Lotus Gemology
# Lotus Gemology

Lotus Gemology is a gemology laboratory located in Bangkok, Thailand, founded in 2014 by Richard W. Hughes, Wimon Manorotkul, and their daughter, E. Billie Hughes.

In 2017, Lotus Gemology published Ruby & Sapphire: A Gemologist's Guide, covering the corundum gem species.

In 2019, Tongji University created an exhibit centering on Lotus Gemology's photography. Van Cleef & Arpels' L’École, School of Jewelry Arts ran an exhibit in Hong Kong featuring photomicrographs from Lotus Gemology in 2020.

## Laboratory Services

Lotus Gemology issues reports on many types of gemstones, with the exception of diamonds and pearls. All gems are tested for treatments of any kind. The laboratory is equipped with gemological and research microscopes, photomicrography stations for both normal and ultraviolet photography, micro Raman spectroscopy and standard Raman analysis, UV-Vis-NIR and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (ED-XRF), and Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) for chemical analysis.

## Education

The Hyperion Inclusion Database is a searchable public database of inclusions in gemstones. The laboratory has also created a reference search engine for gems and gemology. The majority of references relate to ruby, sapphire, spinel and jade.

## Memberships

The laboratory and/or its staff are members of the Accredited Gemologists Association (AGA), the Gemmological Association of Great Britain (Gem-A), the Gemstone Industry & Laboratory Conference (GILC), the International Colored Stone Association (ICA) and the Thai Gem and Jewelry Traders Association.

## Select Bibliography

### Books

* Inside Out • GEM•ology Through Lotus-Colored Glasses (2020), ISBN 978-0-9645097-3-3
* Ruby & Sapphire • A Gemologist's Guide (2017), ISBN 978-0-9645097-1-9
* Ruby & Sapphire • A Collector's Guide (2014), ISBN 978-616-91450-3-5
* The Book of Ruby & Sapphire by J.F. Halford-Watkins (2012; from an unpublished manuscript from 1935; edited by Richard W. Hughes), ISBN 978-0-9645097-0-2
* Terra Spinel • Terra Firma by Vladyslav Y. Yavorskyy & Richard W. Hughes (2010), ISBN 978-0-615-40901-6
* Ruby & Sapphire (1997), ISBN 0-9645097-6-8
* Corundum (1990), ISBN 0-7506-1007-7

### Papers

* Hughes, E.B. & Perkins, R. (2019) Madagascar sapphire: Low-temperature heat treatment experiments. Gems & Gemology, Vol. 55, No. 2, Summer, pp. 184–197.
* Hughes, E.B., Koivula, J.I., Manorotkul, W., Renfro, N. and Hughes, R.W. (2019) Spinel inclusions: An exercise in aesthetics. InColor, No. 43, pp. 66–73.
* [various labs, including Lotus Gemology] (2019) Squeezing sapphire: Pressure-heated sapphire.
* Lotus Gemology (2015) Lotus Gemology lab alert for oiled gems. InColor. Spring, Issue 28, pp. 18–23.
* Hughes, R.W. and Emmett, J.L. (2004) Fluxed up: The fracture healing of ruby. The Guide, Vol. 23, Issue 5, Part 1, Sept.–Oct., pp. 1, 4–9. [won the Richard T. Liddicoat Journalism Award from the American Gem Society]
* Emmett, J.L., Scarratt, K., McClure, S.F., Moses, T., Douthit, T.R., Hughes, R., Novak, S., Shigley, J.E., Wuyi Wang, Bordelon, O., Kane, R.E. (2003) Beryllium diffusion of ruby and sapphire. Gems & Gemology, Vol. 39, No. 2, Summer, pp. 84–135.
* Hughes, R.W., Galibert, O., Bosshart, G., Ward, F., Thet Oo, Smith, M., Tay Thye Sun, Harlow, G.E. (2000) Burmese jade: The inscrutable gem. Gems & Gemology, Vol. 36, No. 1, Spring, pp. 2–26.
