Rui Galopim de Carvalho FGA DGA

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Rui Galopim de Carvalho FGA DGA

Sharing the passion for education in gems & gemmology. No buying nor selling gems, only education and research.
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05/06/2026

Pink to red is one of the colour ranges we commonly associate with tourmaline, often under the trade name rubellite, a term that, according to many stakeholders, can only refer to tourmalines that are pink to red in both daylight and incandescent light. Technically, tourmaline is not strictly a mineral but rather a complex supergroup that includes a few mineral species with gemmological interest and in the case of pink, three have been reported: elbaite (the most common), fluor-liddicoatite and rossmanite. The longtime colour-based verbal tradition have kept mineralogical terms away from the trade lexicon where a simple “pink tourmaline” or “rubellite” will do the job.
The significant use of pink to red tourmalines in the decorative arts started in only the 20th century, with remarkable exceptions on Medieval jewellery, and the late Qing dynasty period, notably under empress Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908) produced interesting objets d'art made of material from the United States, notably from California from where there are records of significant production, with a reported volume of 120 tons being mined between 1902 and 1910 alone in then new Mesa Grande mining area, in San Diego County.
In the images, pink tourmaline, jadeite jade and natural pearl "Peach and Bats" pendant, late Qing dynasty © Christie's’s; Pink tourmaline "Mythical Beast" seal, late Qing dynasty © Christie's; Faceted 54.14-carat pink tourmaline from the Tourmaline Queen Mine, San Diego, California. © Pala International

02/06/2026

Devonshire or D. Pedro Emerald?
The very large emerald crystal weighing 1383.93 carats (c. 5 x 5 cm), reportedly from the Muzo area in Colombia, is part of the vast Devonshire Collection at Chatsworth and according to tradition it was given or sold by D. Pedro of Bragança, that was Emperor D. Pedro I of Brazil and king Pedro IV of Portugal, to William Cavendish, 6th duke of Devonshire, probably in 1831, hence the given name of this hexagonal crystal. D. Pedro was the protagonist of one of the most intricate periods of the history of Portugal, stuck between being emperor of Brazil (r. 1822-1831), momentarily king of United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves (r. 1826) and at war with his brother D. Miguel of Portugal (r. 1828-1834) to defend his daughter’s rights to the throne, to become D. Maria II of Portugal (r. 1834-1853). He was constantly in need for funds to finance the war efforts and it is most probable that the emerald was not a present but an asset in exchange for some kind of favour. Although the original ownership of this amazing emerald still needs validation on published documental evidence, its provenance has been repeatedly mentioned in the literature and has become a tradition already. The mineral specimen has been since 2007 on display in the Natural History Museum of London, specifically in The Vault at the end of the Mineral Gallery.
Photo © Natural History Museum, London / The Devonshire Collection, Chatsworth House. Portrait of D. Pedro IV by John Simpson (c. 1834) © Museu Nacional de Soares dos Reis

01/06/2026

The 2nd edition of TREASURES, Crowns & Tiaras International Colloquium has received from the Presidência da República Portuguesa (Presidency of the Portuguese Republic) the official confirmation of the High Patronage of His Excellency the President of the Portuguese Republic.
All the team at the Museu do Tesouro Real and Palácio Nacional da Ajuda is very honoured with the distinction that recognises the scientific and cultural merit of this gemmological, jewellery and artistic event in Lisboa, Portugal, that has a uniquely rich program and a singular line up of speakers from all over the world.

28/05/2026

We associate high appreciation for the jades and jade-like gem materials with China, where they are collectively known as "yù" (玉). Within these gem materials, those known in the western world as jadeite jade, or hard yù (硬玉) or fei cui (翡翠) as known in China, tend to fetch the highest market values when of superior quality. That was the case of a necklace composed of 61 drilled beads measuring approximately 8.8 to 13.7 mm, with a gold clasp featuring a large oval cabochon (11.7 x 15.0 x 7.1 mm) accented with yellow diamonds, dubbed "The Ethereal Jadeite Necklace" that sold for US $25.6 million at Christie's Hong Kong a few days ago, a value just a few notches under the hammer price of the 27-bead (15.4 mm to 19.2 mm) Hutton-Mdivani necklace bought by Cartier in 2014 for US$27.4 million at Sotheby's. Jadeite jade, or fei cui (翡翠), necklaces of this size, quality and impeccable matching are exceptionally rare and have been prized in China since the second half of the 18th century during the Qianlong period of the Qing dynasty, but specially under Empress Dowager Cixi (1835–1908) that was a known fan of this gemstone then mine primarily in Burma (Myanmar).
Photos © Christie's

26/05/2026

Exploring the origin of the word pearl:
The meaning of the word "pearl" is here illustrated by the seven pendants of this historical necklace totalling 111 natural pearls that once belonged to Josephine de Beauharnais (1807-1876), queen of Sweden and Norway here depicted on a 1841 portrait by Sophie Adlersparre. Round to off-round shapes are indeed common in pearls (especially in the beaded cultured pearls that were massively introduced in the international markets in the the 20th century), but the pear or drop shapes are considered special and, for many, regarded in higher esteem being historically associated with the best natural pearls like these seven drops in the necklace. It is the pear or drop shape of the rare natural pearls that are behind the origin of the modern word “pearl”, from the Latin expression for “little pears”, pirula, the diminutive of pirum, that stands for pear.
In conclusion, the term pearl basically means little pear (in Latin, pearl is "unio" and in greek something like “margaron" or "margatit” - interestingly indicating that all Margarets are actually pearls!)
This fabulous necklace, presented by Symbolic & Chase in 2019, was previously sold in 2014 at Sotheby's for $3.42 million and again at Sotheby's Hong Kong in 2021 when it was acquired for the Al Thani Thani collection. Photos © Sotheby's

25/05/2026

Brazil was the world’s largest producer of diamonds from the first half of the 1700s until the third quarter of the 1800s. Illustrating that historical heritage, lets look at the Imperial Crown of D. Pedro II of Brazil, one of the country’s most important treasures. It was made by Carlos Marin in Rio de Janeiro for the official coronation ceremony in 1841 using Brazilian gold, 639 diamonds from his father’s D. Pedro I crown, and 77 cultured pearls replacing the natural pearls from the original necklace bequeathed to him by his father in 1841. D. Pedro II was sovereign from 1831-1889 after D. Pedro I abdication to become D. Pedro IV of Portugal.
At this point, Brazil (independent from Portugal since 1822) was still the largest producer of diamonds, a position that lasted until 1866 when diamonds were discovered in the British Cape Colony, today in South Africa. The nearly 2 kg gold, diamond and pearl crown is on permanent display at the fabulous Museu Imperial in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro state.
In the photos, the original Imperial Crown of D. Pedro II of Brazil and a c. 1862 oil on canvas “The Emperor’s speech” by Pedro Américo (Peter II of Brazil in the opening of the General Assembly) © Museu Imperial , Petrópolis

22/05/2026

“Precious Corals, from Curiosity to Treasures” is the new exhibition at L’Ecole des Arts Joailliers, avec le soutien Van Cleef & Arpels, at the Hong Kong campus, exploring the biology, gemmology, craftsmanship and art of this historically relevant biogenic gem material, with a strong message of clarification of the fact that precious coral used in jewellery is not the same that inhabits in the coral reefs.

18/05/2026

If you're in Hong Kong this week, do stop by at L'ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts with the support of Van Cleef & Arpels for the talk “Precious Coral, from Curiosity to Treasures – meet the experts and collectors" with co-curator Ann Lee (L'Ecole, School of Jewelry Arts), Enzo Liverino (Museo del Corallo, Colezzione Liverino), George Liu (Chii Lih Coral Museum) and myself Rui Galopim de Carvalho as scientific advisor. This event celebrates the opening of the "Precious Coral, from Curiosity to Treasures" exhibition dedicated to a unique biogenic gemstone that has captivated humanity for millennia.
There will be a guided tour of the exhibition "Precious Coral, from Curiosity to Treasures" before the talk.
Date: May 23rd, 2026, Saturday, at 11:00 am
Location: K11 Art House , Level 4, K11 MUSEA, Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
More information here in the bio.

11/05/2026

Did you know that addequate cutting proportions are critical in the perception of the colour of a diamond? The cutter does not change the colour of the material, but it sure makes the Final Cut gem look as vibrant and saturated as possible to provoque the best visual impact on the viewer. Let’s take the story of The Golden Empress diamond to address this: a large 132.55 ct Fancy Intense yellow diamond, started its journey when Graff the London-based diamond House founded by Laurence Graff in 1960, acquires a 299.35 carat yellow diamond found in 2010 at the Letšeng mine in Lesotho. The crystal was finally cut into nine stones by master cutters at Safdico after months of study, a period that is common in the planning and cutting of large and/or very special diamonds like this one, particularly if colour is involved. Note that proper planning and cut proportions do play a critical role in keeping the colour within the stone, bringing the best possible hue and brilliance to face up colour (remember that a fancy grade is determined by the colour in the face up position) and in a gem of this importance it justifies the time spent studying it to creatively and technically achieve the best results possible. The next stage, the actual cutting and polishing processes, also took many months in the making. The largest stone, named “The Golden Empress”, reached 132.55 ct with a Fancy Intense yellow colour grade (VVS1 clarity). Six more fancy colours were cut into pear shapes (largest 21.34 ct), and two smaller ones as round brilliants.
Photos © Graff

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