"We are very pleased and
thankful to all the staff at the National Gem and Jewellery Authority of Sri
Lanka for giving us permission to reproduce articles from Gem Talk sept 2007"
"Due to the efforts of
National Gem and Jewelry Authority , Sri Lanka has now become one of the
rapidly growing gem and jewellery trade centers in the world, we really
appreciate all the hard work"
Time Management
We think, we can all agree that, the pace in the jewelry
industry is fast and getting faster everyday. The saying "Time is Money" is
truer here than in most other businesses. Proper management of our time is
mandatory if we are ever to accomplish many of our business
objectives. Therefore it is imperative that we plan our time more
effectively.
While time management itself has many variations, there
are four basic principles with specific applications to the gem and jewelry
industry. These include "Know what you want to accomplish with your time", plan
in writing how to use your time, expand time when it counts and do it now.
We must strive to spend as much of our time as possible
as an investment which will pay off at a future date.
The pace of the 2000's is becoming unbelievably fast. As
gem and jewelry industry stakeholders you are all, "on the hot seat", to
perform and make things happen. There is only one way to do it without going
totally bonkers, and that is good, solid time management.
Editorial committee
K.P Dahamsondage
Sarath Weerasena
Ajith Perera
Editorial Consultant
Janaka Perera
Editorial Coordinator
Ajith Perera
Creative Director
Anosha Gamage
Art Director
Janaka Chamindha
Graphic Designer
Asanga Manjula
Chairman's message
It is encouraging to note from the statistics released by
the National Gem and Jewellery Authority(NGJA)that the first half of the
year 2007 has recorded a growth of 6.26% earning US$216 million;compared to
the corresponding period of 2006.
The removal of Port and Airport Development Levy (PAL)on
the import of gems,diamonds and gold enhanced Sri Lanka's competitiveness
which is reflected in a 28% growth in jewelry exports in the first
half of 2007.
Under the guidance of Dr Sarath Amunugama minister of
enterprise development & investment promortion who is ably assisted by
Hono.Mano Wijeyeratne,minister of enterprise development:gem imports are to
be further liberalized soon;enabling dealers to clear their gem import
consignments direct from the Airport Terminal Building, after
inspection by Customs.
In it's endeavors to promote the industry and mitigate
the adverse effect created by the present downturn in tourist arrivals.NGJA
has launched an E-commerce facility through its
website:srilankagemautho.com.Providing the opportunity to gem and jewellery
traders to offer their products for sale online.
"NGJA" will continue to provide strong leadership to the
gem and jewellery industry in Sri Lanka.
Hasitha Tillekeratne
Chairman,
National Gem and Jewellery
Authority.
Identification Technology
"Some useful remarks on
Cats Eye Chrysoberyl...."
By Gamini Zoysa- Gemmologist/Mineralogist
Sri Lanka has exported 42428cts of Cats eye chrysoberyl
valued at 409Mil in 2006 according to the statistics department of the
NGJA.(Gem talk-june 2007).This is 4% of the total gem exports during the
year.Quartz,Beryl,Tourmaline,Apatite,Sillimanite,and few other gem varieties
are also associated with this phenomenon but when one refers to cats
eye,people in the trade assume you are referring to Chrysoberyl cats
eye.Compared to the other cats eyes chrysoberyl cats eye is the most prized
and has the sharpest eye.
The impressive effect of chrysoberyl cats eye makes it
the most popular and desired phenomenal gemstone among the dealers.Orderly
arranged fine parallel fibre inclusions are the cause of this cats eye
effect which is also called Chatoyancy.
The chatoyant effect is produced as a result of
scattering and reflection of light from these sub-microscopically fine
parallel inclusions.If the top of the gem is made.
If the top of the gem is made to a cabochon forming a
dome,the light is concentrated to form a narrow line.When the dome is low
the chatoyant effect is destroyed.With a high dome the effect may not be
very distinct.
Cats eyes produce a brilliant sharp narrow line of
silverly light against a fine honey yellow or greenish yellow body
color. Grayish, Gray-green and brownish body colours are less desirable in
the trade.When a gem contains coarse fibre inclusions a broad rather than a
fine ray would be visible.Some dealers place a higher value on deep yellow
marginally towards a brownish colour,while others claim that greenish body
of honey colours as the most desirable.
Cats eyes is mostly used in mens jewellery.It became
popular in europe in the late 19th century.However today it has won the
hearts of many admirers in the far east.
Chrysoberyl and Alexandrite both have been synthesized in
various laboratories with near similar geological properties as those of
their natural counterparts.The cats eye on the other hand was never
commercially produced as a synthetic gem though there are many simulants for
it.
Chatoyant ray also exhibits two special effects.The first
is called the milk and honey effect.When a cats eye stone is held under a
powerful light source at right angles to the direction of the ray one may
notice that the part of the stone near the light source shows the real body
colour of the gem,while the other parts loose milky.The second effect is
when the stone is placed and rotated between two light sources when the
chatoyant band appears to open and close.
In grading cats eye chrysoberyl semi transparent stones
with a greenish yellow or a honey brown yellow colour without any visible
inclusions fetch a higher price.The Chatoyant ray (eye) should be silvery
white or yellow in colour ,further it should also be narrow bright and sharp
without breaks or waviness.The chatoyant ray should reach all the way across
the stone.The eye should open widely and close sharply and the milk and
honey effect should be visible.
Identification Technology
"Alexandite or
Chrysoberyl the everlasting controversy...."
by Neelamanee De Silva
The eye-catching gemstone Alexandrite derived its name
from the greatest Tsar Alexander the 2nd of Russia .Thereafter it has become
the gemstone which is most sought after in the world.
The specialty of Alexandrite lies in its amazing ability
of changing colours in different types of light. It is grass green to lemon
green in daylight and changes its colour to either mauve, red or brownish
red(Henry Russel) in the incandescent light .The chemical composition of
Chrysoberyl {BeAl2O4}with
added accessory Transitional element Chromium is what gives this phenomenal
change to Alexandrite.
The Mother variety of
Alexndrite known as
Chrysoberyl too,
sometimes gives the same
body colour
but no change in the
incandescent light.
Apart from properties
such as different colours
in Pleochromism,
Chromium spectrum
and the residual red
colour in the
Chelsea colour filter
along with
the body colour of green
all
other characteristics
are
identical to Chrysoberyl
A Gemmologist who should be able to identify any member
of the chrysoberyl group which contains these special characteristics,must
put it into the Alexandrite sub group without any influence or hesitation.
When the gemstone is sold or traded in the local or
international markets,it is essential to mention the colour change of the
stone as weak,medium or strong along with the conclusion of its identity .
Although technology has developed to an extent where the
dealer can always specify its required body colour as well as the intensity
of the colour change to the supplier and vice versa,still they do not
practice it,and the stone is deprived of its true identity.
Using modern information technology and placing an order
with the exact body colour and the colour change,one avoids lot of possible
misunderstandings which creates conflicts between the parties involved.
Every gemmologist has the right to declare the gemstones
true nature in black and white,based on internationally accepted facts
,immaterial of any influences or threats.
The hues of the changing colour of Alexandrite in the
incandescent light depends on the mineral contents and the transitional
elements of the soil it originated from and the valency changes of their
Chromium ions.eg Russian and Indian alexandrite have a colour change which
is maure where as stones found in Sri Lanka and Madagascar carry a brownish
red and deep red hues.
|
|
Alexandrite |
Chrysoberyl |
|
Body colour |
Grass Green, Lemon Green |
Any hue of Green |
|
Pleochroism |
Red, Yellow/Green, Green (Trichroic) |
Yellow/Green, Green(Dichroic) |
|
Chelsea Colour Filter |
Red |
|
Lapidarists in many Asian countries including Sri Lanka
concentrate more on the weight of th finished product than its quality and
orientation of the colour when cutting gemstones.Alexandrite or any
gemstone,fashioned with a correct orientation of the direction of colour
,always fetches a better price than a poorly cut stone.Lapidarists should be
able to balance both of these aspects giving preference to the best
orientation of the body colour and to the colour change when cutting
alexandrites.
There are some recently found deposits of Chrome rich
Chrysoberyls with a body colour of yellow,which cannot be categorized as
Alexandrite.
By taking the above facts into consideration,one can give
the Alexandrite its due recognition and value in the trade with the help of
modern technology by specifying its body colour and the colour change.
In my opinion these facts remained unchanged from the
time they discovered the methods of identification of gems,but traders have
twisted them for their own benefit which ultimately leads to these baseless
controversies.
