“The Change is Coming” read the banners and posters all over town in the days leading up to the landslide victory of the first working class President in the history of Brazil.

“And when he won all his supporters who’d been out on the streets drumming up votes just immediately changed gear into Victory Party mode and it was fantastic!” said Ben enthusiastically on his recent return to HQ after a Brazilian gem buying bonanza. “We were dancing in the streets and everyone was celebrating the fact that a former shoe-shine boy and union leader had actually broken though the ranks of the aristocracy and won!”

On October 27, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won the second round election to become the new President of Brazil. A former metalworker from Brazil’s impoverished and industrial northeast, “Lula” (as he is popularly known) is the first working class leader of South America’s largest nation.

“The mood was fantastic! Everyone in Brazil is really excited about what this means and hope that he can shake up some real social change and do something about the disparity between the super-rich and the ultra-poor.”

This was odd! Ben had never previously indicated any political awareness, previously his only interest in Brazilian politics had been whether it would affect the output of Topaz, Tourmaline and all the rare and exotic gems that the land of Bossa Nova is famous for. There must be a girl behind all this! Wherever Ben goes he always seems to get involved with some exotic local beauty. But when we mentioned this he suddenly became very quiet and the starry look in his eye indicated that something other than his usual amorous adventures had taken place.

“There was only one girl this time and … and she broke my heart,” he confided as his eye wetted. This was definitely a first for our intrepid globe-trotting gem-hunter. He’s fought off lions while chasing Tanzanite, snuck across war-torn borders in pursuit of Rubies and run the gauntlet of cartel mercenaries in pursuit of Emeralds but we’d never seen him get teary-eyed before. Sympathy aside, we had to know more!

“I’d been down in Soledade for some of the exceptional Amethyst, Citrine and Agate that the area is known for,” he began, “and I was invited to a big Churrascaria by one of the local mine-owners.” Also known as the “Gaucho Barbecue”, Churrascaria is a monumental Brazilian feast of endless skewers of flame-grilled meats, sausages and sumptuous side-dishes. The fertile, temperate southern region of Brazil is famous for these lavish banquets as well as the quality of the local wine.

“These southern guys really know how to live,” continued Ben, “fantastic food, sumptuous wines, beautiful scenery and a wonderful attitude towards living life. I had a great time and got a great array of Amethyst and Citrine while I was there.”

Some of the world’s most beautiful Amethyst and Citrine is found in the basalt deposits of southern Brazil and neighboring Uruguay. German settlers first discovered Amethyst here over 50 years ago. Today, mine shafts up to 100 meters in depth are common and the town of Soledade is one of the world’s most important trading centers for Quartz Gems including the deepest purple Amethyst, various types of Agate and a stunning array of Citrine.

“A friend’s wife’s birthday is in November so he’d asked me to get her something really special while I was there. Last year he gave her Topaz earrings that she’d loved so this year he wanted to get her a nice big Citrine for a Pendant, so it was good timing.”

Citrine and Topaz are the birthstones for those born in November.

“I saw a lot of Citrine this time including some really big sizes! Much of it was the bright, clean Lemon and Lime colors that fetch the highest prices but there was also some of the darker Brandy and Madeira colors which, while not as popular, actually tend to have better luster than the more pastel colors. Which is probably why they were more popular in former times. I also saw some nice, natural shape Citrine Crystals. I’ve always preferred the very clear inclusion-free crystals but while I was there I met a British chap who told me that in some circles the mineral inclusions are actually sought after as healing gems. That was an interesting tid-bit I’d not come across before.”
 

Citrine is thought to be good for the kidneys, liver and gallbladder. A lucky crystal, it is popular with gamblers and lottery lovers as well aiding with digestive complaints. Emotionally, it fosters optimism, hope and warmth while preventing self-destructive tendencies.

“I also got some stunning Star Citrine (Four and Six Ray), Bi Color, Rutile, lots of Cat’s Eyes and the lime green Oro Verde Citrine that is very popular now. It was really lucky timing as the market in Soledade tends to focus more on the really deep purple Amethyst that this region is renowned for but this time they had a great variety of everything.”

“With that haul packed and ready to go I headed back down to Porto Alegre, to catch a connection up to Minas Gerais.” A city of 1.5 million inhabitants, Porto Alegre is the capital of the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul and is considered to have one of the most European characters of all Brazilian cities. It is also famous for its scenery and many people believe the finest sunsets in the world can be seen here.

“I had an evening to kill in Porto Alegre so was taking a walk down by the riverside enjoying the sunset when I stumbled across a group of local girls engaged in a heated argument about politics. At first I was just gonna keep walking but then I noticed that one of these girls was tall, angular and had distinctly Japanese features, yet she was firing off this rapid invectory of heated local dialect about the state of the nation.”

This sounds more like the Ben we know and, …err, … well, if not exactly love then at least admire!

“I had been to the Little Japan area in Sao Paulo and seen lots of Japanese Brazilians living quite traditional lives up there but this girl just seemed out of place and out of character and I was captivated.” The fact that she was a tall, attractive Japanese-looking girl with the moves and mannerism of a seasoned Salsa dancer probably had more to do with this than anything else! “I hung around and edged my way into the conversation and before I knew it I was having dinner with her and she was inviting me up to Sao Paulo to help hand out leaflets for Lula.”

After the recession of the 80’s, fiscal problems of the 90’s and general public dissatisfaction with IMF-approved polices, “Lula” has been seen as a breath of fresh air in Brazilian politics and has garnered huge grass-roots support with people-centric platforms such as “Three meals a day for all Brazilians”, more public housing and creating jobs for Brazil’s slum dwellers.
 

“I was heading North anyway so I didn’t see any harm in helping to drum-up support for a guy whose politics makes sense to me and so I said sure and off we went.” We find it difficult to believe that Ben had any idea what Lula’s policies might have been before meeting this “Japones” beauty but it’s his story…

“We stayed in a traditional Japanese Inn in Liberdade (known as Little Asia by locals) and spent the days out on the Avenida Paulista (Sao Paulo’s main boulevard) chanting slogans and handing out leaflets. After the election we all awaited the outcome with baited breath. When Lula won it was just party time everywhere!” He always manages to be in the midst of the action when it comes to having a good time. But then disaster struck…

“Two days after the election, I woke up hungover and alone. She was gone! She had left a little note in a sad mixture of Portuguese and English that said she’d had a good time but had to go back to her family and her regular life now that the excitement of the election was over. I was devastated!”

While he’s left plenty of broken hearts in his wake over the years, Ben clearly wasn’t used to being on the receiving end of such callous treatment. “I asked around the neighborhood but I couldn’t find out anything, I didn’t even know her family name and I started to suspect that the name she had given me wasn’t even real.”

He wouldn’t even utter that name to us but told us that all he could do was continue his trip up to Minas Gerais. “I couldn’t put it off any longer so I sadly left Liberdade and headed up to Ouro Preto. I was there to pick up some Aquamarine and Imperial Topaz but also got some nice Emeralds, Morganite and various Tourmalines.” Good to see that a broken-heart didn’t affect his gem-hunting abilities!

“I stayed with an old friend who did his best to console me and even lined me up with a nice parcel of Allanite, Brazilianite, Cuprite, Uvite, Viridine, Xenotime and some other rare gems but the whole time I couldn’t help thinking about her. Who was she really? Is she a doctor or a lawyer or just a politically-minded shop assistant? Is she married? Does she have kids? Will I ever see her again?”
By this point of the story the girls in the office were all in tears …

“As I wandered the cobblestone streets of this old mining town with all its ghosts I couldn’t help wondering about the experience I’d just been through. A beautiful, cross-cultural woman had swept me off my feet and then abandoned me with no hint of where she had disappeared to. I guess nothing is permanent and then I looked at a handful of colored gems I had in my pocket and thought to myself – at least these never fade…”

Click here to see our entire range of over 400 gem types.

This dazzling 14K Solid Gold Ring features the shear brilliance of Cambodian Blue Zircon, accented with the fire of a Natural Diamond. Each ring features an expertly selected Zircon, the most brilliant of all colored gems, prong-set with an accent Diamond in a stunning contemporary design.

For only $34.99 there has never been a better time to discover the brilliance of Zircon!

Got a question about gems? Every week our Gemological Manager, Simon Bruce-Lockhart F.G.A., D.G.A., E.G. (a.k.a. the Gem Guy), answers one of the more popular questions asked about gems and gemology.

Q. Is there a way to identify a Diamond against an imitation without space age equipment? If a gem is put in my hand, how do I know if it is a Diamond or an imposter?

A. There are several ways you can distinguish Diamonds from its imitations using regular gem tools and everyday items. While distinguishing Diamonds from its imitators may seem hard at first, it is often surprisingly easy.

The most commonly utilized Diamond simulant is Cubic Zirconia. No relation to natural Zircon, CZ as it is known, makes a fairly convincing Diamond simulant. Although discovered in the 1930’s, CZ first entered the market in the 1970’s. This gem simulant quickly generated concern within the Jewelry and Diamond industries. Unwarranted pessimism said CZ would ruin the industry, as it was just too difficult for jewelers to tell the difference.

However, the optical properties of Diamond and Cubic Zirconia are different. One of the reasons for the beauty of Diamonds is their remarkable power of reflection. A well-proportioned Round Brilliant Cut Diamond returns all the light that enters it back through the table facet. In other words, no light at all “leaks” out of the back of the Diamond.

Conversely, a Round Brilliant Cut Cubic Zirconia, with its lesser powers of reflection, experiences loss of light or “leakage” through the back. This loss results in diminished brilliance and beauty. Initially this loss of brilliance and light sounds negative, but it is actually a powerful ally for a person who has no expensive space age equipment.

These differences can be exploited through a simple test that distinguishes between Diamond and Cubic Zirconia using nothing more complicated than a pen and a piece of paper. Take a normal household black pen with a thin nib, draw a 5cm long straight line on a white piece of paper and place it down on a table. Take a Round Cut Cubic Zirconia and a Round Cut Diamond, and place them side-by-side, table facets down, directly over the pen line. Look down from above through the back of the two gems. What can you see? Is there a difference?
 

Please be aware that the above test’s diagnostic accuracy is largely experiential. Practice with some known CZ’s and Diamonds - look and study the resulting images through the back of the gems and remember the witnessed results. While Diamonds that are not ideally cut may allow some of the pen image to leak through the back, the strength and width of the image seen will be markedly different to those seen in CZ.

In the late 1990’s Moissanite burst onto the jewelry scene. Again in a flurry of concern, the industry had to adapt very quickly to this new and convincing jewel. Worryingly, conventional thermal-based Diamond Testers could not distinguish Moissanite from Diamond. In a now notorious case of investigative journalism, British newshounds took Moissanite to 10 London jewelers for an “appraisal”, while secretly filming the outcome. Out of the 10 jewelers put to the test, only 1 correctly identified the Moissanite. Interestingly, many of the jewelers went on to file complaints to the Broadcasting Standards Commission, citing entrapment and negative portrayal in front of the nation; their complaints were upheld.

In actuality, this embarrassing episode was unnecessary, as any person with a 10x gem loupe and little bit of training can easily distinguish between the two. In the early days of Moissanite’s circulation, its very strong double refraction was not well publicized. With only a simple 10x loupe, this optical doubling feature can be spotted a mile off. Diamond, a singly refractive gem, will never ever show this effect.

In wrapping up, I’d ask all readers to remember three key points regarding Diamond identification:

Also, no matter what you’ve learnt or think you know, the only sure fire way to identify, qualify and assess a Diamond is to use the professional services of a Diamond grading laboratory.

Got a question about gems? Ask the Gem Guy gemguy@thaigem.net.

Create Your Jewelry creates freedom, by giving you the freedom to create. To design the jewelry of your dreams, simply combine our unrivaled selection of Gems, Diamonds & Pearls with over 1,000 stunning jewelry designs.

This week’s showcase is an 18K Gold Ring set with a 0.94 Carat Trilliant Facet African Blue Sapphire and six 3-point Accent Diamonds. Total Price: US$359.74. Handcrafted & shipped in only 7 days from receipt of order.

To order a similar design, select Gemstone Rings and this design will appear on the first page of the Gem Scoop Gallery. For rapid assistance or advice, email support@thaigem.com

Congratulations to Donna Spata from Illinois, USA. Her answer was selected from all the correct responses received for the latest Gem Quiz and she has won herself a beautiful 1 Carat Controversial Sapphire.

Q. What is the name of the province where the new “Bulk Diffusion” technique was developed?

A. Chanthaburi, Thailand.

Click here to see all the Gem Quiz questions, answers and winners.

Thaigem.com gives you the chance to win this gorgeous Citrine & Silver Ring. For your chance to own this beautiful ring featuring the November Birthstone simply answer the following question:

Citrine is just one Gem variety of an incredibly varied mineral family. What is this family and what is the origin of its name?

Send your answer to gemquiz@thaigem.net by November 19, 2002. The winner will be selected randomly from all correct answers. Gem Quiz winners will be informed via email and also announced in the Gem Scoop. All decisions are final.

Click here to see all the Gem Quiz questions, answers and winners.

Thanks for taking the time to read about the colorful world of gems and recent developments at Thaigem.com.

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