Imperial Jade of Burma and Mutton-Fat Jade of
India
by S. K. Samuels
Copyright 2014, SKS Enterprises,
Inc.
ISBN 978-0-9725323-4-1
(hardcover)
Pp. xii + 248, full bibliographic
notes, index
Price: $65.00 plus $5 shipping &
handling within the continental U.S.
This unique book provides the reader with a sweeping
history of trade in jade between Burma, China, India, and the
West.
With 149 color photos, most not previously
published outside of Burma, 25 tables, 13 maps, and data on jade
sales from 1964 to the present, this book attempts to correct rumors
and unsubstantiated reports about Burma’s production and sales of
jade.
Tracing the longstanding infatuation with
Burma’s Imperial jade in Chinese culture, the book explores that
country’s resulting trade links with Burma.
Information is provided on how Myanma Gems
Enterprises classifies jade into Imperial, Commercial, and Utility
jade. There is excellent coverage of the auction and bidding
procedures, including many photos of lots offered for sale, reserve
prices, high bids, and total sales.
The chapter on Mutton-fat jade of India
discusses the mines from which this jade was mined and includes
beautiful photos of Moghul jade pieces now in museums both inside
and outside of India.
The final chapters cover Burma’s economy,
investment opportunities, and the outlook for jade production, given
the conflict in the mining areas.
Rangoon 1941: A Novel Based on True
Events

by S. Kella
Samuels
Copyright 2012, SKS Enterprises,
Inc.
ISBN 13 978-0-9725323-3-4 (paper); Pp. viii +
452
$22 includes shipping in continental United
States
RANGOON,
prior to World War II, was known as the “Pearl of the Orient,” with
its golden pagodas, well-planned streets, fine university, and
bucolic suburbs. The war and its tumultuous aftermath would leave
Burma scarred and devastated, led by men who eventually marched the
country into isolation and ruin.
Through the characters in Rangoon 1941 you will
meet the people and events that created Burma as a British colonial
outpost with a diverse population and cosmopolitan life—and will see
World War II from their perspective. Never before has a novel
explored this country and era through the eyes of Burma’s ordinary
peoples, communicating the hopes and fears and pathos of those whose
lives were forever changed by colonialism, the Japanese occupation,
independence, and military rule.
Rangoon
1941
begins in late 1941 in Rangoon, Burma, at the time when the Japanese
attacked Malaya, Singapore, and—in December 1941—Rangoon. The main
characters represent the diverse population of Burma in the first
part of the twentieth century: The British who colonized the
country; the Burmans and ethnic peoples whose families had lived in
Burma for centuries, and the Indians and Anglos who were more recent
immigrants to the country but who called it their own. Also
appearing are the Japanese who invaded the country and made it all
the way to Burma’s northwest border with India before retracing the
route of their earlier invasion, and the Indian armed forces who
were the backbone of the British army in
Burma.
The story begins and ends in Rangoon but takes the
reader to Moulmein and the pivotal Battle at the Sittang Bridge, then across Burma to the
decisive battles fought on the Asian mainland at Kohima and Imphal in India. Some of the
characters fight for the British against the Japanese; others work
with the Japanese to implement the promised Greater Co-Prosperity
Sphere; and others are civilians caught up in the horrors of war who
flee for their lives across the mountains and jungles of northern
Burma.
In
the end, the characters reflect upon their tumultuous lives and the
legacy of World War II for them, their families, and the country of
Burma. Singapore,
Kuala Lumpur, and other former British colonial cities have since
recovered and are now thriving modern cities. Rangoon, with its
pockmarked streets and crumbling buildings, still looks battered and
broken. This book provides insight not only into the city but also
into the plight of the country and all of it
peoples.
Burma Ruby. A History of
Mogok's Rubies from Antiquity to the
Present by S. K. Samuels Copyright 2003, SKS Enterprises, Inc. ISBN
0-9725323-0-7 (hardcover); Pp. xviii + 254 34 b-&-w photos;
34 color plates; plus maps & tables; 2 color supplements on
CD $25.00
The world's finest rubies and
sapphires have been mined in Mogok, Burma,
for thousands of years. Yet few books provide accurate, detailed
information about the country, especially in contemporary times.
Burma Ruby provides a general yet complete
introduction to Burma. It surveys Burma's ancient history and
the culture of its kings, its experience through World War II, and
its current economic situation while focusing on Burma's renowned
Mogok rubies.
Through legends,
anecdotes, and references to scholarly sources, readers will meet
the men and women who owned the mines, worked the mines, and fought
over Mogok's fabled wealth. They will be
awestruck by the gem-encrusted regalia of Burma's kings and some of
Burma's most notable gemstones (among 34 color plates). Burma Ruby
also addresses the topics of enhancement, heat treatment, smuggling,
and provenance of rubies and discusses the unique properties of
Burmese rubies and sapphires. It includes heretofore unpublished
statistics about historical and recent production and sales of
rubies in Burma and a hitherto unpublished listing of significant
rubies and sapphires sold from 1965 to 2002.
S. K. Samuels
was born in Rangoon, Burma. He lived through British rule, the
Japanese occupation during World War II, and a post-war British
transition government before seeing Burma gain her independence. He
worked at Mawchi Mines in Kayah State and at the civil hospital in
Kengtung, in the Eastern Shan States,
traveling the length and breadth of the Shan States while there
(including Momeik, where Mogok is located). After moving to the U.S., he
obtained his Graduate Gemologist degree from the Gemological
Institute of America. Able to speak Burmese, Hindi, and Urdu as well
as English, he has gathered together a lifetime of experience and
knowledge in Burma Ruby, focusing it on Burma's celebrated rubies.
Jade and Maw Sit Sit of Burma, revised and expanded edition by S. K.
Samuels Copyright 2004, 2009, SKS
Enterprises, Inc.
ISBN
978-0-9725323-2-7
Pp. x + 88, plus 34 color
photos. $15.00
Jade and Maw Sit Sit
presents the history of jade mining and the jade trade in Burma,
with comparative analysis of jadeite, Maw Sit Sit, and Hte Lone
Sein. It includes the classifications
systems that the Burmese use to grade jade and Maw Sit Sit and statistics on sales of jade and Maw Sit
Sit in Burma. Revised edition includes a
new chapter on India's use of mutton-fat jade and includes a CD with
more than 100 color photos.
      
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