The Spinels of Tajikistan documentary of Patrick Voillot

[Music] long ago the fortress of a rich city in Central Asia was besieged by an army of invaders on the advice of a wise old sage the queen of this city in order to preserve the culture of her people sent her son long along with her finest craftsmen to hide in a cave the city walls gave way under the ramparts of the enemy and the Queen was killed in the darkness of the abyss that protected him by candlelight Lal discovered an unknown red pink stone bursting with incredible beauty several years later upon the return of the prince he gave the stone the name of the young man law the first spinel had been discovered in the high mountains of Badakhshan and what is Tajikistan today [Music] [Applause] [Music] in the first decade of the 20th century the jeweler Van Cleef and Arpels settled in the Place Vendome they are the inventors of the mysterious invisible jewelry setting the essence of their craft led them to live in proximity of the Great's of this world everything in their memory recalls this brilliant complicity Van Cleef and Arpels was created in 1906 by Alfred Van Cleef and our sin Arpels who were married in 1896 and some years after their union the jewelry house Van Cleef & Arpels is founded in 1967 Van Cleef & Arpels completed a very important Imperial order in 1966 there was a very discreet contest which was organized by the Iranian government to create the crown for the Empress Farah diba this floral inspired crown is set with over 1500 precious stones from the Persian Treasury an emerald of over 60 carats sits beside the more than 1,000 460 diamonds that illuminate this gem 36 smaller emeralds with a cabochon cut are interspersed among 34 rubies of the most beautiful color - beautiful spinel Tsar enthroned at the top of the crown the precious stones that were used to carry out the order could not leave the confines of the fabulous treasure room of Teheran it took Pierre Arpels no less than twenty four trips to settle the final details of his composition my name is Nicole Abbas and I'm the vice president and creative director of Van Cleef & Arpels in Paris and the piece on which we will work in the coming days is a large necklace made of pearls cultural pearls which the central stone that we have the stone that is the starting point of this piece is an opal and to create a counterpoint in the colors and to the lights of the opal in this necklace we've selected with our design team stones that are both very soft in color rather in a pink purple tone and very intense in their brightness and for a drawing like this one we will try to focus not on pink sapphires but on a rare stone that we like to work with a lot a pink spinel from Tajikistan but here in this drawing to complete this we will need a pear-shaped stone we do not have one in our safes so we are going to have to look for it [Music] Tajikistan is the smallest mountainous country in Central Asia the origin of the Tajik language is Iranian 95% of the population is Muslim the collapse of the USSR in 1991 led to the creation of the Socialist Republic of Tajikistan which was ravaged by a civil war that lasted until 1997 ismail samani created the first independent Persian state hence the Tajiks cemani currency in reference to him Tajik persian culture developed in the cities of Samarkand and Bukhara in present day is Becca Stan it's off flourished many poets and philosophers among which roodaka inferred OC as well as Avicenna the father of mathematics the main resources are cotton an aluminium small industries and services are elements of growth in the 21st century [Music] it's mountainous terrain gives it a special riches in ornamental stones such as lapis lazuli but also precious stones such as Beryl ruby and especially a gem long confused with the latter the spinel [Music] [Laughter] [Music] my name is Jana B lava radula I work here in the science section of the department of geology of Tajikistan I have my degree in geology almost all my life I have worked here at the part ment of geology the country is tiny but it is geologically rich in Tajikistan there are 50 varieties of minerals before when it was part of the Soviet Union fall production found here was sent to other countries such as Kurdistan Kazakhstan and especially Russia in the mines you cannot work with machines we must work in a gentle way that requires manual labor it is like diving for pearls and picking them up at the bottom our Tajik president is very careful with the development of the mining industry this is something close to his heart and hopefully in the near future everything will be better in this country and we will work well on our extraction of the spinel we have many gems here in Tajikistan but they never stay very long in this country and they're very hard to obtain if we find a half a kilogram of spinel a year were very happy the arid mountains of the Pamirs which cover a large part of tajikistan were the hunting ground of great conquerors of Central Asia with a little imagination it would not be surprising to see Genghis Khan appear at the head of his golden hordes to get to the spinel mines 700 kilometers separate Dushanbe the capital city from khorog the town bordering Afghanistan closest to the mines this country is one of the poorest in Central Asia and in this southern region much of the population is its mailee that is to say followers of the religious leader be Agha Khan this direct descendant of Muhammad is considered a God in these regions it's true that without his financial support a large part of the population could not survive he builds roads hospitals universities and electricity is arriving in these villages more and more a half-day of rugged trails allows us to reach the spinel mines cars that are over 50 years old abandoned by the Russians in Tajikistan at the time of the explosion of the Soviet bloc constitute the majority of transportation in this region [Music] there is no industry and little cultivation in these arid areas only nomadic herders survive selling the will of their sheep like in many Asian countries women where their only fortune on them in the form of jewelry they especially enjoy the raspberry red stones the spinel mine is called Kui long which means mountain of gems at an altitude of 3600 meters it dominates the valley of the pons River on the border with Afghanistan I agree move the Shahnameh for the semi the queal all mine has a rich and ancient history the appearance of the spinel stone was written about in a book called Sonoma by fedorov see a Tajik writer and in the fourth dervish a book that tells the history of the Tajik people the writers spoke of the spinel stone in various books and we learned that it was known since the 7th century in the 8th to 9th centuries people named this stone ruby and after his explorations a scientist albarran renamed it the Badakhshan spinel it is said that the first productions began in the 7th century and the first people who worked in these mines were the Chinese but if you research the history it appears that the Persians were at the start of the opening of these mines there are currently four hundred and ten mines different minerals are extracted from these mines one of them is called luster right in its composition we find elements of the spinel we know that old dishes were made of porcelain and last ride as a mineral used in its composition the Chinese were making tableware in china cups with this it is while exploring this or that the spinel was found [Music] on the mines we work in season for six months work begins in early May and lasts until November in the winter it gets very cold water freezes we cannot work and it is for this reason that the work ends in November morning the foreman gathers his team of miners to give the orders of the day [Music] during the few months of work miners received a fixed salary paid by the state to which are added premiums based on their findings the state appropriates the best stones through a company called Jamaat which manages the country's mineral wealth a three-year license is issued to miners for finding spinalis the materials used are very old dating from Soviet times since the seventh century men from these regions have continued to drill dig and pierce the flank of this mountain hundreds of tunnels crisscross the subsoil [Music] the foreman is the first to enter the mine after the explosion every day he makes a telephone report on the status and production to a very special service of the Ministry of Defense the whole areas under heavy police surveillance to prevent theft but also the parallel market and the illegal sale of stones in early winter when the cold returns the operation becomes impossible the mines are closed and left under control of the police after the explosions it is necessary to remove the rocks and see if large crystals are apparent then they are put into cars and removed from the mine and sorted in the light of day [Music] the ore is transported and stored outside waiting for a careful sorting [Music] the rocks rich and precious stones are put on a large screen [Music] sunlight and the little water bring out the pink and will thus isolate the spinel as well as another mineral that delights collectors a very rare yellow orange stone specific to this place cleaner you might [Music] the gems found usually away a few grams but sometimes a larger crystal is discovered [Music] 45 million years ago the continental drift led India to hit the Asian continent in a few tens of millions of years afterwards the clash of the two continents was responsible for the rising of the Himalayas in the area of impact at a temperature of around 700 degrees centigrade and at the depth of about 20 kilometers fluids rich in water carbon dioxide and other components came in contact with the Earth's mantle and its chemical elements creating pockets that gave rise to the spinel the elements present in this environment such as alumina and magnesium formed after the disappearance of the silica present in the medium the beautiful spinalis of tajikistan they are found in pockets measuring only a few meters chromium iron and titanium present at the time of their formation will give it a pink color ranging from pale pink to raspberry after a long day of work miners gather around a restorative dinner they never failed to tell their stories past and show a glimpse of their loot [Music] Mallos Astoria premium three-minute Atocha cousin the men who work in this mine come from different regions in Tajikistan but most are from the Pamir and more particularly a small village a few hundred metres below the mine which is called kuil all traditionally father and sons in this village are the miners of law which is how spinel is known in this region [Music] good morning they have become welcome [Music] in the winter when it gets very cold here the wolves come down the mountain and they fight with the dogs during these battles wolves can bite the ears off the dogs and that's why we cut off their ears our village is called Kerela we make a lot of agriculture here wheat potatoes peas there are so many people who keep livestock and there are also people who work at the mine of course it is in these mines that lull is found precious stones spinel my father has been working here for 40 years I'll take you there and introduce you to father I want you to meet a gentleman he's a French gemologist his name is Patrick he wants to talk with you about the spinel zuv production which are well known worldwide to date we have found very large spinel as a matter of fact in 1985 we found one that was 5 kilos and 800 grams this stone has been given to the museum of Leningrad then after the disintegration of the Soviet Union it was returned to Dushanbe in Tajikistan our capital after we know nothing of what happened to this stone we have rich minds and we could get a lot of precious stones of this size the old man regularly travels on foot to a nearby village across the hot springs of sulphur water where many locals come to heal their skin diseases this regular trip is made to meet a shaman in Central Asia shamanism is an old tradition these people are both preachers and doctors and everyone is very mindful of their advice here there are fortune tellers and shamans there are people who really believe they're also miners who go to the shaman and they ask will they find stones this year they all want to know if they will find spinel people here believe [Music] this woman reads the future of her patients in an old Quran she advises and encourages she suggests that the old man go into the mine where long ago the black princess ruby was found the legendary spinel which is on the imperial crown of England she feels that the old farmer had hidden there years ago an exceptional stone in this magical place it's time to revive it [Music] by Candlelight his hand trembling the old man digs up his treasure [Music] for centuries the spinel has always fascinated the Great's of this world it was the stone of crowns timur also known as Timur the lame the great conqueror of Central Asia adored them despite the advice of wise old men who predicted a great misfortune if the God of War was released in 1941 in Samarkand Russian scientists opened his tomb on which was inscribed if I was alive the world would tremble indeed according to some chroniclers of the time incredible things did occur when the tomb was opened on the first day the city fell into darkness on the second day the lid of the tomb broke and on the third day the German army despite a non-aggression pact invaded Russia [Music] this precursor of the great Mughals sent armies to protect the mine of cooee law he made them bring back spinel named Broome rubies at that time from the deformation of the Badakhshan language the region of origin of these stones throughout the Mughal period they found gems on which were inscribed the names of the emperors [Music] there is still in the treasury of England a necklace made of spinel on which there are in taglio is called the necklace of Timor in the same treasure on the imperial crown of the Queen of England is the black Prince's ruby this is a spinel gem from the queal all mine it was handed over to the Black Prince in 1367 in gratitude for his loyal service by the king of Castile half a century later it saved the life of king henry v at the Battle of Agincourt the stone still bears the marks of the axe it diverted that should have split the skull of the sovereign my name is Allan jabbin I'm the curator of gems at the Museum of geology in London this stone is known as the black princess ruby but in reality it is not a ruby it is a spinel it is not a rare stone but it is exceptional stone the feature of the Black Prince is Ruby or rather the black princess spinel is that it's been known since 1367 we can go back six or seven century in the history of this particular stone at least for the history of that particular stone Ruby the black princess ruby is drilled in four places actually certainly to put the stone on a turbine at the top of one's head the holes are drilled in a very rudimentary way as you can see in some pictures of the staff they are like twisted rope and you can see them if you look at the actual pictures of it in in one area in one area a large hole has been cut in which a cabochon Ruby whisper we can tell the difference between the two because the spinel does not shine as much as the Ruby spinel doesn't show much whereas your Ruby it glows like five the Shahs of iran close to this region had many in their treasures there now in the vault of the meli bank in Tehran [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] but SARS also acquired from China a huge spinel from this mine it rains imperially on their crown [Music] [Applause] my name is Evgeniy japanese we are in the exhibition of the diamond fund of Russia on the Blessed territory of Moscow's Kremlin and I am the chief curator here are presented some unique collections this exhibition has no equivalent you see the level of the exhibited pieces and among all these valuables are the coronation decorations of the Russian Empire they occupy a unique position the Russians called the Empress Catherine the Great the great imperial crown of diamonds was created for the coronation day of Catherine the Great in 1762 all the previous crowns did not please the Empress she asked Ivan Ivanovitch Bisco to create a new crown he received permission from the Empress to use all the loose gems that were in the house of diamonds of her majesty at that time 4936 diamonds decorate the crown observe the facets on this exceptional 156 carat diamond the 75 magnificent pearls the top of the crown is adorned with a spinel weighing approximately 400 carats this prehistoric stone was purchased by Nikolas afar's who was sent to the court of chonchi Khan in Beijing the Emperor of China pliny Julia telling that a captivating mystery fills this story the purchase made by spoof arias was legitimate but what is surprising is that a stone so precious and regal had not attracted the attention of the Emperor Bogdan Chan himself usually in these times such a unique gem became the property of the reigning sovereign and they did not leave the boundaries of the country where they were but in this case the transaction was legitimate and the spinel left China it was sent to tsar alexei mikhaylovitch alexei the first in the goodwill which Nicholas before has acquired this gem and in 1762 the spinel adored the great imperial crown of diamonds this crown is full of noble moral and religious meaning it is a beauty that reigns forever the runoff of diamonds is like the sun's glare and on top of the crown the spinel shines like a mysterious and remote starter peace peaceful page we need an ad-free Corona [Music] in France the famous Brittany Coast spinel shaped like a dragon adorned the Golden Fleece of Louis the 15th [Music] [Applause] regularly but the dates that are kept secret stones are carried by donkey caravans or cars to corrode the nearest big city this border region with Afghanistan is heavily secured by the Tajik authorities the town of Keurig is accessible by air but no confirmation is ever given on the time or arrival or departure of flights the road is long and difficult but passable and is the most reliable way to return to the capital of Dushanbe [Music] despite its collapse the old habits of the Soviet empire remain entrenched in Tajikistan senior officials prefer anonymity and are unwilling to speak openly in 97 there was a problem when transporting stones to Dushanbe a stone was stolen but this stone was of low quality so the problem was solved very quickly since then no further incident has occurred [Music] from corrupt to Dushanbe stones are transported in a car under the protection of the Ministry of Defense gun men with great vigilance are responsible for transportation to the central bank that contains the treasure of tajikistan from year to year the production is stored [Music] I mean it should be noted that the president ceremonial star is made of natural gems from this country spinel x' rubies and emeralds have been used in its manufacture song hole naturally the emeralds were bought in Afghanistan for the treasure of Tajikistan but these are all-natural stones I find that this star is better than some others because it is made of natural stone of Tajik the stones were cut through the Ministry of Finance in Kerala we find mostly spinel is called long from buttock shine and klonoa mites which we call yellow spinel it's a shame to call it yellow spinel spinel is a gem but fairly widespread while the klonoa might is extremely rare and exotic our first concern is the quality of stones available indeed we would need between 10,000 to 20,000 carats of spinel and 5 to 10,000 carats of rubies to supply the various jewelers in Tajikistan Business Council daka's will be separate [Music] [Music] the jewel industry in Tajikistan is flourishing despite the low purchasing power of the population Tajik women are very pretty and particularly like the red pink stones like Spinelli's [Music] can I see this ring [Music] you know spinel yes [Music] the lack of production and the particularly high price of spinel makes it that the jewelers often propose fake stones on this ring it is a synthetic stone a synthetic corundum very often called a French diamond in Asian countries because it is a French national mr. Varon a who invented the manufacturing process at the beginning of the 20th century a stone of this kind does not exceed a few dollars to produce it's extremely low prices allow the customer to buy a ring that they could not afford with a real spinel is this a natural stone yes this is a natural stone this one is also natural [Music] for some synthetic corundum is still too expensive small shops produce large quantities of imitation stones out of glass or plastic whose ridiculously low value is significantly lowering the price of jewelry [Music] in the 19th century several goldsmith schools opened in Tajikistan they specialized in the manufacture of jewelry Tajik women once adorned their foreheads with disks of silver and gold with earrings and bells the tradition of jewelry is still very present and if stones are often of low value the quality of the work of gold is quite exceptional with its delicacy fragility and complexity of its compositions [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] the Tajik women today are crazy about earrings crafted and embellished with spinel or with imitations these contemporary jewels recall the wonders of the bactrian treasure found in the neighboring country of Afghanistan dating back over 2,000 years [Music] the stones are mounted on 14-karat gold pure gold still called fine gold is 24 carats in Europe gold jewelry is 18 karats this corresponds to an alloy where the amount of gold is higher than that in Tajikistan we rarely use fine gold because it is too soft in Tajikistan men often give their betrothed a ring mounted with one red rose stone before marriage marriage is an industry like in many other countries polygamy is banned but practiced as many men were killed during the Civil War and many have gone to work in Russia there are still only 1 million men for 7 million inhabitants [Music] traditional weddings are an opportunity for women to wear their finest jewelry [Music] very few spinel czar officially sold by the government of Tajikistan however it seems that lately transactions have made an exception to this rule the majority of gemstones are sold rough but a number already cut [Music] the stones come to the west where criteria of quality and size are extremely rigorous especially among the jewelers in the Place Vendome [Music] in order to properly cut a spinel it must first be attached to a wooden stick with wax that has been stuffand with heat once dry the wax is harder than cement [Music] the best lapidary cutters cut gemstones the old-fashioned way their wheels are not driven by a motor but manually in order to adjust the speed as they wish [Music] the wheels are covered with diamond powder which is the hardest mineral on this planet first after determining the size and angle at which the stone will be the fairest the cutter rough used the spinel to give it an initial shape close to the desired final shape [Music] [Music] [Music] then he cuts the first facet the table that's the biggest facet the most visible when a stone is mounted then he cuts the crown which are the facets around the table all these operations require water on the wheel to prevent overheating that could be fatal to the stone [Music] finally he cuts the facets at the bottom of the stone called the breach it is on these facets that the rays of light entering the stone are reflected as if off of mirrors then they come out through the table when a stone is well cut the shimmering and sense of depth are perfect the last step is the polishing of each facet and then the cleaning of the stone [Music] the precious gems made more beautiful by cutting our then set in the jeweler's creations [Music] the jeweler Van Cleef and Arpels exalts constantly changing material like a woman who enjoys seduction in its creation the intimacy of the woman in the jewel is complete they become accomplices the jeweler has made a conquest [Music] close to all foreigners the kuil all mine protects the secrets of the spinel a rare and sought-after stone an emblem of power and total fascination only these miners on the other end of the world can touch with their calloused hands the mineral that for centuries has represented the blood of Christ on the crowns of the all-powerful [Music] [Applause] you [Music]

Channel: Voillot Patrick

Views: 146,369

Rating: 4.8222761 out of 5

Keywords: documentary, gemmologist, gemstone, precious stones, gemmology, Patrick Voillot, pierre précieuse, pierres précieuses, jewelry, stone, movie, tv, frenchtv, jeweler, prices, million dollars, expedition, mine, mining, Place Vendôme, red, Christian, Christian kings, spinels, spinel, gem, ruby, Balas Ruby, Badakhshan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Central Asia, Kuh I Lal, Moscow, minors, the great Mughals Timur, Tamerlane, Samarkand, Dushanbe, Treasure, Shahs of Iran, Côte de Bretagne, Queen of England, Van Cleef

Id: xIX46lc7qMA

Length: 50min 25sec (3025 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 14 2019