A gem dealer's journal

Just like most girls, I always liked jewellery. But I found it extremely difficult to find jewellery from stores that I liked and would've wanted to wear. This is the main reason why I decided to go and study how to create jewellery myself. I just wanted to be able to do things that I'd like.

To me, jewellery is conceptual – it tells a story or speaks of a feeling, often even when it wasn't intended. People make assumptions about others based on how they interpret the adornments seen. It's one of the ways jewellery is never really silent, nor meaningless. I find it important that the person who's proudly wearing a piece of jewellery is the first one who should know about it. And not just how to take care of it.

Combining my passion, skills, and knowledge about gems and jewellery not just gives me the freedom to do what I love, but also the ability to understand that vast world on much deeper levels.

Hey Loungers,  Today we propose you a bit of a special episode of A Gem Dealer's Journal, as we will be discussing our latest trip to Madagascar. While the Hunt for Red October was already taken by Tom Clancy, we decided to go after Pink August which was conveniently more readily available in the area of Ilakaka.  For those of you that would like to learn more about Ilakaka and its surrounding we propose you to follow this link to an article by Vincent Pardieu while he was at the GIA Bangkok: read now.   Our merry group upon arrival...

Hey Loungers,

Those of you that have been following us since the start have surely heard of Jeffery “Master” Bergman, if only for his column in our pages: Introduction to Gemology.

Jeff, besides having been a kind and caring master in the trade to our teams, has a solid 40 plus year experience in the trade under his belt and is likely to be one of the most prominent, and vocal members of our merry industry.

Jeff has been lecturing countless times for the prestigious GIA Gathering in Bangkok on a variety of topics ranging from rubies and sapphire to emeralds without ever forgetting the memorable Opal talk about two three years ago which forced titans of the opal trade to bow down and publicly acknowledge their mistakes.

All in all, Jeff does no longer need introduction yet here we are, welcoming him for a long overdue interview for a Gem Dealer’s Journal.

Jeff, the floor is yours,

Hey Loungers, Here comes the second part of our interview with Stewart Young. After exploring the world of auction houses with him in the first part of this interview we are discussing today the rise of his brand. How is a jewellery brand created, what makes its DNA attractive to customers and what makes for a successful business in our trade. Without any further delay I give you today’s guest: Mr. Stewart Young!   Here is Stewart Young featuring a lovely Fairy Brooch - Photo Credit: Tiancheng International   AsiaLounges: Hi Stewart and thank you for being with us again today....

Hey Loungers,

As you may have noticed in our recent interviews, the question of ethics and transparency in the gem trade is a bit of a recurring issue of late.

Today, we are lucky enough to have with us Hayley Henning from the Greenland Ruby A/S and we will be discussing just this: Ethics in the gem mining industry.

Greenland Ruby A/S is the only large scale gem mining company to operate under the European Union laws to my knowledge and perhaps the only ruby mine in the world that can claim to stand on ethical grounds.

Back to Hayley though, she has been working for various of the most iconic mining operations in the last twenty years among which the now known as Tanza One that she helmed for little under a decade!

Without any further delays we give you, Hayley Henning!