Hey Loungers,
Today we have the pleasure of interviewing a friend who is a well-known journalist and author of the recently published, No Stone Unturned: the Hunt for African Gems Richa Goyal Sikri.
Some may know her from the plethora of articles she has written for various publications such as Rapaport magazine, InColor, Natural Diamond Council, and Harper’s Bazaar. Others may be more familiar with her digital storytelling (marketing) work for brands like KV Gems or the Diamond Exchange of Singapore to name only two. Yet others may have attended one of her lively presentations at GemGenève.
Today, we are happy to learn how Richa first stumbled into our world from a more corporate life, and what took her on her peculiar path, which has culminated into the publication of No Stone Unturned.
Enough with the introductions, today’s friend will no doubt do much better than we ever could in telling us more about herself and her path, Richa, the floor is yours!
Introducing Richa Goyal Sikri and her new book: No Stone Unturned - Photo Credit: Gemfields Plc.
Simon Dussart: First of all, welcome Richa, it is a pleasure having you with us today. While we have mentioned some of your present and past deeds, I figured no-one could tell us more about you than yourself so, can you tell us more about yourself, who are you Richa Goyal Sikri?
Richa Goyal Sikri: I am simply a gem addict who is living life from one hit to the next. A happy side effect of this addiction is the opportunity to work as a gem and jewellery journalist, storyteller, and now published author.
Simon Dussart: I have always found people’s path in life to be fascinating and, to an extent, these interview series are a testament to that. As such, what I would love to hear from you today is about your beginnings in the trade and how you first stepped into it prior to becoming who you are today? What made you want to work in this industry?
Richa Goyal Sikri: There were a few moments in my life that led to this second career. The first was around 2010 when I was trying to buy a ruby necklace. The jeweller selling the piece informed me that the rubies were Burmese, but when he quoted the price, it seemed too good to be true, and I declined the purchase. I later learnt the stones were glass-filled Madagascar rubies. The incident motivated me to start educating myself about coloured gemstones. I moved to Singapore around this time and met a French gemmologist who was my first guru. Her desire to visit the sapphire mines in Sri Lanka and my background in tourism, resulted in me curating my first gem journey in 2014. The final trigger was the positive response I received from members of the press, the gem and jewellery industry and jewellery lovers when I made my Instagram account public. Insta was where I had been documenting my experiences, and storytelling about gemstones. Alongside gems, I was fascinated with the people involved at every step from mine to market in transforming these colourful pebbles into collectible jewels. The desire to spend more time listening to stories and being immersed in the gem world is what motivated me to explore the possibility of a career in the industry.
Simon Dussart: Your latest book: No Stone Unturned, is a phenomenal testament to Africa’s underground diversity and was, as you mention very clearly in the book, commissioned by Gemfields. What I’m interested in knowing today is, what decided you to write this book and what pushed you to take the angle you have taken? Could you tell us more about it ?
Richa Goyal Sikri: The main reason I became a journalist, and storyteller was so it would give me an excuse to have long conversations with people in the industry without the pressure of buying something after chewing their brains for a few hours. From the start I was obsessed with the notion of creating original content (whether for an article or Insta), instead of regurgitating previously published work. When I heard Sean Gilbertson (CEO Gemfields) announce that Gemfields was seeking a journalist for this project, I threw my hat in the ring. The book seemed like a natural next step to my work as a storyteller in the industry and I am grateful to Gemfields for taking a chance since this is my debut book.
The original brief was to write a collection of adventure stories based on the experiences of industry legends by March 2021, delivering 20 stories or 100,000 words. Gemfields gave me free reign to shape the project as I saw fit. I reached out to numerous individuals that I respected in the gem industry to gather their diverse perspectives and request for introductions to people who they felt had authentic stories. As I delved deeper into the project, I realised it needed more time. I wanted the book to be inclusive of a wide array of experiences while documenting human stories related to notable gem deposits that have had an enormous impact on the gem and jewellery industry.
The book was finally published by Austin Macauley in the last week of May 2024. I delivered 24 stories and around 146,000 words.
"A Land called Kagem" in the 70's - Photo Credit: A. Gupta
Simon Dussart: It appears to me that, both you and the book’s patron: Gemfields, have a strong interest in making sure people understand the origin of the gems, romance the origin of the gem if you wish. Why is that so important in your opinion?
Richa Goyal Sikri: When you visit a museum and stand in front of a work of art. You can appreciate it at a superficial level. But if a guide comes along and starts sharing the backstory of the artist, the piece, and secrets related to its creation, then your appreciation of the artwork will be more meaningful, long lasting. It’s the same with gemstones. We can look at them as pretty little things but when we understand their origin story, the conditions under which they are extracted, what it takes to bring them to market, hopefully our distant view of them is transformed into a deeper love that lasts forever. This is not only important, its everything. If there is no meaning and no love, then there is no ‘us’ (industry).
Simon Dussart: Further to my previous question, what is your take on our trade’s eternal debate: Origin VS Beauty? Which of these two factors should receive the lion share of our attention and why in your opinion?
Richa Goyal Sikri: It must be beauty first because that has a direct impact on value and determines demand. All things being equal one can double click on ‘origin’ for the purposes of determining rarity, appreciating the gem’s unique characteristics, and for effective storytelling.
Simon Dussart: Back to your book, I’d be curious to hear about stories around the way you gathered your information and whether you had to go yourself to some of the places you narrate the story of or if it was mostly done by mail or phone interviews of the protagonists? Further to that, why did you choose these particular stories?
Richa Goyal Sikri: While I have visited mines, manufacturing centres, met and spent time with some of the contributors, this book is not a travelogue. Even if I want to, I can’t visit Antananarivo in 1968, because it doesn’t exist. As I said before, No Stone Unturned was commissioned during the pandemic when it was impossible to travel. To summarise, the process involved spending countless hours in conversation with multiple contributors over weeks, months, swimming through their memory palaces to extract raw experiences that I combined with fictional scenes, dialogue, characters to create these short stories. The degree of fictional elements varies depending on the story.
Authenticity was integral to the selection process, which is also why this book took four years. No Stone Unturned is not only about legendary individuals such as Julius Petsch, Shiv Shankar Gupta, Campbell Bridges, Abe Nassi, but also about hidden figures like Daudi and Naushad Osman, Joseph Mbiriri, Zo Harimalala, and Major Akpuaka. It’s about big wins but also reality checks.
Picture of the Scorpions & Raiders - Naushad 1979-1981 - Photo Credits: Naushad
Simon Dussart: Your book emphasises the mine to market approach in the trade. What changes would you like to see, believe we should operate, in how the gems are sourced and sold to ensure a more ethical practices? Actually, how would you define ethics in the trade ?
Richa Goyal Sikri: I’ve written several articles on responsible sourcing, and four years working on this book has been an incredible learning experience for me in this space. Think of responsible behaviour like a multi-tier cake. You can’t start from the top. The first step must be the foundation, which in my opinion is transparency. What I mean by this is being true and clear in what you are selling? Treatments, enhancement, and origin (to whatever extend possible). Be clear in what you know about the stone and what you don’t know. To this layer, we can add others such as responsible behaviour towards our suppliers, employees, community, and environment. Often when you say the word ‘responsible’ the tendency is to point a finger to a miner or a merchant, what about the government? How is the government and the bureaucracy supporting the industry?
Simon Dussart: In your book you discuss, recall if you wish, the path of many a trader, dealer or gemologist, what is the most important lesson you are taking from these stories? What is the one thing you think we, as an industry should take with us from these past and present titans of the trade?
Richa Goyal Sikri: There is no shortcut to hard work. Success takes time and perseverance. If you are not in it for the long run, then don’t bother entering this industry.
The Tanzanite Chase - Adrian Banks 2003 - Photo Credits: Adrian Banks
Simon Dussart: The gem world, while often seen as glamorous, can also be a bit of a cut throat industries. We sadly have our lots of scammers, thieves and other types of bandits. What would be your approach to educate actual members of the trades as well as new entrants in order to ensure that the trade remains secure for its sake and that of our customers?
Richa Goyal Sikri: Knowledge is power. I am shocked at receiving messages from gem traders who don’t even understand the basics of gemmology. This doesn’t mean that everyone must enrol in an expensive course. There is plenty of free information available online or in libraries if someone is really interested in education. To enhance my gem knowledge from my mine visits, I used to visit the National Library of Singapore and check out books, which I would take home and study every night, cover to cover. I then started buying not only contemporary books, but also old rare books published in the late 19th and early 20th century. On the GIA and Gem-A websites you can find a plethora of free articles on every gem deposit on planet earth. I have also mentioned web addresses of articles throughout the book, which readers may use to further deepen their understanding of gemstones.
Simon Dussart: Richa, it has been a pleasure discussing with you throughout this interview. One last traditional question for you, which three books do you consider to be a capital read for anyone in the trade? And what are the three best advices you can provide to new entrants trying to follow in your footsteps ?
Richa Goyal Sikri: Difficult to pick only three books, but here goes. Secrets of the Gem Trade by Richard W. Wise, Ruby & Sapphire (A collector’s guide) by Richard Hughes, and GEMPEDIA by Rui Galopim de Carvalho.
First, bring something new to the conversation instead of copying another person’s path to success. Ask yourself, how are you adding value? What makes you unique? Second, give yourself time. There is a sense of impatience in becoming successful. A focus on the end goal without enjoying the journey. Breathe, go for walks alone without headphones and mobiles, and just spend time thinking, introspect. I enjoyed every milli-second of writing No Stone Unturned. A part of me didn’t want to publish the book and just stay in the R&D mode. Finally, only only only do what makes you happy. If you enjoy what you are doing you will work ridiculously hard, and that happiness and sweat will show in the quality of your work.
Simon Dussart: Thank you very much Richa for being with us today. I am convinced that our readers, the Loungers, have enjoyed this interview as much as we enjoyed writing these lines.
As for us, we will meet you again soon in the Lounges with more exciting content!
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See you again in the Lounges,