www.themelis.com - P-Book-Be

Crisp, concise and authoritative, this comprehensive up-to-date work reveals a wealth of facts on the "new" beryllium treatment method practiced in Thailand on rubies and sapphires. This work provides key coverage and detail needed for the gemologist, jeweler, gem trader and just about anyone involved in the gem and jewelry business. For the gemologist, this work broadens the existing understanding of this complex, diverse and controversial issue. It illustrates numerous inclusion color photomicrographs contributing invaluable reference data that every library should have.
For the gem trader, this work provides the information needed to enhance their knowledge in everyday dealing with gems to avoid costly mistakes.
For the jeweler this edition illustrates the complexity of the issue and provides accurate information and full disclosure to jewelry merchandisers, salespersons and consumer.

Features

Background
Methodology
Gemological aspects
Inclusion characteristics
Stability tests
Disclosure statement

"This book presents the most detailed overview published on this controversy subject." -Dr.K. Schmetzer (Germany)

"I have completely read through your beryllium booklet and think that on the whole it is very good. I have no reservation recommending it to anyone..... Congratulations on your beryllium booklet, it is quite a coup. I still can't believe that it was possible to do it so rapidly." - Dr. J. L. Emmett (USA)

"Your extensive details on Be-treated rubies and sapphires from various sources are excellent. Your experimental results, in particular on the synthetic ones, are explicit and similar to what we have found and fit our theory on the cause of colour pretty well. I would say that it is a good book for those who want to know more about the fact of this new treatment." -Dr. A. Visut Pisutha-Arnond, The Gem and Jewelry Institute of Thailand

"I want to congratulate you for your booklet on Beryllium-Treated Rubies and Sapphires. Your experimentalist approach and enlightening results combined with your openness, benefit the entire industry. This spirit of disclosure can only help in maintaining the integrity of the corundum market and add confidence to the consuming public. I wish you continued good luck in your scientific endeavors and look forward to our future interaction." - Tom Moses, GIA Gem Laboratory (Carlsbad, USA)

"Your photo and all description is super, it is very appreciated you published those information in booklet." -Masaru Mizumura, United Lapidary Corp. (Kofu, Japan)

"Stones are very interesting... And the book .. It is absolute great ! Photos are so accurate. Inclusion can see properly because photos size is good/big. Really fine photos ! -Marita Lempinen, F.G.A. (Lahhi, Finland)

"The experiments described in your book show that there is still a lot to discover about Be-treatments. It is great to get an inside treater's point of view on this matter." - Dr. J.C. Zwaan, Natural History Museum (Netherlands)

"I got the book today. Yippee! It arrived safely and looks truly mouthwatering. Thank you very much..." -Peter Asenbauer (Vienna, Austria)

"I have read with great interest your book on Beryllium treated Rubies and sapphires. This really is a very valuable source of information that can be used by all of us as a reference on the subject. Congratulations; and keep on lightening us on those topics from your side." - Jean Claude Michelou, V. P. International Coloredstone Association (Colombia)

"This concise booklet give results of the author's experiments on the heat treatment of rubies and sapphires from many localities, both with and without additives, and is an important and valuable insight into the processes and challenges of the heat-treaters' art and science." - Charles Carmona, Carmona Gemological Laboratory (Los Angeles, USA)

"I would like to congratulate you for your efforts in the new beryllium treatment on corundum. It's great!" - Roger Dedyene (Linz, Austria)

"I got a copy of your book. Very well done!" - Murray Burford (Victoria, Canada)

"I've loved your new book.. it is wonderful with such great information, everyone should own one!" - Dana Richardson (Utah, USA)

"This brochure of 48 pages is a tightly packed and concise information on the state of the art and the recent developments of cooking methods of sapphires from various localities: Madagascar, Tanzania (Songea, Umba, Morogoro and Tunduru), Thailand, USA (Montana), Australia, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar. In an easy-to-read style, but rather detailed, the well known author of several books like "The Heat Treatment of Ruby and Sapphire" and "Mogok" tries to inform gemmologist, gemstone dealers, valuers and interested laymen about the various methods of the HT treatments of off-colour sapphires by the beryllium HT-methods to produce high quality blue, orange, purple, padparadscha, and other fine colours and to improve clarity and transparency of these stones.
The different heating procedures and the various steps of the entire processes are well described. Many colour photos elucidate the difficulties the cooker has to expect when heating sapphires up to 1750 - 1850 ?C which is just below melting point. The colour effects obtained by adding beryllium?oxide or beryllium-containing powdered minerals as flux to a mixture of off-coloured preformed sapphires are well illustrated by more than 80 photomacros. It would, perhaps, have been better to refer more frequently and insistently to the high toxicity of all these beryllium-containing additives which are presently used as fluxes. Nevertheless, the colour photomacros of overgrowth, recrystallized layers of fluxes adhering tightly to the sapphires which have just been removed from the furnaces, document well the amount of after treatment tricks needed to clean such specimens. More than 40 informative, large size photomicros characterize the changes most inclusions are suffering from HT-treatments. These pictures will be of special interest to gemmologists.
If we consider the drastic changes imposed on any sapphire material during HT- treatment, it becomes evident that no basic theory of the beryllium- HT-process has yet emerged. In fact, the author, cleverly, has left out the many explanations and theories hitherto put forward to understand the chemistry involved in the beryllium-HT- treatment of sapphires, and left it to the scientists in the gemmological research laboratories all over the world to continue their efforts for the development of a new basic theory of this process. While the dispute on disclosures might go on, the author proposes the N-T-E nomenclature which is a valuable suggestion to settle them. - Dr. Johann PONAHLO (Vienna, Austria)"

"Over the last year value-enhanced sapphires and rubies, created by Thai 'cookers' by diffusing beryllium into corundums under high temperatures and oxidising conditions, have thrown the trade into dispute and confusion. Although it would now appear that the Thai 'cookers' have finally agreed to disclose this new treatment to their customers, much mystery and confusion still surrounds this process and its detection.
For gemmologists, a lot of the confusion surrounding this treatment has been dispelled with the publication of Ted Themelis's most recent book-a self-published 48-page copiously illustrated soft cover titled 'Beryllium-treated rubies & sapphires'. As the content of this book is based on the author's personal experiments into this process, it offers the opinions and experience of an expert gemmologist who not only has decades of experience in the heat treatment of sapphire and ruby; but who is also resident in Thailand and respected by both the Thai gem trade and the Thai 'cookers'.
In this book readers are first introduced to this new Thai treatment in short chapters that cover such important topics as: the historical development of the technique, significant health hazards that may result from working with beryllium, the author's experiments on the effects of heat treating corundum in the presence of beryllium, the various methodologies applied in this process, and the surface abnormalities that are likely to be found on corundums treated by this process. Then - most importantly - the effects of applying this technology are detailed and well illustrated with respect to corundums from worldwide sources Madagascar, Tanzania (Songea, Umba, Tunduru), Thailand, Montana, Australia, Burma and Vietnam. Thirteen pages of coloured photomicrographs of inclusions that characterise the treatment follow a clear statement of the problems associated with the detection of this treatment by gemmologists. The book concludes with the author's recommendation on a wording suitable for disclosing this treatment and a conclusion that summarised the present of this new Thai treatment and the challenges this treatment will pose over future years. With a cover price of US$20, this very timely publication should serve as a vital reference for all working gemmologists. A VERY TIMELY RESEARCH REPORT. Ed."

"The author summarizes and illustrates some of the techniques used in the heat treatment of rubies and sapphires involving the addition of beryllium. Using a series of colour photographs Themelis (a pioneer and well-known author in this field) describes the apparatus necessary for this treatment, noting on the way the health hazards of beryllium and the stages of the process from the cleaning of the material to the finished stone. Particular attention is given to surface abnormalities. Examples of Beryllium treatment are given for rubies and sapphires from Madagascar , Songea, Morogoro and Umba ( Tanzania ), Montana , Australia , Sri Lanka , Mong-Hsu and Vietnam . Notes follow on the gemmological features of the treated stones and their characteristic inclusions. Notes on stability, disclosure and future prospects for this kind of treatment complete the main text which is followed by a short but very useful bibliography in which the author's presentations and useful references are given. The standard of production is high and the pictures a welcome sight – few illustrations of these processes seem to get published and the same can be said of the notes on techniques. This is a welcome addition to the literature of treatments." M.O'D.