Gemology and travel: Visiting gem markets and gemstone mining areas

Welcome to Fieldgemology.com field trips gallery!

We invite you to see here some photos of personal and professional field trips we had to gem mining and trading centers.

This gallery is currently far to be completed, but as now I'm established again with an ADSL connection I will be able to improve it regularly.

But first we would like to provide some advises to people willing to follow our steps and go on field trips to gemstones mining or trading centers:

Gem markets: These places are fun to visit and usually do not present any particular problem to visit. They are usually quite easy to access with restaurants, hotels, bus stations... Most of the time, danger will come from yourself and your greed: You may see there many interesting things, colorful people and beautiful gems. You may be willing to take advantage of the opportunity to buy something which can be understood and can be a very good idea. But some visitors might be willing to take the opportunity to invest a little hoping to make some profit... I would like to advise you to be very careful if this is the case: Gem business is not easy and to make money is a challenge many gem dealers are facing every day. Most of the stones beginners and people which are not well known member of the trade will see in such markets are low quality gems, treated stones, imitations or synthetics. The reason is simple: Beginners usually don’t know about gems, they pass and never come back, as a result they are the favorite targets of all kind of greedy people.

Most of the stones you will be presented will be over priced or fakes. So if you dont have any knowledge about gems, be aware about that. Now if you want to buy a souvenir, something nice and cheap, and have some good fun searching and bargaining for it then you are in the right place. Just know how much you can afford to loose and enjoy.

But if you want to get rich or make some profit, may be you should think about to buy a lottery ticket, as doing so you have at least a chance to win. In gem markets I never saw a newbie making money... It does not mean that it has never happened or will never happen, but I never witnessed that. My first experience about the gem trade was while I was backpacking in Vietnam before to become gemologist. Near the town of Yen Bai in North Vietnam, I met a local farmer who told me that he has found some red stones digging a hole near his rice field. He found there five red pebbles and was wandering if I was interested by them. He was first thinking to keep them but as his wife was sick he was needing now urgently some money and was willing to sell them. I bought the five rough rubies for $500 in order to help the guy. At that time $500 was not that much for me and I was thinking that this money was more important for him than for me and whatever I would be also probably to get them back and even make a profit and why not pay for all the trip. Few month later, as I was willing to sell four of these stones in Bangkok, I got one of these stones checked at the AIGS Gem Lab in Bangkok, Thailand. It was a synthetic ruby... The five stones value was close to zero. I learned that day that "Greed" and "Ignorance" are the two devils waiting for you when you enter a gem market or a gem mining place. Finally after a second experience of the same kind in Mandalay gem market in Burma, I decided to take some gemology course which was one of the best ideas I ever had.

Gem Mining areas: Here the things are quite different. Gem mining areas are not as easy to visit than gem market. Nevertheless it is possible to visit them most of the time if you do the right things. The most important thing if you want to visit a gem mining area is to have a contact in the gem trade to arrange the things with the mine owners and get you the right authorizations to visit the mines. Gem mines are usually not that difficult to access, they are not lost temples in the deep of the forest and to visit them, it is not necessary to bring too much equipment. To be open minded and healthy is nevertheless important as most of the time you will have to live with local food and to travel using local vehicules in tough conditions. Our advise is to get a good physical condition and to travel as light as you can. The fact is that miners come and go which means that there are usually some access, and facilites like place to eat and to sleep along the way. It might not be very comfortable, it might even be tough (I remember that I madagascar we had to pass the night in muddy places infested with rats, or to stay few days without any access to water) but it is possible. Local people will be able to give you some good advises. The key point is as a result to travel with the right person, a person aware of the problems such a trip might encounter. With the right person you will be safe, with the wrong person, you might face some very serious problems. So just be very careful as gem mining areas attract many people dreaming to get rich as soon as possible. I met many wonderful people there, but some people could be less lucky than I was. Again as for gem markets, don’t dream to get rich and remember that in gem mining areas, you are entering a private property and if you are a foreigner some local dealers might think that you are a buyer trying to by pass them... which can bring you some very serious problems especially if you tell a round that you are interested to buy gems. Usually foreign gem dealer visit markets, not gem mines except if they know well the owner and have his agreement. This is a basic security policy. So if you want to follow my steps and visit gem mines, you should not care about your equipment, about maps, and money, you should just care to be welcome there. This is just about common sense...

All the best,

Vincent Pardieu