The Sappire Mystery - Identification
“Bontemps, wake up – Adamas, my boy, wake up.”
I awoke from deep sleep to a pair of piercing yellowish-green eyes looking directly into mine. Immediately, I realized it was the lean, smiling, congenial face of my colleague Alister Peridot. Groggy from jet lag, it was all coming back to me; it was day two of our trip to India – Yes, of course - the sapphire case.
Peridot was standing over me, completely dressed, in his slippers, wearing a necktie and a silk vest. “We have an appointment this morning with the client who engaged us to examine the Ceylon Sapphire he’s interested in purchasing. Kal Purush Kaniyar is a former Bollywood Star who immigrated to America - home visiting his parents.
Peridot was very punctilious about his dress. His resolve - to always maintain a high luster on his fine leather shoes. His shoes were so meticulously tended to that they displayed an adamantine luster.
As for me, the only peculiar manner about my dress was my love for freshly laundered, lightly starched, and pressed shirts. I sported a bow tie when we engaged patrons. Peridot asked the butler, “Please have the concierge hail us a taxi.”
For the ones unfamiliar with Mumbai, our journey could have been smoother.
"Unbelievable! Check out this medley of vehicles competing for space on these narrow and winding roads," I said.
Motorbikes, skillfully weaving between larger vehicles, added to the already frenzied traffic flow. Pedestrians, with an innate sense of timing, navigated their way through the chaos. Our local expert, the taxi driver, maneuvered through the intricate web of traffic and deftly steered through the sea of cars, oxen-driven carts, buses, bicycles, and pedestrians.
After two hours of traveling, we finally reached the opulent residence of our host. He greeted us and led us to his private study.
"Welcome," he said as he showed us into his home. "Can I offer you something to drink?"
Peridot replied, "Yes, please. After that taxi ride, we could use a bottle of water."
He pulled out a box from a safe behind a large framed photo of his family. When he opened the box, a very large blue stone appeared.
Peridot was the first to speak, “Did you do as I suggested, Mr. Kaniyar, request this stone for one–day on memorandum?”
“Yes, I did, Professor Peridot - please, call me Kal.”
“Kal, were you asked to provide a down payment?” asked Peridot.
“No, not at all.”
“The man who delivered the stone, please describe him?”
“Yes, of course - he was medium height, strong build, a somewhat ruddy clean-shaven face; by his accent, I would say he was a Welsh gentleman - a rather smooth, talkative sort of fellow.”
“And what did he say about this particular stone?” asked Peridot.
Kal went on, with animated gestures, he exclaimed, “The most celebrated sapphires in the world come from Sri Lanka - from the old English name Ceylon. Top-quality sapphires came from the Kashmir region historically, which has long since been exhausted of sapphires.” He said, “This particular stone is a very rare Kashmir stone, and only a collector like you would appreciate its rarity and beauty.”
“Pardon me, did he offer to provide a lab report?” I asked.
“Not immediately, however, I did request some type of documentation – he produced this.”
“May we examine it?” I asked.
The report was very pedestrian from a lab I had yet to hear of; however, it did contain the essential information on the stone. It looked professional, laminated, and in a well-designed sleeve.
Peridot calmly interjected, “When is Mr. Davies scheduled to return for the stone or the money, which I assume you have agreed to pay if you decide to make the purchase?”
“His comment to me,” said our host, “His flight leaves late tomorrow night; he would text me and stop by sometime early afternoon.”
“So, time is of the essence; may we examine the stone,” said Peridot as he drew out his tools from a leather pouch that matched the color of his shoes.
Peridot continued talking as he examined the stone, “First notice the color of this stone; it exhibits a blue we call “cornflower blue” color. Next, we check the stones' transparency; examine the cut, check for phenomena, the polish luster, fire, heft the piece, possible assembly, and obviously no fractures.”
“According to the report, the refractive index (1.760-1.770) is consistent with the stone's proposed identity. The birefringence is also in the correct range, 0.010. Bontemps, would you confirm these results for me, please. Next, we check for pleochroism. Do you have your dichroscope handy, Bontemps? What do you see?”
“Excellent, now, please examine the stone carefully with your loupe. Anything unusual?”
In my usual hurried manner, I examined the stone from all directions; my frustration was my inability to achieve proper darkfield lighting to examine the inclusions to my satisfaction. However, a visual inspection through the table confirmed natural inclusions.
“They appear to be unaltered mineral inclusions, low-relief crystals, they exhibit angular faces; intact, fine, needle-like rutile inclusions intersecting at 60° angles in the same plane; other fine needles at near right angles; translucent fingerprint inclusions, intact two-phase inclusions, straight, angular, hexagonal growth zoning.” With a triumphant expression, I returned the stone to Peridot and said, “Yes, I believe it’s a natural Sapphire, just as the report stated.”
In his calm manner, Peridot leaned back in his chair and smiled, “Remember, Adamas - you must employ your observation skills and powers of deduction. Let us ponder the details of this case. We suspect a stone was taken from a boutique in Paris. That stone lacked a pedigree; we saw Davies at the airport on his way to pick up a stone from a lab, the potential buyer, Mr. Kaniyar.”
“Yes, but this document is not from any known lab,” I said.
“Can you be certain?” asked Peridot, “This morning, my research confirmed this lab is a legitimate and reputable one in India. Let us examine the stone once again; your assessment of natural inclusions and atypical pleochroism from the table is correct; however, hold the stone table-to-culet when you achieve the proper lighting - you see very faint curved striae.”
“Mon Dieu, It can’t be!” I said.
“I’m afraid this stone is a Sapphire Synthetic Sapphire Doublet. The thin layer of natural sapphire and the assembly plane are well disguised. This is a carefully crafted doublet using a fine piece of natural blue material with many of the characteristics of a Ceylon Sapphire. Typically, an inexpensive piece of natural green corundum is used in these doublets.”
“What was your first clue, Peridot?” I asked.
“Notice the stone measurements and weight on the report; with a few quick measurements and mathematical calculations – it did not fit. The diameter measurements are very close, but the depth of the stone was not.” Peridot continued, “The inclusions you described were textbook for a fine quality Ceylon Sapphire; the probability of having all the characteristics in one stone is simply impossible. Also, when selling a fine quality sapphire, the dealer usually asks the client to visit his office or would make a personal visit but would hesitate to leave a stone without some type of collateral or down payment.”
“Mr. Kaniyar, my recommendation,” said Peridot, “text or call your dealer immediately and simply say you are uninterested. Don’t be surprised if he does not return to claim this stone. We will be in touch, you have my e-mail.
In my skeptical manner, as our cab bounced through the streets of Mumbai, I asked Peridot, “You mentioned that the lab was legitimate; was the report authentic?”
“Yes and no. It appears to be a perfect document; however, no seal or embedded holographic image existed. There was no way to confirm the report was for the stone we examined. There is no laser inscription or report number on the stone. Deduction tells us that our adversary, Mr. Davies, submitted a stone to the lab for origin. He created a replica of the report and kept the original stone. The doublet we examined was created long before he arrived in India, designed as a ruse.”
“Our job here is finished, Adamas; let’s go home.”
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