Education in Gemology

Membership :
- Graduate's Club (HRD)
- Gemological Research Center (CRG, Université de Nantes)

Publications :

- Article in the scientific magazine of the French Gemological Association (AFG):
E. Fritsch, JP. Gauthier, Y. Mandaba, F. Mazzero (2004) L'opale d'Ethiopie : gemmologie ordinaire et caractéristiques exceptionnelles, Revue de gemmologie AFG n° 149

Pictures from a trip to Cambodia:



Mining, heating and cutting in Pailin city

Trip to Arusha, Tanzania:



The Saul brothers' Tsavorite Mine

Cutting Factory in Bangkok
We still use their services if necessary, good work but not cheap at all...
(1st January 2006).

I have been part of this company since January 2006, to take care of international customer relations, but have lent a hand for the supplies.
I have begun my integration by implementing a quotation system which uses forms linked to a quotations database, allowing us to answer more swiftly to the customers' demands, and control our pricing.

Gems & Jewelry Show...	"Index", precision hand cutting Machine

Thus this cutting factory is working mainly on the local market's rough stones, but also with those directly imported from other countries from Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

This workshop's specialties are difficult and unusual cutting solutions:

- Highly precise cuts (0.03 mm) by hand, using the index (semi-industrial).

- "Cut to fit" to perfectly fit the customer's setting.

- Fancy cuts: The available equipment allows the production of calibrated sizes in fancy faceting, which allows easy setting and fashionable designs.

- Special operations: Concave cut, driling, carving, etc...

- Automated computer guided cutting machines, thanks to the developments of the Corean engineer.

Kiwong, engineer.	12 stones in a row! Computer guided machine (works with GemCad software)

Swala Gems Trader, Mine de Tsavorite , à Arusha, Tanzania
(Octobre 2005 - Fevrier 2006)
DOCUMENTARY

The goal of this mission for the Saul brothers was to set up the exportation and retail of cut stones, allowing this mining company to increase their income while maintaining the same productivity.

Eric Saul, underground,holding a huge Tanzanite (Photo Patrick Voillot)	Marc Saul, check the concentration of Tsavorite Garnet in order to tweak the engine frequency of the gig. (Photo Yannick)

The most beautiful stones are then cut and sold to individuals:
- At the Swala Gem Traders Shop in the renowned "New Arusha Hotel".
- On the www.swalagemteraders.com site; stones under a certain value being stored in and shipped from Bangkok for delivery costs reasons.

My task was to conceive the site (Structure and Design), direct its construction. I am still taking care of the technical support and on-going developments.

I then went to Tanzania for a month, allowing me to prepare the contents of the site (articles, images and structure), visit the mine, the buying office and the shop, but, more importantly, to accurately measure the different possibilities offered for establishing a photographic studio, delivery options in Arusha and Bangkok, workload repartition, etc.
Finally Eric Saul decided to start with sending the stones directly from Arusha, but the possibility of managing a few warehouses is still available in the website's customized administration tool.

During the week, I have been working on the website and the photographic studio, and I was spending the weekends in the mining area with Marc Saul whose house there sits on the only hill, squarely at the center of that circus-shaped valley.

The Saul's little House at the mine dominnating a magnificent "U" shaped valley . Marc is able to embrass his entire domain in a single sight. (Photo Yannick)	Water, so rare in this part of the world, is an essential element of the mining process . Here Marc is supervising the operation of transvasing the water in another reservoir in order to clean this one from the mud and continue washing the gravels. (Photo Yannick)

This was a very rewarding experience, as much for hands-on gemology and discovery of eastern Africa as for the e-trade and unusual logistics involved because of the isolation of the area from where cut stones are directly sent to customers.

Dr. John Saul's discoveries	The John Saul Ruby Mine
	Tanzanite, the Sky Blue Zoisite
	The first Color-Change Garnet
Gemstones of East-Africa	First Gemstones of East-Africa
	Geological Context of East-Africa

AIGS Laboratory & Gemwow.com
(October 2004 - Juin 2005)

   As soon as I arrived in Bangkok, right after having my knowledge on Stone from South Asia and new treatments updated at the A.I.G.S. School, I have been assisting Vincent Pardieu (Director of the Asian Institute of Gemological Sciences Laboratory: AIGS) in his research on the origin determination of corundums. An obsticle laboratories have been trying to overcome is determining origin of corundums for use on their certificates. With current technology origin determination is still a developing science.
But quickly I started to be attracted by the possibilities of the local market for more commercial activities, a chance to pratice the most exciting part of working with gemstones.

Vincent Pardieu, Ex-Director of AIGS Laboratory, now working for Gubelin Laboratory

     My knowledge in computers and web hosting led me to become manager of www.gemwow.com a leading distributer of gemstones over the net. GemWow is a portal that helps Jewelers from Thailand, Laos and Vietnam reach customers all over the world with little worry for maintainance, shipping, insurrance or a plethora of other administrative details. The website goal was to offer gem dealers the oppertunity to manage their own internet based shops from any workstation allowing them to add products, modify prices and descriptions, follow actions, and reply to customers' questions and offers.

Vincent Pardieuis now working for Gubelin Laboratory in Switzerland, continuing his researches on gemstones deposits all around the world.
Oups, Vincent is now (2009) working at G.I.A. in the research section, updating their database to prepare the certification of origin for gemstones around...2012 something like that. Good luck with that Vince!