jade
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About Lotus Gemology
When you see a fine ruby, it does something to you. It’s not about the value.
If it were simply the value, I’d go out and buy a kilo of gold. Richard Hughes to journalist Rod Nordland
“On the treacherous trail to the rare ruby red” | 1982 | AsiaLotus Gemology begins with a simple idea – beauty is the principal source of attraction for precious stones. Thus it should also be the major focus of gemology. In other words, the GEM is the most important part of gemology.
It is our belief that gemology is not simply about counting atoms; to apply science absent a discussion of how it relates to aesthetics and desire does a disservice not just to clients, but to the jewels themselves. We do not believe that attraction can be reduced to a simple set of measurements, anymore than the beauty of a rainbow or sunset can be expressed by mathematical formula.
Rest assured, we are not Luddites. We not only appreciate science, but use it daily. At the same time, we recognize that many parts of the human experience extend into realms far beyond science. Thus the gemology at Lotus includes not just science, but weaves into the mix history, culture, art and travel. We do this in the belief that these factors play equal roles in how humans perceive desirability and value.
Like a small French restaurant, we believe that crafting a fine meal takes time and individual care; thus our seating is limited. The translation of the intangibles of rarity and aesthetic beauty is our strength.
Precious stones are among the most compelling examples of Mother Nature’s artistic genius.
Lotus Gemology operates from a base of over 80 years of collective experience in the study, purchase, sale and appreciation of precious stones. Our lives have been enriched beyond measure by our involvement with these gifts of nature and we believe if we characterize them with the appropriate reverence and care, we can open this magical world to others. This is our goal.
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Book | Broken Bangle | Jade Nomenclature Order Page
Introducing…
Broken Bangle • The Blunder-Besmirched History of Jade Nomenclature
by
Liu Shang-i ('Edward') | Richard W. Hughes
Zhou Zhengyu ('Adam') | Kaylan Khourie
Sponsored byZhuang Qingfang
The Gemmological Association of Hong Kong
On Tung Jewellery
Junhao Gemology
Pinde Xuan
Lotus GemologyBroken Bangle | The Blunder-Besmirched History of Jade Nomenclature takes readers through the entire tortuous history of jade nomenclature, detailing how the current monikers were based on misinformation and misunderstanding of the gems’ true natures. Thus, the Chinese gem yù (amphibole jade) was named “nephrite” by French mineralogist Alexis Damour in the mistaken belief it was the same as the Mesoamerican pyroxene jade that a 16th Century Spanish doctor himself misinterpreted as being used to treat kidney disease (‘nephritus’). Later, Damour created a mineral species he called “jadeite” for what was actually a gem rock already known in China as fei cui.
But this gemological whodunit is much more than a dry recitation of jade nomenclature. It includes a detailed section on the occurrence and mineralogy of both yù (nephrite) and fei cui. Because jade is so intimately connected with Chinese culture, much of the Middle Kingdom’s fascinating history is also woven through its pages.
Did we mention the illustrations? Broken Bangle features dozens of color images of both historical documents and spectacular photos of contemporary jade and stone carving in China. For those whose mental picture of jade sculpture is a cliché Chinese goddess statue, prepare to have your minds blown.
Lead author Liu Shang-i summed up the book’s major aim:
Our understanding of the world is deeply influenced by the names we assign to things. As history, culture, and scientific inquiry evolve, it becomes essential to assign accurate and fitting names to these unique types of jade that embody Chinese heritage. This nomenclature should reflect its cultural significance and resonate with both historical context and contemporary understanding.
Co-author Zhou Zhengyu added:
There is an ancient saying in China termed “casting a brick to attract jade.” Any book or article is only a stage of understanding, and this understanding, if it can be better than before, is progress. Our work is certainly not the last word on the subject, but we hope it will help improve people’s understanding of this gem’s fascinating history and inspire others to research the subject further. Not unlike a brick thrown in the hopes of attracting jade.
This edition of Broken Bangle is limited to just 600 copies. Don’t miss this chance to enjoy not just superb scholarship, but also extraordinary examples of China’s modern jade culture.
Comments from reviewers…
A readable work of art…John Koivula, Gemological Institute of America
This book [is] not only a work of scholarship but of art…Anne Carroll Marshall, Journal of the Gemmological Association of Hong Kong
Beautifully illustrated and a pleasure to read… a valuable contribution not only for the gemologist, but for all who deal with jade jewelry.Eric Hoffman, Hoffmanjade.com
Whether you are a hardcore gemologist or just a garden-variety jade lover, Broken Bangle is the book for you. Buy it, read it yourself, and give it away. I enthusiastically give Broken Bangle two thumbs up!Jeffery Bergman, International Gem Society
…a splendid bookJohn Saul, geologist and author
Wow, beautifully done, a must have to expand one's knowledge of jade.Georg Schmerholz, master jade carver and author
Hardcover | Published September 2024
THB2100 (~US$60)
120 pages; 240 x 280 mm (9.45 x 11 inches), 1 kg (2.2 lb)
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Title Page & Table of Contents
Sample Interior Spreads
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Book | Broken Bangle | The Blunder-Besmirched History of Jade Nomenclature | 2024
Broken Bangle • The Blunder-Besmirched History of Jade Nomenclature
Liu Shang-i, Richard W. Hughes, Zhou Zhengyu and Kaylan Khourie | 2024
In recent years, jade nomenclature has been upended by the discovery by gemologists that the gem being sold as "jadeiite" is actually a rock composed of three different pyroxene minerals. But the problems of jade nomenclature run much deeper, literally to the application of the words nephrite and jadeite to jade in the mid-19th century. Already by the 1930s, mineralogists realized that one should not apply the name of a mineral species to a rock, but this knowledge sadly never made its way into the gemological lexicon. Broken Bangle tackles jade nomenclature from the earliest times to the present day, advocating that the mineral species names jadeite, omphacite and kosmochlor not be used because their application to rocks does not follow standard mineralogical/geological practices. In addition, breaking down rocks into their mineral components is not done anywhere else in gemology. Instead, the authors suggest that the traditional Chinese term fei cui be used for the pyroxene jade gems.
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Book | Inside Out | GEM•ology Through Lotus-Colored Glasses | 2020
Inside Out • GEM•ology Through Lotus-Colored Glasses
E. Billie Hughes, Richard W. Hughes, Wimon Manorotkul | 2020
From the dawn of time, precious stones have both attracted and fascinated humans in ways that few other items could. For while objects of desire are found throughout the natural world, physical beauty is too often ephemeral. From the allure of a man, woman, flower or butterfly, through the fleeting moments of a sunset, there is little that lasts and practically nothing that can be passed down to our descendants. The exception is precious stones. Not only are they the most durable creations of Mother Nature, but their visual splendor is truly eternal.
This book presents a completely fresh approach to the subject. Dubbing it humanistic gemology, the authors take readers around the world, showing the places they have explored in their search for gems, along with the people and cultures encountered along the way. Within this volume, remarkable photographs of the human world are interwoven with images of the microscopic realm of the gems themselves. In a lifetime beset by time control, where living is broken into ever smaller bits, as you browse through these pages suddenly you plunge into a domain of frozen time, one that affords vistas of millions or even billions of years. For jewels offer not just superficial beauty, but a window on the primordial forces that birthed both our planet and universe.
Inside Out – Gemology Through Lotus-Colored Glasses represents a fascinating new direction for gemology, linking the external and internal worlds of precious stones for the first time.
Inside Out | GEM•ology Through Lotus-Colored Glasses Order Page
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Book | Inside Out | Gemology Through Lotus-Colored Glasses | Order Page
Introducing…
Inside Out: GEM•ology Through Lotus-Colored Glasses
by
E. Billie Hughes | Richard W. Hughes | Wimon Manorotkul
with a foreword by Paolo Minieri
Chinese translation by Jason C.H. Kao (高嘉兴), with Jinding Yu (俞瑾玎) and Bonnie Chao (晁艳)
From the dawn of time, precious stones have both attracted and fascinated humans in ways that few other items could. For while objects of desire are found throughout the natural world, physical beauty is too often ephemeral. From the allure of a man, woman, flower or butterfly, through the fleeting moments of a sunset, there is little that lasts and practically nothing that can be passed down to our descendants. The exception is precious stones. Not only are they the most durable creations of Mother Nature, but their visual splendor is truly eternal.
This book presents a completely fresh approach to the subject. Dubbing it humanistic gemology, the authors take readers around the world, showing the places they have explored in their search for gems, along with the people and cultures encountered along the way.
Within this volume, remarkable photographs of the human world are interwoven with images of the microscopic realm of the gems themselves. In a lifetime beset by time control, where living is broken into ever smaller bits, as you browse through these pages suddenly you plunge into a domain of frozen time, one that affords vistas of millions or even billions of years. For jewels offer not just superficial beauty, but a window on the primordial forces that birthed both our planet and universe.
Inside Out – Gemology Through Lotus-Colored Glasses represents a fascinating new direction for gemology, linking the external and internal worlds of precious stones for the first time.
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Published 2020; Now shipping
Standard Edition – Hardcover
Price: Thai Baht 3000 + Shipping & Handling•
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Ships via International Parcel Air (2–3 weeks)Hardcover with Dust Jacket
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This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. directly with a list of the books you want to order and your shipping address, and we will provide you with a shipping quotation. - Please note that some delays may be expected for handling & delivery at the destinations.
Proceed with your order if your destination is listed below:
Shipping cost by destination (THB)
Americas Canada ฿3000 Mexico ฿3000 USA ฿3300 Asia Pacific Australia ฿2500 China (mainland) ฿1500 Hong Kong ฿1500 Japan ฿1700 Singapore ฿1500 Taiwan ฿1700 Europe Austria ฿2000 Belgium ฿2500 Denmark ฿2500 France ฿2500 Germany ฿2300 Italy ฿2500 Netherlands ฿2500 Norway ฿2500 Sweden ฿2300 Switzerland ฿2500 UK ฿2500
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Title Page
Introduction
Sample Interior Spreads
A few comments from reviewers…
I am doubtless readers both inside and outside of the gem trade will enthusiastically welcome Inside Out. Buy it, read it, give it away. I am fully confident you will be satisfied, ingratiated and inspired.
Jeffery Bergman – InColor MagazineThis book fills a gap in the literature on gems by pictorially exploring the relationship between humans and gems on an artistic and emotional level. It is a work of art that lives from the quality of the photographs and gets by with minimal textual commentary on the images.
Michael Hügi – Journal of GemmologyInside Out is a truly stunning work reflecting the combnied personalities, skills, knowledge and philosophy of the authors, who have created something exceptional and innovative for the world of gemmology.
Terry Coldham – Australian Gemmologist -
Book | Jade | A Gemologist's Guide | 2022
Jade • A Gemologist's Guide
Richard W. Hughes, editor | 2022
The study of jade is unlike any other gem, trespassing across all conventional boundaries, particularly those of the gemological and mineralogical realm. Despite the march of mineralogical orthodoxy and conformity, the word “jade” is a fist in the air of protest, crying out not for reduction and definition, but an expansion of the mineralogical lexicon to include the cultural aspects of human civilization and life. The word “jade” is the anti-mineral. Because jade is so much more than a simple census of atoms, their valence states, and their places of residence.
An understanding of jade is not limited to the technical or exacting; it also incorporates a feeling for the cultural, textural, and ephemeral qualities that make the study of this gem unlike any other in the world of gemstones. It is our heartfelt hope that this volume will not just fill the “traditional gemological” gap, but will open readers’ eyes to a world beyond. Because jade is so much more.
While the literature on jade is vast, perhaps greater than any other gem, there is a distinct lack of a volume that treats jade as a gemological material. This book is designed to fill that gap, with extensive information on the history, sources, appraisal and identification of both treated and the various forms of imitation jade. All of this is together in a single volume for the first time, making this a must-have for all collectors, dealers, gemologists, appraisers, curators and anyone else with an interest in this fascinating gem.
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Book | Jade | A Gemologist's Guide | Limited Edition Order Page
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Jade • A Gemologist's Guide
Limited EditionTo proceed with your order, please select your shipping destination below.
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Book | Jade | A Gemologist's Guide | Order Page
Introducing…
Jade • A Gemologist's Guide
edited by
Richard W. Hughes
featuring contributions from…
Ahmadjan Abduriyim • Dale Blankenship • George E. Harlow • Eric J. Hoffman • E. Billie Hughes • Richard W. Hughes • Jiang “Chris” Chenglong • John I. Koivula • Nikolai Kouznetsov • Liu Yicen • Kirk Makepeace • Jeff Mason • Dominic W.K. Mok • Qi Lijian • Mary Lou Ridinger • Donn Salt • Roland Schluessel • Andrew Shaw • Shi Guanghai • Susan Stronge • Wang Mingying • Stewart Young • Zhou "Adam" Zhengyu
with…
Rudolph I. Estrada • Tao Hsu • Jason C.H. Kao • Michael S. Krzemnicki • William F. Larson • Wim Vertriest
Sponsored by the Houston Museum of Natural ScienceThe study of jade is unlike that of any other gem, trespassing across conventional boundaries, particularly those of the gemological and mineralogical realm. Despite the march of mineralogical orthodoxy and conformity, the word “jade” is a fist in the air of protest, crying out not for further reduction and definition, but an expansion of the mineralogical canon to include the cultural aspects of human civilization and life. Because jade is so much more than a simple census of atoms, valence states, and places of residence. Jade is a lexicon liberator.
While the literature on jade is vast, perhaps greater than any other gem, there is a distinct lack of a volume in English that treats jade as a gemological material. This book is designed to fill that gap, with extensive information on the history, sources, appraisal and identification of both treated and imitation jades. All of this is together in a single volume for the first time, making it a must-have for collectors, dealers, gemologists, appraisers, curators and anyone else with an interest in this fascinating gem.
An understanding of jade is not limited to the technical or exacting; it also incorporates a feeling for the cultural, textural, and ephemeral qualities that make the study of this gem unlike any other. This volume will not just fill the “traditional gemological” gap, but will open readers’ eyes to a world beyond. Because jade is so much more…
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Publishing: 2022
Standard Edition Hardcover with Dust Jacket
US$200
534 pages; 240 x 280 mm (9.45 x 11 inches), 2.75 kg (6 lb)
Full Color ThroughoutSpecial Limited Edition of 100 Signed and Numbered Copies Bound in Thai Silk with Slipcase
US$300 (Sold Out)
Title Page & Table of Contents
Sample Interior Spreads
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Book Review | Imperial Jade of Burma & Mutton-Fat Jade of India | Lotus Gemology
Samuels, S.K. (2014) Imperial Jade of Burma and Mutton-Fat Jade of India: Mining, Trade, and Use from Antiquity to the Present. SKS Enterprises, Inc., Tucson, AZ, USA, 248 pp. ISBN: 978-0-9725323-4-1
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Burma's Jade Mines | An Annotated Occidental History
The history of Burma's jade mines, as seen through Western eyes, from the earliest accounts through World War II.
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Burma’s Jade Mines | Tracing the Green Line
In 1996, several gemologists set off for Burma's remote jade mines, the first visit by foreigners since the early 1960's. This is the story of their epic journey.
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Burmese Jade | The Inscrutable Gem
Myanmar's jadeite mines occupy a privileged place, representing the planet's principal source of fine jadeite jade. This article covers the deposits themselves, along with the cutting, grading and trading of jadeite.
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From Fei Cui to Jadeite and Back | Questions and Answers
Recent studies show that the gem known throughout the non-Chinese world as "jadeite" jade is actually a rock composed of three major mineral components – jadeite, omphacite and kosmochlor. These components grow in a submicroscopic aggregate with grains so small that normal lab instruments cannot easily determine the true composition. As a result, China's gem trade has adopted the traditional term "fei cui" (pronounced 'fay choy') to cover all the pyroxene jades. Lotus Gemology has done the same starting on 1 July 2023, dropping the names jadeite/omphacite/kosmochlor in favor of the scientifically more correct "fei cui."
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FTIR in Gem Testing | FTIR Intrigue
The use of Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) in gem identification, with examples of sapphire & jadeite.
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Gems & Gemology Lectures | Lotus Gemology Bangkok
Lotus Gemology's gemologists have lectured extensively about a wide variety of gemological topics including ruby, sapphire, jade, and more.
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Guangzhou Jade Market Puzzle | A Chinese Jade Box
An investigation into nephrite and imitation nephrite pebbles purchased in Guangzhou, China's Hualin Street jade market.
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Jade | A Lifetime In Search of Heaven
The story of Richard Hughes' four-decade adventure with jade, from Burma's jadeite mines to China's classic mutton-fat nephrite deposit at Hetian, Xinjiang Province. The work of China's modern jade carving masters is also discussed.
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Jade Buying Guide | Jade Auction Records
This article discusses the factors that influence quality and what to look for when buying both jadeite and nephrite. A list of jade auction records is also included.
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Jade in Upper Burma | Heaven and Hell
An account of the authors' 1997 visit to Burma's jade mines.
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Lecture | Broken Bangle | Bangkok | 13 September 2024
Richard Hughes examines the nomenclature of jade, along with the remarkable renaissance in Chinese jade carving that has occured since the 1990s.