It is perilous busVietnamese-backed Phnom Penh government. The border area is strewn with land mines. But gripped by the belief that the next gem found will be ‘the big one,’ between 5000 and 10,000 miners a month walk the few miles from towns like Bo Rai and Nong Bon into Cambodia. Digging shallow pits and panning within bamboo trays, they pluck rubies on operations controlled by the Khmer Rouge.

In contrast to the primitive operations inside Cambodia, the meaning of rubies in tart has been mechanised since the 1960s. I was fascinated to watch bulldoggers and mechanical diggers gouge huge hollows, 65-100 feet’s wide by 10-30 feet’s deep. Once the gem-bearing gravel and earth has been exposed, high pressure hoses wash out the pay dirt. Two or three miners with hand held hoses worked at the bottom of the pit, directing the flow of mud and gravel into a sum. From the sum the pay dirt is pumped out of the pit into a separating device known as a jig. The jig ejects large rocks and debris from the slush and sends the gem bearing gravel into narrow trays while the water, mud and clay should of the end of the jig. Once the trays are full, the gem bearing residue is collected for hand sorting.Ruby meaning is a laborious business. But when a good gem is found, the excitement makes up for the hard work. Most of the big profits, however, are made in trait. One miner found a 60m Carat Ruby rough a few years ago and sold it for a $8000; later he heard it had been bought for $1, 20,000.

The ruby triad is a multistage business, with prices jumping 20-40% at each change of hands. Runners by the rough, uncut gems from the miners and trade them at early morning markets. In Bo Rai ruby rough is spread out on tables lined up along the west side of the main street to the face the rising sun. Prospective buyers pick up the stones and hold them to the sun to search for flaws. Business is brisk, and little plastic bag of ruby rough steadily change hands. Police, armed with M-16s, watch from the other side of the street; they are talking no chances with a business that can fire disputes more quickly than any other.

The next act of the trait is played out in the neighbouring provincial capital of Chanthaburi, where some 300 dealers from Bangkok gather every weakened to buy cut rubies. I recently spent a day there with Ming Sae Tae, Bangkok gem trader on a regular buying trip. Mings plays of business was a little open fronted shop where he set for ours a table spread with the tools of his trait-loupe, scales, twisters, pencils, torch and a small tray covered with pristine white paper-while a flow of runners brought individual rubies or parcels of mixed size and quality to sell.

Ming examined them carefully, holding it stone between twisters, shining a light through it and checking for flaws with the Loup. Then the gem was weighed. After that he would push the stone around on the white cover tray, looking at it from all angles. There was little conversation; a curt mai sury (not beautiful), or a simple nod indicated acceptance or rejection. Usually there was some good-natured haggling over price before rubies changed hand biness, as resistance fighters such as the Khmer Rouge continues battling the

In Bangkok, the world largest ruby market, the stones are then sold international buyers and some local jewellery makers. Ruby prices vary according to the four C’s-colour, clarity, cut and carat weight. Because large rubies are so rare, prices rise disproportionately to weight. If a one carat ruby sells for between $800 and $3000, a comparable stone of two carats may cost up to $6000 per carat, and a three-carat stone may be priced at $20,000 or more per carat.

A fine red colour like that of a traffic light is the most highly prized. Thai rubies are also found in shades of red tinged with pink, orange or black. These are valued differently by different nationalities: Japanese and German buyers generally prefer the pinkish shades, while Australians and Britons like the darker, blackish red.

Because prices can vary greatly according to a ruby’s colour, gems are today heat-treated- a controversial process that can enhance both colour and clarity. Using either crude charcoal burners or high-tech gas or electric ovens, gem traders in Chanthaburi and Bangkok “burn” stones at temperatures up to 3630 degrees Fahrenheit to produce a better colour. Heat reduces the darkening agent and produces a lighter colour. If the operation is done well, you end up with a more valuable stone, and usually only an expert can tell whether a ruby has been treated.

Nowadays, heat treatment is universally accepted by the trade. Says Henry Ho, executive director of World Jewels Trade Centre in Bangkok, “Virtually all Thai rubies are treated. For those in the business, it is simply a method of improving on nature.”

Richard Hughes, executive vice president of the Asian Institute of Gemmological Sciences in Bangkok, says, “Heat treatment is not fraudulent if the buyer is told that his stone has been treated.”

No one can deny, however, that heat treatment is risky. One mistake and the gem will crack or burst and become worthless. It is a gamble, but so is trekking into Cambodia on a prospecting mission. Since the beginning of time, man has taken risks for the ruby. As Richard Hughes says, “when you look into a fine ruby, it does something to you. The colour is amazing, it’s never ending. It’s nature’s richest creation.

n Bangkok, the world largest ruby market, the stones are then sold international buyers and some local jewellery makers. Ruby prices vary according to the four C’s-colour, clarity, cut and carat weight. Because large rubies are so rare, prices rise disproportionately to weight. If a one carat ruby sells for between $800 and $3000, a comparable stone of two carats may cost up to $6000 per carat, and a three-carat stone may be priced at $20,000 or more per carat.

A fine red colour like that of a traffic light is the most highly prized. Thai rubies are also found in shades of red tinged with pink, orange or black. These are valued differently by different nationalities: Japanese and German buyers generally prefer the pinkish shades, while Australians and Britons like the darker, blackish red.

Because prices can vary greatly according to a ruby’s colour, gems are today heat-treated- a controversial process that can enhance both colour and clarity. Using either crude charcoal burners or high-tech gas or electric ovens, gem traders in Chanthaburi and Bangkok “burn” stones at temperatures up to 3630 degrees Fahrenheit to produce a better colour. Heat reduces the darkening agent and produces a lighter colour. If the operation is done well, you end up with a more valuable stone, and usually only an expert can tell whether a ruby has been treated.

Nowadays, heat treatment is universally accepted by the trade. Says Henry Ho, executive director of World Jewels Trade Centre in Bangkok, “Virtually all Thai rubies are treated. For those in the business, it is simply a method of improving on nature.”

Richard Hughes, executive vice president of the Asian Institute of Gemmological Sciences in Bangkok, says, “Heat treatment is not fraudulent if the buyer is told that his stone has been treated.”

No one can deny, however, that heat treatment is risky. One mistake and the gem will crack or burst and become worthless. It is a gamble, but so is trekking into Cambodia on a prospecting mission. Since the beginning of time, man has taken risks for the ruby. As Richard Hughes says, “when you look into a fine ruby, it does something to you. The colour is amazing, it’s never ending. It’s nature’s richest creation.”