Saga of Sapphires Part 1 我是如何与传奇的蓝宝石结的缘

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I’d like to share with you a Saga of Sapphires, a personal tale that extends almost 30 years. It begins in Los Angeles with a new friendship, and expands to mines in Ceylon and life all over the world. This is the first part of my story.

我愿意和你分享我30年前的一段个人经历，我是如何与传奇的蓝宝石结的缘。我和它相遇是开始在洛杉矶，那时与它结下了深深的情缘，后来到了锡兰矿区它的出生地。我在世界各地生活过，这是我故事的开头。

GIA class GIA 同班同学

My years studying at the Gemological Institute of America were a turning point in my life, not only because of the knowledgeand expertise that I gained, but the lifelong friendships and network that I made. We spent our time as students do: we divided out time between parties and enjoying the bright sunshine and blue skies of Los Angeles, and the rest of the time in classroom and laboratories, bent over our microscopes. Crystalography, diamond identification, color stones, faceting techniques – all these classes where we would stare at small but gorgeous stones. Looking up from our microscopes, though, and I could see the world. My classmates came from all over the globe, usually from gem-cutting families, family businesses withmines and gem dealerships. As a result, I am honored and thankful to have dear friends in all corners of the globes whom I can visit, trust, and work with while on my gem hunting expeditions.

我在洛杉矶的那几年，就学于Gemological Institute of Art 完成了我的学业，真正改变了我的人生。不仅仅是因为我学到了专业知识，更是因为我结交了一些一生的挚友直到今天。那时的我们沐浴在洛杉矶明媚的阳光湛蓝的天空下。 充分享受着不同的Party。我们在教室和实验室里是那样如饥似渴的学习着，我们通过显微镜去观察欣赏评估不同的宝石。当我的目光从显微镜移开时，我看到的是来自世界不同地方同学，他们其中有些是来自宝石切割的世家，甚至是矿产的拥有者，行业的继承人。因此，我非常的感激和荣幸我交到了世界各个角落的朋友，其中一些一直还是我现在做珠宝猎人的同仁和可信任的朋友。



My Graduate Gemologist Diploma and Colored Stones identification teacher. 我的GIA 证书和彩宝鉴定老师。



My roommates and me in LA  我的室友跟我在洛杉矶。

I became even closer to my good friend Aly, who grew up in a family who has been in the gemstone business for over 135 years, starting in Ceylon, which is now Sri Lanka. Over the years, we each had our own orbit...I grew up in Europe and moved to China, while he grew up in Hong Kong and lived in Japan, the U.S., and Canada. Our lives intersected at the top shows in the gemstone industry – the Gem & Mineral Show in Tucson, Arizona, Baselworld, the World Watch and Jewellery Show in Switzerland, and more. Sometimes I would be there as a participant, sometimes as an exhibitor myself, while Aly and his family always had a grand presence, exhibiting their exquisite stones.

我跟其中的一个叫Aly Farrok是特别要好的朋友. 他就是来自于珠宝世家他的家族在珠宝行业做了135年，从锡兰（现在称为斯里兰卡）那时起，我们就各有各的事业。我在欧洲长大的然后搬到了中国，他是在香港长大的，然后在日本，美国还有加拿大生活过。我们后来的相遇是在行业的最领先的商会，比如说Gemand Mineral Show 在图桑，亚利桑那，baselworld,世界钟表还有珠宝展在瑞士等等。有时我是嘉宾，有时我是展览人，而Aly的家族一直以来都是以霸主的气度展览着他们家族精美的宝石。



My friend Aly and I last year in Tucson, at the Mineral and Gemstone Show. 我跟我的朋友Aly去年在土桑参加矿物和宝石展。

Aly’s great grandfather, Prince M.U.M. Salie, was a gemstone entrepreneur extraordinaire. Travelling by steamship for months at a time, he would carefully take suitcases of gemstones from his Ceylonese mines to exhibit at world exhibitions in NorthAmerica as early as 1915. Thousands and thousands of people – and remember, this is the age well before the Internet – saw the most exquisite colored gems for the first time. A well-respected figure, he gained such fame that one gemstone was known as the salie stone – until the GIA renamed it as moonstone to better reflect its whitecolor and particular phenomena called adularescence, referencing the color and milky shine of the moon. Over 5 generations, the Farook family expanded toowning opal mines in Australia, and sapphire and ruby deposits in Ceylon and Burma. They also employ the generations of artisans who craft the finest stones into exquisite stones for jewelry.

Aly的曾祖父，王子M.U.M Sallie, 曾经是一位伟大珠宝企业家。 从1915年开始，还有轮船的那个时候，他就随身带着他从他的锡兰矿开采的宝石漂洋过海来到了美国的展销会。让成千上万的人们－ 记住那时还没有网络的时代－第一次看见了如此精美的彩宝。因此他成为了一位业内享有地位的人士，以至于有一颗宝石是以他的名字命名的、称为 Sallie。 直到GIA改名为Moonstone为止，原因是后者的名字能更好的表达该宝石的形象特征（adularescence）, 它是指乳白色带有光亮，看起来像月亮一样。经过五代，Farook 家族扩展到现在占有蛋白石矿在澳洲，蓝宝石还有红宝石矿在锡兰还有缅甸。他们也雇用了几代工匠传人，所以可以手工制作最精美的宝石首饰。





Prince M.U.M. Sallie, Mr Aly Farrouk's grandfather. 王子M.U.M. Sallie, Aly 先生的曾祖父。

One legendary stone from this beautiful family is an incredible, jaw-dropping padparacha sapphire. It was so incredible that it has been given the name "Empress Padparadscha". "Padparadscha" sapphires are extremely rare. Not only was the Empress near flawless, but it had a grand size. It had the honor of being the very first "padparadscha" to be fully-certified by GIA; most padparachas are labeled....Like the curious citizens back in 1915, we too travel far to see the amazing stone coming from Aly’s family mines. My GIA classmates and I left our school studies to travel to the Tucson gem show so that Aly could introduce us to his family and the inspiring "Empress Padparadscha".What a marvel of nature!

现世一颗传奇的石头就来自这个家族，是一颗完美的 padparacha 蓝宝石 － 它称为皇后Padparacha.这类宝石非常罕见！一生能与它相遇已经是很幸运了。不仅仅是皇后padparacha 完美无缺，更是它的体积之大也是罕见的。它是第一个被 GIA鉴定的。像1915年代的人们一样，如今的我们也是要涉足很远去看这颗当今罕见的来自Aly家的宝石。我跟我的GIA同学从学校来到了土桑宝石展在那里与令人振奋的皇后Padparacha相遇了。真是一个大自然的奇迹！



"Padparadscha" sapphire “Padparadscha" 蓝宝石。



GIA origin report for the "padparadscha" sapphire. “Padparadscha" 蓝宝石来源GIA证书。

Mother Nature does not stop impressing us by revealing her bounty. I always look forward to gem hunting and sharing with Aly, particularly when I head back to Sri Lanka to visit with him and his family, and travel to the sapphire mines myself. (Saga of Sapphires, to be continued...)

自然界的宝石从未停止过取悦人们。我每次都期待着下一次的珠宝猎，还有跟Aly分享，尤其是等我回到斯里兰卡看他还有他的家人，以及他们的蓝宝石矿。（蓝宝石传奇还要待续，请继续看博客。。。）



Mr Aly Farrouk at one of his sapphire mines in Ratnapoura, Sri Lanka , with his mines managers. Aly Farrouk 先生在其中一个属于他家族的蓝宝石矿根他的管理员 （犀利兰卡，拉特纳普勒）。



Pablo, my son and Daniel, Aly's son, on their first day of cutting clas at the Farrouk's family cutting factory in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Pablo, 我的儿子跟Daniel, Aly的儿子，第一天上课学习怎么切割蓝宝石，在Farrouk 家族的切割工厂 （科伦坡，斯里兰卡）。

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