Gem Connection

Artisanal small-scale gold mining, shortened to ASM or ASGM, is the largest global user and emitter of mercury. Mercury has been used for thousands of  years to extract gold, but the way miners use it produces low yields of gold, and miners don’t know the risks of using it. 

My guests in this episode are working to formalize ASGM toward ethical mined, responsibly sourced gold with the purpose of reducing or eliminating the use of mercury.  They’re addressing change in the areas of health and safety, human rights, the enivoronment and, public awareness. 

Special guests: 

Ludovic Bernaudat is Senior Task Manager in UNEP Chemicals and Waste GEF unit where he leads the technical team developing and implementing projects. He joined UNEP in 2015 and had been leading the developments of multi-agency programs including the planetGOLD program. Before joining UNEP, he worked for 12 years in UNIDO where he led projects on Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining, cleaner production and eco-cities. He led the development of the agency’s mercury program. Additionally, he has been the co-lead of the UNEP Global Mercury Partnership area on Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining since its inception in 2007. He has a MSc in Environmental Sciences and is currently based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Susan Keane is the Senior Director of Global Strategies, in the International Program of the Natural Resources Defense Council. Susan is a public health specialist with over 30 years of experience working on domestic and international environmental health issues. Her work has covered a range of topics, and spanned several regions of the world. Most recently Susan has focused her advocacy on reducing global mercury pollution, particularly in artisanal and small-scale gold mining. She was directly engaged with governments during the negotiations of the Minamata Convention on Mercury, and is now working with the UN agencies, countries and NGOs to put the Convention into action. In particular, she is working with the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and UNEP on the GEF-funded planetGOLD programme to reduce mercury use in artisanal and small-scale gold mining in eight countries. She is also the co-leader of the ASGM Area of the United Nations Environment Program Global Mercury Partnership. 

Maggie Gabos is Lead Consultant for Christina T Miller Sustainable Jewelry Consulting. She has a demonstrated history of working across sectors towards improving the responsible sourcing and sustainability impact of the jewelry industry. She has a Masters Degree in International Development and Environmental Sustainability.

Elizabeth Chatelain is owner of MVI Marketing LLC a market research firm working exclusively in the worldwide gem, jewelry and watch industries. MVI provides market research, industry intelligence, and strategic analysis for companies within the gem, jewelry and luxury watch industries.

Websites for your continued research: planetgold.org, unep.org, fairmined.org, christinaTmiller.com, mercuryconvention.org, epa.org, thegef.org , artisanalgold.org, hooverandstrong.com,

The Three Brethren jewel (seen on James VI and I hat) was one of the most important jewels of the Middle Ages. Designed as a men's shoulder clasp, the jewel was named for 3 perfectly matched balas rubies, a term that predates gemology meaning red gemstones. In fact these gemstones were red spinels. Ruby and red spinel weren't gemologically differentiated until the 1800's. 

The red spinels weighed about 70 carats each. Indeed, The Three Brethren jewel was a spectacle of large gemstones and also included 4 large pearls, and a 30 carat pyramid-cut blue diamond from India known as the Heart of the Three Brethren.

The jewel was owned by dukes, kings, queens, and one of the richest men who ever lived, Jacob Fugger. Then in the 1640’s the jewel disappeared without a trace.

For 250 years The Three Brethren jewel (seen here on James VI and I's hat) was worn and collected by dukes, kings, queens (including Elizabeth I), & Jacob Fugger, one of the richest men who ever lived...then in the 1640's the jewel disappeared without a trace. Called The Three Brethren for the three, large red spinels, its owner was potent with real power and wealth.

Also detailed, and hopefully cleared up, is the confusing language and etymology associated with spinels and balas rubies, as well as the possible source of The Three Brethren spinels.

For 250 years The Three Brethren jewel (seen here on James VI and I's hat) was worn and collected by dukes, kings, queens (including Elizabeth I), & Jacob Fugger, one of the richest men who ever lived...then in the 1640's the jewel disappeared without a trace. Called The Three Brethren for the three, large red spinels, its owner was potent with real power and wealth.

Also detailed, and hopefully cleared up, is the confusing language and etymology associated with spinels and balas rubies, as well as the possible source of The Three Brethren spinels.

For 250 years The Three Brethren jewel (seen here on James VI and I's hat) was worn and collected by dukes, kings, queens (including Elizabeth I), & Jacob Fugger, one of the richest men who ever lived...then in the 1640's the jewel disappeared without a trace. Called The Three Brethren for the three, large red spinels, its owner was potent with real power and wealth.

Also detailed, and hopefully cleared up, is the confusing language and etymology associated with spinels and balas rubies, as well as the possible source of The Three Brethren spinels.

Barney was brilliant in business and wit, and such a huge personality at the Kimberly diamond mine that people enjoyed doing business with him. He rose from being an impoverished street performer in London to millionaire mining magnate within ten years of arriving to South Africa. He was a rare combination of brilliance and fortitude. He was also the magician at the dinner party, the boxer in the ring, actor on the stage. He was a fearless entrepreneurial thinker who regularly pushed in all his chips to move his business interests forward. 

My special guests is Nancy du Tertre, who discovered through her research that Barney was her great, great uncle. 

Paula Crevoshay is a central figure in the jewelry trade as a judge (of the Buccellati Awards, Saul Bell Awards, and Spectrum Awards), educator,  designer, award winner, and visionary. She's known in the trade as the Queen of Color. Paula’s work, all of it -  including her lectures, books, her infectious positive energy, her incredible curiosity - has made an indelibly connection to nature, art, and science. Her jewelry is on display at prestigious American museums including the Smithsonian Institution, The Carnegie Museum, and Gemological Institute of America (GIA). In this episode we talk about Paula's museum shows, how she works to elevate artists in the jewelry trade, her design secrets, her fascinating background, and influences.  Website: crevoshay.com  Instagram: @crevoshay

In this episode of Gem Connection we discuss ammonite, an ancient squid-like creature that lived over 400 million years ago and survived three mass extinctions. We'll relate it to my favorite ancient Greek coin minted by Lysimachus, one of the Alexander the Great's top generals, and then to the Fibonacci Sequence. 

The story of a prehistoric, squid-like creature meets gemology is the topic of todays podcast. We’re talking about ammonite and its gem-quality trade name, ammolite. My guest is gemologist, historian, and numismatist Lynn Kelly..