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Two new great books on Ruby and Sapphire

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Miki Moto

Brilliant_Rock
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Jan 6, 2018
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Hi Everyone,
I'm a lover of colored gemstones, primarily emerald, ruby, and sapphire. There are a lot of books of gemstones, but not many that focus on a specific stone.

In case anyone is interested, I thought i would share two great books recently published.

"Ruby" (by Joanna Hardy) focuses solely on rubies and is more history & eye candy than education. It covers the history of the gemstone as well as many ruby jewelry pieces and their history.
https://www.amazon.com/Ruby-Joanna-Hardy/dp/0500519412

"Ruby & Sapphire" (by Richard Hughes) is a much more in depth guide on the gemstone itself. NOTE: The Ruby & Sapphire book is not available on amazon and you have to go direct. amazon only sells the out of publication 1997 from resellers so please be clear on the difference of the two editions.
http://www.lotusgemology.com/index....ruby-sapphire-a-gemologist-s-guide-order-page

Hope this was helpful.
 
I'd just add that the other one, the 2014 edition, is also amazing: http://www.lotusgemology.com/index....-ruby-sapphire-a-collector-s-guide-order-page

As are all the past editions of the book. His books in general are basically seminal works on the subject of corundum. Plus, they're very well written.

Other interesting works but more of the coffee table book variety - nice to look at and informative through the sheer amount of colors portrayed - are Vlad Yavorskyy's Terra Garnet, Terra Spinel and Terra Connoisseur. My one gripe with them is that the print method used makes the stones look oversaturated in some cases (demantoids, tsavorites, certain reds/pinks).

Then there's Secrets of the Gem Trade too, of course, and, and, and.... There are quite a few.
 
Thanks for the heads up! My H and I were hoping Ruby & Sapphire would be updated. I knew about the Collector's Guide published in 2014 but was waiting for the gemologist's guide. Can't wait to read it!
 
pearlsngems said:
Thanks for the heads up! My H and I were hoping Ruby & Sapphire would be updated. I knew about the Collector's Guide published in 2014 but was waiting for the gemologist's guide. Can't wait to read it!
Click to expand...

It's huge and awesome. I am plowing through it. He signed it too!
 
@Frost Hi! Thanks for the sharing about the Terra Spinel! I am so gald to hear you mention it. Do you have it? The price is now $1,000.00, so if you have it, do you like it? I have not purchased it yet as I was not sure if it would be worth it. Plus, I am really more hung up on rubies vs spinels which is why I wanted to read more about the red spinel. Did it have a lot of info on the red spinel? Wow... I'm so happy to know you have it. Please share your thoughts.

And yes... Secrets of the Gem Trade is fabulous! Did you know Richard Wise has a new edition? I read his old edition, but I just purchased his new book (it's still in hardcover), and it looks great alos.

Everyone!
Okay... since this is turning into a book sharing thread... Here are two emerald books:
I love this one, the guy is supposed to be the guru of emeralds: http://www.emeraldpassion.com/
And here is a new one that I ordered (from GRS labs), but it has not arrived yet: http://gemresearch.ch/product/magnificent-green-on-the-trail-of-the-legendary-colombian-emerald/

Note on the Emerald Green book... it's coming from Switzerland so shipping is killer expensive. I purchased the Pigeon Blood Valley book along with the Emerald Green book as it was only $12 more shipping to get both books.

Please share any other great books! I am especially looking for books on emeralds and rubies.
 
Miki Moto said:
@Frost Hi! Thanks for the sharing about the Terra Spinel! I am so gald to hear you mention it. Do you have it? The price is now $1,000.00, so if you have it, do you like it?
Click to expand...

Wow, really? Is it any more if it's also signed with well wishes? :lol: I had no clue it was out of print.

I do have these, but I wouldn't sell because I've seen what happens to most of these books when they go out of print - the prices skyrocket. The book itself is the most significant (to me) of his works, since it portrays a wide range of spinel from all over the world and he is mainly known as a spinel expert after all. But with that said, it's more of a showcase of exceptional spinels from various sources than an in-depth gemological guide (like R&S by R.H.) or a detailed buyer's guide (like SotGT by R.W.). Speaking of Secrets, I don't have the new edition yet, that's on the shopping list.

If you're looking for out of print books at any point, I think eBay is your friend. Old editions of Ruby & Sapphire used to appear there, sometimes for relatively reasonable prices. I had a university professor who bought a copy of this edition: https://www.amazon.com/Ruby-Sapphire-Richard-W-Hughes/dp/0964509768 second hand for about $50 at a time when the book was going for $600+ everywhere online. My eyes fell out when he showed me the book and told me how much he'd paid. So I think it's possible to find them with some luck.

Another nice and well written book on a specific subject is Russian Alexandrites by Dr. K. Schmetzer. It deals with a lot of useful info about alexes and is very well written and researched, but also relatively short (a 100-something pages).

If shipping is expensive, one option is always to mail the authors and ask them if they're coming to a large international gem show near you. In many cases, they'll have some copies of their books with them.
 
These books like Terra Spinel are beautiful- coffee table books - but not very informative- R. Hughes new "Ruby and Sapphire" is worth the money.

Also Ron Ringsrud book about Emeralds and the 3 books about inclusions ( Gübelin / Koivola ) are a "must have"

Alexandrite from Dr. Schmetzer of course too!
 
@Nosean I love Ron Ringsrud's emerald book (I posted a link to it above in case others want to find it).
May I ask what are the names of the other 3 books on inclusions? I can't seem to find them. Thank you for that tip! I am always on the search for good emerald books to keep learning (I am a gemstone newbie).
 
Frost said:
Wow, really? Is it any more if it's also signed with well wishes? :lol: I had no clue it was out of print.
Click to expand...

It's not out of print... you can order it, but it is $1,000.00! Keep your book! I think Vlad is gouging now only because he sold one at the HK gem show for $1,000.00, so now that is his price for the book.
https://ivynewyork.com/blogs/news/terra-spinel-sold-at-record-1000-for-one-book

I don't know Vlad at all, and he may be the spinel-guru, but Richard Hughes (who seems to be the ruby-guru)... his Ruby & Sapphire first edition out of print book sold for nearly $1,000 at one point in the used book market. He just published the second edition, and he did not gouge. He only made it $285.00.... good man.
 
And this book is an important one!!!!

Richard Hughes is a scientist - imo one of the most important persons in gemology.
 
I agree on Ruby & Sapphire and more or less anything else written by R.H. - if you're looking for info on corundum, there is no better published source in my opinion. All of the editions and variations I've seen so far were chock-full of useful and interesting info.
 
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