Photomicrography: Into the Stone
Images by E. Billie Hughes
E. Billie Hughes, FGA, is a co-founder of Bangkok-based Lotus Gemology, a respected gemological laboratory and educational resource.
A graduate of UCLA, and a Fellow of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain (FGA), Hughes is also an award winning photographer and photomicrographer, winning prizes in the Nikon Small World and Gem-A competitions. Her writings and images have been featured in books, magazines, and online in Forbes, Vogue, National Geographic, and more.
In 2019 the Accredited Gemologists Association (AGA) awarded Hughes their Gemological Research Grant, which funded her research on low temperature heat treatment of Burmese ruby. [see Gems & Gemology: A Canary in the Ruby Mine: Low-Temperature Heat Treatment Experiments on Burmese Ruby, by E. Billie Hughes and Wim Vertiest.] In 2020, Van Cleef & Arpels’ L’École School of Jewellery Arts staged exhibitions of her photomicrographs in Paris and Hong Kong.
The images shown here and in the newsletter reveal not only the science, but also the incredible eye behind the lens. We’re honored to feature her remarkable images here in the Roskin Gem News Report. Thank you, Billie, for sharing your work!
Above: Partially healed fissure, or “fingerprint,” in sample 3 before heating. Note the elongated, tube-like channels.
Photos using diffuse transmitted light. Photomicrographs by E. Billie Hughes; field of view 1 mm.
and some even “neck down” to form smaller, rounded shapes in place of elongated tubes (Hughes, 2017).
under short wave ultraviolet. This chalky appearance develops as a result of heat treatment, and can often be
seen in heated corundum with relatively lower iron content. Photo by E. Billie Hughes / Lotus Gemology
