Modern Jeweler’s Consumer Guide to Colored Gemstones

Nonfiction, Science & Nature, Science, Earth Sciences, Mineralogy, Art & Architecture, General Art, Criticism
Cover of the book Modern Jeweler’s Consumer Guide to Colored Gemstones by David Federman, Springer US
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: David Federman ISBN: 9781468464887
Publisher: Springer US Publication: December 6, 2012
Imprint: Springer Language: English
Author: David Federman
ISBN: 9781468464887
Publisher: Springer US
Publication: December 6, 2012
Imprint: Springer
Language: English

Since early 1989, a gem dealer I've known for years has been calling me every few weeks to brief me on mounting mayhem in Colombia's lucrative emerald market. The troubling gist of these calls is always this: There is a full-fledged turf war going on between that South American country's bustling drug and gem trades for control of its emerald ex­ port business. According to this dealer and several others, anywhere from two to four thousand emerald industry people, mostly miners and deal­ ers, have been murdered since 1980. No doubt the gem sector, itself never gun shy, has retaliated in full and in kind. After all, the two groups have banded together in an intermittent alliance against a common enemy-Communist guerillas-with results the CIA would envy. I mention this bloodshed because of something the gem dealer once said to me: "I bet you never think of what a gem has to go through to get to a jewelry store:' He's right. I tend to think of colored stones as things of beauty, not objects of gruesome power struggles between mining kingpins and drug lords. Can you blame me, or anyone with insider knowledge, if a gem sheds any connection with its past once sculpted by a cutter into the glittering mar­ vel we see in a jeweler's showcase? Like Odysseus listening to the sirens' song, we become victims of an aesthetics-induced amnesia.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Since early 1989, a gem dealer I've known for years has been calling me every few weeks to brief me on mounting mayhem in Colombia's lucrative emerald market. The troubling gist of these calls is always this: There is a full-fledged turf war going on between that South American country's bustling drug and gem trades for control of its emerald ex­ port business. According to this dealer and several others, anywhere from two to four thousand emerald industry people, mostly miners and deal­ ers, have been murdered since 1980. No doubt the gem sector, itself never gun shy, has retaliated in full and in kind. After all, the two groups have banded together in an intermittent alliance against a common enemy-Communist guerillas-with results the CIA would envy. I mention this bloodshed because of something the gem dealer once said to me: "I bet you never think of what a gem has to go through to get to a jewelry store:' He's right. I tend to think of colored stones as things of beauty, not objects of gruesome power struggles between mining kingpins and drug lords. Can you blame me, or anyone with insider knowledge, if a gem sheds any connection with its past once sculpted by a cutter into the glittering mar­ vel we see in a jeweler's showcase? Like Odysseus listening to the sirens' song, we become victims of an aesthetics-induced amnesia.

More books from Springer US

Cover of the book Phylogenetic Perspectives on the Vertebrate Immune System by David Federman
Cover of the book After the Crime by David Federman
Cover of the book Biochemical Aspects of Nervous Diseases by David Federman
Cover of the book Molecular Mechanisms of Programmed Cell Death by David Federman
Cover of the book Supported Complex and High Risk Coronary Angioplasty by David Federman
Cover of the book An Odyssey Through the Brain, Behavior and the Mind by David Federman
Cover of the book Helicobacter pylori Infection and Immunity by David Federman
Cover of the book Molecular and Cellular Biology of Prostate Cancer by David Federman
Cover of the book Experimentation in Software Engineering by David Federman
Cover of the book Methods of Pesticide Exposure Assessment by David Federman
Cover of the book Urban Wildlife Conservation by David Federman
Cover of the book Medical Neuropsychology by David Federman
Cover of the book The Measurement of Economic Relationships by David Federman
Cover of the book Operational and Environmental Consequences of Large Industrial Cooling Water Systems by David Federman
Cover of the book Post-Traumatic Arthritis by David Federman
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy