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  Keeping the faith in a land of tall tales

by Menahem Sevdermish FGA D.Litt.
December 16, 2012


Israel is a fascinating country, combining ancient elements with the most modern. This may have something to do with my observation that country quite possibly has the highest concentration in the world of "thought to be natural gems that are in fact synthetic or imitation." The stories associated with these supposedly rare and valuable gems are often startling.

At our European Gemological Center, we hear on almost a weekly basis tales along the lines of "this is a rare gem that has been in my family for centuries," or "my great, great, great-grandfather sold two large factories in Persia and got this gem for it."

Sometimes, we ourselves get caught up in the excitement prior to opening a parcel, which holds what the customer has described as a red diamond the size of his fingernail (and most of these storytellers have big fingernails). It has been in his family's possession for generations, he says confidently. But, all too frequently, our expectations and presumably those of the client are dashed when we find out, just a few minutes later, that parcel contains a piece of garnet, pleasant in appearance but worth only a few dollars.

There are occasions when we also shed a tear upon hearing the heartbreaking story of a family crossing the desert for months with a gem hidden in the children's clothes. Often it is "a stone that centuries ago was in the possession of a famous rabbi," and we are certain that, just by being able to touch it in the lab, we too shall surely be blessed. But, alas, we discover the holy gem is relatively newly cut (40-50 years previously), and is in fact a synthetic Veneuil ruby, worth but a pittance.

So, you may ask yourselves, why is it that after all these years in the gemology business, during which thousands of imitations and synthetics have passed through our hands, are we still always excited when we hear what almost certainly is another far-fetched tale about a family treasure? Because, sometimes...just sometimes...the most unlikely story could contain a kernel of truth.

Allow me to elaborate. Several years ago I received a call from an old lady who insisted on talking to me and only to me. She said that she had seen my two-volume book about gems in a shop, and she concluded that I most probably understood the subject pretty well. I thanked her for the compliment and asked her if this was the only reason she was calling. She replied: "No, I have a green stone and a red stone that my grandfather received when he sold his land and house in Russia many years ago." Sound familiar?

I asked her to come and have them checked in the lab, but she said she was too old to travel. So I asked her to describe the stones. "One is the size of an old half Israeli shekel coin and the other is a bit larger," she said. "My father told me that his father said that one is 'Smarugt' and the other 'Rubit.' One changes color like a lizard and the other glitters like red clean glass on fire."

Anyone familiar with old Israeli coins would realize that the lady was talking about large gems, and anyone who knows anything about gemology would realize that she probably was referring to alexandrite and ruby. But experience teaches us that a stone that looks like clean red glass is most likely glass, or at the most synthetic. And how could an alexandrite of this size be hidden in an old lady's home for so long?

I explained to her that the gems that she was describing were most likely to be imitations, because alexandrite and ruby of these sizes are very rare, and also that I never leave the lab to do house-calls. To this she replied: "Do you think my grandfather was an idiot?" I don't know why, perhaps it was the tone of her voice, but I packed my microscope and small portable lab, and I paid the lady a visit.

To cut a long story short. The "Smarugt" proved to be a more than 20-carat natural alexandrite. And the ruby was a native-cut Burmese ruby, natural and unheated. She was in possession of two top-quality gems.

When she asked me how much I thought they were worth and I told her, she was not at all amazed, although the gems were worth several times the price of her house. She just looked at me and said: "I knew he was a clever man; now I can buy my grandson an apartment."

I have promised her never to disclose to anybody the value of these gems. Curious readers should look into prices given for such stones at past auctions if you are keen to know what they were worth. And as for myself, I learnt again the first rule of gemology, and that is not every tale is fabricated, just as not every spectacular gem is synthetic. You really never know.

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