3.) A Most Important Viennese Royal Auction



Sotheby’s will present ‘Vienna 1900: An Imperial and Royal Collection’’, the most important and largest Viennese Imperial and Royal Jewellery collection ever to come to auction.

Hidden Away in the Vault

Comprising over 200 pieces, the collection will be resurfaced for the first time in nearly a century, astonishingly pristine and with all its pieces in their original design, having only been recently discovered hidden away in a bank vault.

If you like Natural Pearls, you will love this auction! Tap Here...

Gary Roskin

Roskin Gem News Report

There is a term that the Japanese use to describe the finest quality, highest value, Akoya cultured pearls. It is Hanadama. Literal translation of Hanadama is “flower beads” or, in this case, “flower pearls.”

If one goes back into the literature several decades, it is noted that the term Hanadama used to be applied only to Akoya cultured pearls, straight from the mollusk, undrilled, unbleached, beautifully round, with the highest quality nacre, and luster, with no blemishes. Pretty much, the perfect pearl.

But with the advent of accepted treatments, such as bleaching, drilling, polishing, and tinting, the term Hanadama has evolved.

And with current pearl supply being limited, and demand heavily increasing with the growing Chinese consuming market, fine quality cultured pearls are more important than ever.

Marketing Terminology as a Quality Standard

Hanadama, Pigeon Blood, Paraiba, Chrome this, Cobalt that, are commercial names, marketing tools used to convey to the consumer of a notable high quality of particular appearance. In the past, these terms had been avoided by gemological laboratories since there were no specific internationally accepted definitions of these terms.

Link here to read why GIA is now using "Hanadama" on their Pearl Reports

Gary Roskin

Roskin Gem News Report

The American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) has announced the winners of the 2023 AGTA Spectrum & Cutting Edge Awards.



This year’s competition took place Oct. 24–25 in Dallas, Texas, home of the AGTA.

Hundreds of entries filled the judging tables, 24% greater than last year, with a 28% increase in the Business/Day Wear category, and a 26% increase in the Evening Wear category.

Winners included Niveet Nagpal, from Omi Privé, who took First Place & Best of Show in Spectrum for his Platinum ring featuring a 15.22 ct. black Opal, accented with paraiba Tourmalines, Tsavorite Garnets, and Diamonds in Evening Wear (seen above), as well as taking Second Place in Bridal Wear, and First Place in Men's Wear.

In Cutting Edge, winning Best of Show & First Place, Best of Single Entries in Pairs & Suites, Joseph Ambalu, from Amba Gem Corp for his suite of 4 beautifully matching oval “Paraíba-type” Tourmalines.

Winners also included Jeffrey Bilgore, from Jeffrey Bilgore LLC, taking home six (yes, 6) Spectrum wins with Best Use of Color (1) & Platinum Innovation (2) for his platinum and sapphire bracelet, Best of Fashion Forward (3), First Place in Classical (4), Classical Platinum Honors (5) for his platinum and sapphire choker, and Platinum Innovation in Men's Wear (6)! Wow!

Spend some quality time to check out ALL of the winners here!

Gary Roskin

Roskin Gem News Report

Iridis, owner of the Jagoda tourmaline mine in Zambia, recently reported as “the world’s largest producer of high-quality tourmaline,” has announced its inaugural auction of Zambian rough tourmaline.

Bonas Auctioneers in Bangkok will conduct the inaugural sale, November 21-24, 2023 and will showcase “the largest collection of exceptional pink, green, and bi-colour tourmalines.”



Iridis also noted that the auction will utilize the first tourmaline grading system for prospective buyers.

Tap here to learn more about the very first Tourmaline Auction!

AGA announces 2024 Tucson Conference and Gala – Speakers, Registration Opening,

... and AGA’s 50^th Anniversary Jubilee!

The annual AGA Tucson Gemological Conference and Gala will be held on Wednesday, January 31, 2024, in Tucson, Arizona, marking the kick-off of AGA's 50th Anniversary celebration! AGA invites all to attend. Registration options are available to gemology enthusiasts and guests globally.

The two events, hosted by AGA on the same day, offer flexibility for participation. Registration options include attendance at the conference and gala or gala only. Individuals unable to attend in person may benefit from the "recorded conference registration" for on-demand access to the conference education sessions when published by AGA. See registration for all ticketing options and further details.

Tap here for more details and to register online!

Make your hotel and car rental reservations NOW to attend

The 61st NAJA (National Association of Jewelry Appraisers) Annual Winter ACE©It Conference

in Tucson!

January 28 and 29, 2024.

• Two Hands-On Workshops!

• Two Optional Saturday Programs

• The Annual Lois Berger Pearl Walk

• Color Vision Testing

For gem and jewelry appraisers, there is no place like the NAJA in Tucson!

It is the one venue that really offers the entire package.

The week starts with practical, appraisal presentations and professional relationship building opportunities and then continues with more chances to examine gems and experience the market at the shows.

Tap here to get all of the details and for online registration.

Astronomers have found high-altitude clouds formed from quartz crystals on the gas-giant world WASP-17b

By Keith Cooper

Scientific American

SPACE.com

October 20, 2023

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has just found a distant gas giant planet called WASP-17b that has thousand-miles-per-hour winds, blowing a hail of tiny quartz crystals through the silicate-enhanced scorching hot atmosphere!

“We knew from Hubble [Space Telescope] observations that there must be aerosols — tiny particles making up clouds or haze — in WASP-17b’s atmosphere, but we didn’t expect them to be made of quartz,” Daniel Grant of the University of Bristol in the UK and leader of a new study on the discovery, said in a statement.

Tap here to read about the amazing discovery!