JCK Voices

March 5, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (21)

Andesine Update

 

Well, the Mongolian/Chinese andesine rough courtesy of Jewelry Television has made its way to some pretty intelligent folk, including Dr. Shigley at GIA, Dr. Rossman at Cal Tech, and Dr. Emmett, in Washington State.

 

They are testing the material and I am guessing that the results may take another few months as the “recipe” calls for some fairly long cooking times.

 

The Tucson rumor of diffusion treatment is still in question, but weakening a bit. The Japanese lab which has bee...Read More

Industries: Gemstones and Pearls

February 11, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (31)

We interrupt our Tucson blog .... Part II

Well, Jewelry Television's "Jewel Hunter Jack" has gone and found an Andesine mine in Mongolia. And Jack found one other thing: Andesine starts out as near colorless feldspar, and is then heat treated.  

It turns out that all of that red-orange and green andesine we've been seeing over the past few years is the result of heat treatment. Of course, no supplier up to this point has said anything about any enhancement, so the lack of enhancement disclosure is back in the lime light here.  

Jerry Sisk, co-founder of JTV, is rightfully proud to have found the Mongolian source, and to have a...Read More
Industries: Gemstones and Pearls, Tradeshow and Association News

February 1, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (1)

We interrupt our Tucson blog to bring you this important, um, well, weird announcement.

According to JTV, that's Jewelry Television, Andesine/Labradorite is selling out fast and here's their announcement..."We are on the cusp of announcing information regarding andesine-labradorite that no one in the gem world has been able to discover!"
 
OK - we haven't been able to discover what? Why it's selling out at $40-$100/ct? Where it comes from (China? Tibet? the Congo? Oregon? some lab in Bangkok?) Hmmm. Well I'm curious. I'll keep you posted if I hear anything... and if you have time, you should read thru some of the posts below their huge announ...Read More
Industries: Gemstones and Pearls

January 30, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Tucson Countdown #5 – Free Seminars

 

OK – 5 down, 5 to go, and only 5 days until I take off for sunny Tucson. (It is sunny isn’t it? Better click on weather.com here and check. Ah, sunny and mid 60s throughout the week – but look at those evening temps! Brrr. Hi 30s! No tanning this year!)

 

Well, time to check out which seminars I’ll be reporting. No, I haven’t forgotten the other 40 gem and mineral shows, but I thought I would take a quick break and talk about the seminars that I will be attending… and the ones you might want to attend if you are going to be there.

&...Read More

Industries: Gemstones and Pearls, Tradeshow and Association News

January 26, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (1)

Tucson Countdown #6 – Welcome to the Hotel Arizona.

 

Inside the Hotel Arizona (an easy walk from the convention center) is the Worldwide Gem and Jewelry Show, but few people actually call it that. For this and other shows, besides the AGTA GemFair and the GJX, most will simply give you the name of the hotel or motel. Now, the Hotel Arizona show is a MUST if only for the Upper Starlight Ballroom. Inside this small ballroom in the back-end of the hotel houses some of the best gem cutters in the world: the Germans from Idar Oberstein and surrounding villages. I typically spend half a day in here. I want to see them all. Some of the highlights will be:

 
...Read More

Industries: Gemstones and Pearls, Tradeshow and Association News