the material was topaz. The story is not
over yet; all the specimens were partially
painted with a blue pigment in order to
enhance the colour…the blue pigment was
concentrated mainly in the pits / cavities.
And then there are smart
tricksters...
The two hundred carat+
diamond: We were once invited to
visit a city in the south of India, where
apparently a gentleman had a large
diamond rough, shaped like an egg, of
exceptional clarity and colour. We reached
there with our equipment and were taken
to this house where the specimen was
brought by the owner and his resident
astrologer and handed over to us with
much ceremony. One look was sufficient to
tell us this was no diamond, but we had to
keep up appearances and look professional.
So we did our part with equal pomp –
placed it carefully on the polariscope – we
got an anisotropic reaction. Then, we
examined it for over half an hour with the
microscope – one iridescent fracture and
a classic non-miscible liquid inclusion.
We concluded saying that we needed to
examine the specimen again the next day,
since we were all tired.
We thought that was it, but no, we were
then taken to another room where a video
recording had been set up. The stone had
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And then there is
ignorance...
A broker recently brought me (Shyamala
Fernandes) two large pieces of
moderately included rock crystal and
said “this is actually emerald, all you
have to do is colour it slightly and you
will get good quality Russian emerald
colour, everyone here does just that.” My
attempts to convince him that this was
not the case just fell on deaf ears.
In early 2008, I (Shyamala Fernandes)
was offered moldavite rough for sale.
Since I already had some specimens, I
informed the seller that this was the manmade moldavite from China. Once again
– deaf ears, all I got for my pains was
“You can call it what you want, I know it
is natural because I bought it at the Hong
Kong fair.” Hooray for the 2008 HK fair!
One could write volumes on the
many stories, some funny, some heart
rending and others just typical of our
trade. The few we have mentioned is to
give an aerial view of the situations one
might have to deal with while buying
rough gemstones. n
© Shyamala Fernandes and Gagan Choudhary
One look was sufficient
to tell us this was no
diamond, but we had to
keep up appearances
and look professional...
We then informed the
person who had taken
us there that it was
nothing but a topaz
and most definitely not
worth L50 crore.”
been very cleverly shot in various lighting
and backgrounds, on a rotating pedestal,
and we were then subjected to a half hour
discourse on the many nuances that a
“diamond of first water” changes its colour
as it is rotated etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
That was enough for us. We left saying we
would let them know in the morning. We
then informed the person who had taken
us there that it was nothing but a topaz and
most definitely not worth R50 crore.
However, our ordeal was not over. In
the morning, we were woken up early
saying they had something to show us.
Back we were taken to their house where
we found that a large number of people
were gathered on the terrace with a table in
the centre and seating all around. We were
made to sit and the so called “diamond” was
placed on the table. We were then told that
the really classic effects would be observed
as the rays of the early morning rising sun
would fall on it and reveal the truth. That
was it; we gave the sun ten minutes and
then walked out. Another lesson learnt –
the more elaborate the story, the greater the lie
behind it.