From its opening chapters, the authors demonstrate a deep command of the subject, weaving together archaeological evidence, historical accounts and drawings, as well as technological details and advances to show how humans have transformed rough minerals into objects of beauty and value.

Among the book’s main strengths is its chronological clarity. The early chapters explore the rudimentary polishing techniques of ancient civilizations, revealing how limited tools produced enduringly elegant forms. As the narrative moves into the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the authors highlight the innovations that accompanied the development of better abrasives and more precise cutting instruments. These sections are particularly vivid with diagrams and illustrations to help the reader visualize the evolution from simple cabochons to the earliest faceted stones to the designs still in use today.

For aficionados and/or students, the authors provide detailed instructions and information—pavilions, size, facets, etc.—on fifty antique designs, thus making these historic cuts accessible to gemcutters today. They also provide beautiful photos of the actual historic cuts and modernized versions of the same cut.

As stated in the book’s beginning, the authors strived to make the designs as simple and easy to use as possible… [The designs] have been compiled from photos, drawings, notes, museum collections, and more, and then adapted into 21st century faceting diagrams… Many of the designs have been forgotten today, but all of them have something to teach us.

These two pages describing the Cheapside Trap Cut, along with its detailed cutting data, are representative of the type of information and images offered in the book. For this particular cut, the authors describe it as follows: This design comes from the Cheapside Hoard from 17th century London. It is one of the simpler designs for colored stones that we see represented in the Hoard. In this pattern, we can clearly see the evolution from the Table Cut with only four facets and a table on the crown to something more creative and complex. Adding four corner facets introduces triangular elements and yields a lozenge-shaped table. This produces a softer more elegant look than the blocky, rigid Table Cut and paves the way for the fuller brilliant pattern later refined in the subtly different French Cut.

Below are a few examples of the historical cuts and diagrams in the book.

Skipping ahead a century or so, and many examples in between, is an interesting discussion—along with suggestions to prospective cutters, of the Old European Cut, which the authors describe as a very symmetrical cut that is great for beginners and advanced cutters alike. Once you spin a perfect round (or facet them in), the biggest challenge is making all eight crown main facets exactly the same size. The girdle line and table shape will help you see and achieve a perfect balance. Once you get the mains balanced, the breaks and stars need to be consistent in size, but otherwise will fall nicely into place.

The last section describes the story of Rose Cuts, starting with the Early Flower Cut, one of the earliest faceted designs offered in the book, with its design dating back to Roman times. The narrative follows the evolution of this cut into various shapes and number of facets and concludes with the pear shape, originally documented in 1594, with an example from the early 20th century. The example shown below is the Trihedral Rose Cut, described as a variation of the rose cut for triangular flat round… Early cutters found that internal reflections on the simple three facet design created the illusion of nine facets, which inspired them to apply similar trihedral faceting to rounded octahedral and other shapes, such as the hexagon.

The Historic Teachings of Gemcutting is important not only as a historical survey but also as a celebration of an enduring art. It offers depth without dryness, technical insight without alienation, and a compelling vision of gemcutting as a craft shaped by culture, science, and the timeless human pursuit of beauty.
Whether one reads it out of academic interest, artistic curiosity, or a simple fascination with sparkling gemstones, this book leaves a lasting appreciation for the people and ideas that shaped this remarkable tradition.

All images are courtesy of Justin K Prim and Victoria Raynaud.

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After decades of enlightened accomplishments in the world of Fei Cui Jade, author Ou Yang Chiu Mei (Mimi) published Fei Cui Jade in collaboration with her son, Humphrey Yen. This exhaustive tome presents the scientific, gemological, and cultural aspects of Fei Cui Jade and its appreciation around the world.

The book begins by defining jade and where it is found, both historically and presently, dating back to the mid-19th century when French mineralogist Alexis Damour studied both Chinese Hetian jade and Burmese jade that had been imported into China. The book also discusses the terminology, noting that in modern mineralogy, jade encompasses two mineral groups—jadeite and nephrite—both with a compact fine-grained texture and high toughness.

Chapters 3, 4 and 5 delve into the many colors of jade and why the mineral occurs in so many colors, along with the different types of rough Fei Cui Jade.

THE JADE LADY
Ou Yang, Chiu Mei (Mimi)—affectionately called The Jade Lady—is one of the world’s foremost authorities on jadeite jade, known as Fei Cui. Among many accomplishments, her illustrious career includes the discovery in 1983 of a terrestrial source of Ureyite, a groundbreaking achievement in both mineralogy and gemology. This led to her founding the Hong Kong Gems Laboratory and the Hong Kong Institute of Gemmology in 1987, both of which are recognized as leaders in Fei Cui Jade research and education. Professor Mimi’s prestigious and detailed work includes the first published observations of Fei Cui treatments found in the Hong Kong market, as all as her pioneering classification of treatments, establishing the terminology of Type A, Type B, Type C, Type B+C, and Type D, now common in the trade. Professor Mimi has also authored many gemological books including Jade Identification, Ruby and Sapphire Appreciation, Jadeite ABC, Selecting Jadeite and The Jade Collection, with the latter being an accumulation of over 30 years of work. Mimi has also contributed over 100 published research papers and articles, with the goal of spreading knowledge, because, in her own words: “Knowledge can change a person’s life, fate and achievements.”

Importantly, Professor Mimi was the first to introduce a systematic approach to the quality evaluation of Fei Cui Jade, known as 4C2T1V. Chapter 9 highlights these principles, teaching the reader about valuing the gem using 4C2T1V, which stands for: 4C meaning Color, Cut, Clarity and Cracks; 2T signifies Transparency and Texture; and 1V denotes Volume. This systematic approach to evaluate jade is quoted in Christie’s auction catalogs in Hong Kong.

The authors end the book with a discussion on the trading and marketing of Fei Cui Jade, including the official auctions in Myanmar as well as distribution centers for finished jade products. They also highlight remarkable jewelry designs and the various ways that Fei Cui Jade is used in today’s art.

For anyone interested in Fei Cui Jade, this book is a must-have. It is not only informative, but it is also a very enjoyable read.

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Knowing Jeffrey Post personally and having been to the back room of the Smithsonian Gem Hall, when I heard of this book being available, I knew it would be a must-have for my library. I was not disappointed and the praises that appear here are deserving of this work.

This beautiful book is filled with some of the most magnificent gems in the collection and what is so fascinating is that each tells a story—how it got there, who donated it and when, even the mystery that surrounds many of the gems and jewelry featured. Some mysteries were solved over the years and others remain for you to ponder its past history to current existence.

The book begins with a brief introduction of the Story of a Gem. The reader is grabbed from the opening paragraph where Post tells the story of how a gem goes from mineral to cut gemstone, and then gains value, a story, history, provenance, curses, romance, and more. A tease of some of the stories to follow in the book are mentioned like the fact that the Napoleon Diamond Necklace was sold by swindlers and the Austrian Archduke was tried for the crime in New York. The short opening sets the stage for the beauty and stories about to unfold in the pages that follow.

The next chapter, “A Storied Collection,” begins with the legacy of Marjorie Merriweather Post, of the famous Post cereal family. Jeffrey Post is not related but tells the story of how he wondered as a little boy if he were related to the family of the cereal on his breakfast table. He never thought that one day he would be curator of the collection that contained so many items from Ms. Post herself. In the 1960s, she began donating and convincing other friends to do the same over the years. She was a true force in building the collection, and between her generosity and the acquisition of the famous Hope Diamond donated by Harry Winston in 1958, the Smithsonian ranks as the premier collection of gems and jewelry in the world.

This chapter then tells the tales of 40 items, mostly jewelry, some gemstones, that are among the favorites of the author and the visitors. The photos are exquisite and the stories are fascinating. This is history retold. The gems and jewelry came from royalty, celebrities, socialites, and “ordinary” folks, as he states. But they all gave generously for the good of the museum. Some of the collection includes pieces such as the Marie Antoinette Diamond Earrings, the Post Emerald Necklace, the Napoleon Diamond Necklace, the Maximilian Emerald, and the Star of Bombay, bequest of Mary Pickford in 1980. There are several more recent acquisitions, too, such as the Carmen Lucia Ruby in 2004, the Whitney Alexandrite in 2009, and the incredible Dom Pedro aquamarine, an obelisk carved crystal by Bernd Munsteiner in 2011.

Following the collection, the next chapter is A Dozen Notable Gems. Here, as the introduction states, are some of the diverse earth’s minerals, many are the finest known, or world-record holders, or minerals rarely cut as gems, or simply because they are beautiful. Though some are set in jewelry, Post selects these for the rare qualities of the gem, not so much for the jewelry they are mounted in, though also beautiful.

Next up is Gem Families, a chapter that offers a little gemology presented to interest the novice, followed by more exquisite photos of the collection. Here, the sections of this chapter are by the gemological species, starting with notable diamonds, and then corundum, beryl, tourmaline, spinel, topaz, and more. Each has a simple, short explanation on the gemological and mineralogical properties of gem families.

I admired how Post could sum up a gem in one paragraph as he did for so many: spinel in one paragraph noting the history and gem properties! Brilliantly done. The photo captions give us additional details such as the sources of the famous spinels in the collection.

As if you weren’t completely satisfied by now, Post saves the best for the last. The last chapter is simply titled “The Hope Diamond.” There have now been more than 200 million visitors to see the Hope. I have heard Post lecture on the Hope Diamond before and, yet, this was like experiencing it all for the first time again. You may know the story, but to see it once more in the detail that he provides regarding the history, the legends, the mystery solved, and the final product, is a fitting end to the book. The final text is a dedicated page to the myth, Is the Hope Diamond Cursed? and the final photograph is the Hope Diamond itself with an inset of the diamond in actual size.

This book has something for everyone, be it a historical antique jewelry item or a modern gem crystal. To the experienced gemologist, it is a confirmation of what we know in its full glory to enjoy. To the non-industry reader, this will have many jaw-dropping moments and will make them add the Smithsonian to their must-see list or remind them to visit again. You just cannot get tired of an exhibition like this.

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• Gems – Pierres Précieuses

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The book Emerald: Modern Gemmology is the first one to take a comprehensive look at emerald since the 1981 publication of Sinkankas’ Emerald & Other Beryls. Several fine volumes have been published in the interim: Ronald Ringsrud’s love letter, Emerald: A Passionate Guide (2009); Peretti & Falise, Magnificent Green: Emeralds of Pakistan, edited by Kazmi and Snee (1989); and Kris Lane’s excellent historical study of Colombian emerald, The Colour of Paradise (2010). Other than Kasmi and Snee, a highly technical work, the other books mentioned could be termed extended monographs on emeralds from a single source—Colombia.

Emerald: Modern Gemmology takes a comprehensive gemological look at emerald from twelve countries: Afghanistan, Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and China. These are all important sources. All have either produced commercial quantities of emerald during the past several decades or have the potential to do so in the future.

In his Foreword, Professor Schwarz points out that the main job of the modern gemological laboratory is to determine country of origin. Given the many thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands, dollars riding on a laboratory cert, the ability of a lab to get it right is a game played for very high stakes. The main thrust of the book is devoted to a discussion of the criteria necessary to
make an accurate determination of geographic origin. Another of the laboratory’s important jobs, the determination of the presence, type, and degree of artificial treatments—a particular thorny issue—is, unfortunately, not part of the discussion.

The book is primarily aimed at the professional gemologist. The authors distinguish between the traditional and the modern approach. Country of origin determination began with the work of Professor Eduard Gübelin in the 1950s and focused almost exclusively on inclusion study. This, Professor Schwarz calls the traditional method. Since then, the issue has become decidedly more complex.

In Chapter I, the authors begin by breaking down the modern approach to gathering the necessary gemological information into six steps or criteria: Chemical Fingerprinting, Internal Features (which remains the single most important study), Spectral Fingerprinting, Vibrational Fingerprinting, Isotopic Fingerprinting, and Physical-Optical Characteristics. The first four chapters provide a detailed overview of these six steps. The following twelve chapters discuss these criteria as they apply to deposits country by country.

I found the discussion of chemical fingerprinting in Chapter I of particular interest. The chemical trace elements found within a particular stone are reflective of the geological environment of the stone’s formation. Thus, the relative concentrations of these elements are extremely important factors in geographic origin determination. The authors discuss the various geological environments and provide graphs showing how the relative concentrations of elements necessary for origin determination, such as chromium, vanadium, and cesium, overlap in gems from various locations.

The section of isotopic fingerprinting will be of particular interest to historians and archaeogemologists. An article published in 2000 in Science magazine caused a minor sensation when measurement of the oxygen isotope in emeralds, with proven ancient pedigrees, demonstrated that one “Old Mine” emerald—thought to be of Colombian origin—was actually a Swat Valley gem, proving that this valley was an active mining area much earlier than previously thought. A very useful figure in Chapter I breaks down the relative oxygen isotope composition of emerald from historically important sources including the old Egyptian and Austrian mining areas.

The discussion of internal features, the traditional approach to origin determination, is discussed, in detail, in Chapter II. Inclusion study remains the most important single criterion and this discussion takes up by far the most space in the book. The text is enhanced by numerous color photomicrographs illustrating the various features discussed.

Chapter III, Geological-Genetic Considerations, discusses timescales of the formation of emerald types based on a scheme developed in 2019 (Giuliani et al.). This section is sumptuously illustrated with excellent photographs of mines and geological strata.

Chapter IV, Geographic Origin Determination, discusses its possibilities, methods and limitations.

Each of the later chapters draws a detailed portrait of emeralds from one of the twelve countries. The authors systematically cover the six evaluation criteria in each chapter. Each begins with a onepage history of the deposit plus a lovely graphic of the location along with cartoons outlining the geology of the mining area. The last section of each is a photographic gallery of inclusions specific to the area.

The inclusion gallery photography, by Theodore Rozet and Martial Curti, is particularly well done. The images are sharp and well-focused and very useful for origin determination in the lab or in the field. Both photographic technology and color reproduction in print have made several leaps forward in recent years and those improvements are readily apparent in this beautifully produced volume.

The book includes an extensive bibliography, which suffers somewhat from the failure to list all references by primary author. The lack of both an assertion of copyright as well as a publication date are minor annoyances.

Sumptuously produced, Emerald: Modern Gemmology is an extremely important book. Reviewers typically say that a book is a “must have.” In this case, the words are not mere hyperbole. It is an essential volume for every serious gemologist. The book has been produced in a limited-edition of just 1000 copies. It would be advisable, therefore, to place your order immediately.

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In collaboration with Van Cleef & Arpels, the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, MNHM (National Museum of Natural History) featured a spectacular exhibition entitled Gems or Pierres Précieuses (Precious Stones), that ran from September 16, 2020 to August 22, 2021.

The exhibition combined several fields that are closely connected and yet rarely brought together—mineralogy, gemology, and the art of jewelry making. To commemorate and document the occasion was the publication of the superbly beautiful book, Gems (Pierres Précieuses).

The exhibition catalogue is a collective work under the scientific direction of François Farges. It brings together contributions of more than 25 researchers for an in-depth exploration of all the scientific, historic, and artistic themes addressed in the exhibition.

To further appreciate the book, we must take a look at the exhibition itself. Gems embraces the age-old history of minerals while highlighting the skill mankind has wielded over the centuries to heighten their splendor. This approach—both scientific and aesthetic—delves into the very origins of the Earth, building on recent discoveries in the field of mineralogy and underscoring the interest, passion, and even fascination that minerals, gemstones, and jewelry have inspired in nearly all civilizations since time immemorial.

Structured along a three-part journey at once chronological and thematic, Gems opens with a section entitled History of the Earth, Histories of Savoir-Faire that explores the original formation of minerals and their use in society, tracking the development of skills and craftsmanship over time.

A second part—From Minerals to Jewels—offers insight into the natural phenomena occurring in the depths of the Earth that act on stones, rocks, and crystals before they are made into jewels by human hands. Their transformation came to light in some 40 showcases, as well as through themed tablets, audio-visual displays, and touchscreens interspersed throughout the exhibition to present each type of stone— diamonds, topazes, sapphires, aquamarines and more—in three different forms: as raw minerals, cut gemstones, and high jewelry, thus following the path of each gem from Nature to work of art.

The third part of the exhibition looks back on the historic, scientific, and artistic significance of Parisian Expertise, furthering the development and spread of learning in the field of mineralogy, a phenomenon that continues to stimulate artists and lovers of beauty even today.

Designed to encourage immersive exploration and the perennial dialogue between science and creation, Gems brings together some 360 minerals, gemstones, and objets d’art from the Museum’s prestigious collection, and more than 250 jewelry creations taken from the heritage collection of the Maison Van Cleef & Arpels, as well as 50 loans from other institutions and private collections.

Gems/Pierres Précieuses is a joint publication of the French National Museum of Natural History/Flammarion. It is available in three editions: French, English, and Chinese. Size: 18.5 x 24.5 cm; 304 pages.

The decor for Gems, designed by the Jouin Manku from Mozambique. (VCA) agency, uses changing colors and materials to immerse visitors in a universe in motion. Embracing the sensations and allure of precious stones, designer Patrick Jouin and architect Sanjit Manku designed a structured, three-phase itinerary, a circuitous path tracking and illustrating the different stages of mineral formation and its subsequent transformation by human hands. Plunging into the bowels of the Earth and then returning to the surface, this exploration is based on George Sand’s little known novel Laura: A Journey into the Crystal, which inspired Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth. The narrative that unfolds through the exhibition combines two visions of time, the vertiginous cadence of the cosmos and time as experienced by humanity, and two registers of size: the infinitely large and the infinitely small.

To guide visitors through these conceptions of space and time, it was designed with patterns of light, color, and materials that heighten fluidity and underscore the interplay between contrast and transparency. In this setting, dark tones represent the depths of the Earth.

Telluric convulsions are depicted by warm colors, morphing into cooler tones closer to the surface. A succession of circular spaces represents this dynamic, described mainly in the second part of the exhibition. The visit proceeds seamlessly among friezes and showcases, in a Paris of inventions and innovations ranging from the Grand Siècle to the present day.

Within the Gallery of Evolution, Gems continues the dialogue between art and science initiated in 2016 with the exhibition The Arts and Science of Gems in Singapore. Amid abundant scientific data and several exceptional creations, the decor serves one overarching goal: to offer visitors a timeless excursion that sparks and sustains their curiosity. While prompting myriad discoveries, it preserves the sense of wonder stirred by precious stones and Nature. That is why the designers created a luminous space at the heart of the exhibition, adorned with translucent white fabric. An allusion to a recently discovered cave in Mexico containing spectacular giant crystals, this empty space serves as a landmark and an area for contemplation.

The book Gems faithfully celebrates the exhibition and its architecture. It evokes the beauty and life that precious stones possess, in a time scale that defies human understanding.

Gems is a must-have for aficionados of minerals, gems, and jewelry the world over.

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