to spirit a giant beryl crystal out of Brazil.

Intrigue and adventure surround the mission

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Atlos- Book

BY 51 & ANN FRAZIER, Foreign Correspondents

giant naturalberyl came

~thlsholethe ground.

ere in theof Brazil"s

e6filo Otani.sGerais.

: 10..Kampf.ral History

m of LosCounty.

Although world-famous gem artist Bernd Munsteiner labored nearly a year to transforma huge aquamarine crystal into a stunning aquamarine sculpture (see "Fit for anEmperor," this issue), the story of this work of art actually begins a number of yearsbefore the carver first laid eyes on the rough.

In the late 1980s,three poor Brazilian prospectors discovered a meter-long aquamarineat Tres Barras, in gem-rich Minas Gerais, Brazil. Besides having immense size, the lovelynatural blue beryl was transparent and exhibited beautifully formed crystal faces, making

it an exceptionally fine piece. As luck would have it, thegarimperos, the local term for these itinerant miners, dropped thespecimen, and it broke into three pieces.

Ordinarily, we would regard this mishap as a tragedy. We willsee, however, how a little-known lapidary property regardingaquamarine changed this act from a mishap into an essential stepon the rocky road toward fine art.

The three parts of the crystal were sold for a great deal ofmoney -:- we can't say exactly how much, though the value of thiscrystal will be clear to anyone familiar with the market for finequality aquamarine. In pressing for a more precise figure,

however, we found ourselves in the position of the unfortunate journalist whoonce asked J.P. Morgan the cost of his steam yacht and received this now-fam-ous answer: "If you have to ask, you can't afford one."

The buyer, a Brazilian whose identity is also amystery to us, did the obvious and logical thing. Hecut up one of the smaller parts of the gem crystal in-to very saleable, 8 x 10 millimeter ovals, a fa-vorite commercial gemstone size, in or-der to get a big chunk of his veryconsiderable investment back.We've lost track of the second

The original beryl broke Intothree parts when the minersdropped the record·breakingcrystal- and the big piece shownhere was still a record breaker. Photo:10..Kampf. Natural History Museum of Los1o.ngelesCounty.

Rough Trip ...smaller piece but assume it has sincelikewise been cut into commercialstones.

The third and most important partof the crystal stood almost two feet talland weighed nearly 60 pounds. For avariety of reasons, the owner did notwant to take this enormously valuablecrystal "fragment" to the bank forsafekeeping - so he hid it behind hisbed for several years while he decidedwhat to do with it!

He was determined to see some-thing very special become of this ex-traordinary rough. He considered hav-ing it carved, and though he couldhave had it cut into commercial stonesin Brazil, he did not believe he couldsee it worked locally into a carvingtruly worthy of the material.

Then, one day in 1991,[urgen Hennof Idar-Oberstein, Germany, well-known gem dealer and connoisseur,friend and business associate of BerndMunsteiner, and world traveler, wasvisiting the mysterious Brazilian, whoallowed Henn to inspect and photo-graph the crystal. Recalls Henri, "Iimmediately thought this was a piecefor Bernd. I never considered thepossibility of cutting it up intocommercial stones. Unfortunately,

there was no possibility of making adeal then."

Sometime later, however, uponreturning from a trip to Brazil,Francisco "Chico" Bank, of the Idar-Oberstein gem firm Gebriider Bank,reported that the giant crystal mightbe for sale. When Chico speaks aboutanything having to do with gemstonesin Brazil, knowledgeable people listen- even more intently than stockinvestors listen when Dean Witteropens his mouth. Chico is the son ofthe famous professor Dr. HermannBank, head of the Bank gem firm thathas been in the family for generations,and one of the world's foremost andmost prolific researchers in the scienceof gemology.

Chico's stature does not derivefrom hereditary knowledge alone butextends to a thorough scientific train-ing in mineralogy, petrology, andgemology at Heidelberg University.Chico is also particularly knowledge-able about Brazil, having visitednumerous Brazilian gem deposits aswell as by virtue of having a Brazilianmother; he speaks Portuguese asfluently as a native Brazilian.

While Jiirgen Henn immediatelyperked up upon hearing that he might

be able to purchase the aquamarine, heknew that doing so would be reason-able only if Munsteiner could andwould work on the very expensivecrystal. "The whole responsibility end-ed up hanging on Bernd's shoulders,"Henn explains. "Without him, it wouldhave been a financial disaster. Wewould be paying a hell of a lot of mon-ey, so Bernd had to be sure that it wassuitable for him to work his magic on."

According to Herin, Bernd Mun-steiner is always a very hard sell. Helavishes intense scrutiny on any gemrough he is shown and can quicklycompile a comprehensive list of what'swrong with the piece: all its "moles,blemishes, and warts." Because he hadonly photographs to show the carver,Henn wanted Munsteiner to fly imme-diately to Brazil to inspect the piece inperson. Having been traveling regular-ly to Brazil in search of rough for some20years and thoroughly enjoying thesetrips, Munsteiner could reasonablyhave been expected to jump at the idea.

Henn was dumbfounded at Mun-steiner's response to the pictures."No," he said, without getting up fromhis chair. "I will not fly to Brazil, butthis piece is for me."

Continued on page 70

II

Rough Trip ...(continued from page 58)

How could he be so sure? Ofcourse, he had confidence in Herin'sopinion, but the critical factor - overand above size, color, and clarity -was the fact that the klutzy garimperoshad dropped the specimen and brokenthe crystal!

Long experience had convinced thecarver that an aquamarine crystal thathas already been broken will berelieved of otherwise dangerous inter-nal stresses, but that an intact crystalmight break under the stress oflapidary work - usually during themost inconvenient moments. Al-though the scientific literaturecontains little to support this ideaapart from documenting a rather poor-ly developed basal cleavage (a tenden-cy to break along the "bottom" of acrystal) and an even less pronouncedprismatic ("lengthwise") cleavage inberyl, these observations are worthtaking to heart. Munsteiner has moreexperience cutting aquamarine, otherberyls, and many other gems than awhole schoolroom of authors.

SLIPPING IN. Henn next conferredwith Dr. Bank, who also had seen thecrystal on one of his many trips toBrazil. With the resources of bothfirms, they were able to arrange fi-

nancing for the project. Now all theyhad to do was get the money to Braziland get the aqua back to Idar.

At this point, they passed the ballto the next generation. [urgen's son,Axel, and Chico Bank were entrustedwith this delicate and potentially dan-gerous mission. They faced severalvery considerable challenges, not leastof which was the fact that the Brazilianhad not yet completely made up hismind to sell the stone to the Germanconsortium. Also, since Axel speaksonly enough Portuguese to order cof-fee or beer and not get them confused,the bulk of the negotiations would fallon Chico's shoulders, but the Brazilianwould still first have to get to knowand trust Axel as well as he alreadyknew and trusted Chico.

Thus, in the summer of 1992, Axeland Chico bade farewell to their recentbrides and headed for Te6filo Otoni inthe outback of the Brazilian state ofMinas Gerais. They flew from Frank-furt to Rio de Janeiro to BeloHorizonte to Te6filo Otoni. The lastleg was a real cliff-hanger.

The pilot scheduled to fly the planefrom Belo to Te6filo decided to knockoff early for a family function, leavingthem apparently stranded in Belo. Theever-resourceful Chico, not to be so

70

easily defeated, rounded up anothpilot, who agreed to fly them out insmall plane. Having already flown f13 hours straight that day, this pilohowever, seemed to have more expeence than good sense.

The tiny airstrip at Te6£ilo Otoni '-short and treacherous, tucked into asmall depression rimmed with himountains. Successful takeoffs anlandings require split-second timinzand nerves of steel - especially onpart of the passengers. As they viewthe numerous remains of other planesthat hadn't made it littering the nearbylandscape, Axel and Chico thouabout their new wives at home anwondered if they would ever see thag~in. Suffice it to say that as the.started their overly steep descent,world was almost poorer by 0

Munsteiner carving and two promis-ing gem adventurers, not to mentioone very fatigued pilot, but fortunate.they landed safely.

The historical connection betwgem dealers from Idar-Obersteingem deposits in Brazil is well knovand long established, so wheGermans from Idar show up iBrazilian gem regions, the worspreads like wildfire, especially inlower strata of society. This being

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3Se, the two Idar dealers wanted to keep'-ery low profile in Brazil. The value of

gem crystal and the money neededobtain it were more than enough rea-

for them to be concerned about be-followed and robbed.

They also knew that the negotia-TIS could well be protracted (but didt know just how protracted!) andey probably would not be able top in and pop out, so they timedir visit to coincide with the interna-nal gem fair held in Te6filo Otani

ver y July. They spent their daystablishing their "cover" at the fair

and then worked through the smallurs of the morning in secret negotia-

- ns with the owner of the crystal.When he learned that the great

unsteiner wanted to work on thecrystal, the owner grew more willing

ell it to the Germans. This beingBrazil, however, striking the deal

auld be neither simple nor straight-rward. Chico would have to spend

many long hours closing the deal. Axele cribes how this took a toll on

Chico's system as well as his nerves.ot only did the conversations takelace in Portuguese during the weeurs of the morning, but they were

ell lubricated with a particularlylethal local rum called cachaca, made

from sugar cane.The Brazilian felt no pressure to sell

but gradually moved in that direction.When at last it seemed they hadreached the final negotiations, he sud-denly said, "Oh, let's go fishing." Sofishing they went - flying to a veryremote fishing hole in the middle ofnowhere in a small private plane.

FISHIN' AT 5,000 FEET. The planedroned on. In the back stood a biground container being guarded as if itwere filled with diamonds, though infact it was full of worms, precious baitfor their excursion. Suddenly, at analtitude of about 5,000 feet, the plane'sdoor sprang open. Petrified, Chico andAxel gaped in horror at the country-side zipping by below, but the dizzy-ing view out the doorway didn't evenfaze the Brazilian, who was actuallylaughing with his crew while theypulled the door shut again and tied itinto place with a piece of rope!

Naturally, Axel and Chico werehoping that when they got to thepromised fishing hole in Nowhere,Brazil, they'd be able to get down toparticulars, but naturally, that didn'thappen. Every time Chico attemptedto bring up the subject of the aquama-rine nestled behind his Brazilian

friend's bed, he'd put Chico off,saying, "Let's catch a fish first."According to Axel, they had to catch alot of fish and drink roughly five litersof cachaca before they could get downto a final negotiation.

Much as we might cynically sus-pect that this was a most unusual andinspired negotiating ploy, to this day,Axel and Chico remain convinced thatthe entire bizarre scenario was not partof some complicated bargaining tacticbut simply a manifestation of theBrazilian's genuine ambivalence aboutparting with his wonderful crystal. It be-came their job to assure him that some-thing magnificent would indeed becomeof it, perhaps that the world mightknow of Brazil's extraordinary naturaltreasures, though he did not want hisown name attached to the work.

In any case, he absolutely did notwant to see the crystal reduced tojillions of 8 x 10 ovals just for a quickprofit. Yet, we might also cynicallywonder, what was to stop the dealersfrom doing just that once they had thecrystal back in Germany? If the Idarcutters got wind of this huge gemcrystal, they would certainly beatdown the doors of the two venerablegem firms to try to have a whack atthis wonderful rough. If the Brazilian

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Rough Trip ...sold the crystal to Axel and Chico, itbecame their obligation to see that itmet a worthy end. They solemnly gavehim their word.

Meanwhile, Bernd Munsteiner'sson, Tom, along with their chief cutter,had flown over from Germany toinspect the piece and make absolutelysure that the crystal was suitable forBernd. Everyone knew that once thecrystal left Brazil it could never be re-turned, even if Bernd discovered thathe could not use it. Tom Munsteinerand the cutter briefly looked the aquaover, approved, called home to pro-

nounce the family's newest "baby"healthy, and then flew home again.

The final transaction was as uncon-ventional as the all of the precedingnegotiations. No sheaf of legal papers,drawn up by batteries of expensivelawyers as we might expect, lay readyfor signing. On a slip of paper, theBrazilian simply wrote out a receipt for·one aquamarine crystal sold forsuch-and-such an amount, to one"alamiio [German] Chico." Just "Chico,"not Francisco H. Bank, Dip!. Min., orsome other more formal version of hisname, nor Gebriider Bank, the name of

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the family firm - just "Chico."Joining the seller in the spirit of

how business should be conductedamong gentlemen of honor (ratherthan lawyers), the young Bank signedthe note just as it had been written,"Chico." With this and a handshake,Chico and Axel were as firmly boundto uphold their end of the bargain asthey would have been with all the for-mal documents in the world, and moreso, for their honor was at stake.

HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN.Happy as they were that the deal was

. at last closed, Axel and Chico stillcould not relax. As rough as the triphad been so far, the real challengewould begin only now. Imagine howhard it must be to stay really incon-spicuous lugging around nearly 60pounds of fine, gem quality aquama-rine along the highways, byways, andback alleys of Brazil - but, of course,inconspicuously would be the safestway to transport such a valuablecommodity.

The keenness with which theamateur detectives and professionalgossipmongers of the gem worldfollow the arrivals, departures, andmeanderings of important foreignbuyers is attested to by the fact thatbefore Chico and Axel had even begunto try to make their low-profile escapeback to Germany with the hugecrystal, rumors were swirling throughthe New York gem district that thepair had bought a huge lot (400kilosl)of fine aquamarines for $6 million, anamount quite capable of making bigwaves - or troughs.

The daring duo were in a reallysticky position. They knew that theycould not try to take the crystal out ofMinas Gerais themselves, for all thegem world knew that something wasafoot and they would have beensitting ducks. They would never havemade it out of Minas. They knew theywere being followed constantly by "op-eratives" of varying degrees of skill,and they were rightfully concerned.

So what did they do when they gotback from Nowhere to what passes forcivilization in that part of MinasGerais?Absolutely nothing, except lookaround. After doing nothing for awhile, they left for Belo Horizonte, anddid more of nothing there. People keptfollowing them. They separated andcomplained loudly to anybody whowould listen that the other guy was offlollygagging somewhere and won-

LAPIDARY JOURNAL, November 1995

Iportation of this crystal, 10 differentspecial stamps were required - andone was missing! An official informedChico that he would have to go backto Governador Valadares and get it.Chico's Brazilian persona solved theproblem quite effectively by "makinga suitable donation to the official'scoffeefund." Chico reappeared.

The two thought their problemswere over as they boarded the touristsection of the Lufthansa flight, butthey were wrong again. They wereinformed that Baby's bag was too bigand would not fit under the seat; theycould not bring it aboard. They evenoffered to buy it a first-class seat, butthe Red Baron's rules are strict.Drawing deep into hidden reservoirsof charm, they smilingly convinced thestewardess that they could easily stowthis baby in an overhead compartment.

Naturally, they could not let on thattheir bundle weighed 60 pounds, It isverboten on any airline to store veryheavy parcels in overhead compart-ments, so Chico attempted to placethis little piece of lightweight luggageever so casually in the compartment.Looking on and to his horror, Axelrealized that this charade really wasbeyond Chico's already severely taxedstrength. He rushed to his friend'shelp and together they managed to getBaby safely stowed. The stewardess isprobably still wondering why twohealthy-looking young men had somuch trouble lifting one insignificantflight bag into the overhead storage.

Once the wheels lifted, theirproblems were almost but not quiteover. Would Bernd like the crystalwhen he actually saw it in the flesh?As soon as they got to Idar, they calledthe nearby village of Stipshausenwhere Bernd lives, and he raced toChico's office.

Much to everyone's delight, whenBernd unbundled Baby, it was love atfirst sight. The rest, as the saying goes,is history. •Bibliography

Bank, Professor Dr. Hermann 1973, From the world ofgemstones. Frankfurt am Main: Umschau-Verlag.

Frondel, Clifford 1935, The size of crystals, AmericanMineralogist, June, 469,473.Johns, Richard H. 1953. The genesis of pegamtites. I.Occurrence and origin of giant crystals, AmericanMineralogist, Vol. 38, 563,586.Perham, Jane C. 1987. Maine's Treasure Chest. WestParis, Maine: Quicksilver Publlctions.

Rickwood, Peter C. 1981, The largest crystals, AmericanMineralogist, Vol. 66, 885·907.

Sinkankas, John 1981, Emerald and other beryls. Radnor,Pennsylvania: Chilton Book Company.van Calmbach, W. Friedrich 1938. Handbuch brasilianis,cher Ede/steine und ihrer vorkommen. N. Medawar: Rio deJaneiro.

zered when he would get back tori<._Ieanwhile, Chico had arranged, inys that they are still reluctant to ex-, , to get the huge crystal onto aall private plane and flown secretlythe airport in Rio - where it waseted in the control tower!

The game plan had been carefullyked out long in advance and everyibility had been considered. Being

. Brazilian, Chico appreciated whatrould need doing to keep the crystal

ving through that country, while asel puts it, "The German part of himfully planned for all eventualities."

Getting Baby into the airport wasconventional at best. Friends in

places arranged for the airport tohut down for 15 minutes while the

all plane bearing the crystal andor five armed "babysitters" deliv-Baby to Rio. In order to divert

ntion, Axel, who is strongly builtwell over six feet tall, bought a

__large carry-on bag and struggledit through the crowded airport as

it were filled with at least two over-ei ht dead bodies. Meanwhile, the

rter and much less athletic looking,co strolled back from the tower

.;ing as nonchalantly as possible torry the bag with the 60-pound

y" as if it weighed next to noth-. All around the airport, they had

'ends posted at key points just inanything went awry. They knew

police could not be trusted, so theytruly on their own.

They did not dare try to smuggletone back to Germany. All of therwork for legal exportation had to

filled out and filed. Chico and his'ends had made arrangements to

e this as expeditious as possible.ending on how long Chico wason this mission, Axel had specifics of action to follow. Even in the

r t case, he was not to miss thatfthansa flight back to Germany,m where he could try to arrangep for Chico through the Germanassador.

Axel expected Chico back in nore than 10 to 15 minutes. Twentyutes went by, then 30, and still no

and Baby. Axel was sweating ase really were carrying two over-

t bodies in his big shoulder bag.ething must have happened -

what?Actually, just what one wouldect of an inept and somewhatal bureaucracy. For the legal ex-

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