There are two very famous pearls that were introduced in the United States. The Big Pink Pearl was originating off the coast of California in 1990. It is measured to be the largest natural abalone pearl discovered. Wesley Rankin is the diver who found it though diving near Petaluma, California. The review price set for it in 1991 was $4.7 million dollars.

The first famous pearl found in the United States was The Queen Pearl, and its' discovery launched a pearl hurry to New England. A shoemaker named David Howell came upon a pearl while he was eating mussels, and though it was badly damaged by the cooking process it was enough to cause an influx of pearl hunters into New Jersey and New England. The Queen Pearl was really discovered by a carpenter who found it in a small stream. He sold the gorgeous pink gem to Charles Tiffany, and Tiffany in turn sold to Princess Eugenie of France. Therefore, it became known as The Queen Pearl. When the princess needed to leave France in 1870 she used it to pay for her escape. Thomas Evans was an American dentist who was also a friend of French royalty, and he assists the princess in her flight from the chaos of 1870 France. Evans collection of gems was left to the Philadelphia Dental School upon his death, and afterward The Queen Pearl along with other gems was sold to the Cooper-Hewitt Museum in New York. The pearl resides there these days.

There are entire collections of famous pearls: for example, The Mary Queen of Scots Pearls was purchased by Mary's cousin, Elizabeth I. The original collection consisted of around 600 pearls. Morgan-Tiffany Pearls are a group of North American freshwater pearls owned by the American Museum of Natural History. Some famous pearl groups are well-known because of the how they have been used. Southern Cross Pearls were used to design and develop a cross while the grouping of pearls was used to make a special necklace for the first President of France. An individual necklace was crafted for the wife of U.S. President, Martin Van Buren. These pearls are know as the Van Buren pearls and are now on exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.

"It’s a precious stone gallery, not a museum," said Tam. He explains that he prefers the term gallery because the space is intended for people to admire the marvelous beauty of nature.

Tam cannot recall how many stones he has procured during the past 34 years or how many he currently has on display at the gallery. All of the stones were personally collected by Tam in Vietnam and abroad.

The stones on display are like works of art that captivate the eyes and interest of all visitors. Each stone has been skillfully carved into a gemstone. The collection includes rubies, sapphires, emeralds, citrines, topaz, aquamarine, turquoise, agate, zircon, opals, garnet and jade.

As visitors walk through the entrance of the two-story gallery, they are greeted by a pair of Onyx vases made from stones Tam bought in Pakistan. Further along in the showroom, pairs of Amethyst vesicles from Brazil and sculptures carved from imported stones are on display.

According to Tam, only 10% of his stones collection is imported, the rest were found in forests, mountains, rivers and bodies of water in Vietnam. "Our country has many gemstone pits, especially in the northern and central regions."

Tam's gemstone sculptures are named Miss World, Miss Earth, Miss Saigon and Miss Vietnam. The piece entitled Miss Vietnam features a pair of peacocks, while the others depict a herd of horses. These images can change depending on viewers' imagination and perspective.

Artisans from Thien Van Saigon, where Tam serves as the director, sculpt women in different moods and figures. "Artisans have to carve many stones before finding the right one to sculpt into a nice figure," said Tam. “It requires a person with a lot of energy, time and money to find these precious tones. Tam revealed that it has taken him as along as 30 years to locate some of his stones."Finding stones is like looking for our better half, and when we have found them we should love them with all of our heart," Tam says. "There are some people who pass-up precious stones because they do not realize their true value."

Tam believes that now is the perfect time to unveil his precious stones collection to the public for admiration and study. "We welcome students to visit the gallery to study the stones on display."

Thien Van Saigon sells jewelry encrusted with precious stones to afford operating and maintenance costs for the gallery. Earrings, bracelets, necklaces and other items featuring precious stones are available for purchase at around US$20.

Source : http://www.vietnamopentour.com.vn/vietnam-information/news/new-precious-stone-gallery-opens-in-hcm-city.html

The PeruBlu has the same physical and chemical properties as natural Peruvian opal, excluding that it is transparent and can be made into a cut stone, unlike a natural Peruvian opal, Mr Bhandari said.

Also, like the MexiFire, Mr Bhandari claimed that PeruBlue outperforms the natural Peru opal in that it is available in all sizes and does not craze because of its prohibited water content. "A limitation of Peru opals is its poor transparency - they are translucent to opaque - and the high water satisfied. For the Peru opals that contain water, when the water starts to come out, they start to become white. In our synthetic's case, that won't happen. The blue won't fade.

Because of the great demand for "Surface Enhanced Designer Gemstone Coatings" manufactured by Azotic, Azotic has limited the number of authorized resellers for these surface enhancements. Azotic provide the authorized resellers a multitude of unique coatings in a variety of colors. The reseller provided the gemstones for enhancement and handles sharing of the finished product.

RMC GEMS THAI CO., LTD. Is an approved reseller of Azotic'sR Surface Enhanced Designer Gemstone Coatings providing service to the Asian market. RMC Gems is acknowledged to be one of the largest gemstone distributors in Asian and Azotic is pleased to provide RMC GEMS THAI CO., LTD. With Azotic'sR Surface Enhanced Designer Gemstones Coating as a 1st tier reseller.

Most recently, foreign companies are marketing counterfeit imitations of Azotic'sR Patented and Trademarked Mystic Topaz R. these imitations are not only inferior in color, but also prohibited. The Limited number professional resellers assure you and the customer with the confidence and certainty that you are receiving legal goods. Azotic can successfully monitor, track and pursue litigation of counterfeit or illegal imitations by limiting the number of authorized resellers.

Azotic fully enforces its Patent and Trademark Rights permitted by the Patent and Trademark laws of the United States. Attorneys for Azotic have established successful litigation in all areas of the business: wholesale, retail and manufacturing. The goal of Azotic is to continue to offer high quality products at a fair and reasonable price to the gemstones industry. Azotic continue to be a "Made in America" Company. Azotic is one of the outstanding small manufacturing businesses still operating in the U. S.