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Vol. 25, No. 4 Winter, 2007 |
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Vol. 25, No. 4 Winter, 2007 |
Total Ban on Burmese Gemstones?
by Robert Genis
The recent uprising in Burma was horrific. How could the military government
attack the revered Buddhist monks? Unfortunately, the uprising was put down and
we hear very little regarding the issue today in the mass media. In 2003,
President Bush signed the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act closing the U.S.
market to imports from Burma (Myanmar). At that time, the Gemstone Forecaster
postulated, “The million dollar question is will gemstones be banned from legal
importation, or will creative dealers find a way to circumvent the law? Whatever
the case, you can expect these goods to rise in price if any enter at all.” Both
events happened. These stones have risen in price and dealers “changed” the
country of origin by stopping off in Thailand or Hong Kong. Some gemstone trade
organizations are now calling for a total ban of all gemstones originating from
Burma. They want to close the loophole by not allowing Burmese gemstones to
change their country of origin by visiting secondary countries. The theory being
this will punish the Burmese Government into giving up its power. Sounds great
and would make us all feel warm and fuzzy, right? Let’s take a brief look at the
history of boycotts. Many are simply silly. Remember the Muslim boycott of
Denmark over a political cartoon? How about the American boycott of France, even
calling French fries Freedom fries. Probably the boycott closest to every
American is Cuba. This boycott has been going on for over 50 years. Is Fidel
still in power? Absolutely. The boycott has been a total failure and the price
of Cuban cigars is astronomical. A total ban on Burma gems could have the same
effect on Burma gemstone prices. Probably the longest ongoing economic boycott
has been against Israel. it has been under a boycott since the 1948. Has the
Israeli government changed its policies one iota? Hardly. We also know the US
economic boycott of Iraq didn’t work. If it was successful, America wouldn’t
have had to invade the country. As video of Sadam’s palaces proved, the leaders
of Iraq still lived like royalty under the boycott. Only the people suffered.
Some scholars put the world boycott of South Africa as a shining example of a
boycott that changed a government. However, many argue the sanctions actually
undermined the reform forces and were not effective in ending apartheid. The
problem with boycotting Burma is it is surrounded by China, India and Thailand.
There is no way these counties would abide by a boycott. They are not bothered
by the military government nor human right abuses. They are more than happy to
conduct more business with Burma if the Americans disengage from Burma. Unless a
country is totally hermetically sealed, a boycott has no chance. Maybe the
people espousing boycotts don’t know this but there is already a total boycott
on opium poppies from Burma. How successful is that? Burma is responsible for
90% of the heroin of SouthEast Asia. If the world cannot stop drug production,
how can it stop gemstones, where you can put a gem worth $1 million in the palm
of your hand? The Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act closed the U.S. market to
imports from Burma. What effect did this have on Burma? All of the 350,000
textile workers lost their jobs in Burma. Many women are now in the
“hospitality” business. Can we consider this a successful boycott that changed
the Burmese government? No. Do we really want to put the 100,000 people who
survive off the gem market in Mogok out of business? If you really want to
change the government of Burma, we believe you should financially support the
pro democracy forces in Burma. You can google them.
Editor: Here is an excellent letter written by David Federman,
Editor-In-Chief of Colored Stone magazine on why we shouldn’t ban Burma ruby,
sapphire or spinel. If we are going to boycott gemstones, he argues, we should
boycott jade, a gemstone primarily controlled by the government. He also
contends we should boycott large international corporations doing business in
Burma. It is followed by the Jewelers of America press release calling for a
total ban on all Burma gemstones.
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE JEWELRY INDUSTRY REGARDING THE BURMA GEM BOYCOTT
Dear Industry Friends,
I am writing you to express my own personal misgivings and ambivalence about the
growing Burma gem boycott. These doubts and questions arise after having
discussed the gem boycott with European gem dealers who spend the majority of
their time in Burma, then investigating the facts they give in support of far
different resistance tactics than the ones we are using. Talking to men who know
Burma intimately and checking out for myself the realities of Burmese life as
they describe it has made me wonder if our attempt to do good might not actually
do more harm. Please hear me out.
If I understand Burmese internal affairs, the only gem from which the generals
profit handsomely—at least $100 million per annum—is jade. That gem is
definitely the general's cash crop (or should I say outcropping?). The reason is
simple: It's hard to smuggle boulders out of a country; it's easy to smuggle out
gem chips and slivers. So, in the case of jade, which is an easily controlled
commodity, I can see the logic of a global boycott. However, since America is
the epicenter of the gem boycott, and jade is principally an Asian delight, the
boycott is, I’m afraid, all bark and no bite.
Of course, miracles could happen. Trade pressure on China could ‘persuade’ that
country’s numerous jade fetishists to stop buying this coveted gem. But let’s
get serious. Jade is the gemological equivalent of crack cocaine in the Far
East. That’s why China has long been accepting this gem in lieu of cash for
repayment of Burma's enormous debt to its treasury. Anybody want to prod China
into an embargo on jade? And shouldn’t such a campaign have preceded calls for
an embargo? If the trade had threatened China with real sanctions such as
shifting manufacturing to other countries, then, it strikes me, China would
already be a boycott participant. And Chinese participation would do
terrifically tangible good by starving the beast rather than its victims.
Foregoing ruby, sapphire, spinel, peridot and moonstone purchases will do far
less direct damage to the real enemy, the junta - other than increasing the
misery of those it already has made miserable.
According to U.S. Customs and Irrawaddy, an influential on-line publication that
focuses on Burma, America imports around $300 million worth of ruby annually.
Most of it comes from Thailand, which is the main conduit for Burmese ruby. Keep
in mind that at least 70% of all Burmese ruby is low-grade material gathered at
Mongshu and sold for very little money to Thai dealers who then send it for
gemological reclamation. This consists of putting borax-coated stones in
furnaces which melt this powder and fill numerous cracks in the material with a
hybrid substance that is part-glass and part-corundum. Voila, opaque and
translucent stones become transparent stones. At the same time, oven cooking
bakes out the stones' blue color core and leaves them a lovely purplish-red.
In short, it is rehabilitation in Thailand that gives Burmese ruby most of its
value. Burmese gem smugglers, who would have to pay a 20% duty on stones if
declared in their own country, know the only buyers for their goods are those
with access to the alchemy that converts it from junk to gem. Of course, they
are not paid based on the potential of stones to be transformed from ugly
ducklings into swans. They are paid far less than they deserve—but far more than
they would make in Burma. Now if the purpose of a boycott is to punish
exploitative Thai dealers, then I'm all for it. But if the purpose is to hurt
the military government of Burma, ceasing to buy ruby will only hurt those that
the government subjugates—not the subjugators. To me, the idea that refusing to
buy smuggled ruby strikes a blow against the generals shows just how misguided
our understanding of Burma is. I think I could make a very persuasive case that
buying from the smugglers, who risk life and limb to sell in Thailand,
represents a significant show of support for one of the few successful forms of
economic resistance in Burma. We certainly thought that way about buying lapis
lazuli from Afghani smugglers during the Russian siege of that country. As a
colleague with whom I discussed this letter put it, “The Burmese black market is
sticking it to the Man.”
Okay, so how does the gem trade strike a meaningful blow to the generals? It’s
simple. Pledge zero attendance at the Burma Gem Emporium jade auctions and other
government-sponsored sales. A massive no-show will deprive the generals of at
least $100 million a year. (This, I am told, is way too conservative a figure,
especially since the Burmese government is upping the number of annual jade
auctions.) If no one comes to the auctions, the figure could plunge to zero. But
it will take planning and coordination on an international scale. So far, that
has not happened. Until it does, the gem boycott cannot succeed. Here’s what I’d
like to see happen.
If, as I hope, most Asian dealers belong to regional trade organizations, why
not petition those organizations to encourage members to cease buying jade from
Burma—at least for the time being. That would cause pain to people—mostly
fat-cat generals in the jade business—who deserve to feel it. Depriving Burma’s
military regime of the hundreds of millions of jade dollars it has long counted
on for subsidy, if not survival, would deal a resounding blow while ruby
abstinence at best would deal a slight pinch. One thing for sure, without
undermining jade sales, the boycott is doomed.
But trade sanctions against jade are only the beginning of a campaign that could
bring the Burmese generals to their knees. Let’s go one big, bold step farther
with our boycott planning—and link up with other industries to create a
cross-corporate web of resistance and solidarity.
Although $100 million is a hefty sum, it is far less than the estimated $200 to
$450 million that Total, the French oil company which is the world’s fourth
largest, pays the generals in annual royalty and concession costs to pump oil
and gas out of Burma. After the partnership deal was signed in 1992, the
generals used their first payment to buy 10 MIG fighters from Russia. In return,
the generals supplied the French with slave labor to build a pipeline,
conscripting local villagers for this work, and, ever since, have provided
ongoing pipeline security. If you think Blackwater ‘Pinkertons’ in Iraq are
brutal, check the record of the Burmese Army thugs who have been acting as
Total’s private goon squad. It is precisely this kind of corporate behavior that
encourages complacency among the Burmese generals—and indignation among France’s
EU neighbors. Yet each time the EU tries to bring sanctions against Burma, the
French government vetoed them.
In 2005, a massive corporate and consumer campaign against Total began in
Europe. Dozens of banks and pension funds sold their stock in Total. Thousands
of consumers refuse to gas up at Total stations. Slowly but surely, this
campaign is meeting with success. Indeed, Unocal, Total’s U.S. Burma pipeline
partner, has already settled out of court in a case brought against it for human
rights violations in Burma. It is this kind of action that should be the model
for a gem boycott. As things stand, I fear a gem boycott will have no other
effect than to make us feel good. But is feeling good the same as doing good?
Curiously, I see very little publicity given to this campaign against Total here
in America.
Look, I feel as helpless and angry as every other person with a conscience about
massive, unrelenting repression of human rights. I especially don't like
shooting into crowds of chanting, unarmed Buddhist monks. Do you know that the
military surrounded several major monasteries, raided them and beat hundreds of
monks bloody, senseless and, in some cases, unconscious? Did you also know that
when soldiers refused to take part in the beatings, they themselves were beaten
by their commanders? It took acts like this to finally incense large masses of
other Asians. There is talk in Thailand of making serious protests. Now comes
the big question: What forms do those protests take?
Here in America, we have been asked to protest by not buying Burmese
gems—primarily rubies. The symbolism of refraining from the purchase of
blood-red rubies is delicious, no? But ruby, report dealers who regularly buy in
Burma, is one of the most uncontrolled commodities in that country. That means
the generals don't get anywhere near the normal share of the proceeds from
commerce in this item. So not buying rubies seems to me counterproductive. We
are asking working class people to starve for the goal of attaining freedom.
Wouldn't it be better to say no to jade, which is under near-total government
control? Unfortunately, that means organizing gem boycotts in places like Hong
Kong and Singapore. Will the jewelry industry there join such actions? Don't
hold your breath.
As a strong believer in the teaching power of history, let me tell you a
cautionary tale about what happened when the U.S. government set the stage for
the current ruby ban in 2003. As you'll remember, Congress passed a ban on
imports of Burmese products, which Customs later weakened by allowing gems cut
elsewhere to be regarded as exports from the processing country. Do you know
what happened? The Thai dealers to whom the Burmese sell their gems told them
they would have to give them less money for their stones because the Americans
had banned Burmese gems and that would make it a lot harder to sell them. So all
our ban did was to squeeze the peasant a little harder than before. That, I
fear, is what the current ban will do--just provide the Thai, Chinese and Indian
dealers who will rush to take the place of Americans a new excuse to pay less.
Can you understand now why I am rethinking my personal support of the Burma gem
ban? Ordinarily, editors are not supposed to become advocates. But since there
has been no real informed debate on a movement as momentous as the Burma Gem
Boycott, I feel I have to start that process. Let me assure you that as
Editor-in-Chief of Colored Stone it will remain my duty to report on the ban
from BOTH sides. I'll continue to do my level-headed best to present the full
reality and complexity of this situation. But new nuances of understanding,
based on deeper inspection of the Burmese political and economic situation, lead
me to suspect that the gem ban asks the wrong people—at both ends of the
distribution chain—to make needless sacrifices: miners and consumers.
I think it would be far better to identify the corporations and companies who
most benefit from dealings with the generals and force every pension fund,
brokerage house and equity seller to stop trading in their stock; in conjunction
with this, we could get consumer groups to blacklist their products and
services. That would humble and hobble the military regime. Each time someone
divests themselves of Total stock, the Burma regime takes a big kidney punch.
And each time a car with its gas gauge on empty passes a Total gas pump, Total
feels a tightening hammer lock. Now that's a boycott.
Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's elected president under house arrest since the early
1990s, supports gem boycotts. She sees them as part of a rightful moral
remonstrance. So do I. But I think we must be more selective about the gems we
decide not to buy. Start with jade. In fact, stigmatize the gem for its
important role in sustaining Burma’s military junta. Next, get the auction
houses to stop offering it in Hong Kong and elsewhere (even if stones predate
the junta). Once the auction houses join the boycott, it has a real chance of
succeeding. But boycotting rubies no longer makes sense to me.
In talking with Burma travelers and traders, I have reached new conclusions
about ruby supply. Yes, the lion's share of material comes from Mongshu in
Burma. But the recent influx of lead glass-filled ruby suggests that East Africa
and Madagascar are playing major roles in supplying the market. And since
pinpointing origin is costly and time-consuming, and the results often
questionable, I don't think we can effectively segregate Burmese from African
goods. That means a ruby boycott would have to be comprehensive. So Africans as
well as Burmese get hurt. They’re already hurting enough. They don’t need the
final straw of a right-hearted but wrong-minded boycott to add to their pain.
If we want to stand up for Burma, we need to stand up to the corporations which
make deals with the government to control Burmese commodities. This has as much
to do with capitalism as conscience. You don't fight fire-breathing dragons with
blankets or even swords. You fight them with fire hoses. We can put this fire
out once and for all. The best weapon is sanctions voluntarily imposed by
financial markets.
Well, I've had my say. Now it's your turn. Comments and rebuttals are welcome.
If nothing else, let constructive and informed dialogue begin. Colored Stone
will facilitate any kind of truly comprehensive and representative forum.
David Federman,
Editor-in-Chief, Colored Stone
Jewelers of America press release
October 9, 2007
Jewelers of America Takes Action on Burmese Gemstones
JA appeals to Congress and issues advice to members concerning purchases of
Burmese gemstones
New York – Jewelers of America (JA), representing 11,000 member stores in the
United States, has sent letters to Congress and issued an advisory to its
members, detailing its deep concern about the current unrest in Burma and its
military government’s longstanding human rights violations.
In light of the continuing lack of democratic freedoms in Burma, as evidenced by
recent events in the country, JA has asked Congress to amend the Burmese Freedom
& Democracy Act of 2003, which bans the importation of products from Burma, so
that it includes gemstones mined in that country. JA also has asked that this
amendment remain effective until such time as Burma agrees to the democratic
reforms articulated in a proposed January 2007 resolution put before the United
Nations Security Council.
The proposed January 2007 U.N. resolution, which did not pass, called for
national reconciliation and democratization in Burma, the release of all
political prisoners, an end to human-rights abuses in the country, and the
inclusion of opposition and ethnic minorities in dialogue leading to a genuine
democratic transition. While the majority of the Security Council (including the
United States, United Kingdom, France, Belgium and Italy) supported the
resolution, others, including China, exercised their veto powers to reject it.
“Jewelers of America has also taken immediate steps to inform its members about
the situation in Burma and to advise them to source their gemstones in a manner
that respects human rights,” says JA President and CEO Matthew A. Runci. “JA
members believe it is their responsibility to support and respect the protection
of international human rights within their sphere of influence and to make sure
the sourcing of gemstones is not complicit in human rights abuses, in line with
the commitments they assume as members of Jewelers of America. These commitments
include adherence to the principles of U.N. Global Compact, which JA has agreed
to support.”
JA members agree to the association's Statement of Principles, which articulates
their support of the U.N. Global Compact. To see the complete Statement of
Principles go to:
http://www.jewelers.org/aboutJA/responsibility.html
Some of the steps JA has asked its members to take include contacting their
suppliers to ascertain whether any of the gems they supply are from Burma.
Members should also seek, on all future orders placed, written assurances from
their suppliers that they will not knowingly supply any gems mined in Burma,
until the process of democratic reform has started in that country. Jewelers of
America is committed to the action plan outlined above and believes this is the
quickest way possible to make certain our members can assure themselves, and
their customers, that they are doing their part to help end the human rights
abuses ongoing in Burma.
Auction Reportss
Purplish-Red Diamond Sets Record
On November 15, 2007, a rare purplish-red diamond, the largest of its type ever
to appear at auction, sold for a record at a Christie's International sale in
Geneva. The 2.26 carat fancy purplish-red diamond, fetched $2.7 million. That's
$1,180,340 per carat, the highest ever for a red diamond at an auction. The red
stone probably was mined in Australia, given the depth of its color. The record
was previously held by a 0.95 carat gem called the Hancock Red, bought in 1987
for the equivalent of $926,316 per carat. Jeweler Laurence Graff was the buyer.
The results underscore a bull market in art and jewelry sales that has been
boosted by newly rich collectors from Russia, Asia and the Middle East.
Rare Blue Diamond Breaks World Record
In October, a flawless 6.04 fancy vivid blue diamond sold for US$7.98 million at
a Sotheby's auction in Hong Kong. This is a new record making it the most
expensive colored diamond in the world at US$1.32 million per carat. The price
smashed a 20-year-old record held by the "Hancock Red" -of US$926,000 per carat
and broke the record of the 2.26 purplish-red, which sold a month earlier.
The buyer was "Moussaieff Jewellers" in London which has a reputation for
acquiring extremely rare and costly gemstones. The seller was a private Asian
collector.
White Diamond Sells for $16.2 Million
In November, a rare D-color flawless diamond, the largest of its kind to come up
for auction, sold for $16.2 million at a Sotheby's sale in Geneva, Switzerland.
The white, brilliant-cut diamond, weighing 84.37 carats, was the second-most
expensive white diamond ever auctioned and at $191,980 a carat. It sold for the
the highest price per carat ever paid for a white diamond at auction. The buyer
was Georges Marciano, the founder of clothing company Guess? Inc., who named the
stone the Chloe Diamond after his 12-year-old daughter. The auction record for
any jewel was set in 1995 when Sotheby's sold a 100.1 carat stone called the
Star of the Season for $16.5 million. Prices of large, gem quality diamonds have
doubled during the past three years. A recent discovery from Africa, the stone
has never come up at auction before. A fancy vivid blue diamond, weighing 4.16
carats, also sold for $4.7 million at the same auction.
Christie’s NY Magnificent Jewels
Sales totaled over $24 million against a presale estimate of $15 million. A pear
shaped 53.71 carat D- flawless diamond sold for $5,753,000, or $107,000 per
carat, to Dubai-based Radwan Diamond Corporation. They named the gem the Dubai
Magnificence. A 12.43 carat cushion ruby sold for $2,001,000 to an Asian
private. An oval 3.86 carat fancy intense pink diamond sold to a European dealer
for $1,497,000.
Marie Antoinette's Pearls Don’t Sell
A set of pearls supposedly belonging to Marie Antoinette failed to sell at the
"Magnificent Jewels" sale at Christie's in December. Christie's had hoped the
pearls would fetch up to $815,000. The pearls were given to Elizabeth Leveson-Gower,
wife of the British ambassador to France. They were intended to help Marie
Antoinette if she managed to flee the country. Of course, the former queen never
saw the jewels again and was executed by the guillotine in 1793. The pearls were
made into a necklace when Lady Elizabeth's grandson married in 1849 and have
remained in the Leveson-Gower family for more than 200 years.
French Auction House Sells 6.5 Carat Blue Diamond For $3.5M
In December, French auction house, Guizzetti-Collet, sold a 6.5 carat blue
diamond for $3.56 million dollars. The stone fetched more than three times its
estimated value. The auctioneer said an unnamed international company, which
specializes in buying precious stones, placed the winning offer by telephone
during bidding. The "blue intense homogenous" colored diamond, with
"extraordinary" coloration, came from a ring bought in 1962 by the owners of a
champagne house, on the occasion of promoting a special vintage.
Faberge Egg Sells for $18.5 Million at Christie’s
In November, an enamel-and-gold Faberge egg that the Rothschild banking family
possessed for more than a century sold for record $18.5 million at Christie’s
auction. The sale of the translucent pink egg topped with a diamond-studded
cockerel was the highest for a Faberge work of art. The price easily beat the
$9.6 million paid for a Faberge egg in New York in 2002.
Russian Czar Alexander III commissioned the first of the elaborate eggs from
craftsman Peter Carl Faberge as an Easter gift for his wife, Empress Maria
Fedorovna. The empress was so enamored of that 1885 piece, that the czar
commissioned a new egg every Easter. After the czar died in 1894, his son
Nicholas continued the tradition until the Russian Revolution in 1917. Nicholas
and his family were executed in 1918. Faberge created more than 50 eggs for
Russia's imperial family, though not all survive. The Rothschild Faberge Egg is
one of no more than 12 such pieces known to have been made to imperial standards
for private clients. The Rothschild family did not say why they put the egg for
sale. It was sold to a Russian buyer after 10 minutes of bidding.
Gemstone Tidbits
World’s Largest Diamond Update
In the last Gemstone Forecaster, Vol. 24, No. 3, Fall, 2007, the Gemstone
Forecaster discussed the purported find of a 7,000 carat greenish diamond in the
North West province, Africa.
After months of speculation, the material was denounced as a “piece of plastic”.
Brett Jolly, the controversial man who started this fiasco by bragging the stone
was real now claims he was a victim of fraud. According to Jolly, the miners
showed him the 7000 carat diamond by the side of the road. The miners then
produced a diamond tester. Jolly says they had seemingly fixed it beforehand to
give a positive reading, but forgot to take the cap off while they did the test,
making nonsense of the claim that the instrument showed it was a genuine
diamond. Jolly had a marketing agreement with the two miners by which he had an
option to buy the piece of land where the stone was said to have been found and
was entitled to 10% of any diamonds found there.
Jolly now contends the stone was salted on the property to dupe him into buying
the land. The most honest man in the entire soap opera is Ernest Blom, the
president of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses. He never got to examine so
called diamond and has withdrawn from the process.
'Cursed' Delhi Purple Sapphire on Display
The 'Delhi Purple Sapphire', a gemstone that is believed by many to be "cursed",
went on public display at the Vault in the Natural History Museum in England in
late November. It is actually not a sapphire but an amethyst. The stone was
brought to the UK by a Bengal cavalryman Colonel Ferris after being looted from
the Temple of Indra in Kanpur during the Indian Mutiny in 1857. The soldier
thereafter lost money and health and the same problems happened to his son after
inheriting it. A family friend who possessed it for a short time committed
suicide. Edward Heron-Allen, a scientist and friend of writer Oscar Wilde was
the last owner. He was given the stone in 1890 and was immediately beset by
trouble. He twice gave the stone to friends who had asked for it. One friend
"was thereupon overwhelmed by every possible disaster", and the other, a singer,
found "her voice was dead and gone and she has never sung since." Heron-Allen
claimed to have thrown the amethyst into Regent's Canal only for it to be
returned to him three months later by a dealer who had bought it from a dredger.
In 1904, he had had enough. He declared: "I feel that it is exerting a baleful
influence over my newborn daughter", had it shipped to his bankers with
instructions that it will be locked away till after his death. In the note
written by Heron-Allen said, “This stone is trebly accursed and is stained with
the blood, and the dishonour of everyone who has ever owned it.” The stone was
mounted in a silver ring decorated with astrological symbols and mystical words
with two scarab-carved gems.
'Dinnertime Bandit' Arraigned
In November, after nine years on the run in Europe, Alan W. Golder, was brought
before a judge for arraignment. Golder, 52, did not enter a plea and was ordered
held on a $3 million bond. He had been living in Belgium and Paris and has had
seven aliases. He was extradited from Belgium to Greenwich, Connecticut. Police
charged him with 40 felony counts, including burglary, larceny, kidnapping, and
break-ins in the 1990s. He is a suspect in 50 burglaries in New York, New Jersey
and Pennsylvania, totaling about $5 million in stolen jewelry. Authorities
estimate nearly $1 million in goods were taken in the Greenwich thefts. The
homes were broken into at sundown or early evening when many residents were home
and alarm systems were off. Most of the break-ins occurred through second-story
windows. The suspect moved about quietly and left little trace of anyone being
there. Golder could get into an upstairs window by shimmying up support columns
or scaling gutters, wore gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints and donned a black
"ninja" type suit with a black hood with slits for eye holes. But he left some
evidence behind, including a distinctive tread pattern from a Reebok Exo-Fit
sneaker.
Golder was also acrobatic. During one burglary, he dove out a bathroom window
onto a flat roof when an 8-year-old girl saw him and screamed. "This maneuver
required a marked degree of dexterity as the window or frame was not damaged
during the flight," the arrest affidavit states.
During another robbery, Golder physically restrained a woman when she came into
the master bedroom. "You had to come in the bedroom," he told her. The homeowner
was "manipulated in a strong arm fashion" through the house as the robber asked
for fine jewelry. After she objected to being put in a closet, he tied her to a
bed with her husband's neckties and stole her Jaguar. His brother told police
that Golder "gets a rush" out of burglarizing homes while the owners are home.
Golder would test the gems and sell the stolen jewelry in the New York diamond
district and sometimes traded gems for fake identification, including a false
international driver's license. After fleeing one of his homes, Golder left
behind a copy of a story proposal about his life, titled "Precious Metal:
Confessions of a Rock 'n' Roll Jewel Thief." Police have said that they do not
know how much of the story was true and that it did not contain any information
that helped in the current investigation.
South African Robbery
Security guards arrived at work to find their night shift colleagues tied up. On
the second floor, the robbers used angle grinders to cut through the safes. The
only safe armed with an alarm system was left untouched. The dust from the safes
covered "every inch of open space" in the office. Papers were strewn across the
floor and desks lay broken. Some of the cameras were torn from the walls. Many
of the ceiling boards had been ripped open and the alarm wires were cut. At the
entrance to the business park, a video camera lay broken in the grass. Unity
Diamond Distributors had been robbed. The owners estimate at least US $300,000
worth of cut and polished diamonds were taken. A reward has now been offered for
information leading to the recovery of the diamonds by Lloyds of London
underwriters on a pro rata basis. Investigations are under way to determine
whether the robbery was an inside job.
Jewelry Thief Caught in His PJs
Condo Joe, a Miami fugitive with a long history of lock-pick robberies, has been
arrested at least once each decade since the 1980s for stealing gemstones.
Joseph Carbone, 60, aka Condo Joe, a longtime Miami-Dade police nemesis and
old-school lock-pick thief specializes in expensive jewelry in pricey condos. He
was recently arrested in his pajamas in Palm Bay, Florida, where he was living.
He was wanted on theft charges. Condo Joe allegedly sifted through a couple's
night stand in their condo and sped away in a black Ford Crown Victoria. The
couple wrote down his license plate and called police. About six officers,
including the crime suppression unit, arrested Carbone without incident. He was
taken to Brevard County jail but later transported to Collier County. Carbone
has vowed that his days of jewelry theft won't end anytime soon. "I'm a
lock-pick until the day I die," he told police. "They'll have to pry the
lock-picks from my cold, dead fingers."
Japanese Robbery Linked to Pink Panther Crime Ring
Two robbers who netted jewelry worth US$2 million in Ginza, Tokyo, this summer
are believed to be members of a group that committed a series of robberies in
the United Arab Emirates, Denmark and Britain. The information was relayed to
the Japanese authorities through Interpol. The members of a Europe-based crime
ring known as the Pink Panther, which uses similar methods to those employed in
the Ginza heist.
Last spring, two stolen cars rammed into a jewelry shop inside a shopping mall
in Dubai. Several men emerged from the cars and stole from some showcases. The
entire operation took under two minutes. DNA obtained from the car left at the
scene matched records on Interpol's wanted list. Three European men, who had
been hiding in the country, were arrested two weeks later.
Similar robberies occurred in late June in Copenhagen and in early July in
London, when a group of several men escaped with a large amount of jewelry.
Each theft had something in common, such as the tools used--including tear gas
spray--as well as specific professional methods. The three men arrested in the
UAE had fake passports that originally belonged to men who had died in wars. One
man had 14 such fake passports. One of the three men allegedly was responsible
for logistics, arranging accommodation for the other men and providing tools for
the crimes. Their statements revealed there are more than 30 members of the
group. The UAE police informed Interpol that the Ginza theft probably was
committed by the same group.
School of Rocks: All You Need to Know About Coloured Diamonds
By Julia Robson
November 26, 2007
Dail Mail, England
Plain white diamonds no longer cut any ice. Today it's all about ultra-rare
coloured stones.
"It sets them apart. Women love them because they are beautiful. Men love them
because they make a sound investment." In the past two years their value has
rocketed by 300 per cent, which justifies why they are now top of the shopping
list for the super-affluent in pursuit of the exceptionally rare.
As a response to this coloured diamond fever, Cartier recently launched an
eyepopping jewellery range inspired by the brand's Indian gemstone heritage. The
Inde Mysterieuse collection features 34 whoppers, and the smallest piece — a
pair of earrings featuring two rose-cut yellow diamonds with brown diamond beads
and drops — costs £169,000. Despite the astronomical prices, it has already
almost sold out.
"Coloured diamonds are about for ever fashion," says Lucy Willis from
Selfridges, who are now selling coloured diamonds by Tiffany and Cartier for the
first time in their newly-opened Wonder Room in its Oxford Street store. But the
best place to see the latest rockson- the-block is The Vault, a new gallery that
will open at The Natural History Museum this Wednesday.
The piece de resistance of the exhibition is the Aurora Collection, which
features 296 naturally-coloured diamonds, some the size of golf balls. "Most
stones half as interesting are locked in a vault and never see the light of
day," explains curator Alan Hart. "This is without a doubt the best coloured
diamond collection you are ever likely to see" But, thankfully, you don't have
to be a film star or a millionaire if you want to do more than just look.
As coloured diamonds become increasingly popular, more and more jewellers are
sourcing small stones in all colours of the rainbow, with prices starting from
around £800.
"Historically, diamonds are all about power," believes Carmen Busquets of
Couturelab, a fashion shop selling coloured diamond jewellery. "White diamonds
have connotations with engagement. Coloured diamonds give a show of
individuality and independence. "Before, if you wanted coloured diamonds you
went to Cartier or Van Cleef and spent £1million. "But recently, contemporary
designers who work with the same quality coloured diamonds are offering
personalised designs on a much smaller budget. "Something to wear all day — not
just at night." Prices for her coloured diamond jewellery start at £8,000. Just
in time for your Christmas wish-list, we've compiled the Lifestyle guide to
buying coloured diamonds.
What are they?
Out of 80,000 carats of rough diamonds mined every year, only 0.001 per cent
have a colour (that's one in 10,000). Their colour is the result of naturally
occurring chemicals and processes in formation. Yellow diamonds are the result
of the presence of nitrogen. Blue is an excess of boron. Pink and red are
thought to be the result of manganese. Green diamonds are caused by exposure to
naturally occurring radiation from radioactive elements such as uranium.
Colors
Stones are graded by their vivacity of colour. No two are the same, and often
there is a secondary as well as a predominant colour. The secondary modifying
colour is described using the suffix "-ish". So a "vivid greenish yellow" is a
yellow diamond with green overtones. When a diamond has two colours equally
present, then both are named. All diamonds are graded on a scale from D to Z.
With white diamonds, D is colourless and Z is bright yellow. As colour becomes
saturated they become known as "fancy" diamonds and graded from fancy intense to
faint.
Least unusual (so least expensive) are pale grey, brown and black. Yellow and
orange are quite rare, while pink is rare. Rarer still are violet, green, blue
and red.
"A fancy stone is about colour and consistency," says Tony Cox, designer at Cox
& Power.
• PINK was put on the global map after Jennifer Lopez was given a 6.1 carat pink
diamond engagement ring, costing around £1 million, by Ben Affleck. Victoria and
David Beckham own his and hers pink diamond rings.
• PURPLE made headlines when American basketball superstar Kobe Bryant gave his
wife an 8 carat purple diamond costing $4 million.
• GREEN commands astronomical prices. Mined in Brazil, South Africa, Ghana and
Siberia.
• BLUE. The most famous stone is the Hope Diamond, a staggering 45.52 carats,
housed at The Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington. The diamond is
legendary for the curse it supposedly puts on whoever possesses it.
• RED is by far the rarest of all coloured diamonds and almost priceless. The
largest fancy red ever graded is the Moussaieff Red, which is 5.11 carats and
was discovered in the 1990s by a now not-so-poor farmer tending his crops in
Brazil.
• BROWN: The most widely available and most affordable coloured diamonds, they
range from cognac to chocolate.
• BLACK: These stones are usually opaque, yet they still display the sparkle and
lustre unique to diamonds.
What to Look out for: The Four C’s
Cut, colour, clarity and carat dictate cost. "We show customers the biggest
stone they can get for their money and work backwards from here," says Ben
Marriott of Wint & Kidd, who advises people always to buy from a specialist.
"Buy the colour you love and the best you can afford," says Tony Cox, who
specialise in one-off pieces featuring coloured diamonds from around £800 (for a
pair of cognac stone earrings). "We look at 100 stones and only select five. Not
all are lovely."
The following is for snail mail only:
Write:
NGC
P. O. Box 42468
Tucson, AZ 85733
Call: 1-800-458-6453 or (520)-577-6222
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For comments, questions or price quotes E-mail NGC, Attn: R. Genis