Videos for Gems Class







Warning!  Some of these Videos have very loud volume!

The videos are about gems and mining.  If a video changes or stops working, please email me
Prof. Scal (rscal@qcc.cuny.edu).  Have fun!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Diamonds

Colored diamonds on Fox News.  This is a Youtube video and is a little noisy!

Gemesis Synthetic Diamonds on Arizona Channel 3.  Take this story with a grain of salt!

Diamonds.  A quick synopsis of the diamond.  Does not discuss uses other than jewelry.
 
 

Frontline, The Diamond Controversy.  Excellent illustrations of cutting, mining, purchasing, etc.

Gold and Precious Metals

Finding gold  This video shows dredging for gold in an alluvial prospect.

Rubies & Sapphires
 

Emeralds

The Emerald City  A film about emerald mining in Brazil.  Rating a little pixilated.
 

Opals

Opal Mining in Australia.  Coober Pedy.  Some interesting information.  Gives you an idea how miners live.  Hope there are no earthquakes!

General gemology

Specific Gravity.  This film shows the hydrostatic method of measuring specific gravity (sg).  The system is very similar to what we have at the College.

Lapidary, How to Make a Cabochon.  Cutting, grinding, polishing.

Pearls

Nova The Perfect Pearl  A film we watch in class.  Very important and perhaps the best film on pearls.

Akoya History  A history of pearls, their origin and cultural uses.

Akoya pearl culturing in Japan  These are the famous oysters used by Mikimoto.

Akoya processing  An explanation of pearl sorting, drilling, and quality control

Pearl formation  How a pearl forms. Not very informative

South Sea Pearl Farm      Good information, but not clear where this farm is located.  Funny pronunciation of nucleus (G.W. Bush style).

Evaluating Quality  Valuable source of information.

Mining and the Environment

Wide Angle-Gold      Excellent videos showing Romania, a gold mining company's plan to exploit the environment and relocate a town, also an informative section on the Baie Mare disaster.