09 | February | 2020 | Our Latest Gem Expedition

The last few days have been met with mixed fortune in the gem market. Unfortunately, a much-awaited shipment of 100 carats of oval, one carat size sapphires which I had contracted to be cut in Sri Lanka arrived on Friday and was largely a disappointment with about one half of the shipment being of substandard quality for use in the Trade Winds collection. After some heated discussion with the Sri-Lankan cutter who tried to pass off the inferior gems to me, and demanding I must pay because I had contracted for the order, we settled at a reduced price and the promise that he would never get business from me again. Normally, I would never contract to buy gems sight unseen, but in recent years I have simply been unable to find enough sapphires of high quality in certain sizes to meet the demand for certain Trade Wind pieces.

Hopefully, I will find a gem dealer in America who will take these inferior sapphires off my hands at a minor loss. Cross Jewelers customers can be assured that they will never be incorporated into any of the Trade Wind collection.

On a brighter note, I was able to pick up about 25 carats of one carat sapphires on the market Saturday, which will partially make up for the unsuitable gems brought from Sri Lanka. Along with these, I finally closed the deal on a dazzling 5.4 carat sapphire which had been the subject of negotiation for over two weeks. On Sunday, I was able to close a deal on four one, to one and half carat rubies which had also been under negotiation for a couple of days. Good quality rubies are hard to find on the market prices range from high to very high. Although reluctant to pay the prices, I know that there are always a few Trade Winds customers in search of ruby jewelry, so I had to capitulate. Even at that, I was only able to persuade the broker by offering him a bottle of whisky if he could close the deal at my final offer. I suppose I should be embarrassed to admit that this isn’t the first time that I have used a bottle of whisky to close a gem deal in my favor.

At the close of the market on Sunday, I was emotionally drained and ready for a getaway to my favorite retreat on earth, which is Chao lao beach in southeast Thailand. Along the way, I stopped at a friend’s house. She and her friend insisted that I take along some fruit to the beach, picking half a dozen bananas off a tree in her yard then climbing high into their mango tree to pick a few of the choice ripe mangos. Now looking forward to ocean breezes, warm sunshine and the delicious fruits provided by my caring friends.