Join Charles Lawson as he venture beneath the fields of Ratnapura, Sri Lanka in search of sapphire and topaz with local miners.
Story Behind the Stone is a short documentary film that follows the journey of a gemstone as is passes from hand to hand, all the way from a mine on the plains of South West Madagascar to finally reach the hand of one of Madagascar's leading ladies fighting for women's rights. The film takes a positive and constructive approach, looking into the impacts of the small scale gem trade on a personal level and the affect that capacity building has there within.
Join gemmologist and geologist Charles Lawson as he investigates the fascinating story of how a sapphire is mined in Rubyvale, Queensland, how it is cut and polished and finally set into a finished piece of jewellery.
Follow geologist/gemmolgist, Charles Lawson, as he travels throughout the exotic lands Madagascar. Experience the variety of aspects of the Malagasy gem trade from mining, to cutting and even jewellery production.
Join Charles Lawson on an impromptu visit to a facinating little sapphire mine, not far from the city of Chantaburi in Thailand.
Learn about the process of buying gemstones in the mountain town of Taunggyi in Central Burma (Myanmar).
The Sri Lankan gem trade is extremely old, yet their cutting is not always at what would be considered up to an international trade standard. I met up with a master cutter in Colombo, Sri Lanka to find out a bit more about the cutting of high end gemstones in Sri Lanka.
Follow Charles Lawson as he takes a brief look into the workshop of a traditional Burmese silversmith in a floating village of Inle Lake in Central Myanmar.