Beauty versus pedigree: the question of origin
Each time a new pocket of gemstones is unearthed, stones from the new location are compared with those produced by traditional sources — usually to the detriment of the newer source. This is a crutch and yet another manifestation of the innate conservatism of the gem market, one controlled by professional dealers. From the connoisseur’s perspective this misses the point entirely. The point is to look at the stone. The most conservative dealer will always fall back on a stone’s pedigree. These traders are often those who have prospered, have well-heeled clients, and can pay the highest prices.

In the gem marketplace, a fine stone with a famous pedigree will command an extraordinary premium. A natural sapphire from Burma will often sell for twice the price of a comparable gem from Sri Lanka (Ceylon). A very fine but comparable natural Kashmir, a sapphire discovered on one side of a stony hillock in colonial India, will bring at least one and a half times that! These premium prices are based solely on the stone’s geographic origin. Astronomical prices are regularly paid for stones that carry this kind of pedigree. Depending on the local geology, a given gemstone will have slightly different visual characteristics than examples from another location. This is usually the result of the mix of minerals specific to a particular geographic setting. For example, the iron-rich environment of the central Thai provinces of Chantaburi and Trat lends ruby from this area a distinctly brownish cast, whereas ruby from the iron-poor soil of northern Burma generally lacks a brownish color. Burmese ruby is better, generally speaking, because it looks better than ruby from Thailand, and it looks better because the physical environment is more favorable.

As a result of these localized differences, gemstones from different areas develop

reputations based on the general look of the stones from that specific source. This has led to marked price differentials for stones just because they come from a specific area or country. In the marketplace, Burma ruby, Kashmir sapphire, and Paraiba tourmaline will command premium prices simply because they hail from the specific areas named. This is not a scam but it is a snare! The aficionado is interested in a beautiful gem. Each gemstone is an individual with a distinct personality. A given stone from Burma very well may be inferior to a given gem from Thailand, and not worthy of the premium asked. The Thai stone, by contrast, may be a particularly fine example and worth collecting despite the general reputation of Thai ruby.

© R.W. Wise Traditional mining in the ancient “Valley of the Serpents,” Moguk, Burma. This age-old mining method consists of a twinlun, a hand-dug vertical shaft drops forty feet to the gem-bearing layer, o byon, where a narrow horizontal shaft is dug into the gem gravel. The gravel is raised by bucket and sorted.