Brazil: Journal Entry
In 1978...

SOUTH AMERICA, (Brazil) -- is a vast producer of fine gems — the biggest producer of aqua and tourmaline on the planet. Brazil never seemed that dangerous to me. I was married and I had two girls by the first time I went there in 1978, but I didn't think there was any reason for alarm. I was going for aqua, tourmaline, emerald, alexandrite, quartz materials ... topaz.

The first time I went there I took $50,000 cash. I had hundred-dollar bills in my pockets. I also had money in a belt, and I think I had some in my shoes if I'm not mistaken. My Spanish was pretty fluent already from school and staying inSpain (that's where I went to study guitar making), and also from working in Mexico, so I felt that I'd be able to get along in Brazil. I got a book in Portuguese. That's the only country in Central and South America where they speak Portuguese. I looked at it, and I thought, “I can do this. It's not that hard.”

Feeling confident, I took off for Rio. It was mid-day when I arrived. From the airport, I jumped on a bus to go downtown because I wanted to find out how to change dollars to their currency — at the time it was called cruzeiros. A pretty girl on the bus started talking to me. I was listening and looking at her and trying to understand what she was saying. I thought she was speaking Polish or some Eastern European tongue, but finally, I realized that it was Portuguese. I couldn't understand a word she was saying. I knew I was in big trouble. However, given my Spanish and the full immersion in their culture, I started to get the language in about a week. It has served me well over the years.

I got into this little town, Teofilo Otoni, where I still go now. It is a beautiful place in the tropical, rolling hills of Minas Gerais. There's a big square where a lot of gem guys walk around. It's a commercial center for gems even though it's not a big city. Everybody's got a little bag or a briefcase or a pouch with gems in it.

This was pre-digital, so my scale was the old-fashioned kind — you open it up, hang a little balance, and use little tweezers. I sat down on a park bench in this big square surrounded by giant tropical trees. There were at least 50 guys around me wanting to show me all these gems. It was pretty intense. You have to be composed… or it could turn into a mad scene.

I decided I needed to trade in local money. I went to the exchange and traded my $50,000 in U.S. currency for cruzeiros. What a surprise I was in for. They brought the money out and it was so huge in volume that I had to have them wait while I went down the street and bought a sport bag. When I came back to the currency exchange office, I stuffed the carrier bag full of Brazilian cash. Looking back on it now, I realize how crazy it was to be walking around town with a sport bag stuffed full of cash.

What a scene when it came time to start purchasing. I'm sitting there with my little scale and $50,000 in cruzeiros on the table. Nobody ever tried to rob me or shoot me, but they do try to steal from you on a constant basis by saying, “This is a topaz,” when it's really something else, maybe even a piece of glass. Or they'll tell you it's aquamarine, when it's really blue topaz. They try to sell it to you for $1,000 a carat when it's worth like $50, so there's that school of hard knocks. You just have to buy it at the right price, and at that time, I didn't even know the market value.

That trip wasn't so great. I got taken on many things, but nobody tried to kill me and I really appreciated that. I love Brazilian people because they are the least violent people on the planet. Learning to know colored stone values is difficult. You go around to stores, integrate with other gem dealers, and share some things with people. I didn't go to GIA (Gemological Institute of America). Fundamentally I have been self-taught, the whole way. This first trip was a pretty big learning curve.

Over the years, I have learned to maintain enough calmness and attitude that I can work successfully in that environment. Now, I don't really do things so publicly. A few years ago, I took some friends down there. Just for fun, we went down to that square and set up like the old days, just to get that feeling. Turned out to be a real zoo.

These days, I work in offices, and all the runners come through to visit and show me what they have. I go to Brazil only once a year now. But when Filip — they call me “Feel” or “Filip” — comes into town, everybody knows about it. I spend money, and I love to buy gems. They know I don't just buy one thing. I'll buy any beautiful gem material, so there will be sometimes as many as 60 or 80 people. They are given numbers, and some people wait in these sweltering hallways for two or three days to see me.

These guys would pull stuff out of their pants, out of their shoes. Things have changed a lot over the years in terms of method of payment and their willingness to accept dollars. They used to want only Brazilian currency even though it was being devalued on almost a daily basis.

Brazil has had enormous financial problems, so it always amazes me that everyone is so happy and that there is plenty of food and drink, and that people are driving nice cars and motorbikes and dressing really fashionably. Where does the money come from? It's the great Brazilian mystery.

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