The Gemstone Detective: Buying Gemstones and Jewellery in Thailand

The Gemstone Detective: Buying Gemstones and Jewellery in Thailand is another destination-specific travel buying book aimed at the layman tourist heading to Thailand who would like to purchase some jewelry or stones on their travels without getting cheated.

Released 22nd Jan 2019 by Filament, it's 130 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats.  I reviewed the companion volume for Sri Lanka on the blog earlier and both are well written and give a good overview of the most common scams to avoid as well as a short surface introduction to the stones tourists are likely to encounter in these countries and what to expect regarding prices and quality.

She discusses local gem shows and meets as well as networking locally and buying from private gem merchants. Most of the page content is given to discussing corundum, specifically blue sapphire and ruby. She does also discuss the other stones which the tourist is likely to encounter and what to expect when buying them (amethyst, moonstone, peridot, garnet, beryl, etc).

This is a good and concise introduction to gemstones and not getting scammed as an amateur buyer.

Four stars. Well photographed and written in accessible language for the layman.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.