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 Post subject: Gemstones: Quality and Value, by Yasukazu Suwa
PostPosted: Sun Oct 15, 2017 4:25 pm 
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Location: Paris
Has anybody already read these books :
Gemstones: Quality and Value, Volume 1, 2 and 3 by Yasukazu Suwa
A student of mine is looking for them, but thinks they are expensive on Amazon (even the used items).
Do you feel they are worth the price ?
Is there no better way to buy them ?


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 Post subject: Re: Gemstones: Quality and Value, by Yasukazu Suwa
PostPosted: Sun Oct 15, 2017 5:03 pm 
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Joined: Thu Nov 22, 2007 12:11 am
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Location: Geneva
Hi Isi,
I bought it on amazon 3 years ago, it's quite expensive, you need to have patience to found good price...
These are three beautiful books, they mainly talk about how to buy gems and jewels, and how to evaluate them, not too much about gemology.
You can also find some info and sample pages directly at Suwa: http://www.suwagem.com/dictionary/quality/index.html
Of course you can contact me for more info.


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 Post subject: Re: Gemstones: Quality and Value, by Yasukazu Suwa
PostPosted: Mon Oct 16, 2017 6:11 am 
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Joined: Wed Jan 23, 2013 5:29 pm
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Location: Paris
Thanks a lot for the info Frankie, I appreciate your comments, very helpful.
Thanks too for the link, which I have passed on to my pupil, maybe it will save her the trouble and money to buy the books !
If she needs more info I'll sure let you know.


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 Post subject: Re: Gemstones: Quality and Value, by Yasukazu Suwa
PostPosted: Fri Oct 27, 2017 2:22 pm 
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Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2005 12:33 pm
Posts: 708
Location: Gemologist/dealer & author
Here is my review of Suwa's 1st volume. Never bothered with the next one: Hughes likes the book, can't understand why.

The author begins with an excellent idea; divide each gemstone into three categories and illustrate those categories on a quality grid with full color photos. The author relies almost completely on the comparative images to illustrate his point. Unfortunately the photographs simply don't do the job. Except for one excellent photo at the beginning of each chapter Mr. Suwa's images are not just poor they are pathetic.
His first section on Aquamarine pp.14-17 serves to illustrate the point. The author begins with a rambling introductory essay of just four paragraphs. On the following page is an excellent full page photo of a lovely aquamarine. Following this p.17 attempts to lay out a quality grid of seventeen aquamarines. Unfortunately the stones all look the same, totally grayed out images of what, appear to be low grade commercial quality aquamarine. In fact, the images are so poorly printed that it is impossible to tell one quality from another. Mr. Suwa further illustrates the text with a "gem of value" photographed actual size usually somewhere between 5-10mm. Unfortunately the reader can barely see it never mind judge the stone and the photographs are uniformly poor.
The remainder of the book stumbles along in this same vein. A short essay, one good photograph followed by a carefully layed out grid of poorly photographed gemstones from which it is impossible to draw any conclusions about quality.
The text provides very little guidence for the would be collector. When he does say something about principals of connoisseurship the author fails to apply these principals consistently from gem to gem. He often drops a technical term but rarely defines it.
Perhaps the translation is somewhat to blame but at the price the author has little excuse for the quality of the photography.

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Author: Secrets Of The Gem Trade, The Connoisseur's Guide (2nd Edition) http://www.secretsofthegemtrade.com and The French Blue: http://www.thefrenchblue.com[/url]:


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