January 24 Through February 4—TUCSON, ARIZONA: Annual show
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 20, 2007 1:04 pm 
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Location: Bangkok, Thailand
keemoog99 wrote:
Last weekend half the class went to chantaburi with a dealer who we are taking advanced night classes with (not part of AIGS.) They said it was slow but it looked pretty busy to me. Our instructor only uses his eyes, the loupe occasionally and his 18 years of experience. He goes every weekend. His course is 70 hours long, we asked for a 20 hour abbreviated version. Ever drunk water from a firehose? That's what it's like with this guy. AIGS is doing the theory part. This guy is giving the market secrets and how to look at stuff with your eyes, a loupe and maybe a penlight. Only three weeks left of this adventure then back to real life and work.


Great to see that you went to the gem market in Chanthaburi... It is a great opportunity to go there while studying in Thailand. When I was student I was going one week end on two as an average. I learned a lot there and I was still going regularly later while working in the lab in order to stay in tune with new treatments and new gems sources. It was very interesting.

What surprise me is that you are taking a 70 hours night gemological class? Unusual for a practical course as light is important... What is this course about? I've to say that I'm quite curious...

All the best,

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Vincent Pardieu

www.fieldgemology.org
www.conservationgemology.org

The views expressed here are V. Pardieu’s opinions and do not necessarily reflect those of GIA Laboratory Bangkok (http://www.giathai.net)where he is an employee since Dec 2008.


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PostPosted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 8:12 am 
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Vincent et al: Sorry so late in answering. The night class just finished up last night and the AIGS one is wrapping up.
About Khun Chanchai's class: This is practical gemology vs theory. This is going to the Thai gem markets and being able to identify synthetics, color, quality etc. with a loupe and a penlight. No refractometers, microscopes, etc. This man can open a packet of 100 stones and check all of them, knowing exactly what they are and how much to pay in 5 to 10 minutes. He knows the market because he is there every Fri and Sat for the last 18 years.
He does not teach on stones he does not sell. And he will tell you that.
His collection of stones is extensive - when he talks about a specific inclusion, he will back it up with examples. He knows the prices on the market and the treatments- since he's tried many of them himself.
We only took a 20 hour course due to time constraints. I would love to come back to finish the rest. Khun Chanchai gave us many secrets he's learned over the years (we're his English class).
As for lighting, his lighting is more than adequate. His equipment surpasses the stuff at AIGS, but it is a poor craftsman who blames his tools....
I will start a different thread about the positives and improvement areas for AIGS Gem Id class later. We still haven't met whoever is in charge. Just Khun Tom who is around, the admin staff, who is overworked and does not know the ins and outs of visa requirements for every country in the world, and of course the excellent teaching staff who could use more money and more support from the elusive Mr Henry Ho and his CEO, who never appeared once in the three months the course was held. More to follow.


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 Post subject: The Elusive Henry Ho makes an appearance.....
PostPosted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 9:50 am 
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So the gem id class is invited to a happy hour with Gem Wow (owned by Henry Ho's brother, Kennedy Ho) Kennedy is taking over the reins of AIGS effective Monday.
Khun Tom made the introductions to both Henry and Kennedy.
In my usual tactful American fashion I asked why he never came by and introduced himself, where was his 2nd in command, who was running the AIGS ship, why students had problems with visas, why the equipment was run down, etc. He is an impecabbly dressed handsome man with better English than me and I'm American. He is wearing his latest project, the King's 80th Anniversary watch, full of bazillions of diamonds, absolutely beautiful and I'm sure keeps perfect time.

Henry says it's karma that we met today, he has just allocated 250,000 dollars for AIGS. He asked me to send him and his younger brother Kennedy an e-mail listing all my concerns. Well, he doesn't have to ask me twice. I complimented the teaching staff, especially giving kudos to Mary Brown our Gem ID teacher and to the lab staff. As for the admin staff - I explained to Henry and Kennedy and their assistant Ho Yu, that the visa information is not always current (I'm being polite) and that they need to fix this. By this time they are both trying to get me a glass of wine so what can I do? I say thank you and tell them I'll let the gemology on line forum know what is going on. I also told them they should read it. If they have a forum presence they should be checking out what the public is saying. So sorry so long winded. I have to write an E-mail to Kennedy and Henry now.


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 Post subject: the trip- thanks Nina and the AIGS bunch!
PostPosted: Sun Jul 01, 2007 5:57 pm 
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Location: Silom, Bangrak, Bangkok
First, Nina is a GREAT hostess! She took such good care of my while I was in Bangkok (twice- beginning and end of my trip) and I am so grateful to her! It was nice of her to introduce me around and get me familiar with the school and teachers and fellow students. There is a really great bunch of people at AIGS right now and I wish I could join up immediately but I have so much on my plate here.

So a big thanks to Nina and to Chaiwat and Alec and (oooh I am in trouble here...his Fiancee's name is....Sharon?) Sharon and and to Khuntom and the other staff members at AIGS for making me feel welcome. I spent a little bit of time talking to P.J. Joseph and I have to share that he seemed intelligent, articulate, and eager to share his time and knowledge. He is not a warm and fuzzy kind of guy though. Not everyone will mesh well with him and I am not sure that being politically correct is his top priority anyhow. But I liked him in the brief time we talked.

American-Thai Trading is evil and you all need to stay away! That is a money pit if ever I saw one. I am addicted to Mali Garnet now- it is in my daydreams and my nightmares. Scott is a really fun guy to talk to who is passionate about stones and enjoys his business. Thanks a million Scott.

So Chanthaburi was an incredible experience and I can't wait to do it again. My partner was staying longer in Thailand than I was, so while I was mixing with my fellow gem nerds, he was soaking up the sun in Pattaya with his girlfriend Jennifer, our inventory manager. Sunday night I flew out, and Monday he showed up at AIGS to meet Dr. Massi with our nice corundum. I had to wait another week for them to get back to Korea to see how the certificates turned out! We got certificates for seven items.

If you take a look at my eBay store you will see some of the goodies that we bought. I would love to get feedback from any of you on pricing for the "Buy it now" items. I would also like feedback on the copy that I write if anyone is so inclined.

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Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. ~Mark Twain


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PostPosted: Sat Jul 07, 2007 11:39 am 
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hey Davegimchee ,


this 's alec and cheryl ....... not to worry that you forgotten her name . this 's not the 1st time , also our english isn't that good , maybe that the problem you can't remember it , but hopefully you do remember us . hey you done a great job on your ebay ....... keep it up . so when are you coming back to thailand ? hopefully we are still here when you come .


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 5:45 am 
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dave: this is keemoog99. guess what i won on your ebay auction. not the maw sit sit. that's ok cause I went to scott's shop and got some more. alek and cheryl are staying for the synthetic course, i'm going back to the US.

We just got the results from the AIGS Gem ID class. Chaiwat is so smart. He was the head of the class trailed by the rest of us, in varying degrees of success. I am just ecstatic to have passed the course. Mary Brown is a wonderful teacher and we all did well. The additional night course saved my butt in identifying synthetic from natural. Both courses really covered the material. Mary will go one on one if you don't understand something. It really helped.

As for Henry and Kennedy Ho, haven't seen them since the happy hour at Gem Wow. I still owe them an E-mail but haven't seen any replacement equipment yet. And the duct tape is still holding the covers of the refractometers, but as I said before, "It's a poor craftsman who blames his tools." More to follow....


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