Robert James FGA, GG

Award Date Gemological Certificate or Diploma Institute or Association

June 1978 Diamond Grading and Evaluation Gemological Institute of America October 1979 Coloured Stone Grading and Identification G.I.A. November 1979 Gemologist, GIA G.I.A.

November 1988 Registered Jeweler American Gem Society May 1992 Certified Gemologist (CG) American Gem Society

March 2002 Certified Gemologist Appraiser (CGA) American Gem Society (Affiliate Status no longer active)

May 1988 Jewelry Retailing G.I.A. August 1989 Pearl Grading and Evaluation G.I.A. February 1996 Diamond Grading G.I.A. February 1996 Detecting Fracture Filled Diamonds G.I.A. February 1996 Gem Identification G.I.A. March 1996 Colored Stone Grading G.I.A. May 1996 Gold and Precious Metals G.I.A. October 1997 Insurance Replacement Appraisal G.I.A. March 1996 Graduate Gemologist (G.G.) G.I.A.

August 1997 Fellow (FGA) Gemmological Association of Great Britain

Professional Memberships:

Alumni Member G.I.A. Alumni Association

Fellow, Gemmological Association of Great Britain

Member: Scottish Gemmological Association

Member: Manufacturing Jewelers and Suppliers of America.

Member: Texas Jewelers Association

Member: Jewelers Ethics Association

Additional:

Gemology Instructor, Dallas County Community College District, 1982 – 1985

Gemology Instructor, Okaloosa-Walton Community College District, 1988 - 1989

Contributing Editor, Caribbean Travel and Life magazine, 1995 - 2000

Caribbean Editor, Vista Joyera magazine, Jewelers Circular/Keystone. 1997 – 2000

Author of over 50 articles on gemstone and jewelry shopping in the Caribbean and Central America for Cruise Travel magazine, and others.

Currently President of YourGemologist LLC dba/ International School of Gemology, San Antonio TX.

GemstoneTreatmentReport.com: The largest internet based information database for the study and disclosure of gemstone treatments. The GTR report is the largest information resource of its type in the world. It is the basis for the Gemstone Treatment Report CE course that was recently certified by the Texas Department of Insurance.

Insurance Licenses and Credentials:

Five years with USAA gemological lab performing damaged jewelry evaluations, USAA Special Investigations Unit assisting in insurance fraud, training of USAA insurance adjusters, underwriters and support staff in gemological education.

Property and Casualty Insurance Adjuster, Texas Department of Insurance #1300433

Certified Continuing Education Provider, Texas Department of Insurance #33143

Certified Continuing Education Instructor, Texas Department of Insurance (see above)

Certified Continuing Education Provider, Florida Department of Insurance #364906

Certified Continuing Education Instructor, Florida Dept of Insurance #364906

Certified Continuing Education Provider, California Department of Insurance

#128943 (2005 – 2007)

Currently serves as consultant for high dollar insurance claims regarding jewelry and

gemstones in the United States and Europe for Farm Bureau and Chubb Europe

Insurance.

Author:

Current Insurance Continuing Education Courses

Gemstone Treatment Report: Continuing Education, Texas Department of Insurance

Jewelry Insurance 101: Continuing Education, Texas Department of Insurance

Evaluating Damaged Jewelry, Continuing Education, Texas Department of Insurance

Through My Microscope: published by ISG, 2009 San Antonio, TX ISBN#978-0-

9823019-1-3

Andesine: published by ISG, 2009 San Antonio TX, ISBN #978-0-9823019-0-6

Disclaimer:

I have no financial interest in any of the gemstones owned by Rosanna Johnson or any

other person outside of my office. My research is my own and was begun at the request

of many of my students of the International School of Gemology, and consumers who

came to me for answers regarding their andesine purchases.

I have no interest in the outcome of the litigation to which I have been asked to submit

this report.

Retainer:

It is my understanding that I have been retained by legal counsel of Rosanna Johnson as

an expert witness to present this report to the court because I inspected and tested her

stones in June of 2008, and have knowledge of her gemstones that is not available from

any other source.

Statement of Opinion

On June 13 2008 I performed tests on gemstones sent to me by Rosanna Johnson based

on a request from her to ascertain whether or not the Chinese andesine she had purchased

from Direct Shopping Network were indeed natural as claimed by the seller. I had

previously tested various specimens of Chinese andesine sold by Jewelry Television and

confirmed that those stones had been subjected to some type of artificial color diffusion

process.

Based on my experience with other Chinese andesine, I ascertained that Ms. Johnson’s

gemstones had indeed been subjected to the same treatment as previous stones I had

tested, and offered the same reaction to gemological inspection and testing.

It is my opinion that the collection of Chinese andesine submitted to my office by

Rosanna Johnson is composed of artificially diffusion treated andesine feldspar.

Original Testing

To reach my original conclusions on Ms. Johnsons’ gemstones required a three step

process.

Step One.

The first step was to inspect known natural copper bearing feldspar. The only place

known to have a proven source of this material was in the US state of Oregon. This

material was known as natural and untreated, and would serve as a control stone group

for the identification of any artificial treatments. There were three main elements that

presented themselves with the Oregon Sunstone.

A. Due to the natural diffusion of

copper into the crystals, no two

Oregon feldspars are totally alike.

Due to constant variables in the

amount of copper, oxidation time,

etc…every natural copper bearing

Oregon feldspar is slightly to

greatly different.

B. Natural Oregon feldspar contains

granular native copper that creates

the “schiller” or glimmer effect of

the gemstone. Due to the natural

copper grain size variations, these

oxidize at different rates causing

the deep red colors to also have

schiller of the copper grains that

can be found under magnification.

C. As any copper will when exposed to

air for long periods of time, the

copper in the Oregon feldspar will

oxidize, much the same as the Statue

of Liberty. This oxidation turns the outer edges of the copper green as seen above

right. This is the natural formation of the copper oxidation with the red interior

and green exterior as the oxidation process takes place from the outside and works

its way inside. The small dots in the red are the copper grain schiller. An Oregon

copper schiller feldspar is seen below. To date, no schiller has been found in any

Tibet andesine.

Step Two

Having established a control group of verified natural, untreated copper bearing feldspar,

the next step was to research the Chinese andesine being sold by the television shopping

channels to see if anomalous features were present that would give indications of

treatment. We immediately found two features that pointed directly to a diffusion

treatment of these stones.

A. The first diagnostic feature that

we found which proved that a

treatment was taking place is in

the image at right. This is a

damaged lamella or growth tube

in one specific Tibet specimen

we inspected. As seen at right,

this tube was filled with red

material that was diffusing out into the gemstone crystal structure.

B. This was followed by finding more of

the damaged lamella. The lamella are

normally places in the crystal that

amount to stretch marks where the

crystal twisted slightly during growth.

However, since these are weak points in

the crystal, during the diffusion

treatment process these become damaged, distended, and engorged with the

diffusion material as seen above right. The white material is the diffusion growth

flux that carries the artificially diffused copper into the stone.

C. Finally, we identified that

the artificially diffused

Chinese andesine being sold

by Jewelry Television and

Direct Shopping Network

contained a feature that was

exactly opposite to the

natural Oregon feldspar. In

the Chinese andesine the

green was inside the gemstone with the red outside. For this to be the same natural

process as the natural Oregon feldspar this would require that the copper oxidize

from the inside out. This was in direct contradiction of the published oxidation

processes for copper, and told of another explanation other than natural oxidation

as the cause of this green color.

The image of the triangle shape stone above right with the green core, is one of the

Chinese andesine sent to my office by Rosanne Johnson. The image above right was

taken on 13 June, 2008.

Step Three

Based on the above I inspected all of Rosanna Johnson’s Chinese andesine reported to be

from Direct Shopping Network during June of 2008. Here are the results from our

archives:

This square faceted Chinese andesine

was photographed by me on 13 June

2008, and belonged to Rosanna Johnson.

It demonstrated the green core and red

outer rim of what I had found to be a

diagnostic feature of the diffusion

treated Chinese andesine. This stone has

since been cut into parts for testing.

At left is a photograph taken on 28 July

2010 of the same stone above after it had

been cut and a piece sent to my office.

This image demonstrates the green core

of this stone with the red outer rim that

was seen in the image above from 13

June 2008. This demonstrates the nature

of the color as green core, red outer rim.

The photograph at left was also taken 13

June, 2008 of a stone from the Chinese

andesine collection of Rosanna Johnson. It

also shows the red rim and green core

feature that had become a regular feature in

these andesine from the television shopping

channels. We found an additional feature in

this stone.

Under high magnification we were able to

view the red diffusion material inside the

inward reaching tubes, including passing

over the green core in the background.

This was the first time we were able to see

this feature on this scale, other than the

larger diffusion image shown in Step 2.A.

Note again the complete absence of

schiller or native copper grains in the

stone. The red copper bearing material is of the consistency of a powder.

And once again, this image from

June 13 2008 shows the formation

of green core center with the

pronounced red outer color

features. This proved to be an

important sign for diffusion

treatment, although the exact

nature of that treatment was not

known at this time.

Based on the above, I reported later that month of June 2008 that the Chinese andesine

from Direct Shopping Network sent to my office by Rosanne Johnson had been

artificially diffusion treated by some unknown method. That report was based on the

following:

1. Green core and red outer rims in the Chinese andesine that were totally opposite

and unlike the formation of natural copper colors in natural feldspar.

2. Damaged and engorged lamella that required some type of artificial heating based

on the condition and position of the features.

3. Red diffusion material present inside tubes extending into the stones.

4. Complete lack of any copper schiller inside any of her stones

Recent Developments

There are several important developments that have occurred regarding this issue of a

natural copper bearing andesine mine in Tibet since my 2008 inspection..

The first was a report from the Japan German Gemmological Laboratory that claimed

to have knowledge of the andesine diffusion treatment, including a series of

photographs of the 3 step process. The process entailed some type of treatment to

open up microscopic channels or tubes into the original yellow feldspar. Once done,

the feldspar was then subjected to a slurry of unknown substance but containing

copper that would diffuse into the stone in stages. The photographs were presented in

a three month long process as seen below:

The feldspar started out yellow. After one month (below right) the stones had taken

on a slight red color with the white glaze material settling into the surface fissures.

After the second and third month of tumbling in the high heat and pressure of the

treatment vessel, the feldspar had taken on the appearance as seen below.

We would later find that our testing of claimed Tibet rough andesine explained the

various stages that we see in the four images above.

In spite of knowing that a treatment process was being done, we still had no resource for

any rough Tibet or Inner Mongolian andesine. There were and are a number of issues that

have thwarted my efforts:

1. In spite of efforts to find the material, there is no known source of rough Tibet

andesine anywhere on the market. Oregon and Mexican feldspar can be purchased by the

kilo on eBay and other venues. But Tibetan andesine is not available at any price from

any supplier.

2. The Chinese Mining Association has no record of any andesine mine in Tibet or

Inner Mongolia.

3. I have joined two Chinese trade organizations and placed BUY orders for gem

quality andesine feldspar from anywhere in China. I received offers from over 20

potassium feldspar mining companies who offered K-feldspar powder used for ceramics.

Not one could offer any gem quality andesine feldspar from a China mine. Not a single

mining company had ever heard of an andesine feldspar mine in Tibet or Inner Mongolia.

4. There is no documentation in any world mining industry publication regarding a

copper bearing andesine mine in Tibet or Inner Mongolia.

5. Testing of claimed rough Tibetan andesine provided by DSN supplier Andegem

to Dr. George Rossman of Caltech has caused Dr. Rossman to conclude: “The analytical

results….. raise doubts about the claim of natural red andesine mines in Tibet”.

At the Tucson 2009 Gem Show, I was given specimens of claimed Tibet andesine by

representatives of King Star Gems of Hong Kong. In April of 2010, I was sent additional

specimens of claimed Tibet andesine by Litto Gems, also of Hong Kong and a well

known seller of claimed Tibet andesine. Both asked me to test the stones to see if their

stones were indeed natural or diffusion treated. Here is the results of that update:

As seen at left, various specimens of the

claimed natural Tibet andesine comprise the top

eight specimens of the first two rows, the nine

specimens below are known natural copper

bearing Oregon sunstone.

The first difference I noticed was that the

claimed Tibet andesine was virtually the same

in color. The colors appear to be a medium to

dark burnt red color with white material glazed onto the outer surface of all. The natural

Oregon feldspar are all slightly to greatly different from each other.

The images below are the surface features I found on the claimed Tibet rough sent to me

by Litto and King Star, the two Hong Kong andesine dealers. All of the specimens have

this same glaze melted into the surface and fissures as reported by Rossman in his

previous report.

Independent testing by Scanning Electron Microscope and X-ray Fluorescence confirmed

Rossman’s previous findings with high levels of calcium and copper in the white glaze.

Calcium fluoride is a known flux used in a diffusion process. We also found extremely

high levels of carbon and molybdenum across the entire surface of this rough. We later

confirmed that the Chinese manufacture and use carbon-molybdenum steel crucibles for

gemstone treatments among other applications. Finding extremely high levels of carbon

and molybdenum on the surface of all of these stones, with high levels of calcium and

copper in the white glaze material, highly indicated an artificial treatment process having

been done on these specimens. The combination of these elements on the surface of this

andesine was extremely unusual.

Although I did not have my Raman Microscope

at the time of my original investigations of Mr.

Johnson’s andesine, I did take this photograph

of an unusual white glaze material stuck in a

natural fissure on the surface of one of her

andesine in 2008. The image shows a fissure

from the surface of a rough andesine that was

too deep to facet away without losing a lot of weight when creating the finished

gemstone. The cutter simply left this on the surface of the stone, rather than cut down low

enough to remove it. The result is that this natural fissure that was on the surface of the

rough was left intact in the faceted gemstone. The glaze material on this specimen from

Rosanna Johnson’s andesine tests the same as the above referenced glaze material.

The white glaze material was found in the surface crevices of all of the specimens

presented to us as Tibetan andesine, confirming the previous findings of Dr. Rossman of

Caltech. A different set of specimens is shown below along with natural Oregon

sunstone.

Claimed Tibet andesine top row,

natural Oregon sunstone bottom

row.

With the addition of the Tibet rough to finally study, I was able to do additional side by

side comparison of the claimed copper bearing Tibet andesine and the natural copper

bearing Oregon sunstone. The comparison is below.

Once again, the Oregon sunstone has the copper generated color in the center (with

schiller), with oxidation causing a green color on the outer edges. This is the expected

formation of oxidation from the outside to the inside of the crystal. However, with the

Tibet andesine, all of the specimens have the green color as the inner core, with the red

outer color being totally opposite in formation to the natural oxidation of feldspar or any

gemstone. This would require that the Tibet material oxidize from the inside out. An

impossible task for any gemstone based on my research.

Comparing faceted gemstones gave the same result….

Below left you see an Oregon feldspar in an immersion cell. This is a water dish in which

we immerse the stone and view using a microscope that allows us to view the interior of

the stone to a finer degree. Below right is a claimed Tibet andesine demonstrating a very

unusual and unnatural appearing green core with red outer color, just as I had found in

June of 2008 with Roseanne Johnson’s andesine. The Tibet andesine appears to defy

mineralogical laws as it is either oxidizing from the inside out, or has been subjected to

some form of artificial treatment. Based on research by Dr. Claudio Milisenda of the

German Foundation for Gemstone Research and published in the newsletter of the

Canadian Institute of Gemmology (March 2009): “Andesine under immersion showing

red colour encircling a green core is treated.”

These two images alone, with Dr. Milisenda’s findings, was verification that the Tibet

andesine being sold on the market is treated.

One of the most important recent developments is the disclosure by Jewelry Television

that all of its andesine is diffusion treated. As of this date, 428 specimens of red and

green andesine offered for sale on the Jewelry Television website were listed as

“diffusion” treated. This represents 100% of the red and green andesine being sold by

Jewelry Television is being sold as diffusion treated.

With this information and the previous research listed above, we are able to establish a

list of identifiers of diffusion treatment of andesine. They are as follows:

Andesine with heat damaged

and engorged lamella is

treated.

Severely damaged lamella with burnt

appearing filler material indicates

treatment.

Unusual color formations with the green

core and red outer rim demonstrate

treatment.

Andesine with green core center with red

outer rim also showing damaged and

engorged lamella demonstrates

treatment.

All of the above images were taken from

Roseanna Johnson’s collection of

claimed Tibetan andesine.

We should also note that the image below with grossly damaged lamella is a 2008

Beijing Olympic Andesine sold by Direct Shopping Network.

Two final notes, the first on the King Star and Litto Gems. Below are immersion cell

images of 5 of the specimens we obtained from these sellers. Although they claim to offer

natural Tibet andesine, they offer the same green core and red outer rim that has been

shown to demonstrate the diffusion treated feldspar.

And finally, during the course of my investigations, both Jewelry Television and Direct

Shopping Network have listed one common supplier for the claimed Tibet andesine. That

supplier is Ande Jewelry and Mineral Company of Zhengzhou, China, and Los Angeles,

California USA. Also known in the various documents as Andegem. Or Andgem.com.

Requests for study specimens and information to Andegem have gone unanswered.

At the Tucson GJX jewelry show in February 2010 one of our representatives purchased

a specimen of Andegem Tibet Andesine from their booth at the gem show. The image is

below left with another look at the natural copper bearing Oregon sunstone below right.

Andegem Andesine below. Natural Oregon Sunstone below

While we as an industry do not completely understand how the treatment is being done,

or who is doing this treatment, this does not preclude us from being able to identify that a

treatment is, in fact, being performed on these stones.

Based on these recent developments and my original evaluations, I stand by my report of

2008 that the Chinese andesine collection of Rosanne Johnson has been subjected to

some type of diffusion treatment.