:: B U R M A :: Z A H M ::

Burma: Journal Entry
Spring 2005...

ASIA, (Burma) -- Burma , to gem connoisseurs, is like a triple scoop ice-cream cone to a 4 year old on a hot summer's day. It is known for the most burning red ruby and mesmerizing blue sapphire. One also finds there the very finest flame spinel, apple green jade and peridot as green as the warm tropical sun filtering through a beautiful banana palm. I am excited and cautious of taking my first trip to Burma . There is so much intrigue surrounding this trip as there are many political problems. First, it is illegal to buy gems there except through official government auction and secondly, the U.S. has an embargo on anything imported from Burma . It will be up to me to find a resourceful way to make it all work and bring home some beautiful stones.

I arrive at night in the city of Rangoon ( Yangon ) in a great mood ready for whatever happens. I am fortunate to have a friend who has a friend who meets me in the customs queue. She has some pull there and we are able to proceed to the front of the endless customs line and quickly pass through immigration. It appears everything is going my way. It's great to have friends in strange places. Outside, in the humid darkness a car and a driver wait... I am now nervous. I know no one. I am driven through the meandering streets of the city to a beautiful hotel. Rangoon is a city of several million people and yet I didn't see a single building taller than 3 stories. Here sits a luxurious hotel, so out of place it feels like it followed me here from Bangkok . I check into my room and fall asleep dreaming of what awaits me tomorrow...

After breakfast I go outside to meet the driver. It is hot and bright in this tropical wonderland as we drive downtown. Again I am amazed at the small town feel of this big city. I am dropped outside a building and go up to the third floor to meet my gem contact. A group of people are already awaiting my arrival... I may know no one but people sure seem to know who I am. All of these Burmese men and women greet me with smiles and with high hope of me spending lots of money with them. I sit at a desk and they begin to open papers of gems for me to see.

The very first gem I look at is the most beautiful 15 carat blue, unheated sapphire I have ever seen and it has a price tag to match. Asking price is a quarter of a million dollars! I admire it for a while and then reluctantly move on. Sometimes saying goodbye to a gem hurts a little. The funny thing is that I get this yearning to possess a stone. I sort of fall in love with it and don't want anyone to know that I feel so passionate about it. That would destroy my bargaining ability. It is imperative to keep your cool. I spend the next 8 hours looking at hundreds of stones. I walk away with 8 unheated Mogok rubies, a parcel of star sapphires, 13 five plus carat peridot and, of course, many rich, almost iridescent blue sapphires.

CLOSE WINDOW


Burma: Journal Entry Spring 2005... ASIA, (Burma) -- Burma , to gem connoisseurs, is like a triple scoop ice-cream cone to a 4 year old on a hot summer's day. It is known for the most burning red ruby and mesmerizing blue sapphire. One also finds there the very finest flame spinel, apple green jade and peridot as green as the warm tropical sun filtering through a beautiful banana palm. I am excited and cautious of taking my first trip to Burma . There is so much intrigue surrounding this trip as there are many political problems. First, it is illegal to buy gems there except through official government auction and secondly, the U.S. has an embargo on anything imported from Burma . It will be up to me to find a resourceful way to make it all work and bring home some beautiful stones. I arrive at night in the city of Rangoon ( Yangon ) in a great mood ready for whatever happens. I am fortunate to have a friend who has a friend who meets me in the customs queue. She has some pull there and we are able to proceed to the front of the endless customs line and quickly pass through immigration. It appears everything is going my way. It's great to have friends in strange places. Outside, in the humid darkness a car and a driver wait... I am now nervous. I know no one. I am driven through the meandering streets of the city to a beautiful hotel. Rangoon is a city of several million people and yet I didn't see a single building taller than 3 stories. Here sits a luxurious hotel, so out of place it feels like it followed me here from Bangkok . I check into my room and fall asleep dreaming of what awaits me tomorrow... After breakfast I go outside to meet the driver. It is hot and bright in this tropical wonderland as we drive downtown. Again I am amazed at the small town feel of this big city. I am dropped outside a building and go up to the third floor to meet my gem contact. A group of people are already awaiting my arrival... I may know no one but people sure seem to know who I am. All of these Burmese men and women greet me with smiles and with high hope of me spending lots of money with them. I sit at a desk and they begin to open papers of gems for me to see. The very first gem I look at is the most beautiful 15 carat blue, unheated sapphire I have ever seen and it has a price tag to match. Asking price is a quarter of a million dollars! I admire it for a while and then reluctantly move on. Sometimes saying goodbye to a gem hurts a little. The funny thing is that I get this yearning to possess a stone. I sort of fall in love with it and don't want anyone to know that I feel so passionate about it. That would destroy my bargaining ability. It is imperative to keep your cool. I spend the next 8 hours looking at hundreds of stones. I walk away with 8 unheated Mogok rubies, a parcel of star sapphires, 13 five plus carat peridot and, of course, many rich, almost iridescent blue sapphires. CLOSE WINDOW