My Travels Through Thailand Buying Gemstones
This blog is dedicated to my dear friend, Mr. Huard, who was a friend and protector.
Thailand is my favorite country to buy gemstones.
My early trips were ten-hour flights with a stopover in Seattle or Tokyo — the direct flights were longer and boring, and I preferred to break the journey. After sitting ten hours in a cramped plane, it was my salvation to walk through the different pavilions in the airport, sampling their food and browsing the great electronic accessories, gifts and gadgets.
Mr. Huard was the first person I met in Bangkok. He was Thai, a devout Buddhist, and he worked for the biggest office, where the gem dealers and brokers would come to show their merchandise. He was kind, and like a brother to me.
My first trip was the most memorable. I didn't know anyone, but I had the names of gemstone offices, cutters and gemstone dealers who were highly recommended.
I was young, and I didn't look like an important gemstone buyer. I still remember waiting endlessly to view gemstones in the many offices I visited. I felt small and insignificant during those days. My heart would fill with tears, and I questioned my importance.
The worldwide gemstone industry is dominated by men. I understood the difficulties these men faced accepting me as a woman gemstone buyer. I knew it was not personal, but it still hurt. Actually, they knew what they were doing — they just didn't like aggressive women.
In time, and over many returns to buy more gemstones, the relationships changed — becoming respectful, nurturing and trusting.
In the early 1980s I formed my own company selling gemstones. My clients were local NYC manufacturers who made fine jewelry; my expertise was precious stones, which I learned from my father, who was an importer of fine gems from India, Burma, Sri Lanka and Colombia.
When I formed my company, I would first borrow gemstones from local gem dealers in New York, then sell them to local designers and manufacturers. It was difficult, because on many occasions the local importers didn't have what I needed. Within a short time, I decided I was the person to buy gems directly from the cutters and miners in the gemstones' countries of origin.
My first trip was to Thailand. I was a single mother; my son would stay with our housekeeper. It was extremely difficult to leave my son at home. Long-distance calls were expensive and not available in many of the countries I visited; there were days I couldn't reach him. The time difference left my thoughts and concerns with him constantly. Luckily, my mother lived a few blocks away and was always there for him.
Bangkok is one of the largest markets for trading all types of gemstones. I was only interested in buying rubies and sapphires.
Today, Thailand processes and trades stones from new foreign sources. Nearly every variety of colored gem can be found there, and rough stone is brought from every mining location in the world to be cut and traded in Bangkok. No other country has the depth of knowledge and experience, or the trained craftspeople, to rival Thailand's ability to process the volume and variety of gems from the world's mines. Combined with Bangkok's strategic location as a transportation hub in Southeast Asia, Thailand will always be a leader in gems and jewelry.
Walking on the cobblestone streets of the Mahesak center in Bangkok, with my tools and a list of gemstones requested by my clients, I was excited and scared
.
My first day began early in the morning. The sun was not high or strong yet, and I thought the light would be perfect to show the true color of the stones.
It was a strange experience. I was methodical in following my list. I should explain that most of the big new cabochons are from Ceylon — Sri Lanka — however, the trade still names all Sri Lanka stones as Ceylon. On my list was a request for fine quality, crystal, clean and clear blue cabochon sapphires.
I was confident I knew what I was doing. Within the first three hours, I purchased $40,000 worth of cabochon sapphires. I didn't think it was unusual. I made sure the stones were well cut, clean and transparent, and the average price was $40 per carat.
To my surprise, this behavior was not the norm for purchasing gemstones in Bangkok. The local shop owners and gemstone brokers were very concerned about me; they were sure the weird woman from New York didn't know what she was doing. People came out from different rooms, and the shop owner came over and asked me if I knew what I was doing. I was clueless; I didn't understand why they were worried. I was confident the stones I purchased were the quality my client needed.
This story followed me for years. There are not too many women gemstone buyers, but everyone knew who I was — "the queen of cabochons."
When I returned to New York, I sold all the stones. They were magnificent — large, crystallized blue stones. I returned to Bangkok in three months to replenish what I had sold, but to my surprise, the price of the same stones had doubled.
Prices kept going up drastically. The stones that were $40 a carat then are about $200 to $500 a carat today. The problem is that gem mines are depleted very fast, because the cutters and the rough dealers buy most of the gems very fast. This problem is in Burma, in Kashmir, in the mines of India — Golconda — and in Ceylon. The Panjshir emeralds are extinct, and the old-mined emeralds are gone too. Panjshir emeralds were prized, high-clarity gemstones mined in the high-altitude Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley.
I made many friends in Bangkok, and I am still in touch with them. I would visit the country four times a year for twenty years, and while I was purchasing large quantities of gems, it eventually became a vacation destination as well.
I was born in Pakistan — my passport lists Pakistan as my place of birth. It is always strange: when I mention my birth country, people are surprised, since I am Jewish too. My parents were from Afghanistan, and I was born on their way to India.
After 9/11, travelers came under much closer scrutiny. I was always targeted by the computer for a complete scan and body check, for weapons and drugs. Eventually it became a fun game, and I would play along with the security teams. I asked why I was always a target, and I was told that a woman traveling alone is a suspicious drug smuggler — and probably my birth country added to the computer targeting me, too.
I still chuckle thinking about that first day. I wish I had kept some of those stones as a memento of the experience.
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