Imperial Jade of Burma and Mutton-Fat Jade of India

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.