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Questions about Moonstone

What cool pictures of the process. It sure looks like hard work. The finished stones look pretty amazing especially since they are hard to photograph.

Bet your daughter will love love her moonstone when she is old enough to appreciate it.

Thanks for posting these!

Laura
 
thanks for sharing the pictures Pandora! it's really interesting.
and now i want to got to Sri Lanka too... lol!
the finished stones look lovely :)

is the mine actually open to public or you've got to make prior arrangements if you want to visit?
 
The mine is open to the public I think - I have a contact in the government there who fixed a load of things for me and I said I wanted to visit mines various and our guide had all the details of what had been fixed. Some I know were definitely not open to the public but as this one had a shop I am presuming it was. We were the only people there when we visited though.

One of the best ways to visit Sri Lanka is to hire a 'Chauffeur Guide' - they act as driver/interpreter/guide/pseudo-bodyguard (not that you need one there) and deal with beggars/hustlers and tipping etc for you. They cost around $15 a day and are invaluable. Driving in Sri Lanka is truly frightening - 3 way overtaking on a single lane road with dogs lying in the middle of it sunbathing... The big hotels have Chauffeur Guide hotels attached to them so they are well looked after.

A lot of people were put off by the trouble with the LTTE, but the south was always very safe unless you were very unlucky. My only quibble with the place would be the food - 'rice & curry' is the staple dish, the question is do you want chicken, fish or vegetable. That is pretty much it for the most part and after 15 days of rice & curry for breakfast, lunch and dinner I was rather tired of it - and it's pretty hot. Even in the big hotels there isn't always a huge other choice. So, if you go there I hope you like curry...

I was a bit spoilt though as in Sri Lanka it is considered good luck to cook for a pregnant woman so I was cooked all sorts of special food - like baby jack-fruit curry (still curry but really nice) and green mangos with chili which were amazing! The green mangos and chili are recommended for morning sickness and they and the king coconuts definitely worked.

Was an amazing trip and can't wait to go back - although Thailand may come first...
 
Wow, that sounds so exotic and interesting!
I love the idea of the guides, I think that is a really nice way to go!!!!!
 
Those mine pictures are really amazing, Pandora, thank you! Makes me feel guilty that moonstone is relatively cheap. . .

This is one of Rick Martin's new gems, a nice size moonstone, calibrated size so any jeweler can plunk it into a pre-made setting or you can buy a silver or gold setting from Tripps settings very cheap.

Lovely stone: http://www.artcutgems.com/item.php?item_id=770

He also has an excellent deal on a green moonstone (I've never seen one in RL, if anyone has, I'd like to hear more about it). :read:

http://www.artcutgems.com/item.php?item_id=769
 
ilander-here is a pic of green moonstone-a little over 10 cts & a cost of less than $40.00-steve...

016.JPG
 
Wow, Pandora, thank you so much for your pictures and your story. I would love to do what you did. The pictures are phenomenal, and your narrative is equally so. I love the fact that you had special treatment because you were pregnant - how cool is that?!!! I am surprised that the miners were so open with you and would even allow the thought of people to go down the mine.

ILander: I didn't know there was green moonstone - and I loved Rick's description of billowing cloudlike adularescence (sp?). Do you know if they have blue flashes as well? [Steve76:I don't know if it applies to your stone because its opaque - but do you see flashes?]
 
Incredible photographs! Now I know where the moonstones are coming from! Thank you, Pandora.
 
minousbijoux|1290965979|2780970 said:
Wow, Pandora, thank you so much for your pictures and your story. I would love to do what you did. The pictures are phenomenal, and your narrative is equally so. I love the fact that you had special treatment because you were pregnant - how cool is that?!!! I am surprised that the miners were so open with you and would even allow the thought of people to go down the mine.

ILander: I didn't know there was green moonstone - and I loved Rick's description of billowing cloudlike adularescence (sp?). Do you know if they have blue flashes as well? [Steve76:I don't know if it applies to your stone because its opaque - but do you see flashes?]
Click to expand...
because the stone is not clear the flashes are not as visible as a clear moonstone-does have pretty good color for a green moonstone-when im looking for the classic moonstone i try 2 get the clear stones-steve...
 
Pandora - thank you so much for sharing. Your description and the photos really brought it to life. It's funny but when I think of "miners" I always think of coal dust on faces and a lamp on top of a helmet! Can you imagine our H&S bods having a field day over there - those poor guys would end up equipped (and boiling) to the hilt!!!?

In the photo where some of the Moonstone are laid out waiting to be set, there's a stunning large pear - was it one of the ones you bought by any chance?

I'm a curry lover (hot's okay as well) but I agree, 3 times a day would be enough to turn you off for life!
 
Minous bijoux - Sri Lanka used to be a British colony and most people speak some English and a lot speak very good English so it's easy enough to chat to people - plus I had the driver if I needed translating. There still seems to be a lot of respect for the British out there and I was treated with incredible courtesy by everyone. It is an incredible country and I'm really looking forward to returning - it's also fantastically beautiful - here's a photo of the view one morning from our 'hotel' window (it was a pretty unsalubrious hostelry but the views were incredible!)

I think most of the miners were just rather amused at the crazy English girl taking such an interest in their work. I visited a load of sapphire mines as well - many when I spotted one in a field while driving down the road... car screeches to a halt and Pandora dashed through mud to see what they are up to leaving husband and our driver lagging behind with the camera kit! I will also confess that I am not shy about asking when I want something and smiling and being enthusiastic seems to work pretty well in most things I find!

Round Ratnapura there are many, many small mines. The government protects the industry by not permitting mechanised mining - this way there is a sustainable industry for many years to come which supports entire communities. The miners work as part of small co-operatives - the landowner, mine-owner and miners all share in the profits.

When I was buying stones I dealt with an agent who introduced me to the mine-owners. When I bought stones he wrote down the name of the vendor and the price agreed. At the end I paid him and he paid them minus his cut. It worked very well - I got to see 20+ vendors in an afternoon and had the use of the agent's office to see them in, so although I was working fast I only saw one parcel of goods at a time and there was no hard-sell or hassle involved. The agent also had a refractometer available - I didn't take mine as humidity can wreck them and I didn't know if it would be useful in my kit as you don't always get the possibility of a flat-surface, lighting and peace & quiet. The only real problem I had was that my electronic scales decided to pack up that morning and so I had to use his - which were the old-fashioned balance scales!

Foreigners can take their stones to the gem lab in Colombo to have them tested free of charge (small charge if you want a certificate) - they only test for species, not for treatments - and I had them all weighed there, I was impressed at how accurate the balance scale had been! The mine-owners were also very upfront about which stones they had heated and which they had not and no-one tried to pull a fast one.

LD - It's not that pear but one very like it. I could have spent a fortune there! H&S would have had a heart-attack on the spot, although the only man I met with missing fingers was one of the guys who sold coconuts who chopped them off cutting coconuts one morning... ouch!

61102_101420089922728_100001642114668_8116_975562_n.jpg
 
Oh, and if anyone has ever wondered what colour pad sapphires should be... well, they say it should be the colour of a Sri Lankan sunset...

60870_101418539922883_100001642114668_8108_5890772_n.jpg
 
Oh, Pandora, I feel like a kid getting told bedtime stories - tell me more, please, please! Thank you so much - Your photos are stellar and please, please write more! Do you have beautiful zircons and sapphires? Do you have a thread about your trip?

-Minou
 
That is unbelievably beautiful - its like a drop of water its so clear. I hope you do get it. Would you set it as a pendant? If so, you'll have to plan schedule to include lots and lots of mirrors :love:
 
Thank you Pandora for sharing your travel. What a totally breathtakingly splendid view from your room! I've had sri lanka high on my list for a while now, and Im not getting any younger! Oh bitter corundum conundrum! One must stop buying stones to afford to go to sri lanka and buy stones! I shall simply have to make more money.
 
What fantastic information and photos Pandora! Thank you it certainly widen my horizon!
 
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