The Inside Scoop

  • Unveiling the Beauty of Umba Sapphires: Exploring Their Unique Inclusions

    Introduction: When it comes to gemstones, sapphires are hailed for their captivating beauty and remarkable durability. While the world is fa...
  • Unsung Heroes

    We sometimes get asked how we manage to have such a variety of gems. It seems like a good time to take a moment to celebrate our buyers. Due to th...
  • Why we show our stones on white paper

    Many will have noticed that in our videos and photographs, we will usually show our rough stones on white paper. It may seem like a trivial thing b...
  • Let's Tour a Tanzanite Mine!

    Take a tour of a  tanzanite mine and get a feel for the effort that go into mining these precious gems. It truly is remarkable!
  • Mogok Sein Phoo crystal donation

    It’s been 53 days since we held our last fund-raising event for the miners and their families in Mogok, Myanmar (Burma). We sold Sein Phoo cr...
  • Looking Back

    It’s been 8 years since I sold my first piece of rough and 6 years since Joe Henley Rough & Gemstones was officially launched. I remember vivi...
  • Introducing Gem Dragon Points!

    Redeeming Gem Dragon Points   Every purchase* earns points that can be used for discounts1. One point is awarded for every $10 s...
  • The Umba Valley's Buried History

    Out beyond the land of cellphones and electricity is a village in the Umba Valley called Kigwasi. It's located at the end of a long red clay road t...
  • On Ethical Gems

    Ethics is such a tricky subject when the conversation is gems. I often see the term used as a marketing gimmick or hashtag with little understandin...
  • How We Grade Our Rough

    I’ve been thinking a lot the last few weeks about writing a blog post which explains the process and terms we use to describe our stones. No bette...
  • What A Little Heat Can Do

    We buy parcels of zircons and I usually pick out the darkest colors and let them collect until I feel like dealing with them. As one might im...
  • Grading Garnet Color

    Often I make reference to Garnets being "Color A", "B" or "C" and so I wanted to make a quick demonstration post showing what that means. In Ta...
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