My wife Melanie and I recently opened a new buying office in Silom, the gemstone district in Bangkok. Some people are surprised to hear that approximately 70% of the colored stones sold in Western consumer markets spent at least some time in Thailand. Stones come here from all over- Africa, Sri Lanka, Burma, Cambodia, etc. to be cut and polished and/or heat-treated. Bangkok is the major world hub of colored gemstones.
We specialize in ruby, sapphire, and emerald. Yesterday a local Thai dealer who is a friend of ours came into our office with quite an unusual stone. As you might know, corundum (ruby and sapphire are both corundum) is almost always heat-treated. This improves color or clarity. If a stone is a very beautiful color when it is mined, sometimes the owner of the stone decides to leave it totally natural. Very often because so many of my clients are gemologists or gemstone collectors we deal in these special stones. Some people find it very gratifying to collect or make jewelry from stones that are totally untreated. If a stone has only been mined from the ground, then cut and polished it is exponentially more rare than stones that are treated with heat, radiation, or chemicals to improve their apparent quality.
This ruby was mined in Mozambique, which is famous world-wide for ruby. It has been cut and polished but no other treatments have been done. You can see on the GIA report that there is a notation stipulating that no evidence of thermal enhancement (heat treatment) had been noted. Ruby and sapphire usually have internal thermostats. There are crystals- baby gemstones- that grew inside the stone while it was forming. These materials react differently to heat than the ruby around them. Some inclusions- like gemstones of different chemical and structural makeup- expand much faster when they are heated than the ruby itself. What they leave behind is evidence that they tried desperately to expand as the heat got higher. These markers are what gemologists like me look for under the microscope. We see that these small crystals expanded quickly and modified the structure of the ruby around them. It's a clue that a stone has been heated.
You can see on the GIA laboratory report that the gemologists who examined this ruby saw no evidence of thermal enhancement- no heat treatment. Because there is no evidence of heat, we are 99.99% sure that it also could not have been chemically enhanced because chemicals that enhance ruby require extremely high heat to work. The fact that this stone was not heated is critically important to its value. Customers pay more for stones that have not been heated and dealers here know that, so when they have an unheated stone they expect more money for it.
This ruby has a very pure red hue which also makes it highly desirable. Stones that have too much orange or purple in the red are not as highly prized in the market place. If this stone showed orange or purple, the report would have to express the color as orange-Red, or purple-Red, but this one is pure red.
One of the most important parts of evaluating a stone that we want to buy for our clients is seeing how much brilliance it has. This colorful sparkle is just the ruby reflecting light back through the stone to your eyes. Light rays go into the stone, and the ruby's job is to turn them red so when they get back to your eyes you see nothing but RED.
As a Graduate Gemologist (GIA), I understand the importance of describing stones accurately and disclosing all treatments that a stone has had. Because value factors like cut, color, origin, and treatment have such drastic affect on value, it is our job to describe the stone as it is so our clients can make good buying decisions. If a stone is treated with chemicals and I sell it as unheated or only heat, that is a violation of FTC (Federal Trade Commission) guidelines. As a member of the Jeweler's Ethics Association, I have taken a pledge to deal fairly and honestly with my clients.
This ruby has a pure red hue but as you might know, modern cameras are not as precise at reproducing color as your eye. You can see in my pictures of the ruby that they have a slight orange cast. This is a result of the failure of the sensor in my Nikon 3200 to reproduce the color faithfully. As the report states, this stone is a pure dark red color. GIA is one of the most highly respected laboratories in the world.
If you have any questions about this gemstone please don't hesitate to contact me. I have a toll-free number for American customers: 800-607-1425. My wife Melanie and I are in the office Monday through Friday from 10AM to 5PM Bangkok time. If we are not in the office the call goes to voicemail.
You can also contact me through the messaging system on this forum. I have been in this business for over a decade and have consistently delivered a quality product at excellent prices. My wife and I would be very happy to hear from you if you need information about this stone or any other ruby, sapphire, or emerald. We also deal in rare collectible stones if you are interested.
This is an exceptionally rare untreated ruby and we can offer it to bitcointalk forum members at a very good price. We generally don't haggle but instead we offer the stone at a price that fairly reflects its value. Some gemstone dealers start at a very high price, hoping that someone who is not very gemstone-savvy will quickly scoop it up. But if you want to build a customer relationship, this is extremely detrimental to your business. When the client finds out that he overpaid, he will never return to you.
This Mozambican unheated ruby is $2400 firm. We offer shipping to almost any country world-wide with a high-value courier (G4S Securicor) and they are an authorized agent for FedEx. When you get the stone on your end, it looks like a regular FedEx delivery. G4S specializes in high-value packages and insurance is available. Please inquire if you have any question about shipping by sending me a message on this forum, or from the USA toll free at 800-607-1425. If you are an overseas client but not in America, you can call our office at +66-2-635-8585. That rings at my desk and I am almost always there from 10AM to 5PM Mon-Fri.
http://tiptopgem.com/We would love to hear from you!
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